A tip of the hat to everyone who has already completed the 2020 U.S. Census.

As of Wednesday, only 28.5% of Umatilla County residents had submitted their information, compared with 38% across Oregon and 36% nationwide.

Participating in this grand tradition, which has been a part of our nation’s history since 1790, is an important civic duty. Each person counted in the Census has an effect on how much money their community gets from various state and federal programs, as well as their level of representation in the state legislature and Congress.

If that’s not enough incentive, participation is also required by law. The process takes just a few minutes to answer a handful of simple questions, such as the number of people living in your household, your gender and your race. The government is required by law to keep your individual answers confidential — only generalized population data will be released.

Those people who have already self-reported their answers, either online or through mail, have saved the taxpayers money by not requiring the government to pay for additional mailings and sending a census worker to visit their home.

A kick in the pants to the Oregon Department of Education’s handling of the school shutdown.

First, the department forbade districts from moving classes online, stating if some students in the state don’t have internet access, then no students should be able to continue their schooling online. Then, the state suddenly reversed course Monday night, telling districts they now have two weeks to jump to an unprecedented “Distance Learning for All.”

ODE also told districts it would have new graduation guidelines for them a week ago, but has yet to release anything.

We appreciate our local school districts’ heroic efforts to handle these difficult times, from distributing meals at bus stops to getting Chromebooks into the hands of students who don’t have access to electronic devices at home. Umatilla School District’s efforts at getting students access to internet and other resources have been particularly impressive.

However, the state’s vacillating on the issue cost teachers and administrators valuable preparation time for this “new normal” and left students in limbo for the past three weeks.

A tip of the hat to those who continue to come up with new ways to help during the COVID-19 crisis, including Oregon Grain Growers, which has converted its operations to distill hand sanitizer instead of alcoholic beverages. The distillery could be selling the coveted product at a premium, but is instead donating it to medical facilities, nursing homes and first responders.

We need people to continue stepping up to help others in this crisis, and examples abound of our communities continuing to do just that.