WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
UPDATES
GEODC off ers
second round
of grant
funding
The Greater Eastern
Oregon Development Cor-
poration has $370,000
available to support small
businesses in its coverage
area.
The money comes from
Business Oregon, which
approved $5 million state-
wide in the second round
of grants through the Emer-
gency Business Assis-
tance Grant Fund to help
businesses that have been
impacted by COVID-19
but have not received fed-
eral CARES Act funding.
According to a news
release, businesses with
fewer than 25 employees
are eligible, including sole
proprietors, and “histori-
cally disadvantaged” busi-
ness owners are encour-
aged to apply. They may
use the proceeds for any
business-related
operat-
ing expense, including the
the costs associated with
reopening while comply-
ing with additional state
guidelines for COVID-19.
GEODC
Executive
Director Susan Christensen
said in a statement that the
grant funds “will support
women, minority, disad-
vantaged, and sole pro-
prietor businesses as they
make their comeback.”
The $370,000 is divided
between the seven counties
GEODC covers. Umatilla
County has $200,000 allot-
ted, and $30,000 is avail-
able to Morrow County
businesses.
— Hermiston Herald
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Plastic cups shoved into the fence at the tennis courts at Hermiston High School off er a message of encouragement from the school’s staff .
ROUGH
DRAFT
School districts work on plans
for class in the age of COVID-19
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
T
he Class of 2020
left high school
under unique cir-
cumstances
with
“socially
distant”
graduations
this
month, but for their
younger peers, the
effects of COVID-19 on their
education continue.
The Oregon Department of
Education released guidelines
on June 10 for schools to be
able to reopen their doors in the
fall, directing school districts
to use the framework to put
together their own plans.
“It’s a lot,” Hermiston
School District Superinten-
dent Tricia Mooney said of the
47-page document on the day
it was released. “There’s a lot
to digest, and with it released
today, at the district level we
need to put together a team
to look at that and put a plan
together.”
She said the district plans to
start school on Aug. 24, and get-
ting the offi cial word from the
state on what needs to happen
“puts us one step closer to hav-
ing kids back in the buildings.”
The state’s report sets broad
standards — students’ desks
HH fi le photo
Pens, pencils and erasers await organization as teachers prepare their
classrooms at Rocky Heights Elementary School in Hermiston in 2019.
Next year, students will not be allowed to share supplies to reduce the
risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Summer meals
Hermiston School District will continue to provide free breakfast
and lunch for children under 18 throughout the summer. Meals will
be dropped off at the same bus stops as during the school year,
but will no longer be delivered to door steps. Pickup locations for
meals are Armand Larive Middle School, Sandstone Middle School,
Hermiston High School and West Park Elementary School from
7:30-8:30 a.m. for breakfast and 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for lunch.
must be 6 feet apart with 35
square feet of space per per-
son in the room, students must
be kept together with the same
“cohort” as much as possible,
and staff coming within 6 feet
of students must be masked.
But each district must come
up with their own plan for how
that is accomplished.
See Schools, Page A12
Pandemic adds a new accessory to peoples’ wardrobes
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
When the world’s top fash-
ion brands were planning out their
2020 looks, they probably weren’t
expecting masks to become a hot
spring fashion item.
The pandemic has spawned a
cottage industry of mask-mak-
ers, however, who have pulled out
their sewing machines in recent
months and responded to the sud-
den demand for comfortable face
coverings with a little fl air.
Paula Messenger of Hermiston
has a collection of masks in a vari-
ety of colors and patterns, includ-
ing a University of Oregon mask,
one for the Seattle Seahawks and
a purple and gold one for Hermis-
ton’s graduation.
“I determine what shirt I’m
going to wear, and then deter-
mine what mask I can wear that
will match that, and try to have fun
with it, even though this is a seri-
ous thing,” she said.
COVID-19 is very serious to
Messenger, who has a health con-
dition that makes her immunocom-
promised and at high risk from the
virus. She also has friends who are
sick with it now. So she wears a
mask every time she has to go out,
and hopes that even if the mask
covers up her smile, the fun pat-
terns might make someone smile
anyway.
“I get the feeling I’ll start to get
INSIDE
Contributed photo
Kathy Street ordered this hippo mask from the Cincinnati Zoo to support
Fiona, one of the zoo’s hippopotamuses.
Paula and Pat Messenger dressed up in Hawaiian shirts and Oregon Ducks
masks to virtually attend an online wedding ceremony for friends who had
canceled their destination wedding for something small streamed online.
Christmas masks and things like
that too,” she said.
Messenger got some of her
masks from Josie Sisson, a friend
she made in Hermiston who now
lives in Moses Lake, Washington.
Sisson said her daughter is a can-
cer survivor and her husband is
masks online.
Sisson said her most popular
masks are Seattle Seahawks, fol-
lowed by college mascots, animal
prints and Marvel’s Avengers.
“I cannot walk into Joann’s
(fabric store) without walking out
with a lot of cool fabrics,” she said.
Contributed photo
A3 Umatilla County sees its largest
single-day increase in COVID-19 cases
an essential worker, so she dusted
off her old sewing machine and
made them masks at the begin-
ning of the pandemic. Since then,
she has shipped 840 masks to
people around the country who
found her through Facebook
when she started selling her extra
A7 Pepes Market opens a new store
in Hermiston
A8 Boardman’s coal-fi red plant
prepares to close
“I have 65 different fabrics now
people can choose from.”
Since the early days when
masks were nowhere to be found
on store shelves and people were
making them for themselves,
See Masks, Page A12
A9 Good Shepherd Health Care Sys-
tem opens more services up for Phase 2
