UPDATE (4:33 p.m. PT) — The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced Friday that it would be canceling its fall 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The festival had been scheduled to begin performances at its Ashland theaters in early September.
The cancellation follows an announcement by Gov. Kate Brown Thursday that all large gatherings in the state will be on hold until at least October.
“The health and safety of our entire Ashland community, including artists, staff, volunteers, patrons, and Festival partners, is our highest priority,” OSF artistic director Nataki Garrett said in a statement.
“It is with great sadness that we are forced to cancel OSF’s 2020 Fall season," Garrett continued. "My primary goal is to protect the future of this celebrated 85-year-old organization and to bring great theatre back to our stages in 2021."
The Shakespeare Festival had previously canceled spring and summer performances and scaled back the plays the repertory cast would perform.
Festival officials said in a statement that canceling the fall season will cause significant financial consequences. Officials are asking 2020 ticketholders to consider donating the value of their tickets back to the festival, or accepting vouchers for tickets in 2021.
Northwest summer baseball largely on hold
With large public gatherings likely banned well into the fall, many of Oregon’s summertime events, including collegiate baseball, will be canceled or postponed.
The Corvallis Knights announced Friday their 2020 season is canceled. The Knights aren't alone shutting down their season; so have the Bend Elks and Bellingham Bells.
“We were facing quite a few COVID-related restrictions that would have made it very difficult to operate," said Dan Segel, the CEO of the Knights. "The latest news on the gatherings was the end of the road for us.”
Segel said he looked at every possible way to salvage the season, but unfortunately, none were viable.
“The challenges were just too much for sure,” he said.
However, not all hope is lost. The Portland Pickles are planning to continue their season, but without fans.
“We still feel comfortable enough to take the leap forward to provide, you know, some sort of baseball because we think we ought to bring some happiness to the community at a time where there isn't a lot,” said Pickles general manager Ross Campbell.
Despite the setback, Segel is keeping a positive attitude and looks forward to the 2021 season.
“It's sad, it's disappointing," he said. "It's a whole new game, you know? And we're gonna come after it, and we're going to make things better. So I'm optimistic. We just gotta get to that next year and be the best we can be this year."
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Early results in from pioneering Corvallis tracing study
The first results are in from Oregon State University’s survey of COVID-19 in Corvallis — it looks like about two people out of every thousand are currently infected.
“This is a snapshot in time,” said Jeff Bethel, an OSU epidemiologist involved in the survey, in a press release. The program, called Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community Leven Coronavirus Epidemics, or TRACE-COVID-19, aims to take several such snapshots every weekend through May 17 and possibly beyond. By looking at the spread of the virus over such a long period in time, they hope to learn more about how the virus is moving through their community. When it started, it was the first community-wide survey launched to track COVID-19 over time.
The study began in late April with a trial survey to make sure the methods worked. The following weekend, they tested 455 people in 237 households. The houses were randomly selected, but researchers wanted to make sure that the participants also reflected the demographics of Corvallis, so they’re spread across several neighborhoods.
Participants were told their results, and they were also shared with the Oregon Health Authority and other departments. They don’t have enough data yet to start pulling out demographic information, but they tested nearly 900 people during the second weekend of their study. Once those results are in, they’ll be able to report results of different demographics, and look at the prevalence of different symptoms.
“Ultimately, these numbers aren’t good news or bad news,” said Ben Dalziel, who is also involved in the survey, in a press release. There haven’t been any other studies on community prevalence for OSU’s team to compare their results to. But Dalziel says that two confirmed cases for every 1,000 residents is still enough to worry about. “If we reopen too quickly, we risk another phase of exponential growth in the number of infections.”
Making hand sanitizer from beer
What do unsold kegs of beer and barrels of corn syrup have in common? They can both be used to create hand sanitizer for communities facing the coronavirus pandemic. Rogue Ales & Spirits, in Newport, Oregon, shows us how.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting
