NEWS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
Umatilla County approved for Phase 2
By ALEX CASTLE
STAFF WRITER
Umatilla County is back
at Phase 2.
According to Uma-
tilla County Commissioner
George Murdock, Gov. Kate
Brown informed the county
of its status in an unexpected
phone call the morning of
Friday, Sept. 11.
“We knew that we were
really in good shape and in
the position for it to hap-
pen, but we feared that per-
haps with all the eyes on the
incredible devastation that’s
going on with the forest fi res
that maybe it wouldn’t get
addressed,” Murdock said.
“But it did.”
In Phase 2, indoor and
outdoor recreation and
entertainment venues, such
as movie theaters and pools,
are able to reopen, in addi-
tion to restaurants and bars
being permitted to stay open
until 10 p.m. and large gath-
erings being capped at 50
people.
Brown and the Oregon
Health Authority denied
the county’s petition for
Phase 2 the week prior to
the announcement, citing
three of six case metrics
the county hadn’t met and
a prevalence of COVID-19
cases above 100 cases per
100,000 people. Those met-
rics were uptrends in hospi-
talizations over the last 14
days, uptrends in positive test
rate in the last week and an
uptrend of more than 5% in
new cases over the last week.
While returning to Phase
2 after the state sent Uma-
tilla County back to the base-
line of reopening on July 31
was a necessary milestone to
reach, the county is urging
residents to remain diligent
in protecting themselves and
others from the virus.
“Almost week to week
we’re hearing more chat-
ter of vaccines and different
treatment methods they’re
looking into,” Umatilla
County Public Health direc-
tor Joe Fiumara said. “That’s
all promising stuff. But until
we’ve got it, all we’ve got is
the physical distancing and
face coverings. That’s what
we’ve got right now and it’s
working.”
A week after no new
workplace outbreaks were
reported in Umatilla or Mor-
row counties, the Oregon
Health Authority’s weekly
report published Sept.
10 included a new work-
place outbreak of fi ve cases
reported at Ranch and Home
in Hermiston.
Guardian Angel Homes
in Hermiston was also
reported as having 18 cases
of the virus and one death
of a resident positive for
COVID-19. Another Herm-
iston assisted living facility,
Sun Terrace, was readded
to the active outbreak list
with 10 cases and one death
among its residents.
The Oregon Health
Authority report includes
a list of workplaces with at
least 30 employees that have
had at least fi ve cases of
COVID-19 linked to them,
either through employees
testing positive or confi rmed
cases being traced back to
those employees as the most
probable source.
Morrow County students Downed power lines get the
blame for Umatilla fi re
earn art contest honors
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
HERMISTON HERALD
Two Morrow County
students were honored
during a virtual recep-
tion held earlier this week.
Their artwork was selected
among 643 entries submit-
ted to a calendar art contest
sponsored by Oregon Agri-
culture in the Classroom
Foundation.
This year, artwork was
submitted by K-6 students
across the state in public,
private, charter and home-
school education systems
featuring Oregon agricul-
ture and natural resources.
The entries received cel-
ebrated a wide variety of
Oregon’s 220 agricultural
commodities, according to
a news release.
The two Morrow County
winners attend lone Com-
munity School and Hep-
pner Elementary School.
Isabelle Ogden, a fi fth-
grader from lone Com-
munity School, submitted
artwork featuring sheep
grazing in an open fi eld
with luscious green grass,
and can be viewed on the
March page of the calendar.
In describing her artwork,
Ogden said in the news
release, “I chose to draw
sheep because when I did
4-H I had a sheep. Sheep
provide food and fi ber in
the state of Oregon.”
Fourth-grade Heppner
Elementary School stu-
dent Kathryn “KC” Ander-
son drew a chicken, which
can be viewed on the Feb-
ruary page of the calen-
dar. Anderson stated in the
release, “I chose to draw
chickens because I like the
detail on their feathers and
they produce eggs and meat
for Oregon.” She added,
“We have nine free range
chickens at my house.
Some of the chickens are
Golden Laced Wyandotte.
I based my drawing off one
of these and her name is
Super Chicken.”
The 13 students selected
to be featured in the 2020-
21 calendar received a $50
award and certifi cate. The
winning artwork is dis-
played on the AITC web-
site. Calendars are free to
Oregon teachers, and can
be ordered for just $4 on
oregonaitc.org/shop.
“The calendar contest is
Contributed photos
a great project for teachers
and students to assign as a
fun project during this time
of distance learning,” said
Jessica Jansen, AITC exec-
utive director, in a press
release.
Serving Families with
Care and
Compassion
for Over 70 Years.
BURNS
MORTUARY
Above, Ione fi fth-grader
Isabelle Ogden’s winning
artwork
shows
sheep
grazing in a fi eld At left,
Kathryn “KC” Anderson,
a Heppner fourth-grader,
submitted
a
winning
entry of a chicken for the
Agriculture in the Classroom
calendar art contest. Both
pictures will appear in the
AITC 2020-21 calendar.
Umatilla Rural Fire Pro-
tection determined that
power lines knocked loose
by high winds were the
cause of the Monday, Sept.
7, fi re that caused evacua-
tions on the south side of
Umatilla.
A news release from the
district stated the power lines
went down in the “general
area of Scaplehorn Road,”
which connects to the north
side of Highway 730 across
from the highway’s intersec-
tion with Powerline Road to
the south.
The release stated that
the fi rst fi re crew on scene,
at about 5 p.m., found the
Encore Wellness clinic near
the road was “experiencing
impending fl ames.”
While the fi re was
brought under control and
Photo contributed by Angie Smith
A grass fi re burns near Umatilla on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.
mutual aid crews were sent
home in the early morning
hours of Sept. 8, some cus-
tomers of Umatilla Elec-
tric Cooperative and Pacifi c
Power in the area did not see
their power restored until
Sept. 9.
PLA
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AND AFE WIT BER TO
WEA H A L
R YO ITTL
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of Hermiston
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Hermiston
Crematory
The fi re also knocked
out internet to many house-
holds, but on Sept. 9 Eastern
Oregon Telecom reported
on its Facebook page that
most services were back
online, or “at least partially
restored.”
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