FROM PAGE ONE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022
ACTIVITIES
Continued from Page A1
critical to continue off ering extra-
curricular activities because they
play a vital role in maintaining
students’ social, emotional and
mental health.
Staying vigilant
Imbler School District Super-
intendent Doug Hislop is using
the guidance to inspire him-
self and his district to continue
being vigilant when dealing
with COVID-19. He appreciates
the focus the state’s guidance is
placing on extracurricular activ-
ities and is taking it to heart.
Hislop, who is also Imbler High
School’s wrestling coach, noted
that he was considering taking his
team to one of two tournaments
in Idaho during the upcoming
weekend but ultimately decided
Hislop
Mendoza
Wells
against traveling to the Gem
State because there would likely
be schools at either of the tour-
naments he would know nothing
about in terms of the COVID-19
safety protocol they follow.
At the Oregon wrestling tour-
naments Hislop’s team travels
to, as a precaution he has his
squad stay together rather than
spending a lot of time meeting
with opposing wrestlers.
The Union School District,
like Imbler, will not be making
fundamental changes to extra-
curricuar activities, according to
Carter Wells, the school district’s
superintendent. Wells said the
plan the school district is using
for operating activities safely is
working well and has not sparked
any outbreaks. He also said his
school district’s infection rate,
which is low, has not been infl u-
enced by the omicron variant.
“We have not had complica-
tions because of the variant,” he
said.
North Powder School District
Superintendent Lance Dixon said
he also has no plans to cut back
extracurricular activities because
of COVID-19. He said it would
not be fair to students after so
many of their sporting events and
other activities were canceled ear-
lier because of the pandemic.
“We are not going to take
sports away from kids again,” he
said.
The North Powder superinten-
dent said he wants a semblance of
normalcy to return to the lives of
students.
“They have already missed so
THE OBSERVER — A5
many chances to participate in
playoff s and state tournaments,”
he said.
Dixon noted that athletics and
club activities give a number of
students academic motivation.
“Some students come to school
because of sports and extracurric-
ular activities,” he said.
Keeping schools open
The message from the Oregon
Department of Education and
Oregon Health Authority comes
as schools around the state begin
their new terms and the omicron
variant of the coronavirus con-
tinues to spread.
“It’s all about trying to con-
tinue to ensure that our students
can attend school in person every
day,” ODE Director Colt Gill said
on Jan. 3 following the release of
the guidance.
Gill said that includes schools
continuing to enforce the miti-
TRUCKERS
Continued from Page A1
stuck for more than 24 hours
at Flying J Travel Center, La
Grande, as repeated acci-
dents, heavy snow and main-
tenance closed down Inter-
state 84. It had been closed off
and on several times during
the past week. Snowdrifts one
day, wrecks and traffi c block-
ages by unchained semi-
trailers the next. Dozens of
other truck drivers had been
stranded there, as well.
“It’s been a long time since
I’ve been shut down with
this many trucks parked,”
Holman said.
Rows of trucks were
parked, placed and maneu-
vered into the lot, blocking
each other in and forming a
logistical slide puzzle, one
made trickier when the roads
were clear.
She was anxious to leave
Flying J — the roads had
just opened eastbound, albeit
briefl y — and solicited other
truck drivers to move their
rigs so she could maneuver
out of the lot. As one driver
left — a day-route driver
without a sleeping rig in the
cabin who wanted to fi nd a
hotel for the night — space
was cleared for her exit. But
it was just a hair too late, as
I-84 was closed yet again due
to unchained semis blocking
the route.
A few dogs perked their
POWERS
Continued from Page A1
jurisdictions should be
under a state of emergency.
According to the pro-
posed legislation, the decla-
rations cannot exceed incre-
ments of 30 days. After 30
days, the decision to extend
a state of emergency would
go to a local governing body
for a vote. County and city
governing bodies could then
create a hybrid of emer-
gency restrictions if they
choose to do so regarding
such measures as masking,
school closures and vac-
cine requirements, Owens
explained in an interview.
Additionally, the legis-
lative concept states that
a governor may not retal-
iate against a county whose
governing body has deter-
mined not to fully continue
a declaration of emergency
beyond the initial 30 days of
the order. Owens said this
includes threats to pull state
funding, fi nes against local
businesses and other types
of state sanctions.
Under current Oregon
law, the governor must
review and reevaluate emer-
gency orders every 60 days
to determine whether those
orders should be continued,
modifi ed or rescinded.
Local control emerged as
a signifi cant issue for Grant
County residents in August
after Gov. Kate Brown
reversed course on her June
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Brenda Holman, center, speaks with fellow truckers at the Flying J Travel Center, La Grande, as she waits
for Interstate 84 to reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Holman noted that the truck stop atmosphere is
not like what she remembers when she started her driving career more than 30 years ago.
heads up over the dashboards
in the trucks in the parking
lot. Some drivers, Holman
said, will bring dogs or family
along on the routes. Part-
nering up, she said. It is a
lonely profession. The truck
drivers don’t know each other,
despite some driving along
the same route for years.
Holman said she hasn’t seen
some of her co-workers back
in Nebraska for several years.
For brief moments, she
and a couple of truck drivers
she hadn’t met before spoke
outside as snow fell, and
joked about the closure.
“I think we’re stuck here
till spring,” one of the drivers
said.
Past time
Ken Spriggs, 78, is a
day-route truck driver. That
means he goes home every
night — at least when he’s not
stuck in a road closure span-
ning several days.
He said he has a daughter
in Elgin he was thinking of
staying with for the night if
the roads didn’t soon open up.
Working for a company based
in Vale, he has been a truck
driver for 12 years. Before that,
he was a police offi cer with
Prairie City for 20 years. Fur-
ther back, a veteran stationed
in South Korea just after the
creation of the Korean Demil-
itarized Zone. He said he’d
been shot at in both jobs. He
collects two pensions, but con-
tinues to work because he
enjoys keeping busy.
“I just hate sitting around,”
Spriggs said, walking toward
the Flying J, reminiscing of
past days. “I used to come
here and eat all the time, years
ago. Those were the good
days. Awesome restaurant —
my daughter always met me
30 executive order handing
Constitutional framework
izations due to an antici-
Jim Moore, a professor
over public health decisions pated surge of the rapidly
of political science at
to counties amid a resur-
spreading omicron variant.
Pacifi c University in Forest
gence of COVID-19.
Oregon Health and Sci-
Grove, said Oregon’s con-
While the swiftly
ence University lead data
stitution defi nes the gov-
spreading delta variant sent
scientist Dr. Peter Graven
ernor’s emergency powers
COVID case counts
predicted that the
and what types of “cat-
soaring, Brown issued
omicron variant
astrophic disasters” can
a barrage of new
could surpass the
allow them to be used.
executive orders man-
delta variant in the
The state constitution
dating masks in K-12
number of cases
puts acts of terrorism at the
schools, inside state
due to its extreme
top of the list, along with
buildings and, fi nally,
transmissibility.
Owens
in all public indoor
Brown’s offi ce said earthquakes, fl oods and
public health emergencies.
spaces in the state. Those
in the press release that the
Moore said that the
actions drew the ire of
emergency declaration pro-
catastrophes spelled out
Grant County leaders.
vides the necessary frame-
within the constitution are
Parents asked for the
work to access resources in
assumed to be relatively
county court’s support in
response to the pandemic,
short-lived.
getting decision-making
which includes the deploy-
“The problem we have
back to the districts and out
ment of medical providers
right now is that it’s going
of the hands of the state.
to hospitals, fl exibility
on long term,” Moore said.
County Judge Scott
around professional health
Myers told parents that the
licensing, and access to fed- “And so Republicans have
decided that is an abuse of
county does not have the
eral disaster relief funds.
emergency power.”
power to take back local
“As Oregon prepares for
Indeed, Moore said,
control of its school districts what could be our worst
everyone has a partisan
from the state. However, the surge in hospitalizations
take on the debate.
county signed a letter from
during this pandemic, I
“Republicans say, ‘We
the Eastern Oregon Coun-
know that this is not the
need to change it.’ Why?
ties Association asking
beginning of the new year
Because they don’t like
for local control of school
any of us had hoped for,”
what Kate Brown is doing.
districts.
Brown said.
“Some people might
be mistaken in thinking
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— Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Michael Cruz had been at
the Flying J for two days due
to closures. He was sitting
sideways on a lounge chair in
the back watching television.
Next to him, Randy Payne,
a truck driver of 10 years,
was watching the televi-
sion as well. Payne had been
there for two hours. A string
of commercials played over
the TV. Payne wore a Pitts-
burgh Steelers beanie, a well-
worn and stained refl ective
vest, and a Bluetooth headset.
He was checking his phone,
passing the time.
“Other than your CB
receiver, you have nobody
around you,” Payne said.
“That’s it. It’s a mindset.
Trucking is a lifestyle, it’s not
a job, it’s a lifestyle. You are
living in a walk-in closet. You
live there for two to six weeks
at a time. You’re away from
your family — I don’t live here,
I live in Albuquerque. It can be
a dream job for somebody, but
the wife has to sign on for it,
the husband has to sign on for
it, the kids sign on for it.”
Truck drivers are paid per
mile. Typically, it’s less than
50 cents per mile, lower for
newer drivers, according to
U.S. Bureau of Labor and
Statistics numbers. When
the trucks aren’t moving, the
drivers aren’t getting paid, and
the companies aren’t turning
profi ts. It’s a pressure that
incentivizes long hours and
driving in poor conditions.
“There are some compa-
nies that will be ‘Go, go, go!’
no matter what,” Payne said of
the pressure to keep the wheels
turning. “With my company, I
don’t really feel that way.”
Time is the enemy. If
you keep still, you make no
money. Boredom creeps in.
Some pass time with video
games, or movies, or books
— or hitting refresh on Trip-
Check or other news stations
to know right away when the
roads open back up.
“I was supposed to be in
Seattle today,” Payne said,
“and that’s not happening.”
Democrats are saying, ‘No,
we don’t need to change it’
because they do like what
Kate Brown’s doing.”
Since the pandemic’s
beginning, it’s become evi-
dent that the federal gov-
ernment has minimal power
in this situation and that the
ability to deal with the pan-
demic rests with the states,
Moore said.
That limitation on fed-
eral power, he said, is by
design as part of the U.S.
Constitution. For instance,
he said, Oregon was able
to pass an assisted suicide
law because states have the
right and the frontline duty
to deal with public health
issues.
Almost from the pan-
demic’s beginning, the
question of how to respond
to the coronavirus has been
a hot-button political issue.
That said, Owens’ pro-
posed legislation is some-
thing of a departure from
recently passed legislation
in GOP strongholds. For
instance, conservative leg-
islators in more than half
of U.S. states, spurred on
by voters angry about lock-
downs and mask mandates,
have stripped local offi cials
of the power to protect the
public against infectious
diseases.
Moore said the conser-
vative ethos has long been
that more governing power
should be local. However,
legislation passed in red
states like Florida runs
counter to what has tra-
ditionally been the GOP
ideology.
Thus, he said, this means
one’s political ideology
shapes one’s views on emer-
gency powers.
For his part, Owens said
his motives are not politi-
cally driven.
“Honestly, it’s not about
partisanship,” Owens
said. “I by no means think
the governor should not
have the ability to declare
an emergency declara-
tion for 30 days, maybe
even longer,” Owens said.
“That’s reasonable.”
here, and we’d eat like crazy.”
His truck was parked
along Highway 30, several
hundred feet away from the
truck stop. He said he thinks
this might be his last season
driving.
“I thought about quit-
ting these guys, but they said
no,” Spriggs said, fi lling up a
coff ee cup.
He charmed his way into
a cheaper cup of coff ee from
the counter clerk, said it was a
refi ll. He wasn’t interested in
watching TV. He sat down at
a Subway counter and looked
out the window. Rock ballads
from the ’80s played over the
Flying J’s sound system. The
trucks outside are packed in
like sardines.
“I spent a lot of years
here,” Spriggs said, remi-
niscing. “I think I might just
make this my last run.”
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gation eff orts they have already
been using — including wearing
appropriate face coverings, fol-
lowing physical distancing guide-
lines, frequent hand washing and
use of ventilation systems.
The new ODE and OHA advi-
sory also encouraged schools
to implement free COVID-19
testing programs and to retrain
school staff on safety protocols,
as well as educate employees,
students and families about
COVID-19 symptoms. But the
biggest change suggested in the
advisory has to do with activities
beyond the school day.
“(W)e have really asked our
schools and other organizations
that serve students to really be
thoughtful about their extracur-
ricular activities,” Gill said.
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