PENDLETON LINEBACKER’S
CLUB TO INDUCT 2021
HALL OF FAME CLASS
WEEKEND EDITION
Shawn Flanagan competes in the Sioux Falls
Cougars 23-7 win over the Carrol Saints Dec.
20, 2008, to clinch the NAIA National Champi-
onship at Barron Stadium in Rome, Georgia.
Marvin Gentry/University of Sioux Falls
SPORTS, B1
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 125
REGONIAN
AUGUST 7-8, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
School
district
covers
supplies
Pay-to-play fees
for grades 6-12
also going away,
but parents still
buy equipment
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hermiston
parents have enough to worry about
as they send their children back to
school in a few weeks, but paying for
all their school supplies will not be
one of them. When students reenter
the classroom they will have nearly
all their basic supplies covered —
from scissors to glue sticks to note-
books.
The only thing Hermiston School
District Superintendent Tricia
Mooney asks students to bring?
A backpack, lunch bag and water
bottle.
“As far as the supplies that
students need to complete instruc-
tional tasks,” Mooney said, “we are
going to supply all of those.”
All supplies will remain in the
classroom, however, so students still
will need some materials at home to
complete homework or independent
projects.
In addition to providing elemen-
tary and middle school supplies,
Hermiston School District also
will be waiving pay-to-play fees for
grades six through 12. Mooney said
while she expects the $85 athletic
fee per sport to be discontinued
going forward, families still have to
buy some equipment.
“We just want to off er this oppor-
tunity for our kids and not have that
be a barrier at all,” Mooney said.
These two changes, school
supplies and athletics fees, come
from two separate funding streams,
Mooney said. The school district’s
general fund will cover the athlet-
ics fees while federal relief money,
known as Elementary and Second-
ary School Emergency Relief
(ESSER) funds, will cover school
supplies.
This round of ESSER funds,
the third installment of Education
See Supplies, Page A11
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Zach Williams, a deputy district attorney with the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Offi ce, looks through his notes during a hearing
on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, at the Umatilla County Courthouse, Pendleton. The Oregon State Bar is considering a move to make the
Unifi ed Bar Exam, a requirement to practice law in the state, optional.
Resetting the Bar
Oregon Bar considering revamped law school,
legal apprenticeships as alternatives to exam
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — The
Oregon State Bar is
considering doing
something that no other
state has done before: making the
Unifi ed Bar Exam optional.
Passing the test is a require-
ment for practicing law in
Oregon, but as the Bar and the
Oregon Supreme Court begins
exploring alternative paths to
becoming an attorney, the topic
has been heavily debated in the
state’s legal community. Only
a tiny fraction of Oregon Bar
members practice law east of the
Cascades, but like the rest of their
peers, local lawyers have a wide
range of opinions on the future of
the bar exam.
The report
The legal class of 2020 were
the fi rst group of lawyers who
were admitted to the Bar with-
out having to take the exam.
The COVID-19 pandemic
meant the state suspended the
bar exam requirement to become
an attorney, meaning Oregon
students fresh out of law school
could start practicing law with-
The result is a June 18 report
from an “Alternatives to the
Exam Task Force,” that made the
case for two new paths to becom-
ing a lawyer.
“The Task Force found the
“WHAT PREPARES YOU TO
BE A LAWYER IS BEING A
LAWYER AND DOING IT
AGAIN AND AGAIN.”
— Justin Morton, attorney with Intermountain Public Defenders
out passing the test. Although
the bar exam resumed in Febru-
ary, the Oregon Supreme Court,
the body responsible for oversee-
ing the Bar admission process,
asked the Board of Bar Examin-
ers to take it a step further and
examine permanent alternatives
to the test.
diff erent pathways it explored
could be crafted in a manner
that ensured minimum compe-
tency standards were met,” task
force Chair Joanna Perini-Abbott
wrote. “Each pathway, however,
had its own advantages and
drawbacks in terms of equity and
access issues.”
The “Oregon Experiential
Pathway” would revamp Oregon
law schools, requiring them to
off er a more practical curricu-
lum. Instead of focusing on legal
doctrine, law schools would be
required to off er courses on topics
such as professional responsibil-
ity, state and local law, criminal
procedure and personal income
tax. Paired with an externship
and a capstone project, complet-
ing enough of these courses
would be suffi cient in gaining
admission to the Bar.
The other route, the “Super-
vised Practice Pathway,” would
require aspiring lawyers to
complete 1,000 to 1,500 hours
of legal work under the supervi-
sion of an experienced attorney.
During the apprenticeship, the
attorney-in-training would have
to do actual legal work, includ-
ing representing clients, advising
business or developing policies
for governments or nonprofi ts.
See Bar, Page A11
Helix groups rewarded for reaching vaccine goal
Town has the highest
vaccination rate in
the county at 63%
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
HELIX — Love your neighbor
as yourself.
That’s what the COVID-19
vaccine represents for Pastor Mark
Woolbright at the Helix Commu-
nity Church. It’s a way to ensure his
family, and his community, remain
safe.
“It’s about looking out for other
people,” he said.
Woolbright and his wife Karen
See Helix, Page A11
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
The historical Helix City Hall building got its start as a schoolhouse back in the 1900s. More than 60% of the res-
idents in Helix’s ZIP code are vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, making the community of
about 200 residents the fi rst in Umatilla County to reach the 60% mark.