WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
UPDATES
Tax relief
available
for local
businesses
hit by
COVID-19
HERMISTON HERALD
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Revenue is
reminding businesses
that have been demon-
strably affected by
COVID-19 that relief is
available for the Corpo-
rate Activity Tax.
The deadline to make
estimated payments for
the second quarter is
July 31.
According to the
department, it will honor
“a business taxpayer’s
good-faith efforts to
comply with the CAT
and not assess penal-
ties if they document
their efforts to comply,
including how COVID-
19 has impacted their
business.”
The news release
stated that the busi-
nesses should make a
good faith effort to pay
but will not be penal-
ized if they fall short
because they don’t have
the fi nancial ability
to make the estimated
payment.
They should be able
to provide documen-
tation of their inabil-
ity to pay or estimate
payment, and registra-
tion for the Coropo-
rate Activity Tax is still
required within 30 days
of reaching $750,000
in Oregon commercial
activity in a calendar
year.
The Corporate Activ-
ity Tax was instituted
by the Oregon Legis-
lature in 2019 to help
fund education through
the Student Success
Act. It taxes business
activity in excess of $1
million per year within
Oregon for all business
types.
For more information
visit oregon.gov/dor/
programs/businesses/
Pages/corporate-activ-
ity-tax.aspx, email cat.
help.dor@oregon.gov
or call 503-945-8005.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Masked shoppers leave Walmart in Hermiston on Monday, July 6, 2020. The state of Oregon put in place a mandate last week requiring people in indoor
public spaces to wear a mask.
Time to mask up
Hermiston businesses encounter a mix of compliance, resistance
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
W
hile masks have
been encouraged
by public health
experts at orga-
nizations, such
as the Centers
for Disease Control and Preven-
tion, they are now mandatory in
Oregon.
Local business owners say
some people have given them
trouble over their request to mask
up, but most customers have been
understanding.
When announcing her require-
ment that Oregonians mask up
while in indoor public spaces,
such as grocery stores, laundro-
mats and workplaces, Gov. Kate
Brown said enforcement would
be through the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
and Oregon Liquor Control Com-
mission, with penalties for busi-
nesses that don’t comply.
“For businesses that refuse to
comply, OSHA and OLCC staff
are empowered to take adminis-
trative action, including issuing
citations, fi nes, and Red Warning
Notices if necessary,” she stated.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A sign advising of the mask requirement adorns the front door at
Neighborhood Books and Gifts in downtown Hermiston.
“I HIGHLY BELIEVE IF THERE IS A WAY WE
CAN GET MORE MASKS TO MORE PEOPLE
AT A VERY LOW COST IT COULD POSSIBLY
INCREASE USAGE.”
— Krystal Dunagan, store manager of Rue 21 in Hermiston
A Red Warning Notice can
cause a business to be closed until
the “hazardous condition” identi-
fi ed by OSHA — in this case, a
lack of masks helping protect
employees and customers from
COVID-19 — is resolved.
Jessica Narain, manager of
the Hermiston Denny’s and the
Best Western hotel next door,
said someone from the OLCC did
visit Denny’s on July 3 to check
if the restaurant was in compli-
ance. She said the inspector sat at
a table and observed for a while,
and was “satisfi ed with our new
procedures at work.”
She said so far they have only
had a small handful of issues with
guests who didn’t want to wear a
mask when asked to do so. She
said those who say they have a
medical condition that makes it
too diffi cult to wear a mask are
asked to briefl y hold a napkin
over their mouth as they pass by
others’ tables on the way to their
own.
“People understand and they
get it,” she said.
Krystal Dunagan, store man-
ager of Rue 21 in Hermiston, said
in response to a Facebook post by
the Hermiston Herald about the
mask requirement that a few peo-
ple didn’t want to wear a mask
out of principle, but she was also
seeing some customers say they
simply didn’t own a mask. She
said she gave out the ones she had
on hand and had requested more.
“I highly believe if there is
See Masks, Page A10
Umatilla housing
boom continues
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A concrete mixer pours a foundation at a housing development along Powerline Road in Umatilla on Monday,
July 6, 2020.
INSIDE
A3 Hermiston residents respond
to revelations about racist letter
A6 Hermiston Family Aquatic
Center adjusts to new rules for
COVID-19
In 2019 Umatilla City Manager
David Stockdale predicted the city
would see about 100 new homes a
year for the next fi ve years, and so
far that prediction is on track.
“Similar to a year ago, we con-
tinue to see not only those num-
bers, but even more than that,” he
said.
Hayden River Estates, Cher-
yl’s Place and Vandelay Mead-
ows — subdivisions by Columbia
Basin Development each contain-
ing 26 homes — are in various
A7 Planning commission to
discuss homeless shelter zoning
phases of construction currently on
the south side of Umatilla. Lots are
also being sold for new home con-
struction at Riverwood Estates in
McNary.
Stockdale said the city is work-
ing with a developer on a master
plan for a larger subdivision, and
with another developer on a plan
for more than 100 new condos that
would run between $98,000 and
$145,000.
“We’re talking to several other
interested home builders right now,
and I know those home builders
See Boom, Page A10
A9 Bendixsen law fi rm will stay
in the family