TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 5A
PHOTOS
Continued from Page 1A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Kathy Rudd, left, a La Grande High School alum, and Eric
Freeman, the school’s assistant principal, pose for a por-
trait Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. They are working on a proj-
ect to restore missing photos to the school’s graduating
classes archives.
SYNDROME
Continued from Page 1A
16% of people across the
globe, can have.
Her book “Word Gob-
blers,” about recognizing
and helping children (and
adults) with Irlen Syndrome,
will be published in mid-
March. Local artist Joan
Gilbert has illustrated it.
“It’s different for every-
body, and it can be very
subtle,” Matthias said. “For
about 50% of people who
have it, it’s genetic. For the
other 50%, it’s usually brain
injuries. It can also be trig-
gered by high fevers or cer-
tain viruses.”
The cause of Irlen Syn-
drome, Matthias noted, is
the brain is not processing
certain light waves —
colors — and those light
waves are different for dif-
ferent people. As the brain
starts building a picture of
a written page or other sub-
ject, it’s not making any
VACCINES
Continued from Page 1A
with medical conditions the
U.S. Centers for Disease
Control defi nes as making
them more likely to become
seriously ill or die if infected
with COVID-19, can
sign-up. Conditions include
type 2 diabetes, cancer,
heart conditions, kidney
disease and compromised
immune systems. Pregnancy
is on the list, as is obesity
that results in a Body Mass
Index of 30 or more.
Residents should con-
sult with their doctor and
with the full explanation of
qualifying conditions on the
CDC and Oregon Health
Authority websites.
Also eligible on March
29 are some farm and food
industry workers, home-
less people, residents of
low-income or congregate
housing, wildland fi re-
fi ghters and those displaced
by the 2020 wildfi res.
On May 1, those 16-44
with medical conditions on
the CDC list can sign up.
Also “frontline” workers
with jobs dealing with the
public and any adult living
in a multi-generational
household.
Phase 2 wraps up with
anyone over 45 eligible on
June 1 and anyone over 16
on July 1.
No vaccine approved for
children is available yet,
though several are under
development.
The optimistic sce-
nario for the future clashed
with the reality of wide-
spread frustration over the
Freeman would like to
see all the restored frames
have blue backgrounds to
coincide with the school
colors of blue and white.
He also said he would like
to see the frames have
other common elements to
provide uniformity and a
sharper look.
“We want to protect and
update them,” Freeman
said.
He said doing this will
make it more likely the
senior picture frames will
not be lost years from now,
even if the district replaces
the building in the future.
La Grande High’s senior
classes, he said, deserve
to have their place in their
school’s history preserved.
“We want to honor grad-
uating classes,” Freeman
said.
The tradition of creating
framed senior class pic-
ture collection is believed to
have been discontinued sev-
WHAT IS IRLEN SYNDROME?
• A disorder of the way the brain interprets light signals.
• You can be born with it or develop it, and it can be caused by
injuries or illness.
• Written words may appear to be blurry, moving or disappear.
• Symptoms can include light sensitivity, poor reading compre-
hension, strain, fatigue, headaches and nausea.
Source: irlen.com
sense because some of the
wavelengths are missing.
Consequently, people with
Irlen Syndrome have brains
that are sort of hyperac-
tive, trying to make sense of
incomplete pictures.
The solutions for Mat-
thias and others with Irlen
Syndrome include placing
colored fi lters on top of
pages of text or printing text
out on colored paper. But the
best thing, Matthias said, is
wearing a pair of glasses or
contact lenses with multiple
color fi lters that are specifi -
cally designed for the indi-
vidual’s needs.
Matthias now wears a
pair of specially prescribed
glasses with fi ve color fi l-
ters. The glasses also cut
down on glare from the
sides and top. She wouldn’t
go anywhere without them.
“The glasses are not a
cure,” Matthias said. “You
cannot cure this. All you
can do is ameliorate it. The
glasses aren’t really colored
to the observer, and they
don’t change colors you are
seeing. But they do make
what you see more true to
life because your brain is
not trying to make sense of
chaos.”
As a certifi ed Irlen Syn-
drome screener, Matthias
uses 10 colored fi lters to
determine which colored
fi lters work. There are sev-
eral hundred combinations.
eral years ago, but Freeman
said he hopes to revive it.
“We want to continue
this process for every senior
class,” said Freeman, who
is in his fi rst school year as
the school’s assistant prin-
cipal after coming to the
Grande Ronde Valley from
Roseburg where he was an
educator.
Freeman said he is
hopeful people in the com-
munity will come forward
with materials the project
can use to fi ll in the holes
and help complete the
series.
“Someone might even
have negatives for the years
that are missing,” he said.
Rudd said she is confi -
dent many people will be
eager to assist the Gradu-
ation Class Picture Project
because of their allegiance
to La Grande High School.
“The high school is such
a big part of La Grande,”
she said.
For information on
assisting the Graduation
Class Picture Project, call
Rudd at 541-910-6122.
Diagnosticians who can
actually prescribe the color
combinations for glasses
have more than 100,000
options to meet the needs of
each individual.
“I had a friend from Port-
land, who’s a successful
photographer, painter and
writer, coming to visit and
I explained that I needed
someone without Irlen Syn-
drome to test,” Matthias said.
“We went through the test
and I don’t remember which
color it was, but we were
going through colors and I
put a color over her page,
and she burst into sobs. And
I’m thinking ‘What have I
done to my friend?’ And she
fi nally looked at me and said,
‘My entire childhood makes
sense now.’”
For more information
about Irlen Syndrome and
the Irlen Institute, visit irlen.
com.
To contact Matthias for
questions about a screening
or diagnosis, visit her web-
site: CatherineMatthias.com.
PHASE 2 ELIGIBILITY PRIORITIES FOR COVID-19 VACCINATION
March 29
• Adults age 45 to 64 with
underlying health conditions,
as defi ned by the CDC
• Seasonal workers, such as
migrant farm workers, seafood
and agricultural workers, and
food processing workers.
• Currently displaced victims of
gap between eligibility and
availability. Brown and
Allen forecast “chaos” last
month for the system of
large vaccination centers
and local pharmacies that
will handle inoculation of
seniors across the state.
The central math
problem is too little vaccine
for too many arms.
Allen pointed out
Oregon is at or above the
national average of 15%
of the populace having
received at least one shot.
But a look at the numbers is
daunting.
About 1.36 million
people in Oregon are in
Phase 1. Each vaccination
requires two shots, or 2.72
million shots for the group.
Oregon is not close
to reaching that number.
Between the vaccine fi rst
becoming available at the
end of December 2020 and
Friday, Oregon reports it
has injected 911,648 doses.
That would leave 1.8
million shots needed to
cover Phase 1 with a month
to go until Phase 2 starts.
Oregon has ramped up to
about 20,000 shots per day
and forecasts expanding
the number of places and
people who can inoculate
those eligible as the vaccine
the September 2020 wildfi res
• Wildland fi refi ghters
• People living in low-income
and congregate senior housing
• Homeless
• All other frontline workers as
defi ned by the CDC
• Multigenerational household
members
June 1: Adults 45 to 64.
May 1
• Individuals age 16-45 with
underlying health conditions
supply increases.
One number that’s
not known is how many
July 1: Everyone age 16
and over.
people are refusing to be
inoculated.
Oregon Health Authority
CATTLEMEN
Continued from Page 1A
region depend on fed-
eral grazing permits with
agencies like the Forest
Service and Bureau of
Land Management. More
wild and scenic rivers
could prompt greater
restrictions, he said.
“We are cognizant of
the importance of pro-
tecting the riparian areas
along these waterways,
but to have the poten-
tial exclusion of access
in these areas, that could
raise some serious ques-
tions,” Sharp said. “That
would be an obvious
impact to producers.”
While the vast majority
of streams and rivers in
the act are on Forest Ser-
vice or BLM land, some
stretches fl ow through
private property.
Matt McElligott, a
North Powder rancher
and board member of the
Public Lands Council,
said the map of proposed
wild and scenic rivers
creates a “checkerboard
pattern” of protected
and non-protected areas
that could make it more
diffi cult for agencies to
manage.
“Some of them, you
can graze them. Some of
them, you can’t,” McElli-
gott said. “And they’re not
connected.”
The bill’s authors have
said they were careful to
include plain language
that explicitly preserves
existing property rights.
For example, the bill
states that nothing in it
will repeal any existing
private contract, including
those for utility corri-
dors, group facilities,
roads and, importantly for
ranchers, water transmis-
sion facilities.
If the bill passes, agen-
cies will have up to six
years to write a compre-
hensive plan for the newly
designated wild and scenic
corridors. Specifi cally,
the bill requires them to
assess wildfi re risks and
implement a plan to pro-
Director Pat Allen said nei-
ther state or federal offi cials
are tracking who is eligible
but says no to the vaccine.
The higher that number,
the more vaccine is actu-
ally available for those that
want it.
Allen said OHA still
is vaccinating Phase 1
groups who have not yet
been able to get to a vac-
cine site. Brown said that
pausing this month will
allow Oregon to catch up
For EO Media Group
Todd Nash, Wallowa
County rancher and com-
missioner, says ranchers
and local leaders are con-
tinuing to gather more in-
formation about the River
Democracy Act and work-
ing with the staff of U.S.
Sens. Ron Wyden and
Jeff Merkley to answer
questions.
“I can’t help but
think there will be
some unintended
consequences at
some point.”
— Todd Nash, rancher
tect homes, businesses
and clean up watersheds
post-fi re.
McElligott said
ranchers appreciate the
acknowledgment of wild-
fi re risks, though the
Public Lands Commission
criticized the bill for not
recognizing grazing as a
potential management tool
for reducing fuel loads.
“If we have that big of
a set-aside (of land), that’s
more of a fi re danger than
fi re prevention,” he said.
Nash said ranchers
and local leaders are con-
tinuing to gather more
information about the
bill and working with the
senators’ staff to answer
questions.
“We have good-faith
communication and inten-
tions from the Wyden
administration, I do
believe,” Nash said. “But I
can’t help but think there
will be some unintended
consequences at some
point.”
on the backlog.
“We want to keep
our commitment to our
seniors,” Brown said.
Allen said Phase 2 will
begin May 29 regardless of
how many Phase 1 people
get inoculated this month.
OHA said it would issue
updated guidance on the
availability of vaccine and
the various ways to sign-up
and receive a notifi cation
when a resident’s eligibility
group comes up.
Aaron Cooper, PA-C—Adam Heisinger, DO—Stacy Iles, DPM—Ben Olson, DO—Arie Trouw, MD—Clay Hill, NP-C
Surround yourself with the best team in town.