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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2020)
FEATURES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11 COLUMN Things to be grateful for in the age of COVID-19 hese past few weeks have Just over 100 years ago, the been bewildering. Tir- Hermiston Herald’s archives ing. Worrying. I’m sure show, Hermistonians were disap- you can think of plenty of other pointed by the the cancellation of adjectives. movies, school, church, parades, As we have been hit with the county fair and more to stop whirlwind of news the the spread of the lethal likes of which most of us Spanish infl uenza. His- have never seen before, it tory shows that those mea- can be easy to feel a sense sures were highly effec- of anxiety and gloom. So tive and were then able to in an effort to ease that be retired so that people just a little, I offer you a could return to their nor- few positive things to keep mal activities. Jade in mind. Today, we are in far bet- McDowell First, the cancellation ter shape than our ances- NEWS EDITOR of so many activities we tors a century ago. We enjoy or were looking for- have better medical tech- ward to is disappointing, but it nology and medications to fi ght means that we as a society are illnesses and save the lives of addressing this threat head on some who would have died under instead of burying our heads in the care of 1918 medicine. And the sand, and medical experts say remember that any measures we are saving many lives this we take to slow the spread of way. COVID-19 is also helping spare There are examples every- people from colds, infl uenza and where of people putting their other illnesses. community’s health ahead of Those who won’t get sick but profi ts — in my own industry, are merely waiting out the wave despite losing signifi cant adver- of COVID-19 cases are also far tising revenue right now because better off than our ancestors. We canceled events and closed busi- live in the golden age of stream- nesses, news outlets are still low- ing television and movies, not ering paywalls and sharing sto- to mention more audio books, ries freely with their competitors e-books, podcasts, games, news, in order to get important infor- YouTube videos and more at our mation to the public, even if fi ngertips than we could possibly it hurts our bottom line. Other consume in 1,000 lifetimes. industries are stepping up in their We have endless ways to con- own ways. nect with the outside world elec- T WE HAVE ENDLESS WAYS TO CONNECT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD ELECTRONICALLY WHILE STUCK AT HOME, TO FIGHT LONELINESS AND CHECK ON OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WITH NO RISK OF EXPOSURE. tronically while stuck at home, to fi ght loneliness and check on our friends and family with no risk of exposure. Using many of those same technologies, public health offi cials, school districts and other government agencies are able to get important informa- tion to us faster than ever before. We can order supplies online if we want to avoid the store. And while many workers have been hit by loss of income, technology has also allowed some to con- tinue earning a paycheck from home despite their offi ce shut- ting down. Over the weekend, people in Hermiston were panic-buy- ing everything in sight at local stores. While it might have felt alarming to see empty shelves that evening, we know that new truckloads of supplies are being sent to these stores each day. There is not an increased need or decreased production of products such as toilet paper, just a tempo- rary spike in demand. For years, including a column I wrote in September, I’ve been using my platform as a journal- ist to encourage people to follow the Red Cross and Oregon Emer- gency Management’s advice to be “2 Weeks Ready” by keeping two weeks worth of food, toilet- ries and other supplies on hand in case of an emergency. Two weeks, incidentally, is how long people have been asked to stay quarantined if they were exposed to a case of COVID-19. The 2 Weeks Ready cam- paign was mostly designed with a major earthquake in mind, so the fact that it has been tested through COVID-19 instead is good news. Instead of the sudden loss of power, water and other resources, people have been given a much more slow-roll- ing timeline to see where their preparedness is lacking and buy extra supplies. This can help people be more prepared on an individual level in the future, just as hospital and other entities will likely be more prepared with needed supplies in the future. While the closure of schools in Oregon for at least two weeks is unfortunate, less than 24 hours after the governor announced the closure, every single one of our local school districts had a plan for making sure students who depend on school break- fasts and lunches will continue to have access to meals during the shutdown. The last week hasn’t been easy, and we know that all of this won’t go away overnight. I don’t want to downplay the real harm that people have suffered. But I hope through all of this that everyone is able to remember to count their blessings, too. As you focus on increas- ing your physical health through measures such as hand-washing, take care of your mental health too. Read a book. Have a family (or solo) dance party in your liv- ing room. Make cookies. Write in a journal. Learn a new skill. Paint. Call a friend. Do whatever you need to during this time to take care of yourself and others. Five Dawgs pick up all-conference wrestling accolades By ANNIE FOWLER SPORTS EDITOR Sophomore Sam Cade- nas leads a contingent of fi ve Hermiston wrestlers named to the Mid-Colum- bia Conference all-confer- ence team. Cadenas was named to the fi rst team at 220 pounds by the conference coaches. Cadenas won district and regional titles, and placed third at state. He fi nished with record of 39-8. Trevor Wagner, a junior, was selected to the second team at 160 pounds. Sse- nior Dustyn Coughlin was a second-team pick at 285. Wagner, who was 34-9 on the season, won a dis- trict title, was second at regionals and third at state. Coughlin fi nished third at district, won the regional title, and then placed sixth at state. He fi nished the sea- son with a 28-15 record. Sophomores Hunter Dyer (132) and Jon Lee (195) earned honorable mention honors. Dyer placed third at dis- trict, and fi nished fourth at regionals to earn a trip to state. Dyer went 1-2 in his fi rst trip to the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washing- ton. He fi nished the season 26-19. Lee, who was second at district, fi nished fi fth at regionals to miss out on a return trip to state. His sea- son record was 23-11. Chiawana’s Robby Vaughn (138) was named the lower weight Wrestler of the Year, while Pasco’s Isaiah Gonzalez (160) was the upper weight Wrestler of the Year. Both won state titles. Coach the Year hon- CRYPTOQUIP MID-COLUMBIA CONFERENCE Wagner Cadenas Lee Dyer ors went to Chiawana’s Jack Ander- son. The Riverhawks picked up their second consecu- tive 4A state team title. Coughlin Lower weight Wrestler of the Year: Robby Vaughn, sr., Chiawana. Upper weight Wrestler of the Year: Isaiah Gonzalez, sr., Pasco. Coach of the Year: Jack Anderson, Chiawana. First Team 106 — Isaiah Medina, fr., Chiawana. 113 — Nathan- iel Tovar, sr., Pasco. 120 — Eric Correa, jr., Pasco. 126 — Antonio Ramos, jr., Kennewick; Jackson Salazar, jr., Chiawana. 132 — Lance Stover, so., Chiawana. 138 — Robby Vaughn, sr., Chiawana. 145 — Jordan Tobery, so., Southridge. 152 — Joey Chavez, sr., Kamiakin. 160 — Isaiah Gonzalez, sr., Pasco. 170 — Riley Cissne, sr., Chi- awana. 182 — Tyson Stover, sr., Chiawana. 195 — Isaiah SUPER CROSSWORD: SOUL RESCUER Anderson, so., Chiawana. 220 — Sam Cadenas, so., Hermiston. 285 — Damian Silva, sr., Pasco. Second Team 106 — Por Htoo, fr., Chiawa- na. 113 — Ler Pweh Htoo, jr., Kennewick. 120 — Victor Godinez, so., Pasco; Nate Montelongo, so., Chiawana; Guillermo Ramirez-Diaz, sr., Kamiakin. 126 — Eduardo Manzo, sr., Pasco. 132 — Miguel Hinojosa, sr., Pasco. 138 — Antonio Ramos, jr., Pasco. 145 — Judah Bishop, fr., Chiawana. 152 — Darion Johnson, so., Chiawana. 160 — Trevor Wagner, jr., Hermiston. 170 — Ryan Stayrook, sr., Southridge. 182 — Nathaniel Torres, jr., Pasco. 195 — Gilbert Marquez, jr., Kamiakin. 220 — Kaden James, jr., Richland. 285 — Dustyn Coughlin, sr., Herm- iston. Honorable Mention 106 — Devin Boone, sr., Southridge; Payton Smith, jr., Kamiakin. 113 — Ruben Lozano, sr., Walla Walla. 120 — Saw Thee, so., Kenne- wick. 132 — Hunter Dyer, so., Hermiston. 145 — Eli Lemieux, sr., Richland. 152 — Treyton Keller, sr., Hanford; Caleb Mendenhall, jr., Hanford. 160 — Brody Ray, sr., Kennewick. 170 — Dylan Holt, sr., Kennewick; Travis Thorn, jr., Pasco. 182 — Cody Hudson, sr., Southridge. 195 — Jon Lee, so., Hermiston; Jakobie Reynolds, jr., Han- ford. 220 — JJ Rodriguez, sr., Chiawana; Chayc Ottum, jr., Kennewick. 285 — Colby Blasdel, sr., Chiawana. SUDOKU DIFFICULTY THIS WEEK EASTERN OREGON EVENTS The place to fi nd everything happening in Eastern Oregon. Post your events. It’s fast and easy! e-Edition For Hermiston Herald information 541-567-6457 • info@hermistonherald.com 333 E. Main St. • HermistonHerald.com Exact digital replica of this print edition is available online, every Wednesday by 5:30 a.m. Check out Hermiston Herald.com for more information.
