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Saturday, May 1, 2021
East Oregonian
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Vaccine: White conservative men least likely to get jab
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shipments as demand is
rapidly declining.
With case counts rising
on average over the past few
weeks, the county was moved
from moderate risk back to
high risk this week, bringing
greater restrictions on busi-
nesses and gatherings, and
raising concerns among offi-
cials who say local businesses
can’t withstand the constant
shifts.
Testing:
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tunities as last year’s fifth
graders,” Mooney said.
The assessments also
provide a way for the Oregon
Department of Educa-
tion to compare school
districts across the state. But
Mooney said the department
has already said it will be
suspending the usual account-
ability measures tied to test
scores. The department is
also suspending the “essen-
tial skills requirement” for
both this year and next year
for graduating seniors. The
requirement has, in the past,
required that seniors either
pass their state tests or submit
a sufficient work sample in
those subjects before gradu-
ating.
Library:
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early 1990s. A licensed clinical
social worker for the Oregon
Health Authority at a facility
in Pendleton, Thomas also
provides private therapeutic
services through the Better-
Help platform.
Over the years, Thomas
has served on a number of
appointed commissions for
mayors Phillip Houk and John
Turner, including the Pendle-
ton Airport Commission and
Arts Commission of Pendle-
ton. Thomas is proud of the
work of the libraries through-
out Umatilla County. He’s
especially pleased with their
creativity in going above
and beyond in helping meet
people’s needs in the midst of
a global pandemic.
“I want to continue to be
a part of that, no matter what
challenges the future may
hold,” Thomas said.
Caleb Barron
A Umatilla resident, Barron
has resided in Eastern Oregon
for 23 years and is currently
a private security officer.
Running for the special library
district board is a way for him
to get more involved in the
community.
“I value what the public
library achieves: encourag-
ing literacy and lowering the
barriers to knowledge for all
members of the community,”
he said.
As an avid reader, Barron
said he’s capable of assimilat-
ing information and making
reason-based decisions with
that information. He also said
he’s skilled at interacting with
various age groups.
Sharone Pettus
McCann
McCann has lived in Stan-
field for more than 40 years.
solution to the pandemic and
took credit when they were
cleared for use in November
2020.
The Biden administration,
however, promptly took steps
to hasten the rollout after the
election and drove the develop-
ment of the Johnson & Johnson
vaccine, which has reached
nearly 7 million Americans
despite being paused briefly
after six women reported
blood clots. The vaccine has
now been cleared by the Food
and Drug Administration with
a warning label noting the
potential for rare blood clots.
made the individual choice of
opting out of testing this year.
“That’s fine,” he said.
“They have the right to do
that.”
The state isn’t scruti-
nizing test scores this year,
and neither is the Pendleton
School District.
With the academic strug-
gles created by the pandemic
and the abbreviated test
schedule, Yoshioka said the
assessments won’t give the
district an accurate idea of
where students are at. Admin-
istering the tests this spring,
Yoshioka said, is merely a
way to fulfill federal require-
ments.
The county’s smaller
school districts also had
choices to make.
For Umatilla School
District, the district has
always gone its own way on
assessments. It relies on the
MAPS test, rather than the
Smarter Balanced test used
for state report cards, to gather
data about student progress.
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
said the district has contin-
ued with online MAPS tests
this year, with the final round
of tests in May. Students
will only take the Smarter
Balanced test if their parents
specifically request it.
In Stanf ield School
District, Superintendent Beth
Burton said Stanfield students
will be given the opportunity
to take the state assessment
this spring if their parents
request it, but the district will
not be making it a priority to
promote higher participation
rates.
“Instead, we are continu-
ing to focus on student
connections, teaching, and
learning,” she wrote in an
email.
New cases tied to
unvaccinated residents
Off icials say newly
reported cases are coming
almost entirely from residents
who have yet to be vaccinated.
“I think it’s frustrating to
me that I get calls over and
over and over again from
people who want us to open
up the county, open up large
events, and have us start
moving back to where we
were,” Murdock said. “But
we can’t order people to get
vaccinated. It’s such a contra-
diction to hear all day, every
day, from people that want
us to go a certain direction,
there’s a path to go there, and
they don’t want to go down it.”
Joe Fiumara, the county’s
public health director, said
the county lacks concrete
data showing vaccine hesi-
tancy falls along party lines,
but added, anecdotally, that
“This really isn’t about
Republican or Democrat, this
is not a control move, this is
not many of these conspir-
acy theory items that are fun
and off-the-wall sometimes,”
Fiumara said. “It’s much
more straightforward. It’s
about protecting yourself and
protecting those around you,
because they’re the ones who
end up suffering if something
goes wrong.”
By getting vaccinated and
speaking out about vaccina-
tions, Shafer said he’s looking
to shift the stigma with some
hopes the county can make
progress toward reopening in
time for summer events.
“I want our county to be
open,” he said. “I don’t want
any restrictions in place
because of our numbers.
And the way to do that is the
vaccine.”
Fiumara said despite the
county’s low vaccination rates,
he’s optimistic that more and
more people will get vacci-
nated as the rollout continues.
Even now, he said health offi-
cials are seeing people change
their minds.
“I think people are recog-
nizing that this is our path
out of here,” he said. “People
who were more on the fence
aren’t so on the fence now that
millions and millions across
the country are receiving it
with very low side effects or
down side.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Syringes and vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vac-
cines await distribution at a Umatilla County Public Health mass vaccination site in Pendle-
ton on Friday, April 30, 2021.
appears to be the case.
“We hear nationally that
the Republican white man is
the least likely to be getting
the COVID vaccination right
now,” he said. “And we know
we have a decent sized popu-
lation of white Republican
men in this county. And so the
assumption I make is there’s
probably something there.”
However, Fiumara noted
that some Hispanic and
Latino residents, as well as
She said the district fully
intends to start participating
in state assessments again
next year.
The Pendleton School
District didn’t even know that
opting out of state testing was
an option.
But when considering
whether to hold tests this
spring or defer them to the
fall, Pendleton Superintendent
Chris Fritsch said adminis-
trators preferred starting next
year as normally as possible
without having to worry about
administering assessments.
Matt Yoshioka, the
district’s director of curricu-
lum, instruction and assess-
ment, said Pendleton would
have preferred the U.S.
Department of Education
approved the state’s waiver to
forgo testing completely.
The waiver was denied, but
the federal government has
ABOUT THE
LIBRARY DISTRICT
The Umatilla County Spe-
cial Library District was
approved by voters in
1986 as a special taxing
district. It includes all of
Umatilla County, with the
exception of the city of
Hermiston.
The library district’s mis-
sion is to work in partner-
ship with the libraries to
ensure excellent library
services, programs and
continuing education
opportunities for all.
For questions, contact
541-276-6449, director@
ucsld.org or visit www.
ucsld.org.
This is her first time running
for an elected position.
“I am an avid reader and
interested in promoting librar-
ies and their services in our
communities,” she said. “Our
libraries build community
and promote education.”
McCann, who is retiring
this year, has taught in the
College Prep Department at
Blue Mountain Community
College for 36 years. She
recently agreed to serve on
the district’s budget commit-
tee and hopes to gain infor-
mation that will assist her in
becoming a knowledgeable
board member.
She views serving on the
library board as “the perfect
place to begin my retirement.”
Jubilee Barron
Barron, who lives in
Umatilla, has been in Eastern
Oregon for 18 years. While
she has never ran for previous
boards or political offices, she
has good memories growing
up going to the library. She
views serving on the board
as a way to give back to the
community.
“I would like kids to have
people from some religious
groups, are also hesitant to
get vaccinated.
To combat this, Fiumara
said county health officials are
working to create new ways to
inform specific groups about
the importance, safety and
efficacy of vaccines, though
he didn’t provide specifics.
‘Mind-boggling’
resistance to vaccine
For the commissioners and
Fiumara, what is “mind-bog-
gling” is the vaccine is now
seeing reluctance from Repub-
licans when it was, in fact,
designed under a Republican
administration.
With Operation Warp
Speed, an effort that saw
vaccines developed at an
unprecedented rate with
billions of dollars from the
Trump administration, the
former president repeatedly
said vaccines would be the
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Students in Michelle Herburger’s fourth grade class settle in
to the first day of in-person instruction at Washington Ele-
mentary School in Pendleton on Feb. 22, 2021.
allowed local school districts
to reduce the scope of testing
this year, and Pendleton plans
to take advantage.
With each grade level
only required to take one test,
Yoshioka said he expects
the same opportunities to
experience the feelings of
reading a good book or meet-
ing the friendly librarians,”
Barron said. “I believe that
librarians can change your
life.”
Currently, Barron has a
lawn mowing and odd jobs
business. She enjoys crafting,
writing and reading, includ-
ing out loud to others.
Gaby Gonzalez
A resident of Umatilla,
Gonzalez has been an Orego-
nian for approximately 18
months. She is currently a
property manager, oversee-
ing two apartment complexes
in Hermiston.
While this is her first time
running for this type of posi-
tion, Gonzalez said she is
excited for the opportunity to
grow. In addition, she hopes
to become a part of the board
where she can share new
ideas.
“I am bilingual, love to
learn new things and I’m very
passionate about community
outreach in the bilingual/
Spanish speaking commu-
nity.”
every grade level to complete
their testing in one day across
the first few weeks of May. He
added that students still learn-
ing online would be required
to come to school to take the
test, but 90% have already
Table: Opponents say project
would be a major polluter
Continued from Page A1
rescheduled to Thursday,
May 6.
Erin Saylor, attorney
for Columbia Riverkeeper,
described the environmen-
tal group as skeptical about
the mystery buyer and why
someone would want to
come forward after reading
about the litigation attached
to the project.
“We were pretty disap-
pointed,” she said. “We’ve
been calling this a zombie
project for years. And this
latest development demon-
strates just how true it is. We
thought it was dead and now
it’s miraculously come back
to life again.”
The technology planned
for Perennial Wind Chaser
Station would allow it to
power up more quickly than
most power plants. Accord-
ing to the statement from
Perennial, the plant would
be used to prevent disrup-
tions to customers’ power
during peak usage times
when renewable energy
sources were not able to keep
up with demand. It could be
quickly brought online when
the wind was not blowing at
area wind farms, for exam-
ple.
“We remain convinced
that the Wind Chaser tech-
nology we proposed is both
sound and in the best inter-
ests of Oregon and its resi-
dents in terms of protecting
the Oregon grid and its
customers from potential
future power disruptions, so
we are encouraged by this
new interest in continuing
the development of this site
... With energy demands ever
increasing in the region, we
must continue to consider
how to provide clean energy
sources that have minimal
impact upon the environ-
ment. Wind Chaser will rely
upon the least polluting of
the hydrocarbons sources,
natural gas, to help the
region transition to a green-
based energy future,” the
company stated.
Opponents paint it in a
different light. According
to a statement by Colum-
bia Riverkeeper and Friends
of the Columbia Gorge,
the plant would be a major
polluter, emitting more than
1 million tons of greenhouse
gases a year and becoming
the sixth largest stationary
source of greenhouse gas
emissions in the state.
Saylor said now that
Perennial has decided to
continue with the litiga-
tion, Columbia Riverkeeps
and Friends of the Columbia
Gorge will persist with their
efforts to fight the project in
court, arguing that its site
certificate is no longer valid
and therefore can’t be trans-
ferred to another party.
Fatima Machado
Machado, who resides
in Pendleton, has lived in
Eastern Oregon since 2002.
While she hasn’t been elected
to a board previously, she
has knowledge of librar-
ies through her work as an
academic librarian at Colum-
bia Basin College. She holds
a master’s degree in Library
and Information Science.
“I work predominantly in
the academic library space,
but I have always wanted
to extend my knowledge to
public libraries,” Machado
said. I’m interested in serving
on the UCSLD board to learn
more about (and be a part of)
rural public libraries and its
work and contributions to our
communities.”
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT: www.EastOregonian.com
VIRGINIA MILLER
is turning 90!
OPEN HOUSE - 9am to 3pm on May 5th, 2021.
Please drop by and say “hello!” at her home located
at 120 Willow St., Stanfield, OR 97875.
NO GIFTS PLEASE! Cards can be dropped off or mailed to
Miller Realty, 398 E. Ridgeway, Hermiston, OR 97838
