NEWS
Wednesday, august 11, 2021
HeRMIstOnHeRaLd.COM • A7
Commissioners direct county employees,
residents to wear face masks in county buildings
HeRMIstOn HeRaLd
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A sign Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, on the
door of the Umatilla County Courthouse,
Pendleton, advises courthouse visitors of
the mask requirement for county buildings.
PENDLETON — The Uma-
tilla County Board of Commission-
ers announced it is reinstating mask
requirements for county employ-
ees and residents visiting county
buildings.
The commissioners announced the
directive Monday, Aug. 2, citing con-
cerns over the growing number of
COVID-19 infections in the county.
The county will require all its
employees to don facemasks any-
where outside their private work
space and when someone visits their
desk, according to a county document
describing emergency guidelines.
In addition, security will deny
access to people attempting to enter
county courthouses without masks on.
Anybody receiving services from the
county must wear their mask, accord-
ing to the county.
The county also is encouraging its
employees to socially distance them-
selves as much as possible. Employees
who feel ill or have COVID-19-like
symptoms are directed to not come to
work. The county will continue con-
ducting daily symptoms and tempera-
ture checks until further notice.
Pendleton music festival under
investigation for outbreak
umatilla County reports 95th death from COVId-19, total case count passes 10,100
By BRYCE DOLE
staFF WRIteR
PENDLETON — The
Oregon Health Authority is
investigating a COVID-19
outbreak stemming from the
Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest.
The state as of the first
week of August reported 64
COVID-19 cases tied to the
music event in Pendleton on
July 10. Forty-one of those
cases were Umatilla County
residents, according to Uma-
tilla County Public Health
Director Joe Fiumara. Cases
have so far been identified
in Umatilla, Morrow, Union
and Wallowa counties, as
well as Washington state.
“This outbreak is the first
one of its size and scope to
be traced to an outdoor enter-
tainment event since the lift-
ing of statewide COVID-19
prevention measures at the
end of June,” the state said
Friday, July 30.
The reported cases almost
certainly are an undercount,
Fiumara said, adding that
more than 25% of people
with presumed cases do not
cooperate with contact trac-
ers. The total also does not
include people who did not
attend the concert but were
infected by people coming
to town.
Cases already were rising
in Umatilla County before
the 12,000-person event
— a surge health officials
attributed to the state lift-
ing virtually all pandemic
restrictions at the end of
June, just as the delta variant
was reaching Oregon. But
county health data shows a
“big jump” in cases between
four to six days after the
concert, Fiumara said.
“While I am by no means
saying all of these cases are
tied to Whisky Fest,” Fiu-
mara said. “It does seem
like that concert taking place
kind of jump started some
additional spread in the
area.”
The concert, however,
did not appear to break any
rules. The state lifted virtu-
ally all pandemic restrictions
less than two weeks before,
and although health offi-
cials voiced alarm about the
delta variant and cases rising
in Umatilla County, no offi-
cials publicly recommended
stopping the event. It likely
was the largest event East-
ern Oregon has seen since
the pandemic began.
“It’s a very unfortu-
nate situation,” said event
co-manager Doug Corey.
“Hopefully everybody will
improve and get well. It
would be an interesting
number to know how many
were vaccinated and not
vaccinated.”
Corey noted he consulted
with county and city offi-
cials prior to the festival and
obtained all necessary per-
mits. He said he believes the
event followed all pandemic
guidelines from the state and
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Event orga-
nizers also capped ticket
sales at 12,000 people to
downsize, he added.
Fiumara said he appreci-
ated the reduction, adding
“there could have been more
than 20,000” people.
Corey said he has been
in close contact with state
health officials as the inves-
tigation is underway. State,
county and tribal officials are
working together to identify
other cases from attendees,
the state said.
County death toll nears 100
Umatilla County reported
its 95th COVID-19 death
in a Monday, Aug. 6, press
release.
The disclosure comes as
the county reported 145 new
COVID-19 cases, raising
the county total case count
since the pandemic began
to 10,114, the press release
said.
The victim is a 69-year-
old man who tested positive
on March 3 and died 20 days
later at Kadlec Regional
Medical Center in Richland,
Washington. He had undis-
closed underlying health
conditions, the press release
said.
The health department
recently reported several
COVID-19 victims who
died months ago, all of
whom died in Washington.
That’s because Washing-
ton has different reporting
requirements than Oregon,
health officials say, which
suggests that the county’s
death toll could be higher
than previously disclosed.
The press release comes
a week after the county’s
reported COVID-19 cases
surged past 10,000 cases.
More than one in eight peo-
ple have had COVID-19 in
Umatilla County, according
to health data.
The county continues
to report some of the high-
est case rates in Oregon
and is reporting more daily
cases on-average than at any
other point in the pandemic.
The surge, health officials
say, is being driven by the
highly contagious delta vari-
ant spreading rapidly among
unvaccinated people. Last
week, the county reported
416 new cases — the sec-
ond straight week with more
than 400 cases.
The Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Preven-
tion recommends that peo-
ple wear masks in public
indoor places in areas where
there are more than 50 new
infections per 100,000 res-
idents over the previous
seven days. Umatilla Coun-
ty’s case rate is more than
18 times higher than that,
according to state data.
Concerns for upcoming
events
The outbreak and the
ensuing investigation does
not bode well for upcoming
events in Umatilla County,
including the Umatilla
County Fair and the Pend-
leton Round-Up, Fiumara
said.
The fair runs this week,
Aug. 11-14, and typically
draws thousands of peo-
ple. Fiumara said he expects
cases to rise because of the
fair, but he would not for-
mally recommend against
holding the event because
of the backlash that would
ensue.
“I think if you’re trying
to reduce cases, I think can-
celing fair would be a way to
do that,” Fiumara said. “And
I think it would be an effec-
tive way to prevent addi-
tional spread. That being
said, I’m not sure all the fall-
out from cancelling it would
be worthwhile. I think there
would be a lot of pushback.”
State and county health
officials agree the best way
to ensure outbreaks don’t
result from large summer
events is by getting more
people vaccinated against
COVID-19.
“Outbreaks like these will
continue to occur if vaccina-
tion rates don’t increase,”
said Rudy Owens, a spokes-
person for OHA.
Less than 40% of Uma-
tilla County residents are
vaccinated against the virus,
according to the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Fiumara said Gov. Kate
Brown’s office reached out
to the county last week, ask-
ing how officials planned to
curb the county’s skyrocket-
ing infection rates. He noted
the last time Brown’s office
made that move was a week
before the state shut down
Umatilla County.
“The state is watching
things very closely,” he said.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Tractors and trucks on Sept. 30, 2020, navigate the fields
at Threemile Canyon Farms near Boardman during potato
harvest.
Threemile Canyon
Farms hires new
president
By GEORGE PLAVEN
CaPItaL PRess
BOARDMAN
—
Threemile Canyon Farms
has hired a new president
following the unexpected
death of founder and gen-
eral manager Marty Myers
in December 2020.
Bill Antilla, of Longview,
Washington, was selected
to lead the operation, which
includes Oregon’s largest
dairy and 39,500 acres of
cropland. His first day was
Monday, Aug. 9.
For the last seven years,
Antilla served as general
manager at Crown Compa-
nies and Crown Iron Works
in Blaine, Minnesota, a
world leader in oilseed pro-
cessing technology. There
he oversaw all aspects of
global business, including
financial performance, engi-
neering, sales, research and
development, marketing and
supply chain.
Previously, Antilla spent
26 years at Cargill Inc., a
Minnesota-based global
food corporation, serving
in various leadership roles
including food ingredients,
food production, agricultural
processing and bio-renew-
able industrial technologies.
In a statement, Antilla said
he was drawn to Threemile
Canyon Farms for its cul-
ture, values and location.
The farm is about 15 miles
west of Boardman.
“I’m eager to build upon
Threemile’s success of inno-
vation and dedication to the
team, animal welfare and
sustainable practices,” he
said.
Established in 1998 by
R.D. Offutt Co., Threemile
Canyon Farms is well known
for its large dairy operation,
with 35,000 milking cows
and approximately 70,000
total cattle. The milk is sold
to the Tillamook County
Creamery Association —
makers of Tillamook cheese
— which has a factory at the
nearby Port of Morrow.
Myers served as general
manager from day one. He
pioneered the farm’s “closed-
loop system,” whereby
nitrogen-rich manure from
the dairy is mixed at agro-
nomic rates and sprayed onto
the surrounding farmland to
grow potatoes, onions, blue-
berries, carrots and other
crops.
The farm also grows
alfalfa, hay and triticale for
animal feed, which goes back
to feed the dairy cows thus
completing the closed loop.
Last year, Threemile
Canyon Farms was one of
three dairies nationwide
recognized for Outstanding
Dairy Farm Sustainability
at the 2020 U.S. Dairy Sus-
tainability Awards, lauding
management practices that
“demonstrate outstanding
economic, environmental
and social benefits.”
R.D. Offutt CEO Tim
Curoe said Antilla’s lengthy
career in agribusiness and
food processing, combined
with his love of the Pacific
Northwest, make him
uniquely qualified to serve
Threemile Canyon and build
on its strong foundation of
sustainable agriculture.
Antilla has a bachelor’s
degree from Carleton Col-
lege in Northfield, Minne-
sota, and a master’s of busi-
ness administration from the
University of Chicago Booth
School of Business. He has
a wife and two grown chil-
dren, and will be relocating
from Minnesota to Oregon.