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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021
StoryWalk:
Power:
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and information about plant
and animal species in their
neighborhood.
A Citizen Science grant
from the University of Pitts-
burgh helped fund the Sto-
ryWalk project, according to
City Finance Director Melissa
Ince.
Children who participated
in the grand opening received
free books at the end of the
trail, but starting with the next
book featured, at the end of
each story will be a Q code
that people can scan with their
smartphone to receive a free
physical copy of the book fea-
tured that month.
Ince said a few other com-
munities in the area, including
Stanfi eld, recently installed
StoryWalks of their own,
so libraries will be able to
exchange books with each
other in addition to adding
their own.
The
Stanfi eld
Public
Library has been setting up a
more portable version of the
StoryWalks behind the library
near the water tower, and at
Bard Park. Information about
the StoryWalk events are
announced on the Stanfi eld
Public Library Facebook page.
Another outdoor literacy
eff ort is the Little Free Library
book exchanges that organiza-
tions put outside. The boxes,
which often look like old-fash-
ioned red phone booths, are
stocked with used books that
people can take for free, and
plant, its primary goal was to support
renewable energy in the area. The plant
would be able to power up in as little as
10 minutes, he said, as a way to quickly
and reliably backfi ll other sources of
energy when, for example, the wind
stops blowing at an Eastern Oregon
wind farm.
The project received its site certif-
icate from the Energy Facility Siting
Council in 2015, but it fi nally broke
ground in September 2020, when devel-
opers started clearing land for a road at
the site to meet a regulatory deadline.
According to the lawsuit fi led by
Columbia Riverkeeper and Friends of
the Columbia Gorge, Perennial would
have to reapply for a new site certifi cate
from EFSC if it did not begin construc-
tion on the project by Sept. 23, 2020. To
meet that deadline, Perennial began con-
struction of a road despite not having
a required stormwater permit from the
Department of Environmental Quality.
Jennifer Kalez, communications
director for Oregon Department of
Energy, told the East Oregonian in
October 2020 that DEQ could choose to
take enforcement action against Peren-
nial for being out of compliance with
its rules, but that the permit was not
one of the “preconstruction” conditions
that Perennial was required to meet in
order to meet EFSC’s Sept. 23, 2020,
deadline.
The project was the last of several
proposals for new gas-fi red power plants
in Oregon that have been canceled over
the past fi ve years, and now, “no pro-
posals to build any new gas-fi red power
plants in Oregon remain pending with”
the state, according to environmentalists.
Saylor said it’s “very likely this will
be the last proposed gas-fi red power
plant that we see in Oregon” because of
the political and social climate and clean
energy bills moving through the Oregon
Legislature.
“Just fi ve years ago, several pro-
posals for new gas-fi red power plants
threatened to harm air quality in the
Columbia River Gorge and exacer-
bate climate change, but public oppo-
sition to each of these projects has pre-
vailed,” said Nathan Baker, an attorney
for Friends of the Columbia Gorge. “We
hope and expect that Oregon’s future
begins today, free of new fossil fuel
power plants, which are dirty dinosaurs
of a bygone era.”
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Elina Dugan, 3, adds birdseed to a pinecone bird feeder during an activity table at Umatilla’s StoryWalk
on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A pile of donated books and educational materials awaits walkers
to pick them up at the end of Umatilla’s StoryWalk on Wednesday,
April 14, 2021.
those who are able are encour-
aged to leave a book in return
as well.
Altrusa International of
Hermiston has been instru-
mental in bringing several
of the libraries to the area,
including ones at Belt Park,
Green Park and Sunset Park in
Hermiston.
Umatilla Morrow Head
Start also added one outside its
offi ces at 110 N.E. Fourth St.
Irrigon installed a Little
Free Library in 2016 across
from the Irrigon Post Offi ce,
while Echo added one by the
H&P Cafe, 231 W. Main St. in
Echo, in 2018.
Umatilla County on two-week warning for COVID risk levels
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Umatilla County could be
back under high risk restric-
tions for COVID-19 in two
weeks if the county isn’t suc-
cessful in bringing the spread
of the virus back down after a
recent increase. Based on the
rising number of COVID-19
cases in Umatilla County, and
an increasing percentage of
positive tests, Gov. Kate Brown
announced the county will enter
a two-week warning period
starting Friday, April 23.
The county has been in mod-
erate risk, but its numbers over
the past 14-day period passed
100 cases per 100,000 people,
qualifying it for high risk. The
state is giving Umatilla County
two weeks to bring its numbers
back down, however, instead of
immediately moving it to high
risk. A move from moderate
risk to high risk would reduce
the number of people allowed
in various businesses. Restau-
rants would be able to allow
indoor dining at 25% capacity
instead of 50%, for example.
Brown encouraged everyone
to get vaccinated soon.
“As we face more contagious
variants and increased spread of
COVID-19 in our communities,
the best way to protect yourself
and others is to get vaccinated,”
Brown said in a statement. “Until
you, your family, your friends,
and your neighbors are fully
vaccinated, it’s also critical that
we all continue to wear masks,
maintain physical distance, and
stay home when sick.”
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