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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2021)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Feds may investigate Chemawa school’s burial site Natalie Pate Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Chemawa Indian School in Salem – the oldest continuously operated resi- dential boarding school for Native American students in the United States – may come under federal review follow- ing U.S. Department of the Interior Sec- retary Deb Haaland’s call for the govern- ment to investigate its past oversight of such schools. Located just east of Keizer Station, Chemawa had about 335 students en- rolled as of October 2019. The off-reser- vation institution is more than 125 years old and one of only four Native Ameri- can residential boarding schools still in existence in the United States and run by federal agencies. That said, there are 183 federally- funded elementary and secondary schools total. Of those, 53 are operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, in- cluding Chemawa, and 130 are tribally controlled under BIE contracts or grants. Haaland’s new Federal Indian Board- ing School Initiative follows the recent discovery of 215 unmarked graves by Canada’s Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc First Nation at the Kamloops Indian Residen- tial School. The U.S. initiative instructs investiga- tors to prepare a report detailing avail- able historical records, with an emphasis on cemeteries or potential burial sites, relating to the federal boarding school program in preparation for future site work. Haaland – a member of the New Mex- ico’s Laguna Pueblo and the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary – outlined the national initiative last month when addressing members of the National Congress of American Indians during its midyear conference. “The Interior Department will address the inter-generational impact of Indian boarding schools to shed light on the un- spoken traumas of the past, no matter how hard it will be,” Haaland said in her announcement. “I know that this process will be long and difficult. I know that this process will be painful. It won’t undo the heartbreak and loss we feel,” she said. “ But only by acknowledging the past can we work to- ward a future that we’re all proud to em- brace.” Haaland wrote in a memorandum that the findings in Canada are prompt- ing the United States to reflect on its past See SCHOOL, Page 4A Clatsop Community College instructor Fernando Rojas-Galvan arrives to fanfare at Chemeketa Community College in Salem. Between now and July 25, he will bike to all 17 Oregon community colleges. PHOTOS BY BRIAN HAYES/STATESMAN JOURNAL Biking for books A new home built by Mid-Valley Habitat for Humanity in a new 18-unit subdivision in Silverton. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL Oregon educator begins 1,600-mile bicycle trek to raise money for student textbooks Natalie Pate Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK A rare opportunity Nonprofit solves challenge of affordable,developable land in one swoop sharply from there. h For a non-profit trying to build affordable housing, acquiring land is nev- er easy. h The Mt. Angel-based North Willam- ette Valley Habitat for Humanity has purchased some overlooked, oddly shaped and less-than- ideal spots over the years so they could have in June, the organization has satiated its land needs for the next five years or so as they build 18 units for families. “It has been one of the major challenges, partic- ularly with the increase in value in land in this area, and that just keeps growing, as we’ve encountered,” said Rich Truitt, board chair of the affiliate. “That’s a rare opportunity that we came upon. We can’t always count on that happening.” Some Oregon Habitat for Humanity affiliates in areas like Portland have used the model of a planned development and found success with it. Truitt said the planned development is designed as a village with different sizes and types of homes for a mixture of families who are chosen by the affiliate. The affiliate is partnering with Portland State Uni- versity architecture students to design the houses. “They’ve been helping us implement these plans to do this mixed type of housing, and they will all have special design elements that the students are work- ing into their projects, and they’re going to be out on site so they can actually see how their work and what they’re doing comes to fruition,” said Kari Johnsen, executive director for the affiliate. somewhere to build. A development in Silverton Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK F inding land on which to build houses is becoming increasingly difficult in communities like Salem, Silverton and Woodburn. h Plots of land in the area are listed starting at $75,000 and go up But after purchasing a 1.9-acre lot on Schemmel Lane in Silverton and receiving approval from the city See HOUSING, Page 3A OSHA adopts emergency heat rules Dora Totoian Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Oregon’s workplace safety agency has adopted temporary emergency rules for employees who work outdoors in extreme heat, following the death of a nursery worker in St. Paul during the record-breaking heatwave. The rules, which center on access to shade, drink- ing water, and employee and supervisor training, will be activated any time temperatures reach 80 degrees or higher, with an additional set of rules for temper- atures above 90 degrees. OSHA has submitted the rules to the Secretary of State’s Office for confirmation, according to an email the agency sent to stakeholders. Most will take effect immediately after that point. Gov. Kate Brown had directed OSHA to enact emer- gency heat rules about a week after the heatwave in which temperatures in some areas of the Mid-Willam- ette Valley topped 117 degrees. Sebastian Francisco Perez, 38, of Guatemala, col- lapsed and later died while moving irrigation lines at Ernst Nursery and Farms, where temperatures ex- ceeded 100 degrees June 26. Community members at a vigil last weekend for Pe- rez also made a push for emergency rules part of the memorial. Jamie Pang South, the environmental health pro- gram director at the Oregon Environmental Council, said her organization is pleased with the emergency rules, which worker and environmental advocates have requested for months in anticipation of an ex- ceptionally hot and dangerous season, she said. See HEAT, Page 2A Vol. 140, No. 30 Online at SilvertonAppeal.com News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: h Photo galleries Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal QEAJAB-07403y To his students, Fernando Rojas-Galván is a Span- ish and world languages instructor at Clatsop Com- munity College in Astoria. He’s also a former instruc- tor at both Chemeketa Community College and Wil- lamette University in Salem. h But this summer, he’s going by another name – the bike riding bandit. Rojas-Galván knows textbooks cost his students hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year. He wanted to do something to help while also combining his pas- sion for adventuring outdoors. He decided to take on the Clatsop “Bandit the Rac- coon” mascot identity and create the “Bandit Biking for Books” challenge. Between now and July 25, Rojas-Galván will bike across Oregon to all 17 community colleges – a com- bined total of nearly 1,600 miles – to spread awareness and raise money. “A year ago, with the pandemic taking place, I was on a bike ride and I thought, ‘What the heck can I do?’ ” he said. Though Rojas-Galván could think of several ways to help students, textbooks were something tangible that he knew people would understand and want to help with. Rojas-Galván pulled up to Chemeketa’s Salem cam- pus last week, just after 5 p.m., greeted by a little over a dozen employees and community members gathered for his arrival. They cheered as he rode up. Some held signs with messages such as “Keep on Booking” and others stood by decorative silver balloons swishing in the 94-degree heat. Tuesday was Rojas-Galván’s first leg of the trip. He began in Eugene, then traveled to Linn-Benton Com- munity College, and ended in Salem, tracking about 97 miles for the day. As of Wednesday, he’d already helped raise about $30,000 for the cause – 20% of his overall goal of $150,000. The money will be distributed as student sti- pends for each term of the 2021-22 school year to help cover textbook costs. Chemeketa leads in textbook affordability Rojas-Galván’s cause is especially meaningful for Chemeketa. Chemeketa is the only community college in the na- tion publishing peer-reviewed textbooks with original content authored by the college’s faculty, school leaders said. They do this through their program known as Chemeketa Press, which launched in 2015. Instead of textbooks costing $200 each, for exam- ple, students can get the material needed for the same course and only pay $26. In fact, all Chemeketa Press books are $40 or less. Between 2015 and 2020, Chemeketa’s faculty pub- lished more than 30 books, saving students an estimat- ed $2.5 million, Jessica Howard, president of Cheme- keta, wrote last year in an op-ed for the Statesman Journal. “This fundraiser, in particular, will help students buy lab manuals and workbooks for the fall term,” Abbey Gaterud, director of Chemeketa Press, said about the See CYCLING, Page 2A
