ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Where
do we
go from
here?
D
ata accumulated by Umatilla
County Health Department
recently showed area Hispanic resi-
dents made up a disproportionately high
number of COVID cases during the past
year, raising troubling questions about the
response to the pandemic.
And while the statistics are sobering
and there appear to be specific reasons as
to why the Hispanic community was hit so
hard, the real question now is — where do
we go from here?
Residents who listed Hispanic ethnicity
made up 41% of the county’s total COVID-
19 cases last year. That’s compared with
34% of cases among non-Hispanic resi-
dents. The county’s Hispanic population
also tested positive for the virus at a rate
three times higher than non-Hispanic resi-
dents last year.
County leaders reported for months the
county’s Hispanic and Latino population
was hit hard by the virus, but proved to be
hesitant to release the data because of a
fear a stigma would be created. While that
rationale is noble, it is hardly in line with
total transparency and flies in the face of
what matters most in a democracy — the
truth.
If data is collected by agencies and
individuals supported by taxpayer dollars
it should be released as soon as possible.
There isn’t a counterargument. Not a fear
of stigma or some other justification. The
public has a right to know all there is to
know during a pandemic. But that hasn’t
happened on a regular basis, either at the
federal level or the state level.
The state often points to its vast array
of COVID-19 dashboards on the Oregon
Health Authority website as a panacea in
transparency, but there have been times in
the past where information — especially
about specific ethnic groups and COVID-
19 — was hidden.
Which brings us back to the high rate of
COVID-19 infection among Hispanics and
the key question — where do we go from
here?
What the public needs to know is what
processes or procedures is the state and
the county going to create to address this
challenge? When will they enact these
procedures? The public needs to see a very
detailed plan about how our elected lead-
ers and other state and county agencies are
going to solve this issue.
The Hispanic and Latino community is
a key part of our success as a region. They
are us. So, we know the how and the why,
but we don’t know what the solution will
be. Let’s work together to find out.
EDITORIALS
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that of the East Oregonian.
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Healing support, no matter where
REGINA
BRAKER
ANOTHER MILE
I
t seems so long ago, but it’s been just
a year since local folks came together
to perform “The Sound of Music”
at College Community Theater at Blue
Mountain Community College.
This musical theatre effort involved
people of all ages, with the cast coming
together not only with musical and thes-
pian talents, learning dance steps, but
also working behind the scenes getting
costumes and set pieces made. And
while the audience tends to notice the
lead actors in the ensemble, there are so
many others who blend into the back-
ground, perhaps go unnoticed, but bring
important support to the effort.
That’s the case for so much that goes
on in communities across our region.
My friend Catherine is this kind of
person, the quiet participant whose care
for others makes her an important link
within her family, her work life, and the
personal interests she pursues. I wonder
if her occupation in the medical profes-
sion has something to do with that. I’ve
noticed recently how many people in my
acquaintance are or have worked in the
field of nursing, for example, who seem
to take that concern from their profession
into everything they do.
I got to know Catherine through our
involvement in local choral groups, and
then we spent some time pre-pandemic
in social knitting. She often shared
who to get to know or what group to get
involved with in our town, and knew
people across the spectrum, taking a
genuine interest in how they were doing,
and what was going on in their lives.
Catherine and her family came to
Pendleton 40 years ago, after sojourns in
the Midwest and Northwest in her early
adult life with her husband. The couple
followed educational opportunities for
the requirements in their professions.
For anyone who’s thrived in a supportive
family environment, it can be difficult
to be far away from those we love as we
take on the responsibilities of our adult
lives.
Working in a large institutional envi-
ronment where anonymity is the norm,
having children far from grandparents
who would lend support, moving yet
again to complete a last credential, all
of this combines for stressful circum-
stances. When dire events darken that
reality further, so much becomes tenu-
ous. Finding healing and the possibility
of happiness becomes a long and arduous
journey.
Catherine told me that her sister
encouraged her to allow her most painful
experiences to be the source of bless-
ing, and look to understand its spiritual
impact on her. In the years that followed
as life settled into cherished routines, she
was able to experience this wisdom in
her occupation, as she worked in small
rural health centers, where patient inter-
action in the health care environment
extends into the community, during
interactions at other events and gather-
ings.
The ability to be a part of her patients’
care not only through work, but also
through the empathy she gained from
her own difficult healing journey, has
enlarged and deepened her concern for
others. Catherine’s interests extend into
projects she’s been involved in — prison
education programs, which she views
as so valuable, as they bring together so
many community entities along with
volunteer groups as resources to meet the
manifold needs of the prison population.
Catherine also sees an important
impact of so many community members
she has met who are working to provide
food and shelter for the unsheltered popu-
lation here. There are many venues for us
to add our efforts, among which include
Outreach, the Salvation Army, Altrusa,
Stillman dinners, and many services
provided by various churches and faith
communities.
Especially in this year, when so many
have lost so much, her sense of compas-
sion is heightened. She told me about
Christmas night driving home and
seeing a man alone with a backpack and
wondering where he might be going and
why he was alone. In her thoughts she
reached out to him, and thought of others
in this community who are helping the
houseless.
Something she said about her work
that took her beyond the 9 to 5 stay with
me. They are words we can ponder for
ourselves, “It is not just a job. You’re
contributing to people’s lives.”
———
Regina Braker, a retired educator with
journeys through many places and expe-
riences, enjoys getting to know people
along the way.
former state bureaucrat is that my job
was to do what the politicians assigned
me to do. Almost every assignment was
unpopular with various segments of the
population because people have differ-
ing needs and expectations.
My advice to anyone who is unhappy
with a regulation is to find out who
influenced the passing of the bill that
included the problem regulation, who
it benefits, and why was the regula-
tion included in the implementation of
the legislation. What is your represen-
tative’s position? Did you follow the
legislation, and did you inform your
representative of your point of view?
And why did you vote for or against that
representative, and did you vote? So you
see, it all circles back to the responsible
parties — the voters.
Being a responsible citizen is not
easy.
Evelyn Swart
Joseph
been passed back and forth between
humans and mink (this has already
resulted in a viral mutation). COVID-19
has ravaged mink farms in Europe and
the U.S. At least three mink escaped an
Oregon mink farm that was quarantined
following a COVID-19 outbreak (and
two tested positive for COVID-19).
In addition to the threat of mink
becoming a reservoir for COVID-19
mutations that may undo our human
vaccination efforts, we’re concerned
that farmed mink could spread COVID-
19 to wild mink and their relatives, like
otters, fishers, martens and badgers,
potentially decimating wild animal
populations.
We’ve been through a lot this past
year. A lot has changed. Many of us
are thinking about what we want to
keep changing. If we want to stop the
next pandemic and get this one under
control, we need to make changes to
the facilities that provide ideal breeding
grounds for pandemics.
Oregon’s mink factory farms are a
threat to public health and wildlife. Our
petition to add mink to ODFW’s prohib-
ited species list and Senate Bill 832, the
bill to close Oregon’s mink farms and
shift their workers to new employment,
would reshape our relationship with
animals to provide us all a safer future.
Lori Ann Burd
environmental health director,
Center for Biological Diversity
YOUR VIEWS
Understanding
legislation takes effort
Maybe you say, “The government is
making too many regulations that inter-
fere with running my business the way
I want.” But really, who makes those
decisions?
First, we voters vote for the poli-
ticians who we believe will work for
us. We contribute to their campaign
funds and write to the winners. At the
same time, corporations and organiza-
tions also contribute campaign funds;
however, with their money, they can
hire lobbyists to influence legislation
for their benefit. (This is what “Citizens
United” is about.)
Much of the time, the lobbyists
construct bills and hand them to the
legislators, who submit them for the
decision process. Do you think the
lobbyists are promoting and writ-
ing legislation that benefits everyone?
No, they propose and write legislation
to benefit their employers. Do these
employers and lobbyists stop to think
about the effect their legislation will
have on others? Who will benefit if their
bill is put into law? Who will be hurt?
What about the bureaucrats, those
who work for the government and do
the “grunt work” to enable the decisions
made by the politicians? Do they make
too many decisions? For whom do they
make decisions? My experience as a
Oregon needs tighter
mink regulations
The Center for Biological Diversity
is absolutely aiming to reshape how
Oregon treats animals by seeking to end
beaver trapping and hunting last year
and this year improve how mink farms
are regulated.
Here’s why: COVID-19 can and has