EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Ione/Arlington teams win
some, lose some
County government unsure of
vaccination mandate impact
The Ione/Arlington
volleyball team played
Bickleton Thursday, Octo-
ber 7 in Arlington. It was
homecoming week in Ar-
lington and the volleyball
team took the win. There
was a bit of confusion with
the location of the game.
The Bickleton team ar-
rived in Arlington a bit later
than the start time because
they first stopped in Ione.
Things like that happen
with sports, and everyone
involved was patient and
supportive throughout the
evening.
The Ione/Arlington
volleyball team travelled
to Condon on Saturday, Oc-
tober 9. I/A did not secure
the win, but they will have
a quick turn around with an-
other shot at Condon in Ione
on Thursday, October 14.
The Ione/Arlington
football team also picked
up a win this weekend as
they hosted Sherman/Con-
don. After a slow start, I/A
trailed 18-0 in the first quar-
ter. However, I/A started to
crack into the lead as they
were only down 18-8 at
halftime.
They continued to bat-
tle back in the third where
By David Sykes
Morrow County gov-
ernment is still unsure of the
impact President Biden’s
recent vaccine mandate will
have on the county employ-
ees. “Although there is a
mandate by the President,
the rules surrounding the
mandate have not been
issued outside of health
care workers and schools,
to my knowledge. It is my
understanding that OSHA
and OSHA Oregon will
also need to come out with
their rules. Until those rules
are established, we are not
certain what the county will
be required to enforce, nor
how this may impact our
employees. I can tell you
that all of our public health
employees are vaccinat-
ed,” County Administrator
Darrell Green told the Ga-
zette-Times Tuesday.
At an October 6 Board
of Commissioners meeting,
county human resource
director Lindsay Grogan
said she had sent out a vac-
cination questionnaire to all
120 county employees and
received back 80 responses.
“That is 65 percent of the
employees, and better than
we expected,” Grogan said.
Of those who respond-
ed 60 percent said they were
vaccinated, and 40 percent
said they were not. She said
the rate is higher than the
county population, where
only 40 percent of the Mor-
row County residents have
been vaccinated. “So, it’s
better than we thought it
was going to be,” she told
commissioners.
Grogan went on to say
27 percent of those who re-
sponded said they were pre-
pared to leave employment
Madison Orem #9 on Ione/Arlington team.
they trailed 18-16, and half-
way through the fourth
quarter I/A took the lead
30-26, which would end
up as the final score. Taylor
Rollins gained 116 yards
on the ground and added
one touchdown, Cedrick
Dayandante rushed for 109
yards as well. Azriel Bor-
ghese and Marty Medina
brought in touchdown pass-
es from Carson Eyentich,
who rushed for a touch-
down to go along with his
two passing touchdowns.
Callie Troutman #15 competed in the Condon game.
ATTENTION
HUNTERS!!
Aubrey Blakley serves the
ball.
The Heppner Gazette-Times
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Stop by
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in Heppner,
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upload at heppner.net
or text photos to 541-980-6674.
Favi Juarez #9 played
against Bickleton.
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Available in Ione and Heppner city limits
with the county if mandated
to get vaccinated. Also, 25
percent of the unvaccinated
said they would apply for
a religious or medical ex-
emption if mandated to get
the vaccination. None of the
respondents said they were
unable to get the vaccine if
they wanted it.
The question came up
when employees turn in
religious or medical exemp-
tions, who would be mak-
ing the decision to grant
the exemption? Grogan said
it would most likely be a
panel of people selected for
the job. “We would prefer
a panel to eliminate bias,”
Grogan said. Commission
Chair Don Russell said
there should be a defined
set of rules to follow, and
the decision can’t be left
up to a person to decide
who qualifies for the ex-
emption. As an example,
he said: “My opinion is
probably different than the
norm, but I don’t want my
opinion to be the rule,”
Russell said. “I want there
to be a well-defined set of
rules. If I have a religion
exemption what defines
that religious exemption?
Myself, being a practicing
Catholic, until Pope Francis
comes out with his corona
mandate and says, ‘if you
want to work at the Vatican
you need to be vaccinated
or find a new job,’ I would
think that a practicing Cath-
olic probably doesn’t have
a religious exemption,”
Russell said. “That’s my
opinion and not what the
guidelines say so we need to
find out what the guidelines
say. Same with medical ex-
emption; got to be a defined
set of guidelines,” he urged.
Although Community
Counseling Solutions is not
a county department, Ex-
ecutive Director Kimberly
Lindsay said her organiza-
tion is feeling the effects of
COVID vaccination man-
dates. She said there are
200 employees at CCS and
of those approximately 172
are fully vaccinated or have
filed for exemptions. She
said four employees are
leaving prior to the October
18 deadline and others are
in the process of getting
vaccinated or deciding what
they want to do. “Could be
worse or could be better,”
she said. “There are 30 out
there that are undecided,
which is not an insignificant
number,” Lindsay told the
commissioners. She said
that it “would be painful”
if they all did leave, but
they are being proactive
and keeping up with her
employees’ situation.
Additionally Green
said, “We currently be-
lieve we will fall under
the guidance to mandate
COVID-19 vaccinations
through OSHA (Occupa-
tional Safety and Health
Administration) for em-
ployers with 100 plus em-
ployees, which is where we
will most likely fall under
this eligibility. Although we
are unsure if it will apply, as
that official rule(s) has not
been released. In the past,
the county has tried not to
be more restrictive than the
guidelines we have been
mandated to follow.”
Green said that while
the original guidance speci-
fied that the mandate would
apply to private employers
of 100 plus employees,
legal professionals have in-
terpreted that it most likely
will apply to all employers
with 100 plus employees in
the U.S. jurisdictions, either
directly through Federal
OSHA or through an OS-
HA-approved state plan.
“State Plans are mon-
itored by OSHA and must
be at least as effective
as OSHA in protecting
workers and preventing
work-related illnesses,”
Greene said. “The DOL
(Department of Labor) \
and OSHA generally do not
have regulatory authority
over local governments and
municipalities, however,
the impending vaccination
and testing regulations for
employers with 100 or more
employees may impact
county employees who are
in one of the 26 states that
participate in OSHA-ap-
proved workplace safety
and health programs and
submit ‘state plans’ to the
agency,” he said.