SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2020
Baker City, Oregon
4A
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news@bakercityherald.com
EDITORIAL
Slowing
a vaccine?
Imagine you were deprived easy access to a COVID-19
vaccine simply because you lived on the west bank of
the Snake River rather than the east, in Oregon rather
than in Idaho.
This disturbing possibility is not farfetched.
Offi cials from Oregon, along with at least fi ve other
states and the District of Columbia, have said they will
conduct separate reviews of any coronavirus vaccine the
federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) autho-
rizes.
This is not only unnecessary, but it could stymie the
states’ efforts to make signifi cant progress in curbing
the pandemic by distributing a vaccine.
Although the Oregon Health Authority didn’t men-
tion the Trump administration in a statement about its
plan for a separate review, offi cials in other states have
cited concerns about the president interfering in the
vaccine approval process as justifi cation.
But medical experts say this is misguided.
“States should stay out of the vaccine review busi-
ness,” said Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and
director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research
and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Trump has quarreled with federal medical offi cials,
certainly. But his blustering about the imminent avail-
ability of a COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t warrant states’
overreactions. The state reviews not only could delay
distribution of the vaccine, but they almost certainly
would infl ame skepticism — unfounded skepticism —
about the vaccine’s safety.
In reality, the FDA seems immune to the administra-
tion’s pressure. Earlier this week the agency announced
new safety standards for vaccine makers, in defi ance of
White House efforts. This likely will prevent any vac-
cine from being approved before the election on Nov. 3.
State offi cials accuse the president of politicizing a
medical matter. But if they interfere with this most im-
portant inoculation campaign in decades, they, not the
Trump administration, will be responsible for endan-
gering people for no good reason.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
Your views
America is in the midst of a
great spiritual battle
I am not going to write a long let-
ter, just a few statements that in my
opinion must be made at this time of
trouble.
Two subjects. First, we have two
parties that can’t work together for
the good of the country. There is a
saying that a house divided against
itself will fall. Next, if you are a truly
born-again, spirit-fi lled believer and do
not understand that we are in the most
dangerous spiritual war in history, let
me remind you of a few things. Sickness
(virus) does not come from God! You
should know where it came from. You
should also know what defeats it. You
should know this evil spirit also dwells
in people. Can you come up with a
better explanation? When people want
to throw away their God-given free-
doms there’s something leading them,
especially when they don’t care if they
Letters to the editor
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public interest. Customer complaints
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printed.
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have to take yours to get what they
want. Riots, not demonstrations. People
in power lie to get more power.
Like I stated above, this country is in
the most spiritual battle for its life and
freedom. We cannot let it lose! Please do
not give up the freedoms of this great
country for a few poison handouts.
Richard Fox
Baker City
Beth Spell would look out for
families in District 60
Beth E. Spell is the Democrat and
Working Families Party candidate for
Oregon State Representative, District
60. I have known her for more than 25
years. Beth is a retired teacher and was
a working mom.
She personally understands the
challenges that families and workers
face, especially in rural Oregon, when it
comes to accessing affordable child care,
affordable health care and living wages.
15 days.
• The writer must sign the letter and
include an address and phone number
(for verifi cation only). Letters that do
not include this information cannot be
published.
She has been endorsed by organizations
that interviewed her and came to the
same conclusion as I have, she is the
best candidate for families and working
folks in this district. Those organiza-
tions are: OEA (Oregon Education
Association), OSEA AFT Local 6732
(Oregon School Employees Association),
The Mother PAC, (a group dedicated to
building power for mamas and caregiv-
ers across Oregon), WINPAC (Women’s
Investment Network Political Action
Committee) and UFCW Local 55 (Unit-
ed Food and Commercial Workers).
She has also been endorsed by Sena-
tors Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, and
the Democratic Central Committees
of Grant, Baker, Harney, Malheur and
Lake counties.
You can endorse her too, by voting for
Beth E. Spell and returning your ballot
as early as you can.
Nancy Nickel
John Day
• Letters will be edited for brevity,
grammar, taste and legal reasons.
Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald,
P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814
Email: news@bakercityherald.com
Stuck with a faucet that’s become a fountain
As the water gushed from the
faucet near my front porch I had
to pause for a moment, as sodden
and helpless as a kitten stuck in a
fl ooding stream, and simply admire
what my pipes are capable of.
I mean the top people at the Bel-
lagio would have been envious had
they been standing beside me —
and also dripping beside me — on
this particular evening.
I don’t know whether real estate
types consider strong water pres-
sure a selling point.
But let’s just say I’m ready to
fi ght fi res.
In skyscrapers.
Also, as any “Seinfeld” fan knows,
low water pressure can leave you
looking like you did in that third-
grade class photo that epitomizes
the dreaded hairstyle known as the
bowl cut.
(Although you might well have
had a more appealing coiffure than
I had at that age.)
I have on occasion thought of
adding to my property what those
aforementioned Realtors call a
“water feature.” A pond perhaps,
fed by a little waterfall powered by
an electric pump.
Only I expected that I would be
able to turn off this feature pretty
much whenever I wanted to.
Nor do I believe this is an unrea-
sonable expectation. We generally
demand nothing less from all our
spigots than the ability to summon
water, and curb its fl ow, at a whim.
But my faucet, which suddenly
and quite distressingly turned into
a fountain, utterly defi ed my fum-
blings with tools ranging from my
index fi nger to a crescent wrench
JAYSON
JACOBY
that’s heavy enough to drive roof
nails.
All I had set out to do was wash
the car on a mild late summer
evening. Like most other frequently
stationary objects the car had,
during the early days of September,
acquired a patina of dust mixed
with ash from distant wildfi res.
(Unfortunately I don’t own a
garage. Or rent one.)
This particular faucet has a
brass splitter connected to it, one
outlet attached to a hose and
the other to the clever irrigation
system my wife, Lisa, installed a
couple years ago.
Because the system is controlled
by a timer, we generally leave the
faucet on slightly. Very slightly, ac-
tually, given that prodigious water
pressure.
I intended to turn the faucet off
completely before switching the
fl ow from the irrigation system to
the hose. I had some vague idea
that this would reduce the force
of the water, perhaps preserving a
valve or a gasket or something.
(My ideas about plumbing derive
more from fantasy than from phys-
ics.)
But as I turned the handle clock-
wise, rather than stop, as it is sup-
posed to, it merely slowed briefl y.
This interval was just long enough
to convince me that everything was
in order, and so I instinctively ap-
plied a tad more force, the way you
do to fi rmly shut off a faucet.
Except then, instead of hit-
ting the strong resistance I was
expecting, the handle suddenly
spun faster, as though someone had
sprayed it with an exceedingly slip-
pery lubricant.
The gurgle of water inside the
faucet became louder.
That’s when the plastic cap on
top of the faucet blew off, rather
like the cork in a champagne bottle
which has been given a brisk pre-
paratory shake.
I stayed pretty dry for a good 10
seconds.
But that’s only because I was
looking down at the faucet and my
face took most of the chilly torrent.
It was quite refreshing, in the way
that jumping into an alpine lake
is refreshing. Or at least the way
I imagine it would be. I’ve never
actually jumped into an alpine lake
because I don’t want my heart to
stop beating.
I backed away from the faucet.
Or, rather, I leaped back, as if a
rattlesnake had sprung from the
spigot instead of cold water from
the Elkhorn Mountains.
I ran inside to get a screwdriver. I
fi gured if I could pull off the faucet
handle I could get at the valve stem
itself and maybe stanch the fl ow.
I tried to come at the faucet from
the side, to turn its fl ank, as it were,
and avoid the liquid bombardment.
But the water was spurting to a
height of maybe 8 feet and spread-
ing as it climbed, creating an artifi -
cial rainstorm that surrounded the
faucet like a halo.
I managed to loosen the screw
holding down the handle, but it
was obvious that the problem was
with the faucet’s innards, not the
handle. I got hold of the valve with
a crescent wrench but it acted as it
had before — a tantalizing moment
of friction and a noticeable drop in
the water fl ow, making me think it
would actually close, then, as I kept
twisting, another sudden surge.
I looked around, by now soaked
and on the verge of panicking, and
saw the plastic cap that had been
blown skyward (I later learned
this is the vacuum cap, and that it
has something, I’m still not quite
sure what, to do with the frost-free
nature of this faucet).
I clapped it back in place. Water
continued to spew from the faucet,
but at least it was no longer shoot-
ing straight up as well as out.
I also grabbed a 5-gallon plastic
bucket and thrust it beneath the
faucet, thinking this would buy me
some time to ponder my next move.
It is truly dismaying how quickly
a 5-gallon bucket can fi ll.
I began to feel like Lucy and
Ethel in that famous episode when
they’re working the conveyor belt
in a chocolate factory.
The bucket overfl owed in maybe
10 seconds. I lugged it over to the
yard and dumped it, mostly on my
own feet.
Water is heavy.
I knew where our water meter is.
But I don’t have the tool to shut off
the valve. And even if I had the tool
I wouldn’t know how to use it, and
probably would end up shutting off
water to the whole neighborhood or
else fl ooding it.
Then I remembered that I might
have a way to get ahold of Dennis
Bachman, who works for the city’s
public works department and prob-
ably could rebuild a water meter in
the dark with a Swiss Army knife
and a piece of duct tape.
I pulled out my cell phone —
only slightly damp, fortunately —
and dialed.
Little more than 5 minutes later
Dennis, who undoubtedly had bet-
ter things to do than splash around
in my front yard, showed up. Less
than a minute after that the water
stopped fl owing. The silence was
blissful.
The next day I summoned a
plumber. When he got there I felt
that sense of relief unique to situ-
ations when an expert arrives to
handle a problem beyond your abil-
ity (and comprehension, come to
that). I’m fairly certain that, given
the choice between having a doctor
to deal with my broken arm and
a plumber to fi x a broken faucet, I
would pick the plumber. The arm
would be more painful, sure. But
with the arm I could at least sit
down and throb. When water is
puddling up around your house’s
foundation the problem, although
lacking in agony, seems more press-
ing just the same.
But my greater debt is to Dennis.
Unlike the plumber, he didn’t
send me a bill.
But he might well have prevent-
ed my front yard from turning into
a wetland.
And I think you’re supposed to
get a permit for that.
Jayson Jacoby is editor
of the Baker City Herald.