ROGERS TOYOTA BREAKS GROUND ON NEW DEALERSHIP » PAGE A3
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
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INSIDE
CLOSED
ELECTIONS
See who is on the ballot for
the May primary.
Page » A3
SPORTS
COVID-19 cancellations and
closures make workouts dif-
ficult for Hermiston athletes
waiting to see if their spring
season will happen.
Page » A10
HOSPITALS
Good Shepherd Medical
Center is altering rules
for visitors in light of the
coronavirus outbreak.
Page » A7
BY THE WAY
Hermiston
library closes
for COVID-19
In light of recommen-
dations from the Cen-
ters for Disease Control
about social distancing
during the COVID-19
outbreak, the Herm-
iston Public Library
announced it is closed
until further notice. All
events and activities are
currently suspended, but
the staff will provide a
drive-up service until
6 p.m. each day.
Patrons may continue
to access numerous dig-
ital services through its
website. For more infor-
mation, visit www.herm-
istonlibrary.us or call
541-567-2882.
• • •
Because of restric-
tions on public gather-
ings in an effort to control
the spread of coronavirus,
people are encouraged to
double-check organiza-
tion websites and/or their
Facebook pages regard-
ing scheduled events.
While the Hermis-
ton Herald attempts to
update its calendar list-
ings, the status of some
events and activities are
changed or canceled after
press deadlines.
• • •
The regular Open
Table food service at
staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hermiston High School students leave school for the day Friday afternoon. Students will not return to school until April 28, 2020 as a
response to Gov. Kate Brown’s directive to close schools through the end of April in an effort to quell the spread of COVID-19.
Hermiston students get an early spring break after governor orders school closures
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
INSIDE
The Hermiston School Board voted
Tuesday afternoon to count the current
shutdown as its spring break, but by 5 p.m
the point was already moot.
Governor Kate Brown announced
that she was extending the school clo-
sure through April 28. She had origi-
nally announced Thursday that all Ore-
gon schools should be closed from March
16 to April 1 in light of the COVID-19
health crisis.
Before her announcement Tuesday,
Hermiston’s school board unanimously
voted to count the closure as the dis-
trict’s spring break, and cancel the break
originally planned for April 6-10, along
with spring parent-teacher conferences
planned for April 2-3.
It was a difficult decision for board
members, who were split three to three
on Friday night before postponing their
decision until Tuesday. On Friday, some
argued that the state was likely to extend
the closure for past their planned spring
break anyway, and they didn’t want to tell
families to cancel expensive travel plans,
only to turn around a week later and say,
“Never mind.”
The “Never mind” came sooner than
expected with the governor’s announce-
ment Thursday.
On Tuesday, however, board members
were united in expressing their beliefs
that if they were allowed to bring stu-
For a list of meal sites and times, see
Page a12
dents back to the classroom on April 1 —
the currently scheduled end to the state-
wide closure for COVID-19 — then they
should.
“The overriding sentiment has been
that we need to do what’s best for the
kids,” Ginny Holtus said.
She said the state would likely be giv-
ing some leniency on instructional hours,
state testing and other usual requirements
for schools, and she wouldn’t want to see
Hermiston not qualify for those waivers
because it closed longer than the gover-
nor had mandated.
Brent Pitney said he had originally
been concerned about disrupting staff
and students’ travel plans, but said most
things they would have been traveling to
are now shut down anyway.
Not everyone at the meeting felt the
same way as the board. Delfino Osario,
representing the Hermiston Association
of Teachers, noted that Hermiston was in
“uncharted waters” because it has a dif-
ferent spring break than all others Oregon
schools, which were scheduled to be on
break March 23-27 anyway.
He said while students without under-
lying health conditions are in low-risk
categories, many teachers and classified
staff are not.
“Staff are at risk from asymptomatic
carriers,” he said.
He urged the board to reconsider what
he said amounted to the cancelation of
spring break.
Maryanna Hardin, a teacher at West
Park Elementary School, also asked the
board to consider the health of teachers.
“I feel like it’s only going to get worse
from here on out, but I guess we’ll see,”
she said.
Holtus told Osario and Hardin that the
school board was also concerned about
protecting health.
“I know the state will supersede this if
there is any doubt about the safety of staff
and students, and then it will be a moot
point,” she said.
The board voted unanimously to
accept Superintendent Tricia Mooney’s
recommendation to consider next week
spring break, to cancel spring conferences
and to cancel a planned board work ses-
sion on March 23.
Mooney said the state had not made
any more announcements yet about
whether the April 1 reopen date would be
extended, but said there has been talk of a
four-week closure.
She said she was happy to report that
students were already showing up to pick
up sack lunches and breakfasts from the
bus stops set up around the city to drop
off food, and she expected the numbers
See Closed, Page A12
“I FEEL LIKE IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE FROM HERE ON OUT.”
See BTW, Page A2
Maryanna Hardin, a teacher at West Park Elementary School,
who asked the board to consider the health of teachers.
Restaurants, bars victims of latest virus measures
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Last call for Hermiston
bars and restaurants took on
new meaning Monday night,
as they prepared to close for
the next four weeks.
On Monday afternoon,
Governor Kate Brown
ordered all bars and restau-
rants in the state to close
their doors to customers, but
allowed them the option of
take-out or delivery.
The measures, along with
a new prohibition on gath-
erings of more than 25 peo-
ple outside of essential loca-
tions such as grocery stores
and workplaces, are the lat-
8
08805 93294
2
est in an escalating attempt
to slow the spread of the
COVID-19 coronavirus.
Nookie’s
Restaurant
and Brewery owner Mitch
Myers said he was plan-
ning on closing completely,
despite the governor’s
allowance for take-out.
“It just doesn’t make any
practical sense to gear up
for that,” he said. “We do
room service for the hotel
and take-out, but it’s such a
small part of our business.
You have to weigh things
like labor costs.”
He said on Monday that
10 days prior business was
holding steady, seven days
ago there was a 5% to 10%
decrease, Thursday and Fri-
day 20%, Saturday 60%
and Sunday he had an 80%
decrease from normal Sun-
day customer levels.
“That tells me people
don’t necessarily want peo-
ple touching their food right
now, people aren’t out and
about and people are tight-
ening their belts,” he said.
Myers said instead of
spending money on take-
out containers — of which
there will likely be a short-
age anyway — and firing
up the kitchen in the hopes
people will order food, he
would rather use that money
See Eateries, Page A12
staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Nookie’s Restaurant and Brewery has announced that they
will close for four weeks as a result of limitations on bars and
restaurants in the state of Oregon