WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2020
HermistonHerald.com

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UPDATES
Umatilla County
reports four new
COVID-19 cases
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Four new cases of
COVID-19 were reported
in Umatilla County on
Tuesday, June 9, bringing
the county’s case total to
140 confi rmed cases and
nine presumptive cases,
according to a press
release.
All four of the individuals
are currently self-isolating
at home, the release
stated, though it didn’t
state whether any have
been traced to previously
confi rmed cases.
Of the county’s 149
cases, 119 are considered
recovered and 27 are
considered active. A
person is considered
recovered when they’ve
gone at least 72 hours
without symptoms such
as fever, cough, shortness
of breath and diarrhea.
Two residents with
COVID-19 are currently
hospitalized, and three
deaths from the virus
have been reported in the
county.
Nine of the county’s
cases are still considered
presumptive, the
release stated, which
means those individuals
haven’t tested positive
for COVID-19 but are
displaying symptoms
after being identifi ed
as a close contact of a
confi rmed case.
According to the Umatilla
County Public Health
Department’s website,
2,137 COVID-19 tests have
been run in the county as
of June 9.
Statewide, on June 8 the
Oregon Health Authority
reported Oregon is at
4,922 confi rmed cases
and 164 deaths.
On a national level, the
Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
reports more than 1.95
million Americans have
been diagnosed with
COVID-19 and 110,925
Americans have died from
it.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Rasna Som, 10, bowls at Desert Lanes Family Fun Center in Hermiston on Monday, June 8, 2020.
Hermiston enters next
phase in reopening
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
F
irst it was haircuts, and now
comes bowling.
Umatilla County contin-
ues to see more businesses
reopen after the county moved
to Phase 2 of the state’s multi-
step plan for reopening the
economy during the COVID-
19 pandemic.
Morrow County and 13 other counties
were approved for Phase 2 on Friday, June
5. After the state initially asked for more
information, Umatilla County joined that
group the next day. The phase allows for
gatherings of up to 50 indoors and 100
outdoors, and adds more establishments
to the list approved for reopening.
On Monday, staff at the Desert Lanes
Family Fun Center in Hermiston were
excited to offer bowling and arcade games
for the fi rst time since March.
“Just like every other business, we’re
happy to be reopened and moving forward
now,” manager Ray Fields said.
Returning customers will notice
changes when they walk in the door. The
new lighting, tables and renovated con-
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Ray Fields, manager of the Desert Lanes Family Fun Center in Hermiston, shows where
customers will have to check out bowling balls on Monday, June 8, 2020.
cessions/bar space are improvements just
for the sake of making the center nicer.
Other changes, such as sneeze guards
over the counter and every other table in
the concessions area being taped off, are
following guidelines to prevent the spread
of COVID-19.
Staff all wear masks now, and have
their temperature checked when they
arrive at the door. Four additional employ-
ees now work each shift, including a “por-
ter” whose job is to wipe down an arcade
machine each time someone is done using
it. Customers are spaced out on every
other lane, with odd lanes going dark
some days and even-numbered lanes dark
the next day.
Bowling balls are now behind the
See Phase 2, Page A12
Hermiston’s Black Lives Matter protests continue
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
As a line of protesters that
stretched two blocks long marched
down Highway 395 in Hermiston
on Saturday, June 6, they joined in
chants that have been echoed by
hundreds of thousands of people
around the world in the past two
weeks.
“No justice, no peace! No rac-
ist police!”
“Hands up! Don’t shoot!”
“Say his name! George Floyd!”
The protest against racism
and police violence was Hermis-
ton’s second in a week, drawing
a steadily swelling crowd of area
residents holding signs with mes-
sages, such as “Stop killing black
people” and “End police brutality.”
They started at the corner of
Highway 395 and Elm Avenue,
and after about an hour marched
to the festival street in downtown
Hermiston. There, they began with
an 8 minute and 45 second long
moment of silence — the amount
of time that Minneapolis police
INSIDE
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
A protester holds a “Racism is for losers” sign on the corner of Highway 395
and Elm Avenue in Hermiston on Saturday, June 6, 2020.
Black Lives Matter protesters march toward downtown Hermiston on
Saturday, June 6, 2020.
offi cer Derek Chauvin was seen
kneeling on George Floyd’s neck
during a video that sparked pro-
tests across the world.
Downtown, standing beside a
memorial to Floyd, Breonna Tay-
lor and other black Americans
ban on chokeholds, protections for
offi cers who intervene when they
see a fellow offi cer doing some-
thing wrong, and having the FBI
handle investigations of offi cers
accused of assault or murder.
She said a majority of police
A2  Hermiston High School hosts
unique graduation
killed by police, Hermiston resi-
dent Jackie Linton said the protest
was not about hating police, but
rather about justice.
She outlined reforms to polic-
ing in America that she wanted to
see, including additional training, a
A3  Two Hermiston businesses
are named in the state’s COVID-19
outbreak list
A5  The Hermiston City Council
passes its budget amid calls nation-
wide to ‘defund the police’
may join to protect and serve, but
wrongdoers need to face justice.
“We want them tried and found
guilty and sent to prison where they
belong, not on the police force, not
See BLM, Page A12
A7  Umatilla, Stanfi eld and Echo
students celebrate graduation