NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 Hermiston School District approves Rocky Heights bid HERMISTON HERALD DISTRICT RELEASES 2021-22 CALENDAR The Hermiston School District Board of Education has awarded the contract for construction of the Rocky Heights Elementary School bond project to Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company. The company will construct a new, larger version of the elemen- tary school, paid for by the bond passed by voters in 2019. Accord- ing to a news release, Kirby Nagel- hout was the apparent low bid at $23,390,000. Superintendent Tricia Mooney said in a news release that the bid came in about $3 million below initial projections. “Community members can rest assured, with an independent review by the Bond Oversight Committee, HSD will appropri- ately use community tax dollars throughout the implementation Hermiston School District has released its planned academic calendar for the 2021-22 school year. The calendar would start school on Aug. 30, and the fi nal day of school would be June 14, 2022, barring any days added on to make up for snow days. Students would have their last day of classes before Winter Break on Dec. 17 and return to school on Jan. 3, 2022. Spring Break would run April 4-8, 2022. Graduation would take place on June 9, 2022. Jade McDowell/Hermiston Herald, File The current Rocky Heights Elementary School, pictured here in 2019, will be torn down and replaced with a larger version. of the November 2019 voter-ap- proved bond projects,” she said. The new Rocky Heights will be a single-story, 73,500-square-foot building built to serve approxi- mately 600 students, with 24 class- rooms and various communal spaces, such as a library and gym- nasium. The project also includes demolition of the existing build- ing, fencing, two new parking lots with drop-off areas, a main entry plaza, new play fi elds and play- ground equipment. The bid timelines were stag- gered for the two elementary school projects, to encourage bid- ding by regional small- and medi- um-sized businesses, according to the release. Bid opening for the new Loma Vista Elementary School planned for East Theater Lane is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17. Loma Vista will include the same square footage, number of classrooms and outdoor campus features as the new Rocky Heights. Construction of both elementary school projects will begin this spring and are expected to fi nish during the summer of 2022. New vaccination opportunities opening up locally COVID-19 vaccine off ered at local pharmacies and clinics By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR All Walmart stores in Oregon began schedul- ing COVID-19 vaccine appointments on Wednes- day, March 10, according to a news release. As new appointments become available, slots will appear online at www. walmart.com/COVIDvac- cine. Times vary by store. Vaccines through Walmart are available to those cur- rently eligible under Ore- gon Health Authority guidelines, including those age 65 and up and certain professions. “Ninety percent of the country lives within ten miles of a Walmart. We’re committed to helping peo- ple live better — and healthier lives — in Ore- gon, and we take that role very seriously,” Dr. Cheryl Pegus, executive vice pres- ident of Health & Wellness for Walmart, said in a state- ment. “We want to help the country reopen, but we can only achieve that through widespread COVID-19 vaccination.” Walmart joins Bi-Mart’s and Safeway’s pharmacies in off ering the vaccine in Hermiston through alloca- tions from the federal gov- ernment directly to phar- macies. To schedule an appointment in those loca- tions, visit bimart.com/ pharmacy/covid-19-vac- cine for Bi-Mart or safe- way.com/pharmacy/covid- 19.html for Safeway. Good Shepherd Health Good Shepherd/Contributed Photo A Good Shepherd Health Care System nurse receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the hospital. Care System expects to receive weekly COVID- 19 vaccine allocations and will hold weekly vac- cine events for those eligi- ble under Oregon Health Authority guidelines. “Allocation projections are looking better for Uma- tilla County and our pri- mary goal is to help Uma- tilla County Public Health to vaccinate as many as we can,” Devin Gold- man, quality and infection control director, said in a statement. Vaccine clinics will be held weekly until further notice on Good Shepherd’s campus in Conference Centers 1 & 2, located at 610 N.W. 11th St. in Hermiston. Community members should sign up for an appointment online at https://www.signupge- nius.com/go/8050c4cafaf- 2ca0f49-good. The signup link goes live at 8 a.m., the Monday before the vaccine clinic takes place. Those signed up are encouraged to wait in their vehicle until 10 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment to RECYCLE! CARDBOARD • NEWSPAPER • GLASS • TIN • ALUMINUM EIGHT LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU! 1. 2. 3. 4. allow for social distancing while waiting in line, and will need to be monitored for 15 minutes after the 5. Umatilla County - Hwy 395 N. (next to transfer station) 6. Umatilla County - 81144 N. Hwy 395 7. Irrigon - 198 W. Columbia Lane 8. Boardman - NW Columbia Ave COMPOSTING Compost holds nutrients in the soil until plants can use them. Loosens and aerates clay soils and retains water in sandy soil. More information about composting is available from Oregon DEQ at: www.oregon.gov/DEQ Sanitary Disposal, Inc. Hermiston/McNary Hwy • Hermiston 541-567-8842 To check for appointments each week, visit bit.ly/ ucohealthcovidvaccine. Appointments for the week are posted at 8 a.m. on Mondays. The health department, Good Shepherd and other organizations have also posted announcements to their Facebook pages when they have extra doses. In Morrow County, all res- idents interested in get- ting the vaccine, regard- less of age or profession, are urged to fi ll out a form at http://ow.ly/EZro50D- VJRC so that they can be notifi ed when they are eligible. More Oregonians will be added to the eligibility list on March 29, accord- ing to the Oregon Health Authority’s latest timeline. Those added to the list will include people ages 45-64 with underlying health conditions, agricultural and food processing work- ers, migrant workers, peo- ple living in low-income senior housing or other congregate senior living not already eligible, preg- nant women over the age of 16, wildland fi refi ghters, and homeless residents. Last week, Presi- dent Joe Biden urged all states to open their vac- cine eligibility to all peo- ple by May 1. In Oregon, Gov. 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