2020 - Page 68

By NICOLE BALES/The Daily Astorian ASTORIA — Responding to concerns from Clatsop County, the Oregon Health Authority said the state will not recommend mandatory coronavirus testing for essential workers at seafood plants and other food processors. Outbreaks at Bornstein Seafoods in Astoria and Pacific Seafood in Warrenton prompted Michael McNickle, the county’s public health director, to call for mandatory, continuous

SABRINA THOMPSON/La Grande Observer LA GRANDE — Union County commissioners voted Wednesday morning to recommend rolling back to Phase 1 guidelines. The move comes as the county is the state’s hotspot for the coronavirus with 240 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, according to the Oregon Health Authority, and at least 236 of those stemming from members of the Lighthouse Pentecostal

By PETER WONG/Oregon Capital Bureau Whether lawmakers went too far last year in changing the public-pension system to reduce its future obligations is now in the hands of the Oregon Supreme Court. The seven justices heard arguments Tuesday from public retirees and the public employee unions challenging the changes — and from local and state governments defending them. There is

RONALD BOND and SABRINA THOMPSON/La Grande Observer LA GRANDE — Oregon health officials Tuesday pinned Union County’s spike of COVID-19 on one church. Union County on Tuesday added 119 confirmed cases of COVID-19, boosting the count in the county to 240, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Thomas Jeanne, deputy state health officer and epidemiologist, said during a Tuesday afternoon call with

By GARY A. WARNER/Oregon Capital Bureau A new shutdown of Union County is possible if tracing and quarantining don’t halt a spike in the county that pushed the state to a record 278 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday. “All options are on the table,” said Charles Boyle, a spokesman for Gov. Kate Brown. The Oregon Health Authority is working with