WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 4, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
HOMEGROWN HORROR
County
urges
masks
indoors
COVID-19 hospitalizations
climb, two residents die
By BRYCE DOLE
STAFF WRITER
“The Stairs,” a horror fi lm that
1997 Hermiston High School
graduate Amanda Jones
produced, screens one night only
on Aug. 12, 2021, at Cinemark
Grand Cinema 12 in Walla Walla.
Cinedigm & Fathom Events/
Contributed Photo
Hermiston graduate produces award-winning horror fi lm
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
A
one-night screening event
of a fi lm produced by 1997
Hermiston High School
graduate Amanda Rae Jones
will be available to movie-
goers in Walla Walla.
Filmed in the Pacifi c
Northwest, “The Stairs” is
described as a frightening
tale about a group of hik-
ers hunted by a sinister pres-
ence in the woods. It fea-
tures acting veterans John Schneider of
“The Dukes of Hazzard” fame and Kath-
leen Quinlan, an Academy Award nomi-
nated actress in “Apollo 13.” The all-star
cast also includes Adam Korson, Brent
Bailey, Stacey Oristano, Tyra Colar and
Josh Crotty.
Describing herself as “a huge movie
fan” growing up, Jones recalled with fond-
ness “movie vacations” with her family.
Her parents would rent a stack of movies,
park their cars around the corner, take the
phone off the hook and from Friday night
through Monday morning, they holed up
in their living room with the blinds drawn
— eating junk food and watching fl icks.
“It was everything about a vacation
that you love, without the packing and
traveling, plus movies,” Jones said. “I
think these movie vacations have infl u-
enced me more than anything else in my
decision to get into the industry.”
After graduating from high school in
Hermiston, Jones headed to Eastern Ore-
gon University, graduating in 2001 with a
degree in history. She later got an MBA
at Portland State University and began a
career in the fi nance industry. After being
approached to read and possibly help sup-
port a fi lm project, Jones shifted voca-
tional gears and co-founded Wandering
Dragon Productions. “The Stairs” is her
third feature fi lm project.
“The Stairs’’ is racking up accolades
at horror festivals around the globe. It has
been an offi cial selection at more than a
dozen fi lm festivals, including its Pacifi c
Northwest premiere on Aug. 1 during the
Portland Horror Film Festival at the newly
reopened 1926 Hollywood Theatre. It has
Brandy Grey/Contributed Photo
See Horror, Page A10
Amanda Rae Jones, a 1997 Hermiston High School graduate, produced the horror fi lm
“The Stairs” in the Pacifi c Northwest.
INSIDE
PENDLETON — Less than a
month after Oregon lifted nearly all
pandemic mandates, Umatilla County
residents once again are being asked
to mask up in public indoor settings
to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In a statement the last week of
July, Umatilla County Public Health
aligned with recent recommenda-
tions from the state and federal gov-
ernment that everybody, including
fully vaccinated people, should wear
masks indoors “due to a substan-
tial increase in Umatilla County’s
COVID-19 case rate.”
“What we’re seeing from the delta
variant supports that more spread is
happening,” said Umatilla County
Public Health Director Joe Fiumara.
“While masks do not stop all spread,
they do help limit it.”
Umatilla County has state’s highest
case rate
On Tuesday, July 27, the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Pre-
vention announced the mask recom-
mendations and called for teachers,
staff , students and school visitors to
wear masks regardless of their vacci-
nation status or how much the virus
is spreading through communities.
However, health experts maintain
that vaccinations remain the pub-
lic’s best bet to curb the spread of the
virus.
The CDC says people should wear
masks indoors if they live in areas
where case rates exceed more than 50
new cases per 100,000 residents for
the past week, or if more than 8% of
tests are positive for that same period.
The Oregon Health Authority does
not publish case rates over seven days
in its weekly metrics, but a report on
July 26 shows that, from July 11-22,
Umatilla County saw a case rate of
504 new cases per 100,000 people —
by far the highest in the state.
During that same period, 17.6% of
all tests came back positive, the sec-
ond highest in Oregon, just behind
Morrow County’s 17.9%.
The move back to masking was
prompted by a national increase in
COVID-19 cases driven by the highly
infectious delta variant, which is tear-
ing through unvaccinated communi-
ties. It’s a dismaying sign to health
experts that the pandemic has yet to
abate, as cases and hospitalizations
ramp up to levels that rival last win-
ter’s surge.
“At this point, you’re either going
to get the virus or you’re going to get
vaccinated,” Fiumara said. He added
that masks are a “tool that we can
use to try to not overload the hospi-
tals and — not to be too blunt — not
end up with a whole bunch of dead
people.”
OHA reported two new COVID-
19 deaths in Umatilla County on July
28, raising the county’s death toll to
94.
One victim was a 33-year-old
man with underlying health condi-
tions who tested positive and died
on July 24 at Kadlec Regional Med-
ical Center, Richland, Washington.
The other was a 90-year-old woman
See Masks, Page A10
OSAA ISSUES MASK
RULES FOR FALL
A3  UEC goes 2,00 days without
missed time accident
A6  More than 100 new looks
from Cuts of Love
A7  Delish Bistro reopening
in new digs
The Oregon School Activities As-
sociation announced participants
of indoor fall sports have to wear
masks. For the full story, see A8.
A8  Masks coming back for
fall sports