❋✦✧★❆❨✱ ❆✩✦✧✪ ✫✷✱ ✷✬✫✾
❚✭✮ ✯✰✲✮✦❱✮✦ ✳ ✺✴
LOCAL
âãäåæç
Continued from Page 1A
food and each other’s com-
pany than worrying about
Raigen’s stomach pain.
“It’s been a transition for
me because my life with her
has been limiting her food.
Now, we can sit down for
dinner and she actually eats
her dinner and talks to us the
whole time,” Makenzie said.
“Meals with the family are
more enjoyable and relaxed
than they used to be.”
One thing Raigen was
not excited about when she
got home, however, was the
sight of the pole — which the
3-year-old had appropriately
named “Poley” — that once
held up her bag of liquid
food. Raigen had been on a
liquid diet for months before
the surgery, and hated the
feeding tube that ran from
her stomach, out of her nose
and connected her to Poley,
which was her constant com-
panion, but now sits in the
corner of her closet.
“We come home from the
✁✂✄ ✂✒✁✚✆✁☎ ✝✑✖ ✂✠✆ ✂✝☎✂ ➠
‘What is Poley doing here
still?’” Makenzie said with a
laugh. “I told her we had to
keep him until we were in
the clear. She doesn’t want
to talk to or see Poley ever
again.”
Although this time of peace
and healing was a breath of
fresh air for the Jesseph fam-
ily, their next — and largest
— hurdle was fast approach-
ing. Raigen was to face her
second surgery of the month
on March 25.
This time, doctors would
operate on her brain.
No more headaches
In addition to a lifetime of
stomach pain, Raigen expe-
rienced splitting headaches
/ Page 2A that could not be explained
by her gastroparesis diag-
✑✞✂✏✂ ➠ ✂✞ ✖✒✁✏✑✚ ✠✆✁ ✁✂✄
hospital stay in December,
doctors conducted an MRI
on the 3-year-old to check
for brain tumors.
To Makenzie and Jaymes’
relief, the MRI scan did not
reveal any tumors in their
Raigen’s brain, but it did dis-
cover something else.
That day, Raigen was di-
agnosed with Type II Chiari
Malformation — a congenital
brain developmental disor-
der that pushes the bottom
of the brain down into the
upper spinal canal, causing
pressure and blocking the
➡ ✞ ➢ ✞✟ ✎✁✝✏✑ ➡ ✒✏✖✔
Makenzie and Jaymes
then realized their little girl
would have to undergo brain
surgery.
The day of her second
surgery, Raigen was feel-
ing more calm than she had
✎✆✟✞✁✆ ✠✆✁ ✁✂✄ ✞✤✆✁✝✄✏✞✑✔
Makenzie thinks this is be-
cause she had already gone
through something similar
with the pyloroplasty, so she
wasn’t as scared. Makenzie,
✄✠✞✒✚✠ ➠ ➢ ✝✂ ✄✆✁✁✏ ✆✖✔
“Jaymes handled it okay
just because she did so well
with the other surgery, but
I had a lot of emotion, es-
pecially when they wheeled
her out and left for the prep
room,” she said. “That’s
when it hit me and I just
started sobbing. At that
stage, there’s nothing else
you can do but pray.”
The Jesseph couple and
10 of their family members
spent four hours in the wait-
ing room, consoling one
another. Makenzie said for
✄✠✆ ✁✂✄ ✠✞✒✁ ✝✑✖ ✝ ✠✝✙✟ ➠ ✂✠✆
couldn’t think or do anything
except cry.
But eventually, those four
hours passed, and Maken-
zie and Jaymes entered the
recovery room to check on
their daughter together.
“There’s just something
about seeing your little baby
like that...” Makenzie said,
✠✆✁ ➢ ✞✁✖✂ ✄✁✝✏✙✏✑✚ ✞✥✔ ✢ ➤ ✠✆
looked pale, and she was still
sleeping.”
Raigen was soon moved
íîïððñ
Continued from Page 1A
provide salary increases.
“We are still behind many of them (in
terms of teacher salaries), but this puts
us much closer,” Justice said.
Terms of the contract call for the
school district’s base teacher salary to be
$34,839 and its top salary to be $66,195
in 2019-20.
Teachers will also receive more money
for health insurance premiums. The cap
for what the district will pay for health
to a small room in the pe-
diatric intensive care unit
where only two people can
visit at a time. Makenzie and
Jaymes would switch out as
each family member would
approach the bed, give sleep-
ing Raigen a quick kiss on the
cheek or forehead, and leave.
In the PICU, only one par-
ent is allowed to spend the
night in the room, so the two
decided Makenzie would be
the one to stay. Luckily, an
overnight room opened up
down the hall, so Jaymes had
a place to sleep nearby.
Makenzie said it was an
extremely rough night for
Raigen.
“She threw up all the time
(as the nurses tried) to get
her pain managed. There
was no comfortable posi-
tion for her, so we would sit
her up or try to get her to
sleep, but there was nothing
that would make the pain go
✝ ➢ ✝☎ ✟✞✁ ✄✠✆ ✁✂✄ ✡ ➥ ✠✞✒✁✂ ➠➦
she said. “As a parent, you’ll
do anything to take your
kid’s pain away, and yet we
couldn’t. This was the worst
we’ve ever seen it.”
By 11 the next morning,
Raigen was transferred to a
new room in the post-sur-
gical wing for her extended
stay. Makenzie said once
they arrived, it felt like they
✘✞✒✙✖ ✑✝✙✙☎ ✎✁✆✝✄✠✆ ➠ ✁✆✙✝ ➧
and heal together as a family.
“The PICU was a tiny
room. I felt claustrophobic
there, and it made me feel
more anxious,” Makenzie
said. “Once we transferred
out, the room we got was like
a little apartment. It felt like
‘Oh, now we’re home,’ even
though we were still in the
hospital.”
Over the next six days of
➨ ✝✏✚✆✑ ➩ ✂ ✑✝✙ ✠✞✂✤✏✄✝✙ ✂✄✝☎ ➠
friends and family did their
best to make the healing
process as warm and com-
fortable as possible. The
✁✞✞✓ ✂✞✞✑ ✙✙✆✖ ➢ ✏✄✠ ✎✝✙ -
loons, cards and four new
✂✄✒✥✆✖ ✒✑✏✘✞✁✑✂✔ ➫ ✝ ➭ ✆✑ ➯ ✏✆ ➩ ✂
insurance premiums per month will
jump at least $40 each year of the con-
tract. The total increase will be boosted
to $75 a month if the Legislature adopts
a $9.1 billion education budget for the
2019-21 biennium. The state’s educa-
tion budget for 2017-19 was $8.2 billion.
The health insurance premium cap
for the teachers’ present contact, which
expires July 1, is $1,254 per month.
Justice said the new contract was
designed so that it will expire after the
✁✂✄ ☎✆✝✁ ✞✟ ✄✠✆ ✡☛✡☞✌✡✍ ✎✏✆✑✑✏✒✓✔ ✕✠✏✂
means that when the next contract is
➲➳➵➸➵ ➺➵➻➼➸➽➾➚➵➪➶➹➘➽➴➷➬➽ ➮➽➾➾➽➱➳
✃❐❒❮❰Ï Ð❰ÑÒÑ ❐ÓÒ❰Ð ÔÐ❐❒Ï ÑÕÐ❮❰ÐÖ ❐Ò ×❐ØÐ❰Ù Ú❰❐ÐÒ ÛÜ❒ÝÙÐ❰ÏÞÑ ÚßÑà❒Ò❐Ýá
mom, Summerville resident
Heather Way, even sewed
Raigen her own hospital
gown and robe — a purple
garment featuring, of course,
unicorns and rainbows.
“She had a huge unicorn
balloon, and some star bal-
loons — there were probably
☞✡ ✖✏✥✆✁✆✑✄ ➭ ✏✑✖✂✔ ✕✠✆ ✁✂✄
time she was admitted in De-
cember was when she started
loving balloons,” Makenzie
said. “She stares at them and
talks about them all the time.
No matter what, we made
sure to get some for her.”
Makenzie said while their
family members were sup-
✤✞✁✄✏✜✆ ✝✑✖ ✞✥✆✁✆✖ ✝ ✠✝✑✖ ➠
it was not easy for them to
see Raigen so weak after her
surgery.
“Nobody really under-
stood how much pain she
would be in,” she said. “Ev-
eryone struggled because she
struggled. Raigen, through
all of this, has really touched
a lot of people’s lives with her
strength, resilience and her
thought for people.”
Through connections in
La Grande, the Jessephs
made friends with a family
whose infant daughter, Ha-
ven, recently had open heart
surgery. Raigen would pray
and draw pictures for “Baby
Shaven,” as she calls her,
negotiated the school district will know
how much money it will be receiving
from the state in 2022-23. He noted
✄✠✝✄ ✏✄ ✏✂ ✖✏✗✘✒✙✄ ✄✞ ✑✆✚✞✄✏✝✄✆ ✘✞✑✄✁✝✘✄✂
without knowing how much money the
district will have to spend.
“We have had unknown numbers go-
ing into bargaining,” Justice said.
✛✒✂✄✏✘✆ ✂✝✏✖ ✝✑✞✄✠✆✁ ✎✆✑✆ ✄ ✞✟ ✠✝✜ -
ing a three-year contract is it gives the
school district and its teachers more
time to focus on other projects.
✢✣ ✝✤✤✁✆✘✏✝✄✆ ✄✠✆ ✂✄✝✥ ✆✑✄✆✁✏✑✚ ✏✑✄✞ ✝
three-year contract,” he said.
even while she was still heal-
ing from her own surgery.
“Even though baby Haven
is younger, it reminded Rai-
gen she’s not the only one
who has to go through this,”
Makenzie said, adding that
knowing Haven’s family has
helped them all. “Unless you
walk the journey of your kid
going through this, some-
times it’s hard to grasp the
severity of it even though you
still care a lot.”
Next up: birthday parties,
ballet and preschool
✕✠✆ ✖✝☎ ✄✠✆ ✛✆✂✂✆✤✠✂ ✑✝✙ -
ly left the children’s hospital,
Raigen felt confused.
“She thought when she
left the hospital she would be
all better. She started crying
(and said), ‘But this is sup-
posed to be gone,’” Makenzie
recalled. “It’s a lot for a little
girl to process.”
The past few weeks for
Raigen have been full of
playing cash register, watch-
ing “American Idol” and
dancing with her mom, and
eating whatever foods she
can stomach. She has had a
daily problem with nausea
and vomiting because of the
brain surgery, but Makenzie
said the doctors advised her
this is a normal part of the
healing process.
“When they said it’s a long,
hard recovery, they did not
lie,” she said. “(Raigen is) go-
ing a little stir crazy because
she’s very social, so staying at
home is becoming more dif-
✘✒✙✄✔ ➦
Makenzie said Raigen’s
halfway-recovery mark of
six weeks is near her fourth
birthday, so the family is
planning a “big unicorn spar-
kle bash” at the end of May to
celebrate her life and every-
thing she’s overcome.
“She said she wants a
unicorn cake, to go to the
park and swing and see her
friends,” Makenzie said. “She
just wants to have fun again
and have as many people
around as possible.”
By late summer, Raigen’s
12-week recovery will come
to an end, and it will be time
for her to start preschool and
go back to ballet, an activity
she sorely misses. Makenzie
said she is amazed by how
strong her little girl has been
through all of this pain be-
fore she even started school.
“I don’t ever want to go
through that again, and I
don’t want anyone else to
go through that,” she said.
“We know God has big
plans for her after having
her walk through this at
such a young age.”
❯✽✾✿✽ ❀✿❁✽❂❃ ❄✾❅❅ ❇❉❊✾✽ ✿❁❋ ❋✿●❍■✾❍❉ ■❏❋●❃
❏❋✿❊❋●♣ ❂✿ ❑✿✽❂❋✿❅ ◆❉❊❉❂●❂✾✿✽ ●✽❍ ✽✿P✾✿❁■ ❄❉❉❍■
❂t●❂ ●❋❉ ❉✽❑❋✿●❑t✾✽❊ ✿✽ ❋✿●❍ ■t✿❁❅❍❉❋■ ●✽❍ ❋✾❊t❂
✿◗ ❄●❃■❱ ❲✽ ♣✿■❂ ❅✿❑●❂✾✿✽■❳ ■❏❋●❃✾✽❊ ❄✾❅❅ ❉P❂❉✽❍
◗✿❁❋ ❂✿ ❉✾❊t❂ ◗❉❉❂ ◗❋✿♣ ❏●◆❉♣❉✽❂ ❉❍❊❉■❱ ❢❋✿❏❉❋❂❃
✿❄✽❉❋■ ❄t✿ ❍✿ ✽✿❂ ❄●✽❂ t❉❋❇✾❑✾❍❉■ ●❏❏❅✾❉❍ ✽❉●❋
❂t❉✾❋ ❏❋✿❏❉❋❂❃ ♣❁■❂ ■✾❊✽ ●✽ ❩❬❄✽❉❋ ❭✾❅❅ ❪●✾✽❂●✾✽❫
●❊❋❉❉♣❉✽❂ ❄✾❂t ❂t❉ ❑✿❁✽❂❃ ❄t✾❑t ♣❁■❂ ❇❉ ❁❏❛
❍●❂❉❍ ●✽✽❁●❅❅❃❱ ❴t❉ ❑✿❁✽❂❃ ❄✾❅❅ ❏❋✿◆✾❍❉ ■✾❊✽■ ◗✿❋
❂t❉ ✿❄✽❉❋■ ❏●❋❂✾❑✾❏●❂✾✽❊❱ ❢❋✿❏❉❋❂❃ ✿❄✽❉❋■ ❄✾■t❛
✾✽❊ ❂✿ ❏●❋❂✾❑✾❏●❂❉ ❑●✽ ■✾❊✽ ❁❏ ◗✿❋ ❂t❉ ❩❬❄✽❉❋ ❭✾❅❅
❪●✾✽❂●✾✽❫ ❏❋✿❊❋●♣ ●❂ ❂t❉ ❯✽✾✿✽ ❀✿❁✽❂❃ ❢❁❇❅✾❑
❭✿❋r■ ❵❉❏●❋❂♣❉✽❂ ❅✿❑●❂❉❍ ●❂ ❜❝❞❜❡ ❣❱ ❪❑❤❅✾■❂❉❋
✐✿●❍ ✾✽ ❲■❅●✽❍ ❀✾❂❃❱ ❤✽❃ ❥❁❉■❂✾✿✽■❳ ❏❅❉●■❉ ❑●❅❅
åìçí
Continued from Page 1A
Americans the right to bear
arms.
“I
support
Second
Amendment rights and I op-
pose anything that erodes
them,” Hansell said.
Phil Gillette, the sporting
goods manager at Ace Hard-
ware in La Grande, also op-
poses the storage require-
ment of SB 978. He said that
keeping a gun in a locked
house should be considered
the equivalent of having it in
a safe.
He added that holding
gun owners responsible
for crimes committed with
✄✠✆✏✁ ✂✄✞✙✆✑ ✁✆✝✁✓✂ ➢ ✞✒✙✖
be like charging a car own-
er with a crime if someone
steals the vehicle and then
is in an accident that causes
an injury.
However, Penny Oka-
mopo, executive director of
è ✆✝✂✆ ✁✆ é ✁✆✚✞✑ ➠ ✝ ê ✞✁✄ -
✙✝✑✖✌✎✝✂✆✖ ✑✞✑✤✁✞ ✄ ✄✠✝✄
seeks to reduce gun violence
via legislation, is a strong
supporter of the storage re-
quirement provision of SB
978.
“It will save lives — that is
the bottom line,” Okamopo
✂✝✏✖✔ ✢ ë ✑✂✆✘✒✁✆✖ ✁✆✝✁✓✂
are a primary reason there
are gun deaths.”
She said SB 978 would not
only prevent guns from be-
ing stolen but also prevent
tragedies by making it hard-
er for children to access guns
in their homes.
“It would help protect mi-
nors from accidentally being
injured by guns, from un-
intentionally being shot at
home,” Okamopo said.
She also said it would
make gun owners more
✘✝✁✆✟✒✙ ➢ ✠✆✑ ✄✠✆☎ ✄✝ ➭ ✆ ✝ ✁✆ -
arm outside their residence.
“If a gun owner takes
✝ ✁✆✝✁✓ ✞✒✄✂✏✖✆ ✞✑✆ ✝
month, the person is three
times more likely to have it
stolen,” Okamopo said.
She also said that making
guns less accessible would
reduce suicides. The Cease-
✁✆ ✆ ➧ ✆✘✒✄✏✜✆ ✖✏✁✆✘✄✞✁ ✂✝✏✖ ✝✄
least 60 percent of suicides
in Oregon are committed
➢ ✏✄✠ ✁✆✝✁✓✂✔
A major provision of SB
978 would allow Oregon
retailers not to sell guns to
anyone until they are 21.
Presently, 18 is the mini-
mum age at which anyone
✘✝✑ ✤✒✁✘✠✝✂✆ ✝ ✁✏ ➡ ✆ ✏✑ é ✁ -
egon and 21 is the minimum
age for buying a handgun.
Gillette opposes this provi-
sion of the bill, saying he
believes retailers should be
✝✙✙✞ ➢ ✆✖ ✄✞ ✂✆✙✙ ✁✏ ➡ ✆✂ ✄✞ ✝✑☎ -
one 18 and older who they
believe are responsible. Gil-
lette takes his responsibility
of selling guns seriously.
“I have the right to refuse
service to anyone,” he said.
“I have to be responsible as
a dealer.”
He said he will refuse to
sell a gun to anyone who
smells of alcohol or ap-
✤✆✝✁✂ ✄✞ ✎✆ ✒✑✖✆✁ ✏✄✂ ✏✑ ➡ ✒ -
ence. When he is suspicious
about someone who wants
to buy a gun, Gillette said,
he escorts them out of Ace
Hardware.
“I go by what I physically
see — if it doesn’t read right,
then I’m not selling them a
gun,” he said.
He said that raising the
minimum age for purchas-
✏✑✚ ✁✏ ➡ ✆✂ ✄✞ ✡☞ ➢ ✞✒✙✖ ✎✆ ✞✒✄
of line with other respon-
sibilities people are given
when they are 18.
“If we change the age to 21
then we should raise the vot-
ing age and the military ser-
vice age to 21,” Gillette said.
Rev. W. J. Mark Knut-
son of Lift Every Voice Or-
egon, a coalition of faith-
based communities run
primarily by volunteers
❼➈➂❼➉➉❼➊➅ ➀❼➇➋➃➂❼ ➌➍➎❿➌➌➏➐
❃❄❃❄❅ ❇❈ ❉❊● ❍ ❏❑▲▼◆❖ ❊P◗❘
that advocates for safer
schools, houses of worship
and communities, likes the øùúûüýþ øúÿ ❙ ù ú ✁
provision of SB 978 allow-
ing retailers to raise the çççèéêëìíîïðñòóôõóòðèöê÷
minimum age for buying
a gun. Knutson said it is
among the reasons Lift Ev-
ery Voice Oregon supports
the bill.
He said this provision, like
▲✂✂✄ ☎✆ ☎ ✝✞✟✠✡☛☞✡✝✞✟✠ ✌✂✍✎☎✏✞✑✂✒
all of SB 978, seems logical.
❘✓✔✕✖✗♦✖✘✙✔
✚✓✛✜✖✚✕♦✢✣✤✓
“It is a common sense law ❖✥✦✧★✩✪✫✬ ❖✬✭✫✮✦✯✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳ ❨✧✩ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✰❖
for safety,” Knutson said.
❈✱✩✭✮✲✫✴✵✭✫✮✦✯✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳ ❨✧✩ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✰❖
He believes that support ❈✵✦ ✶ ✩✧✷✷ ✫✭ ✥✪✧✦ ✸✮✦✧✯ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳ ❨✧✩ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✰❖
for SB 978 is strong through- ▼✮✹✧✵✺✷✧✯ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳ ❨✧✩ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✰❖
✻✮✼✵✭✫✮✦✯ ✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳✳❨✮✱★ ✉✮✱✩✧✳✳✳ ❆✼★✮✩✩ ❚✮✥✦
out the state.
➝➞➞ ➟➠➡ ➢➤➥➦➧➨➩ ➧➟➫ ➨➫
“It is not urban versus ru-
➭➯➭➯➲ ➳➵ ➸➺➻➼➽➾➚➪➶ ➹➘➴➷ ➬➾➼➴➮➷ ➱➽➚✃
ral. It is all Oregonians to-
❐❒❮➭❰ ÏÏÐÑ➯➲❮Ï ➘➶ ➚➘➼➼ Ò➶➪➪ ❐Ó➯➯❰ ÏÓ➲Ñ➯❒ÓÔ
ÕÖ×ØÙÙÚ ÖÛÜÝÞ ØÜÞ ÖßÝàØáÝÞ âÖà ÖãÝà äå ÚÝØàæ
gether,” Knutson said.
♥qs✈✇① q②③ ④⑤✈⑥②③⑦ ⑧✈⑦⑨ ①⑩❶ q
❷❸❹❹❺ ❻❼❽❾ ❿➀➁❽❾➂❸❺
➃➄➅➆➇➈➉ ➊➄➋➋➌➈
➍➎➎➏ ➐➑➒➓➔→ ➣➔↔ →➑➓➔→
↕➑➙ ➛➎➣➙➜ ➝➑ ➞➑➐➎➟
✵✶ ✸✶✹✻✼✻✶✹✻✶✽
✸✶■✿❀❛✶❁✻ ✵❂✻✶❁②
❻❼❼❽ ❾ ❿➀➀➁➂➃➄➅❼➀ ➆➁➇
✈✇①③④⑤ ⑥⑦⑧⑨⑤⑩
❞❦❜❛❧♠❡❛❜❝❜♠❱
➑❼❽➃➂➄➇❼➒ ➓➔➅➁➒ →➁➣❼
➃➊➀➔➇↔↕➙➛ ↔↕➜ ❿➊➊➔➃➅➃❼➀
❙❯❲❳❩❬❙❳❲❭❪❯
❫♦❴❴ ❵❜❡❡ ❝❞❢❣❣❞❤❢❤❞❝✐❤❥ ❦❦❦❧❜❡❡♠❞♥♣qr❜s♣t❡❧♣❡✉
❶⑤❷✇❸ ❹⑤⑤❺