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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2022)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2022 Boosters: ‘There’s this sense of humble anticipation’ Continued from Page A1 Tom Banse/Northwest News Network The Washington Legislature approved a major funding boost to strengthen older school buildings so they don’t collapse in an earthquake. Washington Legislature OKs funds for earthquake retroû ts for older school buildings in 2004 and has shelled out more than $1.9 bil- lion for that since then. Baker said a challenge ahead is to convince An eû ort to jump-start the pace of earth- future Legislatures to maintain Washington quake retroû ts to vulnerable, older school build- state9s funding at about $100 million every two ings in Washington state has passed the Legisla- years. ture unanimously. “It will take a while to do this,” Baker noted. The Evergreen State has lagged behind other <It is going to take 10, 15, 20 years to properly West Coast states and provinces in reinforcing do seismic updates to all of our school buildings schools to withstand strong shaking. in our state.” A report from the Washington State Depart- Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of Wash- ment of Natural Resources last year said tens ington senators proposed a statewide voter ref- of thousands of Washington students attend erendum to authorize a $500 million bond sale class in buildings at high risk of collapse in an to pay for school seismic retroû ts over the earthquake. Thousands more youngsters go next decade. But by late February, a lead bud- to low-lying schools in the get writer, state Sen. David coastal tsunami zone. Frockt, said the earthquake DaleAnn Baker, a Stan- ‘THIS IS A GOOD safety spending could û t into wood, Washington, par- the regular school construc- FIRST STEP. ent and PTA volunteer, tion budget, which elimi- was among a corps of citi- nated an unnecessary risk of LET’S MAKE zen activists who success- a bond measure failure. SURE EVERY fully lobbied the Legislature Frockt said the money for to more than double state this purpose now will come MOM AND POP spending for earthquake ret- from regular state borrow- roû ts, or in some cases, to ing, which is repaid with IN THE STATE pay most of the cost to relo- general tax collections in the UNDERSTANDS cate a public school out of future. the tsunami zone. “Providing safe places for IT IS NOW “The amount of fund- children to learn is one of the ing is signiû cant and this is state’s most serious respon- THEIR JOB TO great,” Baker said in an inter- sibilities,= the Seattle Demo- HOLD THEIR view . “It is really showing crat said in a statement . “The that the Legislature wants to risk of an earthquake or tsu- ELECTEDS make a commitment to this nami may seem small at any eû ort.= particular place and time, but RESPONSIBLE Baker said her journey multiplied by all the commu- FOR FIXING into activism began a few nities in potentially geologi- years ago when she real- cally active areas across our THESE ized the elementary school state, this problem is urgent.” SCHOOLS.’ where she sends her two Frockt was the lead spon- children was built in 1956, sor this winter on a separate Jim Buck | former state long before modern seis- school seismic safety policy representative from the mic safety codes. “How is it bill, which establishes how Olympic Peninsula acceptable to require kids to Washington schools are pri- attend school in a building oritized for seismic retroû t that may collapse during an funding and how much of earthquake?” the aerospace engineer asked her- the cost the state will shoulder. Qualifying K-12 self and others. schools must have been built before 1998. Local On Wednesday, the Washington Senate voted school districts can count on state and federal 49 to 0 to pass a supplemental state construc- funding to cover at least two-thirds of an earth- tion budget that includes $100 million for earth- quake safety project’s cost. quake and tsunami safety upgrades to the most Other people and groups that got involved vulnerable schools statewide. The action to send in pressing the L egislature for bold action this the budget bill to the governor’s desk followed year included the Washington State PTA, North- a similarly lopsided 98 to 0 state House vote the west Progressive Institute, various school dis- day before . The new funding for school seismic trict superintendents and a persistent former safety retroû ts represents a 150% increase over state representative from the Olympic Peninsula last year’s level and a nearly eight fold increase named Jim Buck. from just three years ago. <This is a good û rst step,= Buck said by The Oregon Legislature way back in 2005 email after the state construction budget9s û nal created a school seismic retroû t grant program passage . “Let’s make sure every mom and pop on the scale now being launched from Olympia. in the state understands it is now their job to The provincial government of British Columbia hold their electeds responsible for û xing these started a seismic mitigation program for schools schools.” By TOM BANSE Northwest News Network Next week marks the second anniversary of the û rst recorded COVID-19 case in Clat- sop County. T he county had recorded 4,550 virus cases as of Monday , according to the Oregon Health Authority. The P ublic H ealth D epartment said that the availability of at-home testing means that the oû cial count probably does not capture the true total. Some people who got a posi- tive result in private may not have reported it. Margo Lalich, the county’s interim pub- lic health director, said the county’s vaccina- tion campaign has been successful. While the health department did not expect that every- one would get vaccinated, the county has among the highest vaccination rates in the state: 73.6%. “The pandemic is not over,” she said. “While guidance and policies are always changing, we’re still in a pandemic, and we’re learning how to live with this virus cir- culating in the community,” A new concern is how to navigate a world where wearing masks as a precaution against the virus is voluntary. Businesses have recently reached out to Lalich about masking. She heard stories of employees dealing with customers who resented the mask mandate , especially cus- tomers who visited from places without mandates. Some people became angry and belligerent and verbally abused employ- ees who were trying to provide customer service. Lalich hopes the voluntary approach comes to be seen as part of the communi- ty’s diversity. “We don’t know everyone’s story, and there may be a reason why somebody needs to wear a mask,” she said, “and so don’t assume you know — just allow them to wear a mask as they’re choosing to wear a mask, just like people do all kinds of things with how they present to society and it’s their choice to do so.” Although the pandemic is moving into a new phase, Lalich said it is important to remember: “We’ve been here before. We were here before delta … We removed the masks, everyone got together, and then we went through two surges after that.” The world is experiencing a period of calm. “And yet we also don’t know what may be,” she said. “And so there’s this sense of humble anticipation.” Geografo: ‘I am thankful I explored the road less taken’ Continued from Page A1 Geografo, who taught at a Catholic school in the Philippines, said the transi- tion in culture and education style has been drastic, but she hopes to learn as much from the students as they learn from her science classes. She found her passion for teaching at the high school level because teenagers are unafraid to challenge belief systems, she said. The exchange program will allow her to stay in the United States for up to û ve years . Taking what she can during that period, Geografo plans to implement many of the lessons and strategies back in her classroom in the Philippines. OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER At some point, she also hopes to con- nect the students in Knappa with her stu- dents back home. She thinks the exchange of diû erent cultures and ideas would be beneû cial for both sides. While moving countries and embracing a new culture has been a substantial change in her life, Geografo credits the community in Knappa for helping her feel at home in just a few months. Whether it’s the small gifts or just a sense of hospitality, the simple acts of kindness have meant the most, she said. “I didn’t ever imagine I would be wel- comed this much,” Geografo said. “ ... This is such a nice community. I am thankful I explored the road less taken.” We’re investing in Salem coverage when other news organizations are cutting back. Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! Get to The Point. Expert Service. Guaranteed. Trust your vehicle safety to the professionals at DEL’S O.K. 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