LOCAL/STATE
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2020
LIBRARY
Continued from Page 1A
in Oregon history.
A petition to change
the name of the library has
been circulating at www.
change.org for fi ve days
as of Wednesday morning
and had received 2,487
signatures.
“The online petition to
change the name of Pierce
Library gives voice to those
who are concerned about
the name’s implications,
not only for the university
but for our community and
beyond,” Seydel said.
The EOU student gov-
ernment, the Faculty
Senate and other university
organizations will provide
the petition and supporting
documentation and rec-
ommendations to a com-
mittee of two students, a
history department faculty
member and a member of
Staff photo by Sabrina Thompson
Eastern Oregon University in La Grande named the cam-
pus library after Walter Pierce, Oregon’s 17th governor,
and his third wife, Cornelia Pierce, the fi rst state librarian.
EOU is considering changing the building’s name due to
Walter Pierce’s affi liation with the Ku Klux Klan.
the library staff.
The EOU Faculty Senate
in December 2017 passed
a resolution for a name
change, and EOU President
Tom Insko in 2018 told the
board a committee would
look into the possibility of
removing the Pierce name
from the library. According
to Seydel, the committee
was to fi nish its work in the
spring, but due to the pan-
demic the group was unable
THE OBSERVER — 5A
to complete research and
instead will present fi ndings
to the university in the fall.
“As a university,
we approach decisions
equipped with research,
analysis and data, and
that is what is in pro-
cess today,” Seydel said.
“Although EOU has a pro-
cess in place to ensure
this issue is addressed in
a timely manner, Presi-
dent Insko has initiated a
process that seeks to have
the EOU Board review the
name this summer in order
to advance what is right for
the EOU community.”
During the 1999 pro-
cess of changing the name
of the library, a report ana-
lyzed the appropriateness
of the name. Those fi nd-
ings included documenta-
tion of the Klan support for
Pierce and and his inconsis-
tency with following Klan
ideals, though the report
also showed he supported
FIREWORKS
the anti-immigrant views of
the KKK.
Changing the name of
the library again does not
have total support.
“We have had some
feedback from folks who
are concerned about the
historical context of the
name,” Seydel said. “They
would like to not change
the name because they
would like to honor the
contributions that Pierce
made to the state and to
the region. People are also
interested in not sweeping
history under the rug and
not pretending it never
happened. We need to
acknowledge that the
library once had his name,
perhaps with something in
the library.”
Seydel also said
renaming the library would
be a whole other issue and
the building could become
simply the EOU Library or
the Library.
Continued from Page 1A
happening, provided it
can be done correctly.
“We wish them the
best and hope they are
able to pull it off suc-
cessfully,” Searles
said.
Mike Lockhart,
of the Wallowa Lake
Tourism Associa-
tion, and Gary Beth-
scheider, of the Stub-
born Mule in Joseph,
have joined forces to
raise the money needed
and get a pyrotechni-
cian contracted.
Lockhart said he
expects to have the
arrangements made by
the end of the week.
“We’re trying to
do something good,”
Lockhart said. “We’re
not in any way trying
to be disrespectful of
the situation.”
He emphasized
that those attending
the event must take
responsibility for social
distancing.
“People need to
take personal responsi-
bility,” he said. “If they
feel they don’t want to
assume that risk, then
they should not go. If
they do, they should
accept the responsi-
bility of social dis-
tancing and protect
themselves so they
don’t contribute to the
spread of virus.”
Lockhart said it’s
uncertain if they’ll use
the familiar “Shake the
Lake” moniker for the
event, since that had
been used by the cham-
ber-sponsored show.
“We don’t want to
tread on their territory,”
he said.
But Searles said
“Shake the Lake” is
not trademarked and
Lockhart’s group is
free to use the name.
Still, Lockhart said
they may come up with
something a little more
generic.
That, however, has
yet to be determined.
In previous years, it
has cost about $14,000
for the pyrotechnics,
lodging for the pyro-
technicians, advertising
and other elements
of the approximately
25-minute show held
from a fl oating dock
in the north end of the
lake, Searles said.
Lockhart said the
association has raised
suffi cient funds to put
on a similar display.
He’s still hoping to
increase the quality
of the show and raise
more money to do so.
Anyone who is inter-
ested in donating to the
cause can send their
contributions to the
Wallowa Lake Tourism
Association, P.O. Box
853 Joseph, Ore.,
97846.
Searles said the
chamber’s board plans
to do “Shake the Lake”
again next year.
“It’s just this COVID
pandemic that led us
to cancel it for this
year, like many other
events,” she said. “I
hope everything comes
off OK and people in
the county and visitors
are safe.”
Judge grants order barring most Portland police tear gas use
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — A fed-
eral judge Tuesday night
backed Portland Mayor
Ted Wheeler’s restrictions
on the city’s police use of
a common tear gas with a
14-day court order banning
the agent except when a life
is at risk.
U.S. District Judge
Marco A. Hernandez’s
ruling came following about
an hour of argument and
watching video evidence of
recent protests, The Orego-
State to test
residents
at all long-
term care
facilities
By Sara Cline
Associated Press/Report for
America
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown announced Tuesday
the state is working to
implement a plan to test
all staff and residents at
long-term care facilities for
coronavirus.
Testing will start at care
centers at the highest risk of
having an outbreak. Most of
those facilities are in Mult-
nomah, Washington, Clack-
amas, Yamhill, Marion and
Polk counties, according to
the governor’s offi ce.
“From the beginning
of this pandemic, it has
been one of my top priori-
ties to protect the residents
and staff of long-term care
facilities,” Brown said in a
statement.
Care centers in Oregon
have been hit with out-
breaks throughout the pan-
demic. As of Tuesday, out
of the state’s 688 large long
term-care facilities 16 cur-
rently have confi rmed coro-
navirus cases, the gover-
nor’s offi ce said. Previously
it had been 27 facilities.
The disease espe-
cially impacts older adults
and people with existing
health problems as it can
cause more severe illness,
including pneumonia and
death.
At least 169 people
across Oregon have died
from the coronavirus and
more than 4,980 in the state
have tested positive for the
disease.
Long-term care facilities
are restricting non-essen-
tial visitors and screening
essential individuals prior
to entering the building.
“Expanding testing is
an essential fi rst step that
will allow us to examine
how visitation policies can
be safely and incrementally
eased,” Gov. Brown said.
nian/OregonLive reported.
The nonprofi t Don’t
Shoot Portland and two pro-
testers on Friday sued the
city, seeking to bar the Port-
land police use of tear gas
to disperse large crowds of
demonstrators protesting
the death of George Floyd,
a black man who died after
Minneapolis offi cer pinned
him to the ground with a
knee to his neck for nearly
nine minutes.
The judge found that
protesters who sued
“engaged only in peaceful
and non-destructive pro-
test,” with no record of
criminal activity.
“To the contrary, there
is even evidence that some
protesters were confronted
with tear gas while trying
to follow police orders and
leave the demonstrations,’’
the judge wrote in a 10-page
ruling. “Given the effects
of tear gas, and the poten-
tial deadly harm posed
by the spread of COVID-
19, Plaintiffs have estab-
lished a strong likelihood
that Defendant engaged in
excessive force contrary to
the Fourth Amendment.’’
Hernandez ruled that the
protesters who sued demon-
strated a threat of imme-
diate, irreparable harm in
the absence of a tempo-
rary court order, showed
they were likely to succeed
on their claim of excessive
force by police and also
raised a serious question as
to whether their free speech
rights were violated.
DMV working through new ID issue
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon
Driver and Motor Vehicle
Services has bad news
and good news for cus-
tomers stemming
from the coronavirus
pandemic.
The bad news was
DMV’s initial effort to
reopen its fi eld offi ces
after a 10-week shutdown
hit a roadblock — and not
the physical kind.
The good news is
DMV was able to get
around it quickly — and
that more than 3.1 million
Oregon drivers will have
up to 15 months, instead
of three, to obtain the
kind of licenses enabling
them to board commer-
cial aircraft.
Assistant Director
Travis Brouwer of the
Oregon Department of
Transportation, DMV’s
parent agency, spoke
about both this week at
a virtual meeting of the
Legislature’s Joint Com-
mittee on Transportation.
In the fi rst hour after
telephone lines were
opened June 1, DMV
got 18,000 calls — the
normal call volume is
1,000 per day — and
DMV shut down the lines
soon afterward.
“We were faced with a
deluge of calls we did not
anticipate,” Brouwer said.
But with help from its
computer systems vendor,
DMV put up a substi-
tute: An online form
for people to request
in-person appointments,
with specifi c times, at
their local fi eld offi ce.
Of the 60 fi eld offi ces,
38 were able to reopen
June 3 to provide limited
services. All but six were
closed since March 25,
after the fi rst of Gov. Kate
Brown’s executive orders
during the coronavirus
pandemic — and those six
were limited to commer-
cial driver licenses.
In a second phase, 57
fi eld offi ces will reopen
by Monday, June 22, for
limited services. All 60
offi ces will reopen by
Aug. 3 with all services.
Many DMV services
can be done online or via
mail. A new computer
system will enable DMV
to expand that list.
But renewals of reg-
ular drivers’ licenses
require people to come in
for new photos, and for
those 60 and older, vision
tests.
Drive tests for fi rst-
time license applicants
and others also require
in-person appointments.
The tests usually are con-
ducted by DMV vendors,
but Brouwer said vendors
are unavailable in some
areas of Oregon.
Oregon also faced a
deadline of Oct. 1 for
licenses compliant with
the Real ID Act, a 2005
federal law whose goal
is to make state drivers’
licenses more secure.
But Oregon’s deadline
for compliance with the
federal law is now Oct. 1,
2021. ODOT’s Brouwer
said the delay will give
DMV 15 months, instead
of three months, and
many drivers now can opt
to obtain the new licenses
when their renewal time
comes.
Virus outbreak at North Bend prison resolved
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — State
public health offi cials said
Tuesday the coronavirus
outbreak at a North Bend
prison has been resolved.
The minimum-security
prison at one point had
25 infected inmates and
three infected employees,
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reported.
It is one of four state
prisons with confi rmed
cases of the virus. A
spokesperson for the
Oregon Health Authority
said in an email that an
outbreak is considered
over 28 days after the
date of the last onset of
symptoms for people with
the virus.
At the Oregon State
Penitentiary, the state’s
maximum-security
prison in Salem, cases
have slowed, said Chris-
topher DiGiulio, the
chief of medicine for the
Oregon Department of
Corrections.
The prison has
reported one new case of
coronavirus in the past
several days, he said.
Previously, the state
was reporting as many as
20 new cases a day there,
he said.
As of Tuesday, the
total number of con-
fi rmed cases among
Oregon inmates stood
at 167. Another 47
employees also have
tested positive.
The outbreak at the
Oregon State Peniten-
tiary remains the largest
in the state with a total of
168 cases among inmates
and workers combined.
Among inmates, 93 are
considered recovered,
DiGiulio said.
Santiam Correctional
Institution in Salem and
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution in Umatilla
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also have reported cases
of the disease. Santiam
has eight cases and Two
Rivers has one.
For most, the corona-
virus causes mild or mod-
erate symptoms, such as
fever and cough that clear
up in two to three weeks.
For some people, espe-
cially older adults and
people with existing
health problems, it can
cause more severe illness,
including pneumonia and
death.
Health offi cials have
reported about 5,000 pos-
itive cases in Oregon,
with at least 169 deaths.
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City attorneys had coun-
tered that the mayor on Sat-
urday already limited the
Police Bureau’s use of tear
gas, directing that police
not use it “unless there is
a serious and immediate
threat to life safety’’ with
no other viable alternative
available for dispersing vio-
lent demonstrators.
By issuing a 14-day tem-
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the plaintiffs will be able to
return to court to report any
violations.
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