NEWS
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Eateries
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to help his employees fi nancially in a
more direct way.
Losing four weeks of business
will be a blow, amplifi ed by the hit
Myers is also taking as the ban on
large gatherings has halted events
at the Maxwell Siding Event Center
and Maxwell Pavilion. But Myers
said he is in a fi nancial position to
weather the storm, and is focused
on being a strong leader for others.
He is more concerned about other
restaurants in town that don’t have
the cash to sit closed for a month,
and for his employees.
“Our success is because of our
employees, and we’re not going to
hang them out,” he said.
On Monday night, customers at
Midway Bar & Grill showed up for
one last hurrah.
“It had been slow, but it’s pretty
busy tonight,” owner Stuart Rice
said. “Everyone’s coming in to
have one last social time with their
friends.”
Rice, who also owns Last Chance
Tavern, said Last Chance will close
completely while Midway will offer
take-out.
While the governor’s orders are a
fi nancial blow, Rice said he wanted
to do what was right to help cus-
tomers and employees stay safe and
healthy.
“Everyone in the hospitality
industry around here does their best
to do what’s right,” he said.
The continuous announcements
about new preventative measures for
COVID-19 have been a whirlwind
for businesses. Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce CEO Kimberly Nevil
said the chamber has been focused
on helping all businesses in town
get the accurate, up-to-date informa-
tion “quickly and seamlessly” to help
them navigate the crisis.
The chamber is sending out reg-
ular emails and posting informa-
tion to its Facebook page regularly,
and Nevil said she has been fi elding
phone calls from local business own-
ers who have questions about what
new rules mean for them.
“It has been challenging, but it’s
also been neat to see the way the
community has pulled together,” she
said.
Updated guidance and specifi c
fi nancial tools for businesses can
be found at www.oregon4biz.com/
Coronavirus-Information. Business
owners can also contact their near-
est Small Business Development
Center, the Greater Eastern Oregon
Development Corporation or Uma-
tilla County Economic Develop-
ment Director Gail Nelson to discuss
what grants, loans and other aid is
available.
Assistant city manager Mark Mor-
gan said in an email that Hermiston is
better positioned than it was in 2007
to weather the effects of the short-
term and long-term impacts of the
virus. The 16 industry sectors most
closely tied to tourism, including
restaurants and hotels, make up 7.8%
of Hermiston jobs, Morgan said,
compared to 11.6% countywide and
11.5% statewide.
Umatilla County announced Mon-
day that there are currently no known
active cases of COVID-19 in Uma-
tilla County, after the county’s two
known cases have both recovered.
In a news release, the county
commission stated that there is a
“delicate balance” to be found in
protecting the health of everyone in
the county while also trying to avoid
economic damage to its most fragile
citizens.
“Umatilla County, which is still
emerging from a fl ood disaster, is
well aware of those who need food,
shelter, and other support do not
enjoy the luxury of long waiting
periods while programs are put into
place. Their needs are immediate,”
the release stated.
“Umatilla County’s commission-
ers and community leaders are urg-
ing all those involved with provid-
ing relief for the situations created in
this emergency to act in all haste to
provide the relief needed by all those
affected by Covid-19.”
According to state labor data,
businesses employ about 155,000
food service workers in Oregon.
The latest development came as
Brown continues to ramp up restric-
tions intended to keep people out of
crowds and away from each other if
they’re sick.
She urged any business that isn’t
able to change its services to take-
out or delivery methods to evaluate
whether they should remain open.
“Each action has a ripple effect
across our state, both on a personal
level and an economic one,” Brown
said. “Working together, we can
overcome these hurdles in an Ore-
gon way.”
On Sunday, Brown told report-
ers she was considering imposing
a curfew or even closing the state’s
restaurants and bars but on Mon-
day morning, she said she decided
against such actions.
Four hours after that, she
announced the ban on inside dining.
Sam Stites from the Oregon Capi-
tal Bureau contributed to this report.
Closed
Continued from Page A1
to continue to grow as word
spread.
“The good news is we’re get-
ting some of our kiddos fed,”
she said.
On Friday, as Brown held a
news conference to discuss her
change of mind late Thursday
night, she said the Centers for
Disease Control has determined
that a short closure like the two
weeks currently planned has not
been shown to slow the spread
of disease. Instead, she said,
she made the decision because
she had heard from some of
the state’s larger districts that
they were having trouble keep-
ing their schools staffed enough
to keep them “functionally
operational.”
Umatilla School District
Superintendent Heidi Sipe said
Friday that she had had an inkling
that a school closure might be
coming, but she wasn’t expect-
ing it to come right after she got
home from a school board meet-
ing to discuss plans for COVID-
19 on Thursday night.
The district, which has a
high number of economically
disadvantaged families, is not
only offering free meals for
students during the closure, but
also meals for adult for $1 for
breakfast and $2 for lunch or
dinner.
“We know a lot of families
will be paying for day care they
weren’t expecting and may have
additional fi nancial strain, espe-
cially if they are missing hours
of work,” she said.
Echo School District Super-
intendent Raymon Smith said
the district is complying with the
governor’s mandate, “whether
we agree with it or not.”
The district had an emer-
gency meeting on Thursday
night to discuss contingency
plans for possible closures, and
after the governor’s announce-
ment later that night, Smith said
the school board will have fur-
ther discussions during Mon-
day’s regularly scheduled board
meeting. However, he said the
situation is so fl uid right now
that they will probably hold off
on making a fi nal decision on
what the rest of the school cal-
endar will look like.
“We will plan and put things
on paper as far as options,
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020
SCHOOL MEAL LOCATIONS
Hermiston
To-go meals will be served from 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. at Sunset Elementary School, West Park Elementary
School and Hermiston High School. They will also provide meals at
11 a.m. at Sunset Park and 11:30 a.m. at Victory Square Park.
Mid-Columbia Bus Company buses will also be delivering meals on
the following schedule:
Bus #1
7:20 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Dirt lot on Punkin Center; 7:25 a.m. and
10:55 a.m. Sagebrush and Joy Lane; 7:35 a.m. and 11:05 a.m. Balboa
Lane; 7:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Punkin Center Trailer Park; 8:00 a.m.
and 11:30 am Stop Joy Lane and Kik Road; 8:10 a.m. and 11:40 a.m.
Punkin Center and Overlook Drive; 8:20 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. Vista
Park; 8:25 a.m. and 11:55 a.m. Country Squire; 8:30 a.m. and
12:00 p.m. Sandstone Middle School; 8:35 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. Aspen
Apartments; 8:45 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. Dogwood Apartments
Bus #2
7:20 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. Viewcrest and Hacienda West Apartments;
7:30 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. Northeast 12th Street and West Madro-
na Avenue; 7:35 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. 12th Street and Ridgeway
Avenue; 7:40 a.m. and 11:05 a.m. Northwest 12th Street and Hartley
Avenue; 7:45 a.m. and 11:10 a.m. Applewood Apartments; 8:00 a.m.
and 11:20 a.m. Chateaubri; 8:10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Buttercreek;
8:20 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. Sunland Apartments; 8:30 a.m. and
11:50 a.m. Highland Manor Apartments; 8:40 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
Armand Larive Middle School
Umatilla
Meals for children ages 0-18 are available for free, and adults can get
breakfast for $1 and lunch and dinner for $2. Senior citizens can also
call and request a meal delivered for $5.
Meal locations are:
McNary Heights Elementary: Breakfast 8-9 a.m., lunch 11 a.m. to
noon, dinner 5-6 p.m.; Umatilla High School: Breakfast 8:30-9:30 a.m.
and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Kiwanis Park: Lunch 12:30-
1:30 p.m.; Marina Park: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Triangle Park:
Lunch 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Stanfi eld
Meals are available for students to pick up from 11 a.m. to noon at
Bard Park on March 16-19 and March 30-31.
Echo
Meals are available for students to pick up from Echo School from
8-9 a.m. and 11 a.m. to noon.
Morrow County
Meals served by the school district for students during the closure
are:
Sam Boardman Elementary School, 9 a.m. to noon; Meal drop off
at Wilson trailer park 9-9:15 a.m.; Drop off at Boardman Library
9:20-9:35 a.m.; Drop off at Riverside Jr/Sr High School 9:40-10 a.m.;
A.C. Houghton Elementary School 9 a.m. to noon; Drop off at Irrigon
Library, 9-9:15 a.m.; Irrigon Elementary School, 9:20-9:15 a.m.; Hep-
pner High School 9 a.m. to noon; Drop off at City Park 9:20-9:35 a.m.;
Drop off at Heppner Elementary School 9:40-10:00 a.m.
depending on where things go,
but I don’t think it’s the time
to make a permanent plan,” he
said.
Smith said there are still
questions about how the closure
will affect things like state test-
ing, but “the least of my con-
cerns right now is state testing.”
“The physical and mental
health of our students is more of
a concern to us,” he said. “We
can fi gure out the learning piece
later.”
As school administrators
grapple with questions about
what will happen if school build-
ings don’t end up reopening
this spring, they are reminding
the state that distance learning
doesn’t work well in communi-
ties where many students don’t
have reliable access to internet.
“It’s not just getting students
devices, you also have to address
internet equity,” Morrow County
School District superintendent
Dirk Dirksen said.
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Eastern Oregon students
leading school district’s
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Umatilla School District
Superintendent Heidi Sipe accepts
a check from Energy Trust of Ore-
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In the Umatilla School Dis-
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Through an effort called Stra-
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The students are working on
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