Jan 4 2021 thru Jan 10 2021

After months during which state Covid metrics limited in-person instruction to two hours per day, a Dec. 23 decision by Gov. Kate Brown enabled the Vale School Board to retake local control and vote to send kids back to school full-time.

From the pandemic restrictions to a rural crime spree to controversial political issues, 2020 was a news-packed year in Malheur County. We look at 10 of the top stories from the pages of the Malheur Enterprise.

We soared, we struggled, and we found hope as a new year dawned.

Covid is a significant stressor with far-reaching effects for school-age children and teens. School is usually one of the places they would seek help. But distance learning has complicated the traditional ways support is asked for and received.

The county court signed off on the monetary package last week, a move that sent checks through the mail to local merchants struggling to survive during the pandemic. More than $700,000 was distributed throughout the county.

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, voted to object to Pennsylvania's presidential electors, questioning legality of voting in that state. He called the invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters on Wednesday "a stain on the history of our country."

Most Malheur County and regional politicians decry the mob violence that erupted as Congress worked to certify the presidential election results Wednesday.

Ironside Rural Road District, Malheur County Court, Estate of Patsy Pearl Smith, Vale Senior Citizens Center, Estate of Glen Allen Schoeneman

Positions include Salesman, Parts Dismantler, Lifeways

With the passage of the new stimulus bill in Washington, D.C., unemployment insurance for both traditional and self-employed workers has been extended.

Anne St. Peter was once homeless and searching for answers. A victim of domestic abuse, St. Peter said her temporary stay in one of 16 tiny homes in Ontario gives her a chance to map a viable path to the future.

Members of Groups 1-4 of Phase 1A of the vaccination process, such as medical workers, care facility employees and residents, prison staff, hospice workers, and medical transport workers, are eligible to schedule vaccination.

Henry Martinez Jr., 49, was shot and killed by police after a four-hour-long standoff in southeast Ontario Sunday afternoon. Police responded to the home after a relative of Martinez's girlfriend - Carlen Mercado, 51 - reported she was being held against her will. When police entered the house, they found Mercado's body.

Henry Martinez Jr., 49, died after he threatened police officers with a knife and was shot. The incident began early Sunday afternoon when as family member called the sheriff's office and voiced concern about the safety of Martinez's girlfriend, Carlen Mercado.