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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2020)
GOVERNOR DISCUSSES PLAN TO REOPEN EASTERN OREGON BUSINESSES » PAGE A10 Wednesday, april 22, 2020 HermistonHerald.com $1.50 INSIDE FARM TO TABLE, FREE PAYDAY Bankers say demand was high for the Paycheck Pro- tection Program in Eastern Oregon before it ran out of money. Page » A3 CAUTION Guardian Angel Homes in Hermiston is learning from other longterm care facili- ties’ horror stories to protect its residents from COVID-19x Page » A6 TESTING Interpath Laboratory has solved its supply chain issues to bring more COVID-19 testing capacity to Oregon. Page » A7 BY THE WAY staff photo by Ben lonergan/east Oregonian School district offers more Chromebooks Hermiston School District is offering more Chromebooks to families with multiple students. The district first checked out one of the devices per family, but is now offering up to three per family if the family has more than three stu- dents. Staff will be avail- able to check out devices the rest of the week between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the district offices, 305 SW 11th St. Families without inter- net access can also pick up paper packets of work. • • • Are you starting a new business, moving your business to a new loca- tion, under new man- agement or have other business-related news to announce? Starting May 6, the Hermiston Her- ald is increasing its focus on economic develop- ment, including business, agriculture and hous- ing, and we’re looking for new story ideas. Send your story ideas and tips to editor@hermistonher- ald.com. We’re also add- ing a regular opinion page that will include letters to the editor, which can also be sent to the above email See BTW, Page A12 Church members help to load bags of potatoes and onions into cars during a free food distribution at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hermiston on Friday afternoon. Farmers adjust as pandemic changes what people eat By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER When the COVID-19 pan- demic changed life in the United States, it changed what people eat, too. The sudden, unexpected shifts in demand caused by people eating at home more often have left some farmers in a difficult position. “Potatoes, onions, milk are all taking a beating,” said Pat Tolman, vice president of AgReserves, the parent com- pany of agricultural holdings that include AgriNorthwest and River Point Farms outside Hermiston. The farms’ customers include restaurant chains, but with restaurants closed or doing reduced sales via take- out, Americans are eating far fewer onion rings and French fries than normal. Tolman said processing plants in some parts of the country are strug- gling to stay open, adding vol- atility to the market. Corn has also taken a hit, as ethanol plants that previously converted corn into fuel have shut down as demand and prices for fuel have dropped. Milk is in lower demand from restaurants and schools, while fruits and vegetables seem to be a “mixed bag,” Tolman said. He said the bright spot in the industry might be wheat, which is doing well as quaran- staff photo by Ben lonergan A line of cars stretches through the parking lot and down Southeast Ninth Street and part of Highland Avenue on Friday, as people wait to pick up free bags of potatoes and onions at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hermiston. tined Americans are alleviat- ing boredom by baking. Flour is hard to find on grocery store shelves, but the nature of agri- culture is such that a new crop can’t be produced in a day or two, just like it is too late for some farmers to change what they planted. “Some farms, because of their normal rotation, have been able to make adjust- ments,” Tolman said. “Oth- ers already had plants in the ground, and that puts them in ONION ROASTED POTATOES 2 pounds potatoes 1 large onion 1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil salt and pepper 2 cups of shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese preheat oven to 450°. slice potatoes lengthwise into strips roughly an inch thick. slice onion into strips as well. place po- tatoes and onion into a 9x13 casserole dish. drizzle oil over the top and add salt and pepper (or other favorite seasonings that go well with potatoes). Mix until vegetables are coated. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes until potatoes are soft. remove foil and sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake for about five more minutes until cheese is melted. See Food, Page A12 Travel between Umatilla and Tri-Cities sparks concern By JADE MCDOWELL and ALEX CASTLE STAFF WRITERS 8 08805 93294 2 When Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and her Washing- ton counterpart, Jay Inslee, started issuing executive orders to stop the spread of COVID-19, worried rumors flew around social media in Umatilla that the Interstate 82 bridge over the Colum- bia River would close. As deaths from the virus rise in the Tri-Cities area, however, some Umatilla and Hermiston residents have started thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep possi- ble carriers on the Washing- ton side of the river. “We are hearing com- plaints,” Umatilla City Manager David Stockdale said. “The most complaints are from folks who are con- cerned that they are seeing a lot of Washington plates at the golf course.” Umatilla County’s case numbers rose to 28 on Tues- day, and the release of the health department’s weekly location trends map showed Hermiston is still the local hotspot with more than 10 confirmed cases, while Umatilla has between five and nine. Though higher volume of case numbers can be cor- related to greater access to testing in the area, Uma- tilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiumara said nearly every investigation into a confirmed case has revealed some sort of recent out-of-county travel. The Hermiston-Umatilla area’s proximity to the Tri-Cit- ies has likely played a role in the early trend, Fiumara said. “We draw these arbitrary lines between counties and states, but the virus doesn’t care which side of the bor- der you’re on or which side you came from,” Fiumara said. The Benton Frank- lin Health District has, as of Tuesday afternoon, announced 727 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 38 deaths in the two Washing- ton counties where Pasco, Richland and Kennewick are located, about 30 miles from the Oregon border. Stockdale said some community members who have called city hall are wor- ried that Washington resi- dents are bringing COVID- 19 into town with them to use the city’s golf course, marina and other facilities. Golf courses are closed in Washington but have been allowed to remain open in Oregon, and while all fish- ing is banned in Washing- ton, fishing in Oregon has been restricted to in-state residents only. Stockdale said a bigger worry than visitors might be that many Umatilla res- idents work in essential ser- vices in the Tri-Cities. “They still commute back and forth, and so we are concerned about that,” he said. He said the city is doing what it can to limit the spread of COVID-19 among residents, including closing city-owned facilities, such as parks and the library, and working with the school district on encouraging peo- ple to stay 6 feet apart when picking up meals and edu- cational packets delivered See Travel, Page A2
