Pendleton javelin thrower hits best mark in U.S. | SPORTS, A10
TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2022
146th Year, No. 73
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
EASTERN OREGON
HIV testing
campaign
ramps up
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — A campaign to
raise awareness about HIV testing is
underway in Eastern Oregon.
Eastern Oregon Center for Inde-
pendent Living, based in Ontario,
has partnered with End HIV Oregon
for a new advertising campaign
between April and July that will
focus on Pendleton, Hermiston, La
Grande, Ontario and their surround-
ing towns.
“We’ve seen an uptick in
HIV-positive cases
in rural Eastern
Oregon, and sexu-
ally transmitted
disease cases, and
so we thought it
was just perfect
timing,” said Kirt
Toombs
Toombs, CEO
and founder of
EOCIL. “We’ve been working on
this campaign since 2012, and we
thought this was a good time to raise
awareness.”
According to the press release,
national physician groups recom-
mend that everyone be tested for
HIV at least once. But most adult
Oregonians have never been tested
for HIV. People in more rural parts
of the state are even less likely than
people living in urban areas to be
tested in a timely manner, according
to the press release.
Toombs said testing and aware-
ness are especially important
because of the increase in positive
cases in Eastern Oregon.
“It’s almost quadrupled,” he
said. “Even though the numbers are
low, we’ve gone from three cases to
almost, I believe, 12 cases. And so
that’s quite a bit, and that’s defi nitely
made us take a look at what needs
to happen around raising awareness
and making tools available.”
The campaign will utilize radio
ads, billboards and newspaper
ads to raise awareness about test-
ing. Toombs said testing already is
available, but awareness has been
lacking.
“We serve 13 counties here in
Eastern Oregon and so we have the
tools available, but I think what was
missing is that we needed to make
people aware that they’re available,”
he said.
One of the major points of the
campaign is to highlight that every-
one has an HIV status, whether
they’ve been tested or not.
“We all have an HIV status, and
we should all be tested for HIV at
least once, if not more frequently,”
said Joseph Fiumara, director for
Umatilla County Public Health, in a
press release. “I’m thrilled to see this
campaign launch here to continue
building healthier communities in
our part of the state.”
See HIV, Page A9
Rosa Salinas/Amazon
Offi cials of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, state and local public offi cials and representatives of Amazon
Web Services Inc. participate in the ribbon cutting March 30, 2022, of the AWS Think Big Space at the former Nixyaawii Community
School building. This is the fi rst Think Big Space in Umatilla County.
Adding ‘Culture’ to STEM
Tribes open Amazon
Think Big Space with
a focus on traditions
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
M
ISSION — Amazon’s latest
Think Big Space in Oregon
is operating on the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
This is Amazon’s first
Think Big Space in Umatilla
County and the second in the region.
Amazon Web Services Inc. opened the
fi rst space on the West Coast in 2021 at
the SAGE Center at the Port of Morrow,
Boardman.
The new Think Big Space, which
Amazon has named after one of its lead-
ership principles, is in the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion’s After School Center and provides a
colorful and stimulating education atmo-
sphere, with access to 3D printers, drones
and Kindles with augmented reality. The
goal of the partnership between AWS and
schools is to prepare students for jobs and
careers that don’t even exist yet.
Think Big Spaces allow K-6 students
the opportunity to tackle real-world prob-
lems through programs focused on science,
technology, engineering and math. But the
tribes is pioneering a new approach to the
Think Big Space.
This new educational lab will focus
on what the tribes call “CSTEM,” where
the “C” stands for “culture.” They will
use this innovative space to connect their
cultural traditions, including First Foods,
with scientifi c ecological study. Eastern
Oregon enjoys several AWS InCommuni-
ties programs designed to make a positive
impact, but this is the fi rst with a trib-
al-based curriculum.
Amazon Web Services is an Amazon
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Darryl Joe McKay, 7, on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, inspects one of the drones he will
learn to fl y in the new Think Big Space, funded by Amazon Web Services and inside the
former Nixyaawii Community School. The space, a so-called educational incubator, is
part of the CTUIR after-school program.
subsidiary providing customers on-demand
cloud computing platforms and application
programming interfaces. AWS selected the
Umatilla Indian Reservation as the fi rst
Indigenous community to receive a Think
Big Space grant. It also is the fi rst such
award using STEM disciplines to stimulate
learning on environmental topics and tradi-
tions stretching back countless generations.
The tribes and AWS cut the ribbon to
open the education lab on March 30. The
ceremony included speakers and offi cials
from the tribes and AWS.
Inside the
Think Big Space
A week after the ribbon cutting on the
sunny afternoon of Wednesday, April 6,
about two dozen children and adults busied
themselves at the After School Center.
Linda Sampson, lead teacher, conducted
a tour of impressive upgrades to the old
school gym building. The tribes is paying
for a new kitchen while the Think Big
Space program is funding the construc-
tion of well-equipped science classrooms.
Indoors, some children engaged in
crafts, others sat at computer monitors
and a few played basketball and soccer.
Outside, staff and students were setting
up a small greenhouse.
“It’s expandable,” Sampson said. “It
came without instructions. Just a picture.
Good thing we’re visual learners.”
The greenhouse will nurture seed-
lings of First Foods, such as elderberries,
chokecherries, huckleberries and camas.
Sampson explained the environmental
threats to traditional collection sites, such
as pollution, dams and development of
wetlands.
“Kids fl ip cookies in our First Foods
meadows,” Sampson said.
She drew attention to the room in
which seedlings were being sprouted for
transplantation to the greenhouse.
“The kids will measure the plants as
they grow, record data on soil pH, mois-
ture, humidity and sunlight to determine
optimum growing conditions,” she said.
See STEM, Page A9
Autism, seizures don’t slow down Hermiston’s ‘Snow White’
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Jilli Smalley is
open about her abilities. The 31-year-
old Hermiston resident smiled
broadly prior to a recent exercise
session, and she boasted of her abil-
ity to make friends.
“Even Grumpy likes Snow
White,” Jilli Smalley said.
Her mother, Kristi Smalley,
explained that her daughter, who
is autistic and has seizure disorder,
loves Disney and often commu-
nicates with references to Disney
movies. She will refer to herself as
Snow White, though she sometimes
calls herself Doc or Sleepy, depend-
ing on the situation.
Speaking in a soprano-like, melo-
dious tone, the younger Smalley
indeed sounds a bit like Snow White
of the Disney movie. Also like the
young princess, she is warm and
draws people near her. At the exer-
cise session, a gathering of people at
The Arc Umatilla County, she met
with several other Zumba practi-
tioners. Before rushing over to join
the Zumba crowd, she talked about
her life.
The fi rst thing she mentioned was
her work at Pizza Hut, employment
that she said she enjoys. She works
as a dishwasher four nights a week,
3.5 hours per shift.
“I wash dishes and mess around,”
she said.
She added she likes the people
there, and she sometimes makes
sugar cookies for them.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
See Jilli, Page A9
Jilli Smalley, who has autism and a seizure disorder, loves her job at the
Hermiston Pizza Hut where she has worked as a dishwasher for 11 years.