TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
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EDITORIAL
Help for
our ailing
theaters
To say it’s been a bad 12 months for movie theater
owners is an understatement akin to noting that it’s
been a good year for the makers of disposable face
masks.
COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have closed or
greatly limited attendance at theaters.
And even if there were no limits on audiences, fi lm
companies have postponed most new releases, so one
of the main attractions of the experience doesn’t exist.
Restaurants have suffered immensely, too — but at
least they have food to serve.
Baker County’s only moviehouse, the historic El-
trym Theater in Baker City, reopened in early March
after being closed for most of the previous year, but
with occupancy limits.
A bill introduced recently in the Oregon Legislature
would help these ailing businesses, and lawmakers
should make it a priority for passage.
House Bill 3376, introduced March 16 by Rep. Rob
Nosse, a Democrat from Portland, would give $8.7
million to the Oregon Business Development Depart-
ment to disburse grants to indoor movie theaters
of up to $50,000 per business, plus $10,000 for each
screen for theaters with more than two screens.
(The Eltrym has three screens.)
Although as introduced the bill would make eligible
all theaters, including large national chains such as
Cinemark and Regal, Nosse said his bill could be
amended to “just focus on theaters that are small and
primarily locally owned.”
Regardless of the details, the $8.7 million price tag
is a pittance compared with the $2.6 billion Oregon
will receive through the American Rescue Plan Act,
the COVID-19 relief package President Joe Biden
signed earlier this month.
Terry McQuisten, who with her husband, Dan,
owns the Eltrym, submitted written comments in
support of House Bill 3376.
Terry McQuisten writes eloquently of the “gaping
debt wound” her business has sustained, and the
unique nature of theaters, which, “unlike a lot of busi-
nesses, have really had no viable option to adapt to
the pandemic and continue operating.”
McQuisten is optimistic, but also realistic.
“We are determined to survive this pandemic,” she
wrote to the Legislature. “It has been a year, though,
and we are now beginning to make payments on
(loans). In effect, we’ve taken out loans to pay loans.
All the while, we’ve been doing our best to adapt to
provide a safe environment for our guests by invest-
ing in air scrubbers for our HVAC and devoting more
staff time to cleaning.”
McQuisten writes that theaters play a role in “keep-
ing communities livable, vibrant and connected.”
That’s especially true in rural areas such as Baker
County, where the Eltrym’s is the only bright mar-
quee still shining.
Losing another business, and the jobs it provides,
would be a blow to Baker City and Baker County.
But the Eltrym is also an entertainment and
cultural fi xture, and the void its absence would create
quite likely would not be fi lled.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
Overcoming vaccine hesitancy
By Doug Badger and
Edmund F. Haislmaier
One-third of Republican respon-
dents told pollsters earlier this month
that they don’t plan to get COVID-19
shots. Another 20% said they haven’t
yet made up their minds.
While public health offi cials have
been worried about vaccine skepticism
among minorities, the poll’s responses
diverged much more by political affi lia-
tion than by race.
To understand why many politically
moderate to conservative Americans
seem disinclined to get vaccinated,
GOP pollster Frank Luntz recently
convened a focus group of “vaccine-hes-
itant Trump voters.” What he heard, as
reported by The Washington Post, was
illuminating.
By the end of the session, all the
participants said they were now more
likely to get immunized.
One participant’s comment crystal-
lized the key lesson from the two-hour
exercise: “We want to be educated, not
indoctrinated.”
What changed their minds had
nothing to do with politics. Partici-
pants said that an appeal from former
President Donald Trump wouldn’t
persuade them to get a shot. Nor did
messages they viewed from various
congressional Republicans. A pro-
vaccine public service announcement
produced by Fox News fell fl at. So did
a PSA featuring former Presidents
Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill
Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Participants found the voice of
government authority similarly
unpersuasive. A pharmacist who
formerly worked at Merck, a company
helping to produce vaccines, said: “I
know their vaccines are good products.
I trust them. What I don’t trust is the
government telling me what I need to
do when they haven’t led us down the
right road.”
So what made these Trump sup-
porters shift their views on vaccines?
Science — offered straight-up and with
a dash of humility.
The unlikely change agent was Dr.
Tom Frieden, who headed the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
during the Obama administration.
Frieden appealed to facts, not his
credentials. He noted that the theory
behind the vaccine was backed by 20
years of research, that tens of thou-
sands of people had participated in
well-controlled clinical trials, and that
the overwhelming share of doctors
have opted for the shots.
He leavened those facts with an
acknowledgment of uncertainty. He
conceded that the vaccine’s potential
long-term risks were unknown. He
pointed out that the virus’s long-term
effects were also uncertain.
“He’s just honest with us and telling
us nothing is 100% here, people,” one
participant noted.
Contrast that with what we’ve heard
from the CDC, which has too often pro-
fessed to know things with certainty,
only to be later proven wrong.
Until March 19, for example, CDC
recommended that students be kept 6
feet apart in classrooms. The agency’s
“science brief” on the subject says that
its “recommendation for 6 feet of physi-
cal distancing is based on historical
studies of other contagious diseases.”
But the CDC brief does not cite a
single classroom study supporting the
6-foot separation. The only classroom-
based study it cites for that standard
examined a 1982 meningitis outbreak
in an elementary school. According
to CDC, that study found that the
“carriage rate was higher for students
in a classroom with chairs spaced less
than 40 inches (3.33 feet) apart” — not
6 feet.
The fi ndings of that study, and
a long list of others, are consistent
with recommendations from the
World Health Organization and the
American Academy of Pediatrics that
schoolchildren maintain a distance of 1
meter (3.28 feet).
CDC has nevertheless complicated
school reopenings by recommending
— until quite recently — that schools
place desks at least 6 feet apart.
As Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the
Brown University School of Public
Health, told The New York Times, “Six
feet doesn’t protect teachers, but it
does keep kids out of school.”
Although millions may uncritically
accept CDC’s recommendations, it’s
no wonder that millions more do not.
It’s not that they are “anti-science,”
it’s that they don’t just blindly ac-
cept whatever they’re being told by
“experts” and government offi cials.
They want to base decisions about
their health on reliable information
honestly presented, understanding
that every option comes with a degree
of uncertainty.
In that sense, vaccine hesitancy
among Republicans doesn’t look all
that different from vaccine hesitancy
among minorities.
“I’ve been thinking the messag-
ing was going to be very different for
communities of color, for Democrats,
for Republicans,” Natalie Davis, a
co-founder of the left-leaning United
States of Care, told The Washington
Post. “But it feels like it comes down
to the basics that are shared across
populations. People want full, accurate
information so they can decide if this
is the right thing for them and their
loved ones.”
It’s a sobering message for many in
the expert class, whose hectoring on
everything from COVID-19 to climate
change rests on asserting their author-
ity and demanding acquiescence. It
turns out, people are more receptive to
education than indoctrination.
accuracy of all statements in letters to
the editor.
• Writers are limited to one letter every
15 days.
• The writer must sign the letter and
include an address and phone number
(for verifi cation only, not for publication).
Letters that do not include this information
cannot be published.
• Letters will be edited for brevity,
grammar, taste and legal reasons.
Doug Badger is a Visiting Fellow at
The Heritage Foundation. Edmund F.
Haislmaier, an expert in health care policy
and markets, is Heritage’s Preston Wells
Senior Research Fellow.
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Mail: To the Editor, Baker City Herald,
P.O. Box 807, Baker City, OR 97814
Email: news@bakercityherald.com
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave., Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1111; to send comments, go
to www.whitehouse.gov.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. offi ce: 313 Hart Senate Offi ce
Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3753;
fax 202-228-3997. Portland offi ce: One World Trade Center, 121
S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386;
fax 503-326-2900. Baker City offi ce, 1705 Main St., Suite 504, 541-
278-1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. offi ce: 221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce
Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202-228-2717.
La Grande offi ce: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-
962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz (2nd District): D.C. offi ce: 2182 Rayburn
Offi ce Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730; fax 202-
225-5774. La Grande offi ce: 1211 Washington Ave., La Grande, OR
97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.treasurer@
ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100, Salem OR 97301-
3896; 503-378-4000.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum: Justice
Building, Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative documents and information
are available online at www.leg.state.or.us.
State Sen. Lynn Findley (R-Ontario): Salem offi ce: 900
Court St. N.E., S-403, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1730. Email: Sen.
LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Mark Owens (R-Crane): Salem offi ce: 900 Court
St. N.E., H-475, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986-1460. Email: Rep.
MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov
Baker City Hall: 1655 First Street, P.O. Box 650, Baker City,
OR 97814; 541-523-6541; fax 541-524-2049. City Council meets
the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers.
Councilors Lynette Perry, Jason Spriet, Kerry McQuisten, Shane
Alderson, Joanna Dixon, Heather Sells and Johnny Waggoner Sr.
Baker City administration: 541-523-6541. Jonathan Cannon,
city manager; Ray Duman, police chief; Sean Lee, fi re chief; Michelle
Owen, public works director.
Baker County Commission: Baker County Courthouse 1995
3rd St., Baker City, OR 97814; 541-523-8200. Meets the fi rst and
third Wednesdays at 9 a.m.; Bill Harvey (chair), Mark Bennett,
Bruce Nichols.
Baker County departments: 541-523-8200. Travis Ash,
sheriff; Noodle Perkins, roadmaster; Greg Baxter, district attorney;
Alice Durfl inger, county treasurer; Stefanie Kirby, county clerk; Kerry
Savage, county assessor.
Baker School District: 2090 4th Street, Baker City, OR
97814; 541-524-2260; fax 541-524-2564. Superintendent: Mark
Witty. Board meets the third Thursday of the month at 6 p.m.
Council Chambers, Baker City Hall,1655 First St.; Andrew Bryan,
Kevin Cassidy, Chris Hawkins, Katie Lamb and Julie Huntington.