NEWS
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
Comet NEOWISE lights up the sky over Eastern Oregon
School
Continued from Page A1
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Comet NEOWISE appears in the sky above rural Umatilla County outside of Hermiston on Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The comet,
which is visible through the middle of August, can be seen in the northwest corner of the sky beginning roughly an hour and a
half after sunset.
Gym
Continued from Page A1
governor’s orders. Clients
will have to wear masks
when they initially walk in,
but they can remove them
once they start exercising.
They also ask all visitors to
maintain at least 6 feet of
distance and limit physical
contact. Adams said there
will be signs to remind peo-
ple of these rules as they
come in. He said the facility
will be cleaned nighty using
a professional cleaning crew
and a fogger machine.
Juan Cardoza, a poten-
tial member of the gym who
recently stopped by for a
visit, said he’s most excited
about the quality of the gym
and its amenities, especially
the basketball court.
“The quality of the gym,
like I was saying to the man-
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A basketball court and walking track are among amenities
at the new Hermiston Athletic Club on Highway 395 in
Hermiston. The club will open on Monday, July 27, 2020.
ager, can produce some
more successful athletes;
there’s really no excuse with
all of this equipment,” Car-
doza said.
Although there are equip-
ment and programs designed
for athletes, Adams said he
wants to emphasize that the
gym is for everyone inter-
ested in improving their
health and wellness.
“We want to be all-inclu-
sive and we want everyone
to be welcome here, but we
also wanted to do something
a little bit different,” he said.
“We want to have people be
inspired and motivated and
be better, whether it’s ath-
letes or everyday people.”
The athletic club has sev-
eral amenities, from a pri-
vate group training room to
indoor track. There will be
a group fi tness area, offer-
ing a full lineup of classes,
such as Zumba, yoga, spin
and barre. The club will also
have a gaming area with
consoles, such as Xbox.
Adams said they plan
to have volleyball camps
and other skills camps led
by professional college
coaches, as well as dodge-
ball tournaments, laser tag
nights and other similar
events to get the community
involved.
“We are going to try to
be as active in the commu-
nity as we possibly can and
get some fun programs,” he
said. “We really want this
to be a culture of fun and
a good environment that
improves people’s health
and fi tness.”
all students and staff, as
well as clear plastic face
shields for staff to wear for
extra protection.
Sipe said the buffs —
round, scarf-like acces-
sories made famous by
the television show “Sur-
vivor” — can be worn
comfortably around the
neck by students, and
then pulled up over their
mouth and nose when
they are near someone
else.
Sipe also ordered 300
TV trays for elementary
school students to use as
small, makeshift desks
since schools are not
allowed to place students
around group tables next
year.
“Parents have had con-
cerns about students’
return to school,” Sipe
said.
“It’s pretty clear par-
ents are worried about
sending their kids back to
school, and rightfully so,
but they feel like they’re
between a rock and a hard
place, because they have
jobs they need to be at,”
she said.
Sipe said they have
been presented with three
main options next year.
In the hybrid model,
students can return to the
classroom four days a
week, supplemented by
some online learning.
For the second option,
students can do school-
work online and partici-
pate in virtual classrooms,
including
interaction
through video chat with
an in-person classroom
during activities, such as
story time.
For the third option,
parents who are inter-
ested in essentially home
schooling their child can
get curriculum, home-
work and tests for them
to do on their own time,
with just an occasional
check-in
with
their
teacher.
As of July 17, almost
a third of the district’s
families had registered
for school, and of those
families, about 80% have
chosen the hybrid model.
Sipe said one thing that
has seemed to put par-
ents’ mind at ease is that
they are allowed to switch
during the school year
with fi ve days notice, so if
one model isn’t working
for their student, they’re
not stuck with it all year.
The district now has
enough Chromebooks for
each student in the district
to have one, along with
setting up neighborhood
Wi-Fi hot spots around
town that only the dis-
trict’s Chromebooks can
connect to. Another 200
hot spots will be available
for check-out by students
who aren’t near a neigh-
borhood site.
Sipe said in the past,
the district had not pro-
vided a Chromebook for
each student out of con-
cerns that the devices
would be lost or damaged.
But she said everyone has
returned the devices they
checked out in the spring,
and only a “handful” out
of the 1,000 came back
with damage.
Once the pandemic
is over, she said, stu-
dents each having their
own Chromebook to take
home will probably be the
new normal.
She
said
elective
classes, such as band
or welding, will still be
offered, with some online
practice throughout the
week and the opportunity
for students to come in
with small, socially dis-
tanced cohorts on Fridays
to do hands-on work with
a teacher.
“Kids want electives,”
she said. “They want to
make sure they can still
access the fun parts of
school, and we want to
make sure that answer is
yes.”
New online form available for
unemployment applications
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The Oregon Employ-
ment Department, in part-
nership with Google, has
launched a new online tool
it says will make it easier
for Oregonians to apply for
Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance.
The Public Unemploy-
ment Assistance program is
part of the federal CARES
Act stimulus package, pro-
viding money to people who
are unemployed during the
pandemic but would not
normally qualify for unem-
ployment benefi ts, such as
those who were previously
self-employed.
In a news release, the
department said the new
online form will help the
“more than 100,000 mostly
self-employed Oregonians
who have applied for PUA
to get their weekly benefi t
payments faster.”
On May 31, Gov. Kate
Brown
asked
Oregon
Employment Director Kay
Erickson to resign over
the issue, and appointed
David Gerstenfeld as acting
director.
“When I took on this role,
I made fi xing the Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance
application issue a top prior-
ity because we knew it was
impacting our ability to get
claims processed quickly,”
Gerstenfeld said in the July
17 news release about the
new online reporting tool.
“Although the PUA program
was set up in just under a
month, the temporary solu-
tion, a PDF application, was
cumbersome and prone to
errors. This new form will
fi x many of the previous
issues and help get benefi ts
into the hands of Oregonians
more quickly.”
People who wish to fi le a
claim can visit the Employ-
ment Department’s online
claim system at secure.
emp.state.or.us/ocs4/index.
cfm and click on the blue
“Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance” box to start fi ll-
ing out the form. The form
can be used for new claims,
or people can use it to re-sub-
mit old claims that have not
yet been paid out.
According to the news
release, the new system
will speed up weekly ben-
efi t processing by automat-
ing the weekly certifi cation
process, which staff used to
have to process manually.
Initial claims will still need
reviewed by a claims spe-
cialist, but after that, weekly
claims will be automatically
processed and the money
automatically sent.
The online form will
also be able to help catch
errors that previously held
up claims, such as required
fi elds being left blank.
“Important information,
such as the COVID-19 rea-
son that makes an applicant
eligible for PUA, is required,
but has often been miss-
ing or left blank on the PDF
forms,” the release said.
Forms are available in 15
different languages.
The department also
launched an informational
website about unemploy-
ment benefi ts, at unem-
p l o y m e n t . o r e g o n . g o v,
which is in the process of
being translated into other
languages.
Welcome
Family Medicine Physician,
David Shanley, MD
Dr. Shanley is welcoming new
City urges EyeOnWater use
patients, 6 months and older, for all
their primary care needs at Good
As temperatures reach
over 100 degrees, the city
of Hermiston is remind-
ing residents to sign up for
the EyeOnWater app to help
them save money on their
water bill.
The smart phone app,
available for free to all city
water users, provides hour
by hour graphs of a custom-
er’s water usage, showing
patterns that can help cus-
tomers determine ways they
are wasting water. It also has
a leak detection function that
will automatically alert res-
idents when they appear to
have a leak somewhere on
their property.
The app is available for
Android and iPhones. To
connect the app to their
water account, custom-
ers need to provide the app
with their account number,
zip code and a valid email
address.
For more information
visit hermiston.or.us/water/
online-access or call the city
at 541-567-5521.
Shepherd’s Primary Care Clinic.
Dr. Shanley brings over 20 years of
Family Medicine expertise, treating
a large variety of different health
conditions that will benefit his
Primary Care Clinic
541.667.3830
Hermiston, OR 97838
I am happy to fulfill the need of
primary care in Hermiston and the
surrounding communities, and look
forward to positively impacting the
health and well-being for patients of
all ages, through all stages of life.
- Dr. Shanley
Located at Space Age Travel Center & Comfort Suites, Exit 182 on I-84
GOOD SHEPHERD
MEDICAL GROUP
620 NW 11th Street, Suite 103
patients.
“
Welcoming
New Patients
”