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.
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