A10
NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Former teacher paddles 250 miles of the Columbia River
By MONIKA
SPYKERMAN
The Columbian
GOLDENDALE, Wash.
— One woman in a kayak
versus 250 miles of the
mighty Columbia River
— sometimes serene and
breatht ak ingly beauti-
ful, sometimes choppy and
riddled with treacherous
currents, and always buffeted
by wind.
This isn’t how most people
envision the rest and relax-
ation of retirement. But after
35 years in classrooms, out
on the water is exactly where
Laurie Case Wilhite wanted
to be.
Wilhite was 61 in the
spring of 2016 when she
began her arduous paddle
from John Day Dam near
her hometown of Golden-
dale, Washington, to Astoria,
where the Columbia River
meets the Pacific Ocean. She
just retired from a long career
in education that included a
year at the International Air
and Hospitality Academy
and a decade at Woodland
High School from 1983 to
1993, among other positions.
“When I retired from
teaching, I wanted to slow
down and see the Colum-
bia River that I love so much
from river level,” Wilhite
said. “It became the paddle
to the Pacific as a journey
of reflection, taking time to
appreciate my home river.”
Home river
“Home river” is a concept
that’s important to Wilhite,
inspired by Paul Schullery’s
words from a 1991 anthology
of fly-fishing essays: “A home
river is that rarest of friends,
the one who frequently
surprises you with new
elements of personality with-
out ever seeming a stranger.”
This excerpt graces the
preface of Wilhite’s recently
published book, “Paddle
Laurie Wilhite/Contributed Photo
Laurie Case Wilhite in 2016 arrives at Drano Lake, Washington, to the tunes of a bagpiper,
in honor of her Scottish heritage, as she completes a 250-mile kayaking journey on the
Columbia River.
to the Pacific,” a detailed
account of her journey with
200 full-color photographs.
Each of the book’s 26
chapters describes a different
leg of her epic aquatic trek,
which took her two-and-half
years to complete. Wilhite
was judicious about her
timing, overwintering at
home and paddling only
in relatively good condi-
tions. She didn’t follow a
straight east-to-west route
but kayaked when and where
co-paddlers could join her.
She rarely kayaked alone,
she said, but teamed up
with “a dozen people who
paddled different stretches
with me,” such as Vancou-
ver resident D’Ann Horrocks
and Wilhite’s adult sons,
Fletcher and Casey. Her
husband, Don, sometimes
joined her on the water as
well as providing logistical
support from land.
Organizing a trip of this
magnitude was a challenge
all its own, Wilhite said.
Accommodations needed
to be arranged, campsites
booked, schedules coordi-
nated and river conditions
double-checked. She writes
that her gear included big
plastic tubs of “straps, life
jackets, bungies, sunscreen,
dr y clothes, snacks, a
safety throw bag, paddle
gloves, multiple hats and
much more.” Everything
was hauled from site to site
in Wilhite’s wine-colored
Chevy truck, nicknamed
“Vinny” and outfitted with a
Thule Hullavator, a special-
ized piece of equipment
allowing her to single-hand-
edly load and unload her
kayak from its rooftop perch.
To Wilhite, it was all part of
the fun.
“It was thrilling to be able
to plan the next paddle and
always have something to
look forward to. It became
a grand adventure, but not
something that was pain-
ful,” Wilhite said. “Well, it
was painful, but in a differ-
ent way. I did get in better
shape!”
Tenacity pays off
From her kayak, Wilhite
beheld the Columbia’s many
facets, from the towering
cliffs and wild waterfalls
of the Gorge to busy indus-
trial areas with bridges,
barges and huge shipping
vessels. She paddled “as
close as safely possible” to
the mammoth dams at John
Day, The Dalles and Bonne-
ville. She marveled at the
array of avian life both on the
water and overhead, writing
of the “pelicans, gulls, ducks,
geese, osprey and smaller
songbirds” that she saw. In
Washougal, she was greeted
by the whiskery face of a sea
lion as it swam upriver look-
ing for tasty salmon. When
she grounded her kayak
on sandy shores, she noted
the fresh tracks of coyotes,
bobcats and bears.
“From river level, it’s
different. It’s intimate. And
it changes,” Wilhite said.
“I refer sometimes to the
Columbia as ‘the beauty
and the beast,’ because from
certain times of day and
certain seasons and tides, it
can change dramatically.”
Every leg of the journey
offered its own surprises,
joys or obstacles. Paddles
ranged from an easy, 5-mile
trip between the Hammond
area of Warrenton and Clat-
sop Spit, the westernmost
point of the journey, to a
grueling 17-mile stretch
from Ridgefield to Kalama in
which Wilhite, Horrocks and
another friend, Carla Whit-
mire, battled harsh winds
and the incoming Pacific
tide, which pushes surpris-
ingly far up the Columbia.
But no matter what setbacks
Wilhite encountered, it never
occurred to her to just take
her paddle out of the water
and call it quits.
“I’m tenacious. I never
thought of giving up, because
once I start something, I am
driven to finish it. If I say I’m
going to do something, I do
my utmost to do it,” Wilhite
said. “But I couldn’t have
done it without help from my
friends. It was not a solo jour-
ney. It was a whole team of
people. I didn’t have to give
up because I had so much
help.”
After she finished each leg
of her journey, she’d return
home to her writers’ group,
The Goldendale Writers’
Bloc, and craft an account
of her experiences. The book
became a memoir of sorts,
brimming with recollections
of her life near the Columbia
River, including many cher-
ished memories of kayaking
on the Lewis River, Lake
Merwin, Yale Lake and
Vancouver Lake. Wilhite
said she’s especially fond of
Lake River and the Ridge-
field Wildlife Refuge.
Ending with a
nod to heritage
She joked that maybe
she’s spent so much time on
lakes and rivers because she’s
a Pisces — the astrological
sign of the fish — and water
is her element. However, she
seems fueled as much by
curiosity as an affinity for
water. She said perhaps that’s
the teacher in her.
“One of my favorite
quotes is by Eleanor Roos-
evelt: ‘Do one thing every
day that scares you.’ What
that means to me is not just
paddling in huge waves and
taking on surf. It can mean
saying hello to someone
you don’t know. It can mean
looking up an old friend to
repair a rift,” Wilhite said.
“It’s what keeps me going. I
like the concept that we can
always grow and learn new
things.”
The journey’s final leg
wasn’t in Astoria, but closer
to Wilhite’s home waters. She
took her last paddle strokes
on a very windy day at Drano
Lake, Washington, where the
Little White Salmon River
empties into the Columbia.
In honor of her Scottish heri-
tage, she engaged a bagpiper
to pipe her to the shore. Later,
she celebrated with friends
and family in Stevenson.
“On the drive home, I
found myself looking at the
river from the car and having
this whole deeper connec-
tion, looking at where I
had paddled,” Wilhite said.
“I can’t not look at myself
through my mind’s eye,
being on the river and how
I was feeling. The journey
will always be with me. It’s
a grand memory.”
Oregonians support Black Lives Matter, Feds pursue dozens of
suspected fraud cases tied
but less than half think it has helped
to pandemic business aid
By COURTNEY
VAUGHN
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — A majority
of Oregonians polled say
they support the Black Lives
Matter movement, but resi-
dents are split on whether
society is in a better place
because of it.
Results of an Oregon
Values & Beliefs Center
survey conducted in Febru-
ary show about six in 10
Oregon residents polled
(59%) support the Black
Lives Matter movement.
Among them, 36% showed
strong support. Three in 10
said they oppose the move-
ment and about one in 10, or
9%, were unsure.
According to the Oregon
Values & Beliefs Center,
support for the movement
is higher among those with
more education and income,
with support being highest
among Multnomah County
residents.
Still, surveyors noted a
lingering political divide
among Oregonians on the
perceptions of the social
justice movement, with 87%
of Democrats in support
and 69% of Republicans
opposed.
In 2020, the deaths of
three Black individuals —
two at the hands of police —
catapulted the social justice
movement into prominence.
In February 2020, Ahmaud
Arbery was murdered by
three white men in Geor-
gia who mistook him for a
burglar while he jogged. The
following month, Breonna
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT,
was shot and killed by police
in Kentucky while sleeping
in her home. In May 2020,
the murder of George Floyd
by Derek Chauvin, a former
Minneapolis police officer
who knelt on Floyd’s neck
until he died, catalyzed
the public into action. The
high-profile cases forced a
spotlight on policing, racism
and implicit bias in America,
sparking nationwide protests
and marches.
W hile Black Lives
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
Dean Guernsey/The (Bend) Bulletin, File
Jane Pierie of Bend displays a sign June 7, 2021, during a Black Lives Matter protest in
Drake Park in Bend.
Matter marches and demon-
strations took place in
major cities, Portland saw
sustained protests in 2020
that garnered interna-
tional media attention and
defined the city for much of
that time. Downtown Port-
land saw sometimes violent
clashes between protesters
and local and federal police.
Police drew scrutiny from
the public and lawmakers
for their repeated use of tear
gas, pepper spray and muni-
tions that left one man with
a fractured skull.
Antifascist protesters
drew strong criticism for
demonstrations that ended
in repeated damage to down-
town businesses. Some
Oregonians say that drowned
out the overall message and
overshadowed the need for
police reform.
Robert Williams, who
lives in Multnomah County,
told the Oregon Values and
Beliefs Center the ongoing
protests may have hurt the
message.
“Getting awareness of the
issue is necessary. I believe
the extended violence that
accompanied actions was
instigated by non-BLM
agency,” Williams said.
While a majority of those
polled support Black Lives
Matter, Oregonians are torn
on the social impact of the
justice movement.
OVBC polling shows
36% of Oregon residents
think society is in a better
place as a result of the
social justice movement
that followed Floyd’s death.
Survey results show 38%
think the country is worse
off and 19% of those polled
said we’re in the same place
as before Floyd’s death and
the ensuing calls for reform.
“I think that BLM
educated so many white
Americans, resulting in
(two) major impacts,” Susan
Heath of the Willamette
Valley said. “Some whites
responded with compassion
and concern (and may or
may not still be involved in
the movement), while others
responded with fear and
bigotry and joined the white
nationalist backlash.”
Marla Cox, of Marion
County, said the uprising and
protests in the name of the
Black Lives Matter move-
ment were harmful, leaving
society more divided.
“Black Lives Matters
burned cities, rioted, looted
and no one did anything
about it,” Cox wrote in a
survey response, saying the
Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capi-
tol in 2021 “was nothing”
compared to damage done
in many American cities.
Cox later said the move-
ment has sown racial divi-
sion.
“It caused me to be aware
of race all at once,” Cox said.
“It’s damaged me. I don’t like
seeing color. I just want to
see the person as the person.
I want to go back to the way
it was before. I’m Lakota and
my uncle was Chickasaw.
My mother was born on the
reservation. My grandpar-
ents were born on the reser-
vation. You look at what’s
inside people, that’s what we
should be looking at. Not the
color of their skin.”
Pollsters note a significant
age gap in response to the
question of societal impacts.
Oregonians ages 75 and older
are much more likely (48%
versus 28%) than those ages
18 to 29 to think our culture
is in a better place.
“Overall, Republicans
tend to be more pessimis-
tic on the issue, with 69%
saying our culture is in a
worse place, whereas 58%
of Democrats think we’re
better off,” OVBC noted in
a summary of results, saying
optimism on the issue tends
to increase with higher
income and education levels.
PORTLAND — A Leba-
non man was sentenced to
four years in prison for ille-
gally obtaining more than $4
million in coronavirus relief
loans meant for struggling
businesses and investing that
money in rental properties
and Tesla stock.
A Portland man pleaded
guilty after fraudulently
obtaining nearly $900,000 in
loan money from the federal
Paycheck Protection Program
and spending it on vacations,
gambling and other personal
expenses.
And a West Linn man is
accused of obtaining nearly
$8 million after submitting
dozens of fraudulent appli-
cations for Economic Injury
Disaster Loans.
The cases represent
just a small fraction of the
suspected criminal activity
that law enforcement believes
took place in Oregon as the
federal government raced to
get money into the hands of
businesses trying to weather
the pandemic.
The U.S. Attorney’s
Office in Oregon has brought
charges against 14 people
accused of submitting fraud-
ulent applications for coro-
navirus relief funds totaling
more than $183 million, lead-
ing to the federal government
erroneously handing out
nearly $19 million.
Another two dozen cases
have been resolved after
suspects returned the money
or reached settlements, and
dozens more investigations
remain open, said Ryan
Bounds, the lead COVID-19
fraud prosecutor for the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in Oregon.
And it’s likely that many
more have yet to be detected.
“We’re very focused
on this, and we’re intent
on vindicating the taxpay-
ers’ interest in ensuring that
relief went to people who
needed it and that people who
abused the program will face
consequences for doing so,”
Bounds said. “This is still
very much an ongoing and
active effort.”
In a race to rescue busi-
nesses and individuals from
the pandemic’s economic
fallout, the federal govern-
ment prioritized speed over
stringent safeguards in its
coronavirus relief programs.
That enabled hundreds of
billions of dollars to reach
businesses quickly, but also
created an opportunity for
rampant fraud, especially
through the Small Business
Administration’s Paycheck
Protection Program and the
Economic Injury Disas-
ter Loans, which provided
billions in potentially forgiv-
able assistance.
The Justice Department
reported in early March that
its civil and criminal inves-
tigations had uncovered $8
billion in attempted fraud
through coronavirus relief
programs. That may repre-
sent only a fraction of the
fraud that occurred. Last
year, Hannibal Ware, the
inspector general for the U.S.
Small Business Adminis-
tration, said the agency had
uncovered nearly $80 billion
in potential fraud through its
Economic Injury Disaster
Loan program alone.
To date, the Justice Depart-
ment has brought criminal
charges against more than
1,000 defendants nationwide
with alleged losses exceed-
ing $1.1 billion, seized over
$1 billion in Economic Injury
Disaster Loan proceeds and
initiated civil investigations
into more than 1,800 individ-
uals and entities connected to
pandemic relief loans totaling
more than $6 billion.
Representatives from
roughly a dozen federal law
enforcement agencies have
been meeting biweekly in
Oregon since September
2020 to review leads and
coordinate investigations into
potential coronavirus fraud.
Among the agencies involved
in the task force are the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in Oregon,
the Small Business Admin-
istration’s Office of Inspector
General and the FBI.