A6
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Dog:
Continued from Page A1
East Oregonian, File
First-grade students eat a meal at their desks prior to the start
of the school day at Washington Elementary School in Pend-
leton on the fi rst day of in-person instruction on Feb. 22, 2021.
Masks:
Continued from Page A1
Mulvihill pointed out local
school districts now have
much more experience with
infectious disease outbreaks
than in early 2020.
“Districts can react rapidly
and get teed up to plan miti-
gation eff orts,” he said. “We
can fall back on policies and
procedures which we know
will work, and ramp them up
quickly.”
He said a lot of positives
came out of the experience in
the past two years.
“We’re now used to work-
ing closely with Umatilla
County Public Health to keep
an eye on what’s going on.
We’re better prepared than in
the past,” Mulvihill said. “We
don’t jump to any conclusions
based on an advisory from the
state, whether for COVID or
the fl u.”
Mulvihill noted the county
is diverse. During pandemic
surges, masking, distancing
and online learning mandates
were statewide, so every
district in Umatilla County
had to comply.
“Ukiah and Hermiston
might not both need to follow
the same protocols,” he said.
“Each district can now moni-
tor what’s happening locally
and adjust accordingly, rather
than follow state or county
mandates.”
Local schools will do all
they can, he said, to keep
doors open for students.
“Right now our emphasis
is on fi nishing the year, having
graduations, track meets and
all the events that our kids
have so sorely missed,” he
said. “It has been tough on the
kids.”
Some precautions
still in place, others
optional
Masks are optional in the
Umatilla School District,
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
reported.
She referred to a March
11 district press release that
asks for “respect for others”
when it comes to mask wear-
ing, and an additional learning
guide states social distancing
remains in eff ect, as well as
regular cleaning and sani-
tizing of high-touch areas
and free COVID-19 testing
is available at the school for
symptomatic students with a
parent’s permission.
Sipe said the district tracks
cases weekly. On May 16, she
said the district’s last case was
April 22.
Dirk Dirksen, Morrow
County School District super-
intendent, said COVID-19
worries have decreased along
with concern. He said there
have been no reported cases in
Morrow County schools in at
least a month and maybe only
one or two since February.
“Knock on wood,” he said,
adding he hopes cases do not
reemerge.
As for protocols, he said
schools require adults to sign
in at an offi ce upon arriving
at a school. At that time, they
have to commit that they do
not have COVID-19 or symp-
toms.
“We also would ask parents
to keep kids at home with any
COVID symptoms,” he said,
and schools send students
home if they have symptoms.
Dirksen said schools are
equipped with COVID-19
tests from the state of Oregon
and masks are optional for
students and staff, both on
school grounds and in buses.
He said he has kept an eye
on COVID-19 numbers in
the district. In recent months,
he said, cases are declining
throughout Morrow County.
The superintendent said it is
possible case numbers are
higher than what is reported
in the school district and
throughout the county.
“When kids are home with
the fl u, we don’t call them up
and tell them they have to call
the health department,” he
said.
Jake Bacon, Hermis-
ton School District assis-
tant superintendent, said
concern about COVID-19
has drastically reduced, and
contact tracing is a thing of
the past. Masks in his district
are optional, for both staff
and students. This remains
the situation both on school
grounds and on buses.
There was a COVID-19
case last week, he said, but a
lot is unknown as reporting
is not mandatory. The district
still has recommendations,
though.
“An individual who tests
positive, they should isolate
for fi ve days,” he said. After
fi ve days, and after 24 hours of
being fever free, they should
wear masks for days six
through 10, he said.
Bacon said cleanings and
sterilizations have decreased
in recent weeks, but schools
still are wiping down tabletops
and promoting hand washing.
The Oregon Health
Authority and Oregon
Department of Education
also reminded schools that
students or staff with COVID-
like symptoms have to stay
home, and asked families to
not send their sick children to
school and to seek a test and,
if the children are eligible, to
get them vaccinated.
— Oregon Public Broad-
casting reporter Elizabeth
Miller and The Oregonian
reporter Fedor Zarkhin
contributed to this report.
Morgan said her
husband also came.
“He wanted to go get her
himself, but they wouldn’t
let him,” she said.
Umatilla Tribal Fire
Department Capt. Darrell
Welch and fi refi ghter Josh
Hoeft responded as well
with harnesses, rescue rope
and a dog catching pole from
an off -duty animal control
offi cer, according to CTUIR.
Members of the Umatilla
Tribal Police also were on
the scene.
The rescue plan was to
establish an anchor to a
large boulder, according to
the press release, and Hoeft
headed down the steep slope.
Morgan said as Hoeft got
closer, other fi rst responders
asked if he needed anything
else.
“ Ye a h ,”
Morgan
responded, “better footing.”
She said Azra was skit-
tish and backed away as
Hoeft tried to put the loop
of the catch pole around her
neck, but she could see her
husband and Hoeft called
her name. Azra inched close
enough for Hoeft to gently
catch her with the pole.
After securing the dog to
the pole and an additional
rope, according to the press
release, rescuers pulled Azra
approximately 30 feet uphill.
Morgan said when Azra
saw her husband, she came
running.
Getting back to
normal
ODOT received the report
of a dog on a cliff starting
earlier this month from
Bellingham, Washington,
with stops across Washing-
ton, Oregon and Idaho. The
inspiration for the totem’s
journey comes from the story
of Tahlequah, the southern
resident orca, whose “tour
of grief” captivated global
audiences in 2018 when she
carried her deceased baby
calf 1,000 miles across 17
days.
And the evening featured
“Whale People: Protectors of
the Sea,” an immersive video
presentation on the plight of
Northwest salmon and orcas.
Connor said Pendleton and
Eugene were the only two
stops on the totem’s jour-
ney to also have the “Whale
People” exhibit, which began
with an innovation and
addresses from the Jameses
and offi cials with the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
The event was in the
works for a while, Brigham
told the crowd of 25 or
so, and explained how
tribal people view life as
connected. Taking care of
the environment and natural
resources, she said, ensures
our survival.
Cor Sams, member of the
CTUIR Board of Trustees
and chair of the tribes’ fi sh
and wildlife committee, told
the audience about the tribes’
2022 GMC Terrain
$26,170
$40,330
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a blessing in disguise that
she couldn’t get home,”
Morgan said.
Once Azra was home,
she ate, drank and slept for
about two days, Morgan
said, and suffered some
scrapes and cuts. She also
was “pretty traumatized”
from the experience.
Morgan said Azra hid
out in her igloo, barked
out of fear at cars pass-
ing by and was a “little
more velcroed to me” than
usual. By May 15, though,
she started showing signs
of getting back to normal
and playing with the other
dogs.
Pets become our family,
Morgan said, and thanks to
the help of a lot of people, a
member of her family made
it back home.
“The com munit y
thing in particular, I’m
really pleased about that,”
Morgan said. “That’s really
awesome to me.”
A nd now, Morga n
added, she has the medical
OK to again take her dogs
for morning walks.
Continued from Page A1
2022 Chevrolet Trax
1740 Washington Baker City
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May 10, two days before
the rescue. According to the
press release, one state trans-
portation worker reported
seeing a coyote along the
road and staring up at the
cliff , but workers didn’t see
the dog at that time.
“So she was on the
ledge for at least two days,”
Morgan said.
The ledge and cliff,
however, may have helped
protect Azra because it
prevented her from cross-
ing the busy freeway.
“I really think that was
Totem:
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Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation/Contributed Photo
First responders pose Thursday, May 12, 2022, with Azra following her rescue from a cliff
overlooking Interstate 84 on Cabbage Hill about 9 miles east of Pendleton.
Phil Wright/East Oregonian
Lummi elder and master carver Doug James and wife Siam’elwit address the audience
Saturday evening, May 14, 2022, during the ceremonial opening of “Whale People: Pro-
tectors of the Sea” outside Tamastslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton.
long connection to salmon.
“In our creation story the
salmon gave up its heart so
we can live,” she said, and in
turn, the people would care
for the salmon. Policymak-
ers, then, she said, have the
duty to speak on behalf of the
salmon.
But breaching the Snake
River dams carries conse-
quences for irrigators and the
power grid, she said, and the
goal of removing those dams
is to continue to meet all the
needs the dams now provide.
Teegan Herrera, chair
of the CTUIR Junior Youth
Leadership Council, was
direct in his assessment:
“Salmon extinction is not an
option. Not for us and not for
the orca.”
Lummi elder Doug
James at the mic said Tahle-
quah was sending a message
about what is happening to
the environment.
“If one species dies it
aff ects everything,” he said.
“There’s a chain reaction.”
He said it was up to people
now to preserve the world
for the next generation and
save “our relative, salmon.”
The staple of tribal people
throughout the Columbia
River Basin, Doug James
said salmon are like the
canary in the mine shaft, and
like Tahlequah, the salmon
are trying to tell us some-
thing as well.
Doug James’ wife,
Siam’elwit, also addressed
the audience. She said rivers
across the Unites States are
drying up, furthering the
loss of salmon. Indigenous
people have the right to speak
up, she said, and to work for
unity to restore what has
been lost.
Jewel James during the
ceremony said environmen-
tal degradation is nothing
new. Tribes along the Snake
River during the Oregon
Trail pointed out the waste
the pioneers left in their
wake, he said, and Indige-
nous people have been bear-
ing the brunt of that since.
“ Na me t he social
economic ill,” he said, “and
it’s always worse in Indian
Country.”
And now, he said, it’s
about calling other groups to
stand up behind tribes as they
push for dam removal on the
Snake River.