LOCAL & STATE
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
Analysis shows rapid rise in rate of Baker Charter
youths vaping nicotine, marijuana Schools honored
■ Data from the Oregon Health Authority show about 25% of Oregon 11th-graders
reported vaping a nicotine product, and youth vaping has risen almost 80% in 2 years
East Oregonian
PORTLAND — While over-
all use of marijuana among
Oregon youth has remained
fl at, the primary way they’re
using the substance — vaping
— has dramatically increased,
according to an Oregon
Health Authority analysis.
The fi ndings, which were
released on Thursday, adds
to evidence that vaping is
subjecting many more youth
to addiction. New data shows
one in four Oregon 11th-
graders reporting vaping a
nicotine product, with youth
use of e-cigarettes, such as
Juul, increasing nearly 80%
between 2017 and 2019. Mari-
juana use changed dramati-
cally as well, according to the
data, with youth shifting from
smoking marijuana to vaping.
Youth vaping of marijuana
increased 295% — from 11%
to 44% among 11th-graders
using marijuana between
2017 and 2019 — even as
11th-grade overall mari-
juana use stayed constant at
20%.
The data comes from Or-
egon Healthy Teens, a survey
of middle- and high-school
students that OHA adminis-
ters every two years.
“This is alarming,” said Dr.
Dean Sidelinger, health of-
fi cer and state epidemiologist
for the OHA Public Health
Division. “It confi rms what
we’ve long known — vaping
is putting a new generation
Tony Dejak / Associated Press
Findings from the Oregon Health Authority adds to evidence that vaping is subjecting
many more youth to addiction. New data show one in four Oregon 11th-graders re-
ported vaping a nicotine product, with youth use of e-cigarettes, such as Juul, increas-
ing nearly 80% between 2017 and 2019.
at risk for addiction. These
products can get young
people started on using nico-
tine and marijuana, and it is
easy to get hooked.”
OHT and the Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance Sys-
tem, a survey the Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion annually administers in
partnership with states, both
found that nicotine vaping
products are most popular
among children and young
adults: 23% of 11th-grade
students and 13% of young
adults, ages 18 to 24, use
nicotine e-cigarettes versus
just 3% of adults age 25 and
older.
About half of Oregon high
school students who cur-
rently use e-cigarettes report
they never smoked conven-
tional cigarettes — not even
one time.
In Oregon, youth vaping
overlaps with use of conven-
tional tobacco and fl avored
tobacco products, the OHT
analysis showed. More
than half of Oregon eighth-
and 11th-graders who use
tobacco use fl avored tobacco.
Roughly half of all youth who
currently use conventional
tobacco products started with
vape products. Nearly two in
fi ve Oregon 11th-grade vape
users also currently smoke
conventional cigarettes.
A February 2019 study in
the journal JAMA Network
Open, one of the fi rst studies
to track youth e-cigarette
users over time, found that
young people who vape
e-cigarettes are nearly three
times as likely to start smok-
ing cigarettes as peers who
don’t vape.
SUPPORTERS WANT TO GIVE VOTERS CHANCE TO REPEAL LAW ALLOWING UNDOCUMENTED
IMMIGRANTS TO GET A DRIVER’S LICENSE
Campaign to repeal new state
driver’s license law hits a snag
By Claire Withycombe
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — An attempt to
repeal a new state law allow-
ing undocumented immi-
grants to get Oregon driver’s
licenses has hit a snag.
Oregon Secretary of State
Bev Clarno on Tuesday halt-
ed a proposed ballot initiative
to walk back House Bill 2015,
saying it doesn’t comply with
requirements stated in the
Oregon Constitution.
The bill, passed earlier
this year, allows Oregonians
to present forms of ID that
don’t prove a person’s legal
immigration status in order
to get a driver’s license. The
licenses will not be available
until Jan. 1, 2021.
Undocumented immigrants
— or others without docu-
ments proving U.S. citizen-
ship or that they are in the
country legally — have been
barred from getting driver’s
licenses in Oregon since 2007.
Supporters of the petition
want to prevent people who
are here illegally from getting
state driver’s licenses.
The campaign to repeal
the law, which calls itself
“Stop Illegal Drivers,” is led
by Mark Callahan, a frequent
candidate for political offi ce in
Oregon.
Callahan, reached for
comment Tuesday, said that
the campaign was “defi nitely
going to fi ght” the ruling, and
pointed to several previous
cases that he believes support
his interpretation that the
petition passes muster.
The Secretary of State’s
Offi ce believes the constitu-
tion requires the petitioners
to present the changes the
petition would make to state
statutes. Instead, the ballot
title just says that a “Yes” vote
on the petition “ ‘Demands’
repeal” of the bill.
In a post on the “Stop
Illegal Drivers” website, the
campaign said the reason
Elections Director Steve
Trout gave — the constitu-
tional requirement cited by
Clarno — was “not valid.”
The campaign also posted
on the website a message
from Callahan addressed
to Trout. Callahan called
the reason for the rejection
“fl awed in logic and reason-
ing.” He maintained that the
petition was not trying to
pass a new law.
“How can we submit the
full text of a law that we are
NOT ‘Proposing?’” Callahan
wrote. “It doesn’t make any
sense. If we are NOT ‘Propos-
ing’ a law, there is no full text
of a law to submit.”
Oregon’s constitution
includes several ways that
Oregonians can have a direct
say on a policy at the ballot
box.
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Lawmakers can refer a
measure to the ballot; citizens
can ask for a referendum on a
particular law; or citizens can
fi le an initiative petition to
change state laws.
A referendum, which
simply asks voters to reject
or keep a law state legislators
pass, differs from an initiative
petition.
In the case of House Bill
2015, petitioners could not
submit a referendum. That’s
because of a few words in the
bill that amount to an “emer-
gency clause.”
That clause says the
bill takes effect as soon as
lawmakers pass it. The state
constitution doesn’t allow
bills that go into effect that
soon to get referred.
But citizens can fi le an
initiative petition in that case.
That’s what the backers of
Initiative Petition 43 did.
Since they fi led an initia-
tive petition, the Secretary of
State’s Offi ce says, petitioners
were supposed to present an
amended form of the law for
voters’ consideration, showing
exactly how the law would
be changed if the provisions
of House Bill 2015 were
repealed.
But the petition they
submitted just “demanded”
repeal of the law.
House Bill 2015 affected
many parts of state law, said
Deputy Secretary of State
Rich Vial.
“We feel like you need to
put the sections that were
originally affected by the
legislation in to the petition
and show what you would
propose to take back out of
the law or change it back to
what it was before,” Vial said.
“The law, obviously, was com-
plicated enough that there
was a number of things in the
statute that were added or
changed.”
Moving forward, the
petitioners could rewrite the
petition and re-gather the
sponsorship signatures in
order to get another ballot
title drafted, at which point
the Secretary of State’s Offi ce
would review both again for
constitutionality, Vial said.
But in cases like this, if pe-
titioners don’t want to rewrite
the measure, sometimes they
will bring a lawsuit.
The public is invited
to join us for a
Retirement Party
for Judge
Gregory L. Baxter
October 30th, 2019 • 3 PM - 5 PM
Baker County Circuit Court
Baker County Courthouse
1995 3rd Street, Second Floor
Baker City
Baker Charter Schools has been named No. 1 among
the top 100 nonprofi t organizations to work for in
Oregon.
The honor was presented by the Port-
land Business Journal during an awards
banquet Oct. 3 at the Sentinel Hotel in
Portland.
“It’s based on an employee survey. It’s
pretty cool,” Daniel Huld, Baker Charter
Huld
Schools superintendent, stated in a press
release.
Huld said Shawn Farrens, Portland region principal,
learned about the “Best Places to Work” contest and
distributed the survey to staff.
Baker Charter Schools is in the category of large
nonprofi ts with more than 50 employees. Although
based in Baker City, the online school has eight offi ces
in Oregon and 150 employees.
Roland Hobson is the organization’s
Eastern Region principal with an offi ce at
the former North Baker School build-
ing. Student and fi nancial records also
are housed at the building, which is the
statewide administrative offi ce for the
Hobson
charter schools. All special education staff
is housed at the Baker City offi ce as well.
They uses online communication to provide statewide
services to the 280 students on individualized educa-
tion plans, Huld said.
“The 100 Best was a great award,” Huld said Thurs-
day in a telephone interview. “It was really nice to be
honored in that way, especially from the employees.
That was really nice.”
He noted that there are more than 21,300 nonprofi ts
in Oregon.
In addition to a trophy, the Baker Charter Schools’
honor is included in the October 2019 Oregon Business
Journal’s listing of 100 Best Nonprofi ts to Work For in
Oregon, the honor is listed on the magazine’s website
and Facebook page.
“We were shocked and surprised and pleased,” Huld
said as the award was announced. “It was a great
night.”
Baker Charter Schools has a fi ve-person school
board. Directors are Charlene Chase, chair; Rob Gaslin,
vice chair, secretary-treasurer; Heidi Dalton, Chris
Barnes and Elizabeth Thorton.
The organization offers two programs for students:
Baker Web Academy, which serves students in kinder-
garten through Grade 12; and Baker Early College.
Each has its own charter. In the Early College pro-
gram, students take 12 credits at a community college
while also earning high school credits. If a student
starts Early College as a high school sophomore, he
or she can earn an associate degree along with a high
school diploma.
Although Baker Charter Schools use an online
platform, teachers are assigned 25 to 30 students they
meet in person every two weeks and meet with online
several times per week. Teachers also grade classes in
their content areas.
Baker Charter Schools has a partnership with Baker
School District, which receives a portion of funds for
every enrolled student. Of the 2,500 students enrolled
throughout Oregon, 50 to 60 live in Baker County.
“They have been great partners for Baker School Dis-
trict and afford local students more options than would
be normal for a school district our size,” Baker School
District Superintendent Mark Witty stated in the press
release.
Huld expressed his appreciation for the collaboration
between the Baker School District and Baker Charter
Schools.
“They’re very supportive of what we’re doing,” Huld
said. “Mark has been great to work with.”
ALARM
and we will get this issue
resolved,” Witty stated
Continued from Page 1A
in a press release. “We
Once Alpine Alarms
appreciate the prompt
identifi ed the fob respon- response by our local
sible for activating the
emergency teams, and will
alarm, it was sent off for
take necessary measures
further examination to de- to deter this from happen-
termine what caused the ing again.”
malfunction, Witty said.
Past accidental activa-
“It was a technical error tion of the fobs was cor-
with one of the fobs,” he
rected by encasing them
said. “We’re hoping they
in a heavy compact case
can tell us what happened and changing the distribu-
and why.”
tion of the alarms.
Once the problem was
More information about
identifi ed, the alarm sys- the false alarm is avail-
tem was reactivated.
able by calling the School
“The safety of our stu-
District offi ce at 541-524-
dents is our top priority,
2260.
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