OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Benefits:
Continued from Page A1
federal dollars coming in.”
The letter comes as more
than two dozen GOP-led
states have ended similar
benefits due to slow job
growth nationwide, a trend
some lawmakers have been
quick to blame on federal
unemployment benefits,
though experts also have
said child care and the fear
of contracting COVID-19
are playing roles.
“It’s really hurting the
economy right now,” said
Donna Beverage, a Union
County commissioner
who signed the letter.
“There are some people
that need to be on unem-
ployment, certainly if they
have to do childcare and
that sort of thing. But, it’s
really discouraging a lot of
people from going back to
work when they make more
money by being on unem-
ployment.”
From March 2020 to
March 2021, Oregonians
received $5.5 billion in
federal stimulus money,
according to The Orego-
nian/OregonLive.
I n M ay, p ay r ol l s
increased nationally by
559,000 workers as the
unemployment rate fell
below 6% for the first
time since the pandemic
began. And about 554,000
jobs were added on-aver-
age from March through
May. At that rate, the labor
market will not return to
pre-pandemic levels until
2022, according to The
New York Times.
Workforce shortages
felt across
Eastern Oregon
For weeks, Eastern
Oregon officials have
voiced concerns over the
workforce shortage. In a
letter to Brown “on behalf
of Morrow County employ-
ers” in late May, Kalie
Davis, director of work-
force development for the
Port of Morrow, listed 25
employers in the county
that had more than 200 job
openings total.
The letter from the
lawmakers concluded with
the exact same language
used in Davis’ letter: “The
benefit of being unem-
ployed should not outweigh
the benefit of working.”
The letter comes as
COVID-19 cases decline
while vaccinations rise
st at ew ide, sig n a l i ng
the pandemic is largely
waning. That’s why some
officials decided to call for
an end to the federal bene-
fits now, even as several
Eastern Oregon coun-
ties with disproportion-
ately high infection rates
have reported some of the
lowest vaccination rates in
Oregon.
“In a time when vacci-
nation numbers are up,
COVID cases are coming
down and hospitaliza-
tions, you know, it’s a time
that we need to consider”
ending supplemental unem-
ployment benefits, said
Wallowa County Commis-
sioner Todd Nash.
Umatilla Cou nt y
Commissioner George
Murdock said there’s “no
question” that federal
unemployment relief was
“a great deal” during the
pandemic’s earlier stages.
“At that point, busi-
nesses were closed, people
were not going to work,
and people were laid off,”
he said. “That’s changed.
They’re now open, they
have jobs and people who
are worried about covid
have had multiple oppor-
tunities to get vaccinated.
Our businesses are strug-
gling because so many
people don’t want to go
back to work.”
‘It’s not just poor
people’
Mark Gomolski, the
executive director of Agape
House, a nonprofit food
bank in Hermiston, said it
was sad that several of the
people the organization
serves have no incentive
to go back to work because
they are making more
money sitting at home.
“I know if I was a
parent, how does that
look that we’re just wait-
ing for a paycheck and not
going to work and staying
home and watching TV?”
he said. “Some people are
being productive and doing
things around their homes
or volunteering. But they
should get back to work.
Our economy’s hurting.”
In May, David Gersten-
feld, acting director of
the Oregon Employment
Department, announced
Oregonians soon will have
to actively search for a job
to receive unemployment,
as required under federal
law before Congress waived
the requirement early in the
pandemic when businesses
closed to prevent the spread
of coronavirus. Those
requirements will resume
over the next two months,
Gerstenfeld said.
The state, however, did
not specify when workers
will need to demonstrate
they’re looking for work
and did not set a timeline
for when it will reinstate
the job search requirement.
For Gomolski, he ques-
tioned whether the govern-
ment will move quickly to
phase in regular require-
ments to get the economy
functioning again, saying,
“You can’t trust the govern-
ment when they have a free
spigot going on; it’s kind of
hard for them to turn it off.”
He added it was “not just
poor people” but a lot of
others who are getting the
benefits and not returning
to their jobs.
“I’m sure you’d hear that
across the state,” he said.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, listens Monday, June
7, 2021, to members of the Pendleton Chamber of Com-
merce Board of Directors during a meeting in Pendleton.
Bentz:
Continued from Page A1
commission and against the
certification were consis-
tent because both followed
the Constitution. Bentz said
Pennsylvania didn’t follow
the Constitution when it
bypassed its state legis-
lature to extend absentee
deadlines.
As he gets settled into
Washington, D.C., Bentz
also is working on lower
profile issues related to
water and natural resources.
Bentz said he’s work-
ing on passing a federal
aid package to assist those
affected by the drought in
the Klamath Basin. More
broadly, he’s also seeking to
require more neutral testi-
mony from experts when
it comes to changing laws
and rules around endan-
gered species. An attor-
ney by trade, Bentz said
the process often resem-
bles a courtroom, where
both sides bring in dueling
experts to make their case.
Bentz wants to make expert
testimony more neutral so
the federal government can
make more informed deci-
sions.
East Oregonian
A7
Cemetery: ‘The cemetery will always be a treasure’
Continued from Page A1
a new grave and find remains,
he’d have to stop and find a
new spot,” he said.
Zach Mayer heard much of
the history of the cemetery as
a child, he said, listening to
voices from board meetings
— including his grandfather’s
and father’s — coming from
the basement during frequent
visits to his McCorkell grand-
parents.
“And now I live in the
same place. I bought my
grandparents’ house,” he said
with a chuckle.
The past is layered over
Weston Cemetery in every
way.
McCorkell died in 1966,
and his grandson, Donnell
“Donnie” Smock, took over
sexton duties in 1967 until his
retirement in 1997.
Smock’s contributions
included making the ceme-
tery a landscaped showcase,
caring for about 1,000 tomb-
stones and trimming almost
that many trees.
Zach Mayer’s older sister,
Becky Betts, made her first
land purchase there, choos-
ing the plot where she’d spent
many childhood hours read-
ing and doing homework, he
said.
Minding the past
As the family lineage
aged, so did the land. Locust
trees planted a century ago
became hazards to the safety
of present and future visitors.
Headstones made of hard
materials, such as marble
and granite, still stand, but
most sandstone markers have
crumbled to the toppling point
or been lost to the hard winds
altogether.
Some stones were centered
over a grave, and as the earth
settled, those markers have
sunk into the ground.
Burial records are kept
in a card file, the sort once
the staple of every public
library. Plots are marked out
on painted plywood pieces
propped up in the cemetery
office, divided up into the “old
city” and newer sections.
A few of the five-grave
rectangles drawn in Sharpie
bear a question mark instead
of a name, leaving behind no
witness to the occupant.
“It’s a very antiquated
system,” said Duane Thul on
a recent tour.
“We’re still living in two
centuries ago,” he said. “We
could have entered the 19th
century, maybe.”
Thul, who was re-elected
as Weston’s mayor in Novem-
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, File
Some graves at Weston Cemetery are marked as simply as this one, others not at all.
ber, is now the unofficial
sexton on an as-needed basis.
On this day, the surround-
ing hills are softly green with
mid-May growth and the
oft-wicked wind is gentle for
the moment.
Only the scent of process-
ing onions wafting over the
town from Smith Frozen
Foods speaks of the present
on this spot.
As Thul gazed over rows
of headstones, both upright
and tilted over, he recalled
the difficult and unpopular
decision to take out dozens of
failing trees in recent years.
It was a job that had been
ignored for too long, and a
tragedy waiting to happen
should a limb fall on some-
one, Thul said.
Locust was a terrible
choice for cemetery trees, he
said.
“But they brought them
up by the wagon loads 100
years ago, and that’s what got
planted,” Thul said.
Ensuring the future
Plans call for new, suitable
trees and native plants to go in
the ground. The new growth
will add shade and provide
cooling, which will reduce
water use.
Trees are expensive,
however, and the cemetery’s
budget from taxes is about
$40,000 a year. That has to
cover wind damage fixes, irri-
gation, building upkeep and
more. The cost of electricity
to run the water pumps rings
up at about $700 a month,
Thul said.
As well, the cemetery
board has voted to hire an
expert with underground
imaging equipment to detect
old, unmarked graves in the
original section — plots can’t
be sold there until that’s done.
There is no longer a paid
employee, although the
mowing and grave digging
tasks are contracted out, Thul
said.
The worst part of the
small budget is having no
paid attendant on the grounds
during the day, he said, to the
consternation of some resi-
dents.
The cemetery’s main gate
is kept locked when Thul or
another board member can’t
be on site to help prevent theft
and vandalism.
While he does his best
to accommodate those who
want to drive inside the
locked gates, the timing does
not always work out, Thul
said, conceding his 82 years
of age and mayoral duties
dictate his schedule some
days.
“It’s just me. Anyone who
wants to come and look at a
grave or buy a plot, it’s me.
And I am getting off the
board,” he said, noting the
two other board members
have full-time jobs.
But his wish list for the
Weston Cemetery will live
on.
For starters, getting 170
years of burial data uploaded
to software is essential for
records preservation, but to
do so could run $20,000, Thul
said.
Anything that increases
accessibility tops Zach
Mayer’s hopes for Weston
Cemetery.
Small gates allow people
to walk into the cemetery,
he said, but that isn’t useful
for people who use mobility
devices or need a car to navi-
gate the 9 acres.
“I hate having that main
gate locked … my goal is to
get that open,” Mayer said.
“Maybe with an automatic
gate or maybe we can hire
someone to be there.”
Board members also hope
to pave the gravel roads that
go past graves bearing names
such as Bryson, O’Harra,
Bishop, Stamper, McIntyre,
Harder and Sams.
Or Baby Waite, born and
died in 1902.
There’s John L. Graham,
M.D., who died in 1881 at the
age of 35 years, 11 months
and eight days.
Myrtle May White was
gone less than three months
after her birth on Sept. 19,
1880.
The high and hefty tomb-
stone of Charles McMor-
ris, 1837-1893, had been
completely cloaked in a lilac
bush when he started on the
board, Thul said on an explo-
ration of the cemetery.
“No one even knew it was
there. I had a concrete base
poured for that 5,200 pounds
of granite. Just think of the
cost of this today. What was
our fetish with huge head-
stones?”
There is no doubt this
cemetery is dear to the people
of Weston, whether they live
in town or elsewhere, Amy
McCorkell Mayer said.
“We all feel a personal
responsibility to care for
it,” she said of the McCor-
kell descendants. “I’ve spent
hours in that cemetery. I used
to go up there to go see ‘my
friends.’”
Delph agreed, noting the
townspeople in general have
a deep sense of ownership
of this special place. Many
families will have spent time
cleaning up family head-
stones in preparation for
Memorial Day, he predicted.
This spot is where the
stories of Weston can be
heard through dates carved in
stone, in rows of small head-
stones, in names both famil-
iar and forgotten. It’s here
the past meets the future of
the community, McCorkell
Mayer said.
“The cemetery will always
be a treasure,” she said. “To
all of us.”
Civics:
Continued from Page A1
focusing on STEM — science,
technology, engineering and
math — Johnson said he was
glad to see civics getting a
similar amount of attention.
“It’s our job to educate
them on being a good citizen,”
he said.
Johnson said Pendleton’s
civics curriculum doesn’t just
cover government history
and the mechanics of how the
federal government works,
but also the Oregon Consti-
tution and the Treaty of 1855,
the agreement that created the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Joh nson said many
students often come into his
class disengaged with govern-
ment and politics, not only
because they don’t under-
stand it but also because it
seems like politics is angry
and filled with conflict. He
said it’s his and fellow civics
teacher Kiana Rickman’s job
to show students that govern-
ment is worth engaging in.
Scott Depew, the Herm-
iston School District’s direc-
tor of secondary instruction,
said Hermiston has consid-
ered dropping civics in favor
of offering personal finance
classes, but the Legislature
made the decision for them.
Hermiston social studies
teacher Josh Walker said he
has students take the United
States citizenship test at the
beginning of his course,
which usually doesn’t produce
encouraging results.
Although students tend
to perform much better once
they retake the test later in the
year, Walker said it’s indica-
East Oregonian, File
Then Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown answers questions from students on Sept. 27,
2013, in Brian Johnson’s advanced placement government class at Pendleton High School.
Gov. Brown on June 3, 2021, signed Senate Bill 513 to add a half-credit of civics education to
the list of the state’s graduation requirements.
tive of a world where surveys
show that many Americans
can’t even name the three
branches of U.S. government.
Civics could help fill those
knowledge gaps and help turn
students into active citizens.
Umatilla County could
certainly use a boost in
democratic participation.
The county frequently finds
itself at the bottom or near
the bottom in terms of elec-
tion turnout, a fact Johnson
discusses in his classes.
Legislature scrutinizing
other graduation
requirements
Civics classes may not be
the only change coming to the
state’s high school require-
ments.
Senate Bill 744 — a bill
that would suspend the essen-
tial learning skills require-
ment in 2023-24 and directs
the Oregon Department
of Education to review the
requirement — already has
passed the Senate and is on
track for a vote in the House.
Since 2008, Oregon high
school students have needed
to demonstrate proficiency
in reading, writing and math.
While those requirements
have been suspended during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
the bill would suspend them
further and would prohibit the
state from requiring them for
graduation if a student has met
their credit requirements.
Depew, the Hermis-
ton administrator, said he
wouldn’t miss them if they
went away permanently. He
added that essential learning
skills haven’t been a hindrance
to students graduating, but it
is another hoop they need to
jump through to get to grad-
uation.
Matt Yoshioka, Pendle-
ton’s director of curriculum,
instruction and assessment,
said he understands the value
of essential learning skills, but
fulfilling those requirements
sometimes creates equity
issues for students who strug-
gle with tests.
While eliminating essen-
tial learning skills is a start,
Yoshioka said he would prefer
the state take a wider view of
its graduation requirements.
He said the state puts a lot of
pressure on districts to grad-
uate their students in four
years, but districts should not
be penalized if some students
take a little longer to gain
their diploma.