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East Oregonian
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Saturday, January 22, 2022
Prayer vigil rebukes controversial books in Walla Walla schools
By EMRY DINMAN
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA — Calling
for the removal of books detractors
say are political, sexually explicit
and use excessive foul language,
around 50 people met for a prayer
vigil Tuesday, Jan. 18, outside the
Walla Walla School District office
just before the regular school board
meeting, held virtually via Zoom.
Cathy Rasley and Sarah Herrera
co-organized the vigil. Rasley
has grandchildren in the public
school district and co-owns Hot
Mama’s Espresso with her daugh-
ter and county Commissioner Jenny
Mayberry. Herrera, an administra-
tive assistant at Liberty Christian
School, has two children in the
public school district.
“It’s because of what’s going on
in the school district with different
books and the masks and just all
sorts of stuff,” Rasley said about the
vigil in a Walla Walla Union-Bul-
letin interview. “It’s just coming
to a head. We’re trying to pray for
our schools and the students that go
there.”
Rasley and Herrera have
published several videos on social
media and spoken at numerous
school board meetings criticizing
decisions such as mask and vacci-
nation requirements at the district.
Herrera said few topics they’ve
raised have sparked as much inter-
est as the four books they have
asked to be removed from library
shelves. The books are the graphic
novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir,”
by Maia Kobabe, and the novels
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Cathy Rasley speaks Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, outside the Walla Walla School District office as residents hold a
prayer gathering before the regular school board meeting.
“The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morri-
son, “The Hate U Give,” by Angie
Thomas, and “All Boys Aren’t
Blue,” by George Johnson. While
“The Bluest Eye” was published in
1970, the remaining three books
were published between 2017 and
2020.
Previous attempts to have the
school district remove the books
were unsuccessful, Rasley said in a
video posted to social media.
“Gender Queer: A Memoir,”
has been the subject of nationwide
controversy and was the first to
draw Rasley’s attention, she said,
due to an illustrated but blurred
scene that depicts oral sex between
two teenage boys.
In a Dec. 2021 interview with
NBC News, author Kobabe, who
identifies as nonbinary, defended
their book, saying while the book’s
graphic images may not be appro-
priate for elementary school-aged
children, it contains frank conver-
sations about sexuality and gender
nonconformity.
“All Boys Aren’t Blue” faced
similar criticism from the prayer
vigil’s organizers. Rasley described
a sexually explicit sentence about
gay teens engaged in oral sex.
In an interview with Time,
author Johnson argued by the time
teen readers experience his book,
they’re likely well aware of sex,
and that his novel contains themes
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of sexual education about consent
and sexual abuse.
“So they’re leaving very, very
important context out, intentionally
of course, to try and say my book is
pornographic,” Johnson told Time
in a November 2021 interview.
Morrison’s novel “The Bluest
Eye,” deals with themes of incest
and rape, which Rasley said was
inappropriate for children. “The
Hate U Give” contains “90 F-words
and F the police,” which is language
inappropriate for teenagers, she
said.
The prayer vigil in front of the
district office was the latest in a
series of protest actions taken by
Herrera, Rasley and others. The
Power companies announce B2H deal
East Oregonian
Mostly sunny
Partly sunny
42° 29°
41° 29°
Partly sunny and
chilly
Chilly with some
sun
Chilly with clouds
and sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
40° 24°
36° 26°
36° 24°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
41° 30°
40° 30°
41° 24°
37° 26°
39° 26°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
48/35
39/28
38/23
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
37/27
Lewiston
47/29
37/29
Astoria
53/37
Pullman
Yakima 36/26
48/31
43/30
Portland
Hermiston
50/32
The Dalles 41/30
Salem
Corvallis
47/30
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
40/21
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
47/32
56/31
45/29
Ontario
35/27
Caldwell
Burns
51°
32°
44°
29°
62° (1972) -35° (1930)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
48/30
0.00"
0.89"
0.79"
0.89"
0.44"
0.79"
Today
57/30
SSE 3-6
NW 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
50/20
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
ers in Idaho, Wyoming and
Montana.
PacifiCorp will acquire
Idaho Power transmis-
sion assets across south-
ern Idaho that, according to
the press release, combined
with its majority stake in
Boardman-Hemingway will
increase its contiguous power
transfer capability between its
western and eastern systems,
and will acquire additional
transmission service from
BPA to enable it to serve its
growing customer base in
central Oregon.
The three organizations
now move into a negotiation
phase to finalize the deal and
seek regulatory approval.
Construction of the line is
to begin in 2023, and B2H is
anticipated to come online in
2026.
The term sheet and back-
ground information about
B2H is available at the proj-
ect website: www.boardman-
tohemingway.com.
Sun.
ENE 3-6
N 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
PORTLAND — Idaho
Power, PacifiCorp and the
Bonneville Power Admin-
istration have reached a
non-binding agreement on
the massive Boardman to
Hemingway transmission
line.
The BPA in a press
release Wednesday, Jan. 19,
announced the deal clarifies
and updates roles and respon-
sibilities for the B2H project.
“The proposed agreement
is an important step for this
500-kilovolt, 290-mile trans-
mission line, which would
deliver 1,000 megawatts of
reliable, affordable power in
each direction between the
Pacific Northwest and Moun-
tain west,” according to the
press release.
Under the new deal, Pacif-
iCorp will own 55% of the
B2H transmission line with
Idaho Power owning 45%.
Idaho Power will acquire
an ownership interest in
PacifiCorp transmission lines
and other equipment between
eastern Idaho and the Four
Corners Substation in north-
west New Mexico. B2H and
those acquisitions amplify
Idaho Power’s connections
to key energy markets that
will help the company meet
rapidly growing customer
demand.
The Bonneville Power
Administration will transfer
its ownership interest in B2H
to Idaho Power and will not
participate in construction or
have any ownership interest
in the transmission line proj-
ect.
Facilities PacifiCorp uses
to serve BPA’s customers in
and around southeast Idaho
will be transferred to Idaho
Power. BPA will acquire
transmission service over
Idaho Power’s transmis-
sion system, including the
newly constructed B2H, to
serve public utility custom-
WINDS (in mph)
38/31
38/17
0.00"
1.47"
1.06"
1.47"
0.67"
1.06"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 42/20
50/31
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
42/29
43/30
47°
32°
43°
28°
62° (1909) -26° (1930)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
46/29
Aberdeen
37/26
32/22
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
47/33
contested books, which have all
been the subject of a wave of censor-
ship across the country, came to the
fore locally after the pair posted a
video on social media claiming that
“Gender Queer: A Memoir,” had
been removed from the high school
library.
At the time, that book had not yet
entered library circulation but since
has, wrote Christy Krutulis, execu-
tive director of teaching and learn-
ing at the school district. All four
books are available in district librar-
ies, but none are required reading
or are otherwise being assigned by
district teachers, Krutulis said.
In a statement, Walla Walla
Public Schools administrators
wrote that parents can access an
online portal to monitor in real time
what books their children check
out from the library, and added
it followed best practices when
approving the contested books.
“The policy and procedures
WWPS implements when books
in school libraries are challenged
are recommended best practices
from the Washington State School
Directors’ Association, in conjunc-
tion with state and national school
library associations,” Krutulis
wrote.
The school board received
a written request on Jan. 17 to
appeal the four books that the
district’s Library Materials Review
Committee had recently reviewed
and approved to remain in circu-
lation. The board is in the process
of reviewing the matter according
to preexisting procedures, Krutu-
lis said.
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:27 a.m.
4:47 p.m.
10:00 p.m.
10:06 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
Jan 25
Jan 31
Feb 8
Feb 16
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 82° in Key West, Fla. Low -33° in Ogdensburg, N.Y.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
one still in the water, on the center dock below
the visitors center.
Sheriff Travis Ash and the Baker County
HELLS CANYON — Police believe an Search and Rescue team deployed at about
85-year-old Idaho fisherman drowned in the 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18, to search for Sill-
Snake River on Monday, Jan. 17, after falling onis.
Searchers covered the area near the docks
from a dock just below Hells Canyon Dam.
The Baker County Sheriff’s Office received and along the river’s shore.
Idaho Power Company employees
a report about 6 p.m. that day that
used a remote-operated vehicle with
Alberto Sillonis of Weiser was over-
an underwater camera and sonar to
due in returning home from a fishing
search the river.
trip to Hells Canyon.
Searchers found a felt, short-
He had left his home that morn-
brimmed hat on rocks about 60 feet
ing and planned to return home in the
from the docks, and Sillonis’ family
evening.
confirmed that it belonged to him. No
Baker County deputies, along
other signs of Sillonis were found.
with deputies from the Washington
Sillonis
Sillonis is a white man who stands
County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho,
began searching the route to Hells Canyon 5-foot-8 and weighs about 160 pounds. He has
as well as checking hotels in nearby towns, white hair.
If anyone has information about Sillonis,
according to a press release from the Baker
they can call Ash at 541-523-6415.
County Sheriff’s Office.
The Baker County Sheriff’s Office thanked
At about 9:07 p.m., deputies found Sillonis’
2008 Nissan Frontier pickup truck in the park- the Baker County Search and Rescue volun-
teers as well as Idaho Power and their employ-
ing lot at the Hells Canyon Visitors Center.
Deputies searched the immediate vicinity ees for their assistance during the search.
and found two fishing poles, with the line from
— EO Media Group
Police believe Idaho angler
drowned in Snake River
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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0s
showers t-storms
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ice
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