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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020 HermistonHerald.com EasternOregonMarketplace.com First local students return to classroom Special education and ‘Newcomers’ are in school again By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR For the fi rst time since March, some of the desks at Hermiston School District schools have stu- dents in them again. The return to classes is extremely limited — less than 100 children in a district of more than than 5,000 students — but district administrators hope it is a gateway to something more. “We really have done a thor- ough job of getting staff and stu- dents ready because we want this to be successful,” Assistant Super- intendent Bryn Browning said. For all students to return, school districts must meet a list of strict metrics, including fewer than 10 new confi rmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the dis- trict’s county and fewer than 5% of COVID-19 tests conducted in the county coming back positive. But the Oregon Department of Edu- cation has told districts they can begin “limited in-person instruc- tion” for certain groups of stu- dents if no students enrolled in the district or staff employed by the district have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days. Umatilla County Public Health only releases general numbers for COVID-19 not tied specifi cally to school districts, so the Hermiston Herald and East Oregonian have not been able to track the metrics for limited in-person instruction in the same way the public can track the metrics for general cases per 100,000 and test positivity in the county. Browning said Hermiston School District brought back spe- cial education students and stu- dents in the Newcomers program, which is for students who have lived in the United States for less than a year. Ben Longergan/Hermiston Herald, File See Schools, Page A14 Some selected students are returning to the classroom for two hours a day in Hermiston School District. UPDATES Ballot drop boxes provided in area cities Ballots for the 2020 gen- eral election are due on Nov. 3, 2020, by 8 p.m. Ballots should be fi lled out and placed in the envelop provided, and the envelop must be signed in the appro- priate place for the ballot to be counted. They can be mailed back using the U.S. Postal Service by drop- ping them in a mailbox (no postage required) but must be received, not just post- marked, by Nov. 3. Ballots can also be placed in a secure dropbox, where they will be picked up and taken directly to the county elections offi ce as long as they are dropped in by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Ballot drop boxes for the 2020 elections are at the fol- lowing locations, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s website: Umatilla County • Athena City Hall, Athena • Confederate Tribes Nixyaawii Governance Center, Pendleton • Echo City Hall, Echo • Hermiston City Hall, Hermiston • Milton-Freewater City Hall and Police Sta- tion, Milton Freewater • Pilot Rock City Hall, Pilot Rock • Stanfi eld City Hall, Stanfi eld • Umatilla City Hall, Umatilla • Umatilla County Courthouse, Pendleton Morrow County • Ione Dropbox, 260 Spring St., Ione • Morrow County Bar- tholomew Building, Heppner • Morrow County Boardman Building, Boardman • Morrow County Plan- ning Department, Irrigon • Morrow County Pub- lic Works Building, Lexington If you have not received your ballot, or it has been damaged, contact your county elections offi ce for a replacement. Umatilla County elections offi ce: 541-278-6254 or elec- tions@umatillacounty. net. Morrow County elec- tions offi ce: 541-676-5604 or bchilders@co.morrow. or.us. INSIDE Hermiston Herald, File The Portland General Electric coal-fi red plant in Boardman went offl ine permanently on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. Coal plant closes Boardman Generating Station powers down permanently By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Associated Press, File The Boardman Coal Plant closed on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, as a part of the federal government’s plan to reduce carbon output. Hermiston Herald, File A stacker reclaimer digs up scoops of coal to feed a conveyer belt that fuels the Boardman Coal Plant in this undated fi le photo. A3 Umatilla City Council candi- dates make their case in a candidate forum A7 Smitty’s Ace Hardware plan- ning a Boardman location As Morrow County Commis- sioner Melissa Lindsay drove past the Boardman Generating Station on Friday, Oct. 16, she felt a little sad. The station had provided a steady supply of high-paying jobs since the station came online in 1980. But on Thursday, Oct. 15 Portland General Electric powered the station down for good, leaving Oregon with no more coal-burning plants in the state. “It’s the end of an era,” Lind- say said. “PGE and the plant have been great partners.” The plant, located just south of Boardman, was the last coal-fi red generating plant in the state and could burn as much as 8,000 tons of coal per day. According to the Oregon Department of Environ- mental Quality, it was the largest single source of greenhouse emis- sions in Oregon. It was those emissions that caused PGE to strike a deal with regulators in 2010 that the plant would stop burning coal in 2020. “Our customers are counting on us to deliver a clean energy future,” PGE President and CEO Maria Pope said in a statement on A8 School districts’ report cards from the state have little informa- tion this year Oct. 15. “PGE’s Boardman clo- sure is a major step on our path to meeting Oregon’s greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and transforming our system to reli- ably serve our customers with a cleaner, more sustainable energy mix.” The plant employed 110 PGE employees and a variety of con- tractors in its prime, and had 67 employees remaining at the time of its closure. “Many” of the plant’s employees have transferred to jobs at other locations within the company or retired, according to a news release, while others will no longer be employed by PGE. Although the plant will no lon- ger be generating power, some employees will remain at the site over the next year to complete cleanup operations in prepara- tion for a planned demolition and removal of the plant in 2022. Spokesman Steve Corson said the jobs at the plant were techni- cal, skilled positions that often paid more than $100,000 a year. The utility offered employ- ees several resources in deciding on their next steps, including set- ting up a scholarship fund at Blue Mountain Community College See Boardman, Page A14 A10 October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
