WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021
HermistonHerald.com
UPDATES
Minimum
wage goes
up July 1
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
HEAT WAVE
Hermiston sets
new all-time
temperature
records
HERMISTON HERALD
Minimum wage will
rise again in Oregon start-
ing July 1.
Oregon has a three-tier
minimum wage, depend-
ing on geography. In
Umatilla County, Mor-
row County and other
small rural counties, min-
imum wage will rise from
$11.50 an hour to $12 an
hour. The “standard” min-
imum wage will rise from
$12 to $12.75, and the
Portland metro area will
rise from $13.25 to $14
an hour.
While the federal min-
imum wage has remained
at at $7.25 an hour since
2009, Oregon contin-
ues to raise its minimum
wage above the federal
rate. As part of a law that
took eff ect in 2016, the
minimum wage in rural
counties will rise again to
$12.50 on July 1, 2022.
Starting in 2023, the
standard minimum wage
will be adjusted each year
to match any increases to
the the U.S. City Average
Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consum-
ers. The Portland area
minimum wage will be
adjusted to $1.25 above
whatever the standard
minimum wage is, and
the minimum wage for
rural counties will be $1
below the standard.
The District of Colum-
bia currently has the high-
est minimum wage in the
country at $15 an hour,
while California is at $14
an hour and Washington
state is at $13.69, accord-
ing to minimumwage.
com.
Oregon is one of only
a handful of states in the
country that requires
restaurants and other busi-
nesses where tipping is
standard to pay employ-
ees minimum wage in
addition to any tips they
receive, rather than pay-
ing below minimum wage
and using tips to supple-
ment pay.
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Damian Villarreal, 9, runs through a fountain Monday, June 28, 2021, at the Butte Spray Park in Hermiston.
This week has been one for the
record books.
Hermiston had its hottest day
ever recorded Monday, June 28,
at 115 degrees, according to the
National Weather Service, and
was on track Tuesday afternoon to
reach 117 degrees as forecast by the
Weather Service.
The city’s previous all-time
record was 113 degrees, set in 1961.
Its previous record for June was 111
degrees.
When Al Davis, manager of the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event
Center, realized Monday night how
hot it was going to be the next day,
he made a last-minute decision to
open up EOTEC’s air-conditioned
event center to anyone who needed
a cool place to land.
“I thought, I have the space and
I’m gonna air condition it regard-
less, so why not?” he said.
As of noon Tuesday, June 29,
there were tables, chairs and jugs
of ice water set up, but no peo-
ple yet. Davis said it was possible
word hadn’t spread, or people were
waiting until it got even hotter, or
they might be having transportation
problems.
He said he planned to stay open
until at least 8 p.m. that day, and
planned to off er shelter for peo-
ple through the end of the week. If
anyone doesn’t have transportation
to or from EOTEC this week, they
can call Hermiston Taxi at 541-567-
6055 and the city of Hermiston will
pay for the ride.
People who need a free place to
cool off in air conditioning also are
welcome at the Hermiston Public
Library.
Keeping cool indoors
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Meanwhile, community Face-
book pages, such as What’s Hap-
pening Hermiston?, were full of
people asking if anyone knew of
someone who could repair their
broken air conditioning or loan
Kids play at the Butte Spray Park in Hermiston Monday, June 28, 2021, as Hermiston’s temperatures climbed to
triple digits amid a record-breaking heat wave.
See Heat, Page A8
Pandemic restrictions will be
lifted statewide by Wednesday
Oregon’s statewide COVID-19
restrictions are largely lifting on
Wednesday, June 30.
“Eff ectively, Oregon is 100%
open for business,” Gov. Kate
Brown said in a press call Friday,
June 25.
After the deadline passes, state-
wide mandates on masks, social
distancing and capacity limits of
restaurants and venues will be
removed.
But Brown and health offi cials
said the crisis for the state is not
over.
“Some 98% of people dying
from COVID-19 are unvacci-
nated,” Brown said.
Oregon Health Authority Direc-
tor Pat Allen said the pandemic is
not over, but the management of
the crisis will shift to local offi cials.
County commissioners will be
responsible for public health deci-
sions and the state will only com-
pile statistics and off er assistance.
“Local offi cials will be responsi-
ble for those decisions and for the
consequences,” Allen said.
As the risk level framework
was set to expire, six counties still
remained in high risk status for
the fi nal week, including Umatilla
County, where only 31% of the total
population and 40% of the popu-
lation over age 16 are vaccinated.
Meanwhile eight counties in the
state have more than 65% of their
population over 16 vaccinated.
Allen warned that areas with
high numbers of unvaccinated res-
idents were in danger of infection
fl are-ups with the limits lifted.
“They’re dry tinder,” Allen said.
Setting a fi rm deadline was
needed as the state headed into the
popular July 4 weekend, Brown
said.
“Obviously businesses and ven-
ues need certainty on reopening,”
she said.
She touted the state’s COVID
restrictions as life-saving, noting
the state had one of the lowest per
capita COVID-19 death rates in the
nation.
Also onJune 25, the Oregon
Department of Education released
new guidance for school districts
to prepare for the upcoming school
year. According to the new frame-
work, schools will be expected to
off er full-time, in-person instruc-
tion, and rules on masks and social
distancing will become “advisory”
instead of mandatory.
A4  Superintendent Tricia
Mooney writes about Hermiston
School District’s summer planning
A6  Public fi reworks shows are
on tap around Umatilla and Morrow
counties for the Fourth of July
A7  An Irrigon woman has
opened a new craft store in Umatilla
By GARY A. WARNER AND BRYCE DOLE
EO MEDIA GROUP
EO Media Group, File
Gov. Kate Brown, pictured in this 2018 fi le photo, announced that
most restrictions around COVID-19 will lift Wednesday, June 30,
2021.
INSIDE
A3  Umatilla plans new business
development center with $1.8 mil-
lion from the Oregon Legislature
Umatilla County offi cials concerned
Among counties in Northeast-
ern Oregon, Umatilla County is
an outlier when it comes to risk
levels. Baker, Union, Wallowa
See Lifted, Page A8