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East Oregonian
Jerusalem violence, rain put
damper on Bethlehem Christmas
BETHLEHEM,
West
Bank (AP) — It was a
subdued Christmas Eve in
the traditional birthplace of
Jesus on Sunday, with spirits
dampened by cold, rainy
weather and recent violence
sparked by President Donald
Trump’s recognition of
nearby Jerusalem as Israel’s
capital.
Crowds were thinner than
previous years as visitors,
especially Arab Christians
living in Israel and the
West Bank, appeared to
be deterred by clashes that
have broken out in recent
weeks between Palestinian
protesters and Israeli forces.
Although there was no
violence Sunday, Palestinian
officials scaled back the
celebrations in protest.
Claire Degout, a tourist
from France, said she
would not allow Trump’s
pronouncement, which has
infuriated the Palestinians
and drawn widespread inter-
national opposition, affect
her decision to celebrate
Christmas in the Holy Land.
“The decision of one man
cannot affect all the Holy
Land,” she said. “Jerusalem
belongs to everybody, you
know, and it will be always
like that, whatever Trump
says.”
Trump
abandoned
decades of American policy
Dec. 6 by recognizing Jeru-
salem as Israel’s capital and
saying he would move the
U.S. Embassy to the holy
city.
Trump said the move
merely recognizes the fact
that Jerusalem already serves
as Israel’s capital and that he
was not prejudging nego-
tiations on the city’s final
borders. But Palestinians,
who seek Israeli-annexed
east Jerusalem as their
capital, saw the declaration
as unfairly siding with
Israel. On Thursday, the
U.N. General Assembly
voted overwhelmingly to
reject Trump’s decision. The
Old City, in east Jerusalem,
is home to sensitive Jewish,
Muslim and Christian holy
sites.
The announcement trig-
gered weeks of unrest in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip,
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed
Members of a Palestinian marching band parade during Christmas celebrations out-
side the Church of the Nativity, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus
Christ was born, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank City of Bethlehem, Sunday.
AP Photo/Oded Balilty
A man dressed as Santa Claus waves from a sidecar of
a motorbike on Christmas Eve in Jerusalem Old City
Sunday.
including near-daily clashes
in Bethlehem, which lies just
south of Jerusalem.
By
midafternoon,
hundreds of people had gath-
ered in Manger Square near
the city’s main Christmas
for celebrations, greeted
by bagpipe-playing young
Palestinian marching bands
and scout troops. Accompa-
nying the decorations was
a large banner protesting
Trump’s Jerusalem declara-
tion.
But after nightfall, the
crowds had thinned as rain
fell and temperatures dipped
to about 49 degrees. Just a
few dozen people milled
about Manger Square, while
others took shelter in the
church and other nearby
buildings.
Bethlehem’s
mayor,
Anton Salman, said cele-
brations were toned down
because of anger over
Trump’s decision.
“We decided to limit the
Christmas celebrations to
the religious rituals as an
expression of rejection and
anger and sympathy with the
victims who fell in the recent
protests,” he said.
Next to the square was
a poster that read “Manger
Square appeal” and “#hand-
soffjerusalem.”
“We want to show the
people that we are people
who deserve life, deserve
our freedom, deserve our
independence,
deserve
Jerusalem as our capital,” he
said.
Archbishop Pierbattista
Pizzaballa, the apostolic
administrator of Jerusalem,
the top Roman Catholic
cleric in the Holy Land,
crossed through an Israeli
military checkpoint to enter
Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
His black limousine was
escorted by a group of men
on motorcycles, some of
them wearing red Santa hats.
Pizzaballa, who last week
rejected the U.S. decision,
tried to steer clear of politics.
He waved to the crowd,
shook hands and hugged
well-wishers.
“Now it’s time to enjoy,”
he said. “We as Christians
we will enjoy, despite all the
difficulties we have. Merry
Christmas.”
But in his homily during
midnight Mass, Pizzaballa
prayed for the peace of
Jerusalem and appealed to
politicians “to have courage”
to make bold decisions that
respect all peoples. Pales-
tinian President Mahmoud
Abbas, a Muslim, was
among those in attendance.
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
From left: ShyAnne Branson, BreAnna Van Fossen, Jeff Cates, Tami Cates, Lyman
Branson and LeAnna Branson chat after they finished Christmas dinner at the
Community Fellowship Dinner at Hermiston High School.
Humphreys said.
He said there was no
apparent reason for the
discrepancy. It could be partly
due to the weather, he said,
but that’s not consistent from
year to year.
Regardless, Humphreys
said they try to use all the
food they make for the event.
Whatever is not served at
the dinner is distributed to
Open Table services at local
churches, or to local families
in need. Additionally, he said
they offer everyone who
comes to the dinner a meal to
take home.
Humphreys said they
served 661 meals at
Thanksgiving, including 79
delivered meals and 97 meals
for people who walked in and
took food home.
The Community Fellow-
ship Dinner is in its 30th year,
and has grown fast from its
beginnings, when just a few
people gathered at private
homes on Thanksgiving.
Kiser’s wife, Laurie, who
coordinated the event for the
past several years, passed
away in June 2017. Dozens
of volunteers turn out each
year to help greet, seat and
serve people, and many local
businesses donate food and
supplies for the event.
NEIGHBORS: The Barrs moved to Pendleton in June
Continued from 1A
went on.
“I didn’t even know this
place existed,” he said.
Five years later, Barr
moved closer to Pendleton
when he followed his wife
to Yakima as she attended
medical school at Pacific
Northwest University of
Health Sciences.
By the time Christian was
ready to continue her medical
training with clinic rotations,
the Barrs had no desire to
immediately return to Seattle,
SNOW: Multiple crashes
noted on Interstate 84
Continued from 1A
Wednesday and Thursday
and perhaps into the mid 40s
on Friday, according to the
National Weather Service.
But Adams also warned
of the possibility of more
snow, and maybe freezing
rain, on Wednesday and
Thursday.
Especially
along the Columbia River,
some light freezing rain is
expected on Wednesday,
she said.
A winter weather advi-
sory lasted until about 4
p.m. Monday for much of
the region. Multiple crashes
were noted on Interstate
84, many along Cabbage
Hill but also in Morrow
DINNER: Community Fellowship Dinner is in its 30th year
volunteer at a future fellow-
ship dinner said event founder
Joe Kiser.
One such volunteer is
Adrea Powers, who came to
the event for the first time this
Thanksgiving. For Christmas,
she and her six-year-old son
Kody were back, greeting
people and serving food.
Powers, who is new to the
area, said it has been a great
way to feel more settled in the
area.
“A lot of people came
alone, but they met people
while they were here,” she
said. “It’s really nice to see
so many that weathered the
storm.”
She said volunteering had
helped her son open up, as
well.
“I think this helps him be
able to communicate,” she
said, watching as he helped
an older volunteer carry food
to a table, then eagerly ran
back to get more.
“It’s one thing to tell him
about Christmas joy, but it’s
another to show him.”
Though the event drew
a smaller crowd than
the Thanksgiving event,
chairman Gary Humphreys
said that’s often the case.
“Christmas is always
less by about 150 to 200,”
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
where it was more expensive
and more congested.
Pendleton held a small
town feel that was hard
to replicate. Other towns
may have seemed similar
to Pendleton on paper, but
the supportiveness and
uniqueness of the Pendleton
community drew them in.
“It’s an easy place to live,”
he said.
They moved to Pend-
leton in June as Christian
started her rotations at Good
Shepherd Medical Center in
Hermiston. Barr now works
as a technology consultant
from home while continuing
to work on his music.
Almost as soon as he
completed his move, Barr
opened for Ural Thomas
and The Pain as a part of
a Main Street block party
in June. Having released a
solo album in February, Barr
performs occasionally while
he considers his next step
musically.
As much as the couple
enjoys living in Pendleton,
their stay isn’t permanent.
After Christian’s clinical
rotations end in two years,
she’ll have to seek a residency
to complete a medical degree.
With no local hospitals
offering residencies, the Barrs
will have to move again.
Although it’s hard to
figure out what the future has
in store, Barr can imagine
returning to Pendleton after
Christian’s residency.
“It’s a beautiful part of the
world,” he said.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
County and at least one in
Pendleton. No long-term
closures of the interstate,
nor any fatalities in Eastern
Oregon were noted as of
press time Monday. Chain
restrictions will remain in
effect on Cabbage Hill for
vehicles weighing over
10,000 pounds.
And a fire about 1 p.m.
Monday on the 300 block
of Southwest 16th Street
in Pendleton forced a
family out of their home on
Christmas. Although there
was no major damage, likely
some blankets too close to a
heater caught fire and sent
smoke through the house,
according to the Pendleton
Fire Department.
OPIOIDS: Important to keep
prescription opioids locked up
Continued from 1A
a database that lets phar-
macies and physicians
document and monitor
patient prescriptions, and
potentially spot and stop
opioid abuse.
Stensrud, whose posi-
tion is funded through the
grant, said Umatilla and
Malheur counties are two
of about 10 in the state
that are “high-intensity
drug trafficking areas,”
which he attributed to their
location — close to major
transportation corridors,
like I-84 and I-82. The
others in the state, Setzer
said, are along I-5.
Stensrud noted that
around
the
holidays,
people can be at an even
greater risk of opioid
overdose.
“It’s a time of high
relapse risk that can arise
from not having family to
spend the holidays with,
or experiencing a ‘trigger,’
such as seeing an old
friend or family member
you used to get high with,”
he said.
Stensrud said it’s even
more important during the
holidays to keep prescrip-
tion opioids locked up,
to prevent guests from
taking medications, either
accidentally or on purpose.
He said there are a few
hotlines substance abusers
can use for immediate
assistance — they can
call Lines for Life at
800-923-4357, or text
RecoveryNow to 839863.
Treatment options
Stensrud and Setzer said
one of the program’s goals
is to see more medical
providers
prescribing
Suboxone. The medication
for
medically-assisted
therapy is a combination
of Buprenorphine and
Naloxone.
According
to American Addiction
Centers, Buprenorphine is
a “partial opioid agonist”
that produces a milder
form of the effects that
opioids have. It gives
the user the same effect
as an opioid without the
same high, which makes
it more difficult to abuse.
Naloxone blocks the effect
of opioids.
“There’s no risk of
overdose as with a straight
opioid,” Setzer said.
He said that unlike
other treatments, such as
methadone, Suboxone can
be prescribed by a doctor
and administered at home.
While it’s an effective
treatment option, Setzer
said there’s a lack of
providers that prescribe
Suboxone.
Chuck Hofmann, a
doctor at New Directions
Northwest, an integrated
mental
health
and
substance abuse facility in
Baker County, said many
providers don’t prescribe
Suboxone because of the
time involved to get certi-
fied.
“To get ‘X Waiver’
certified, physicians are
required at least eight
hours of training,” he said.
“For physician’s assistants
and nurse practitioners, it’s
an additional 24 hours.”
He added that there’s a
shortage of primary care
practitioners to take care
of other health issues, let
alone opioid addiction.
He said the training
includes the pharmacology
of opioids, how to admin-
ister Suboxone, and the
“People are
addicted, but
they have a
prescription.”
— Jim Setzer,
Umatilla County’s Public
Health Director
pitfalls of the treatment.
He said while there
have always been lots
of options for treatment,
such as behavioral therapy
and
substance
abuse
counseling, data shows
that addicts tend to have
lower rates of recidivism if
they’re using a medically
assisted therapy.
“When you use opioids
for a long time, some
brain-rewiring occurs,” he
said. “Patients don’t do
well without those recep-
tors satisfied.”
But he said one of the
challenges with Suboxone,
or other medically assisted
therapies, is that you’re
still replacing one opioid
with another — even
though the risk of abuse
may be lower.
Hofmann said it’s also
important for people to
understand the psychoso-
cial aspects of addiction.
“The more everyone
can understand what’s
going on in the epidemic,
the better we’ll be able to
address it,” he said.
Setzer said one of the
biggest problems with
opioid addiction is that
most of the substances are
legal.
“People are addicted,
but they have a prescrip-
tion,” he said.
Hofmann said while it’s
hard to paint with a broad
brush, most of his patients
are between the ages of 25
and 40, and would have
started using prescription
drugs in their teens. Some
ended up on heroin.
But he said most
initially started out using
them for pain manage-
ment.
“People think, you
smoke a little dope, get
into heroin. Yeah, that
happens, but currently
more than half of the
people suffering from
addiction suffer because
they got started in pain
medication,”
Hofmann
said.
A key part of the
project, Setzer said, is
to make people aware
of existing resources
— making it easier for
people to dispose of old
or unused medications,
making sure Narcan, a
brand of Naloxone that can
be administered nasally, is
widely available.
“A longer-range sort of
activity we discussed is
looking for ways to expand
alternative pain therapy —
acupuncture, movement
therapy. Not everything
works for everyone.”
He added that some
of those options are now
covered by local insurance.
Setzer said the main
idea behind the program
is to use local resources to
combat opioid abuse. That
includes training and equip-
ping people — healthcare
providers, law enforcement
officials and citizens.
“Like so much of public
health, we need to make
people aware, and then
make it easy for them to
do the right thing,” he said.