LOCAL & STATE
TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021
Judge orders Ontario prison to
enforce mask-wearing policy
By Liliana Frankel
Malheur Enterprise
ONTARIO — A state judge
recently ordered offi cials at
Snake River Correctional
Institution in Ontario to devise
a plan to enforce mask use
at the prison and to deploy
mass testing after fi nding
that the state’s treatment of
two inmates refl ected indif-
ference during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Multnomah Circuit Judge
Amy Baggio issued her fi nd-
ings and orders after two
inmates sued prison offi cials
in Malheur County Circuit
Court. Local state judges
recused themselves from the
case.
“Certain SRCI staff view
mask wearing as an issue of
politics rather than one related
to health and welfare during a
pandemic,” Baggio concluded.
“Mask failures by staff are par-
ticularly troubling considering
the very nature of their jobs:
to oversee a large, congregate
environment.”
Her fi ndings came in civil
cases fi led by inmates Mark
Lawson and Don Skelton, who
claimed they received poor
medical care that put their
lives at risk. They claimed the
care so was bad that it violated
their constitutional rights.
Baggio ordered the Oregon
Department of Corrections to
provide her “documentation
as to how SRCI is enforcing
the masking policy, including
proof of specifi c enforcement”
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian, File
Unannounced COVID-19 safety assessments conducted
in February found that neither staff nor inmates at Snake
River Correctional Institution in Ontario were wearing
face masks correctly.
and “consideration of a plan
to engage in mass COVID-19
testing at SRCI, particularly
rapid testing of staff prior to
entry.”
While she set no deadline,
Baggio said she would conduct
a status check in 30 days.
Court fi lings and the
judge’s orders paint a picture
of a prison where, despite
heightened precautions such
as locking down inmates and
eliminating most program-
ming, the danger of COVID is
taken lightly by some staff and
inmates.
Dr. Garth Gulick, chief
medical offi cer for SRCI,
“testifi ed that he is at war with
COVID-19 misinformation in
SRCI,” the court order said.
“He described how staff are on
the whole very conservative
SCHOOLS
Continued from Page 1A
“On Monday the plan is to go ahead
and bring everybody back,” Witty said.
He said the tactics the district has
followed since last fall will continue,
including requiring students and staff to
wear face masks, frequently wash their
hands and undergo a health check each
morning when they arrive.
“If you’re sick or have any symptoms
or anything, then we would isolate and
send you home,” Witty said.
He credits those protocols with the
district’s relatively few COVID-19 cases,
none of which has required any schools
to close, even temporarily.
“Staff and students continue to follow
all health protocols to keep our commu-
and have doubts about the
virus and the vaccine.”
Referring to inmates as
adults in custody, the order
said that Gulick testifi ed that
“misinformation is totally
ingrained in staff and some
of the AICs. He testifi ed that
many staff believe that mask-
ing is stupid and that the virus
is harmless.”
Jason Bell, assistant super-
intendent at Snake River, said
“that staff at SRCI mostly live
in Idaho where masks are not
required. He explained that it
is diffi cult for staff to under-
stand why masks are required
in one state and not the other.
He stated that very few people
wear masks in Idaho,” the
judge’s order said.
Unannounced COVID-19
safety assessments conducted
nity safe and healthy,” Witty said.
Both district and Baker County
Health Department offi cials have said
that none of the students or staff who
tested positive throughout the pandemic
was infected while at school.
Nine Baker School District students
have tested positive for COVID-19 this
school year, including a Brooklyn third-
grader in early November. The most
recent student case, a middle school stu-
dent, was reported Feb. 5, and there have
been two student cases since Dec. 9.
Since July 2020, a total of 13 Baker
School District employees, including
three substitute teachers, have tested
positive, Witty said.
He said he plans to meet with Health
Department offi cials Wednesday, April
7 to discuss the plan to return middle
in February and documented
in the ruling found that
neither staff nor inmates were
reliably wearing their face
masks correctly, including
indoors, where the Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion says that the danger of
airborne virus transmission is
greater.
“Some staff remark to AICs
that they already had CO-
VID,” read one of the reports.
“Observed AICs and staff pull
down masks to talk.”
Bell testifi ed that inmates
can be disciplined for mask
noncompliance, but recog-
nized that enforcement was
inconsistent. He said enforcing
mask orders also “raised a
security issue because SRCI
did not want to risk the AICs
organizing and resisting SRCI
offi cials.”
He also said inmates feared
reporting employees who
weren’t wearing masks.
Bell testifi ed about a six-
step process to discipline em-
ployees, ranging from a private
conversation to a predismissal
hearing, the ruling said. Bell
testifi ed that only one staff
member had progressed in
discipline to the sixth step for
mask violations.
While Gulick had asserted
in testimony that “he con-
sidered testing ‘harmful’ and
stated that it ‘can be the en-
emy,’” Baggio found that there
was no law preventing SRCI
from conducting mass testing
of its inmates and employees.
school and high school students to full
in-person learning, in light of the recent
increase in case rates in the county.
During the Oregon Health Author-
ity’s most recent two-week measuring
period, which ended April 3, the county
had 79 new cases, compared with 24
during the previous two-week period.
The most recent period included 13
new cases on Friday, April 2, the high-
est one-day total since 14 cases on Jan.
12.
The county reported one case on Sat-
urday, April 3 and zero cases on Sunday.
“We’ve had a strong relationship be-
tween Baker School District and Baker
County Health Department and we
just want to make sure that they’re in
agreement, that they think it’s still rea-
sonable to move forward,” Witty said.
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
BTI offers free class
for women in heavy
equipment operation
Baker Technical Institute has announced a new
partnership aimed at increasing the number of under-
represented people in trades programs in Central and
Eastern Oregon.
BTI will join with the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation (ODOT) and the Bureau of Labor and In-
dustry (BOLI) to offer a Heavy Highway Construction
Pre-Apprentice program, according to a press release
announcing the new program.
“ODOT and BOLI contracted with BTI to design a
state-approved, hands-on program and provided fund-
ing for the fi rst group of participants, including up to 10
women, free of charge,” the press release stated.
The fi rst training, specifi cally for women interested in
gaining employable skills and certifi cations leading to
careers in heavy construction, will begin in June.
Future courses will be for men and women age 18
and older.
The pre-apprenticeship program includes training in
heavy equipment operation, concrete masonry, weld-
ing, blueprint reading, applied construction math and
certifi cations in forklift operation, traffi c control/fl agger,
and basic safety and health information required by the
Oregon Safety and Health Administration in a 10-hour
training for entry-level workers in construction and
general industry.
The introductory heavy highway construction course
also includes employment readiness training, includ-
ing how to write a cover letter, prepare a resume and
respond to interview questions, the release stated.
The fi rst session is scheduled Monday through Fri-
day, June 7-25 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Baker Technical
Institute, 2500 E St. Class size is limited. More informa-
tion is available by calling 541-524-2651 or by visiting
www.bakerti.org.
L OCAL B RIEFING
Cascade Natural Gas offering debt relief
program for residential customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission on March 25
approved a debt relief program for residential custom-
ers of Cascade Natural Gas, including those in Baker
City, who have fi nancial hardships and past-due bal-
ances.
The company’s Oregon customers can call 1-888-522-
1130 for more information, or to enroll in the program.
Cascade Natural Gas’ “Big Heart Grant Program” has
two options:
• Automatic Hardship Grant. This is designed for
customers with a history of receiving low-income bill
pay assistance. Qualifi ed customers will automatically
receive a one-time grant equal to the amount of their
total past due balance up to $1,500.
• Financial Hardship Grant. This is designed for
customers who have not received energy assistance in
the past 24 months but are experiencing fi nancial hard-
ship. Cascade Natural Gas will determine the qualifi ed
customer’s benefi t amount based on household size,
income, and account balance. The grant, not to exceed
$1,500, will be applied to the customer’s past due bal-
ance.
Customers who receive one of these grants will still
be eligible for other types of fi nancial assistance from
Cascade Natural Gas or other sources.
La Grande students to return to in-person classes April 12
By Phil Wright
The (La Grande) Observer
LA GRANDE — Students in the
La Grande School District are head-
ing back to in-person learning every
day of the week.
Days will remain short through
the school year, however, and stu-
dents enrolled at La Grande Virtual
Learning Academy can continue
with online learning.
School district Superintendent
George Mendoza announced in a
virtual town hall meeting Thursday
night, April 1, the move back to
more regular classes starts Monday,
April 12.
“K-12 is all in, we’re going, every
day, for the rest of the school year,”
he said.
That also means there is no
school Friday, April 9. Mendoza
explained staff need the time to pre-
pare for the infl ux of students and
to organize lesson plans, as well as
to reconfi gure classrooms and bring
in furniture. Also, he said, the school
needs to deal with the logistics of
providing meals to more students.
Getting to this point, Mendoza
said, started March 19 when Gov.
Kate Brown announced an update
to the Ready Schools, Safe Learners
guidance that lowered the physi-
cal distancing rule for students in
schools from 6 feet to 3 feet and re-
stopping the spread of the virus.
“If they ever tell me that they
think we have to shut down, I don’t
usually tell them they’re wrong and
— George Mendoza, superintendent,
that I’m not going to do that,” he
La Grande School District
said. “I usually just go forward with
their suggestions so we can reduce
moved the 35 square feet per person students, 480 people in La Grande
the risk and reduce the spread of
requirement for counties that meet schools have had to isolate or quar- COVID.”
Oregon’s COVID-19 moderate risk antine for at least 10 days.
But data from the survey and
levels. Mendoza said this was not a
“I just want you to know that it’s those consultations, Mendoza said,
mandate from the state to increase great we have students in school,
delivered the message to move for-
the number of students in schools,
but there’s risk involved,” he said.
ward with having students return
but instead will now be a local deci- “There’s work we have to do to keep to regular school days.
sion.
us safe, and that’s the reality, that’s
“We’re defi nitely excited about
“What that did for our school dis- the truth.”
that,” he said, and asked pediatri-
trict is it increased the opportunity
Mendoza said he and the school
cian Dr. Zachary Spoehr-Labutta
or propensity for us to have stu-
board have been committed to
for his take on La Grande students
dents back, every day, all in, K-12,” returning all students to full-time,
returning to classes.
he said.
in-person learning as soon as it
“Based on the currently available
Union County also remains in
was safe to do so. When the state
data, I support this measure whole-
the moderate risk level, which gives updated Ready Schools, Safe Learn- heartedly,” the doctor said.
the La Grande School District a
ers guidance, the La Grande School
He explained he receives emails
green light to allow its students in
District dispersed a survey asking
weekly from school districts nation-
its buildings at the same time. But students and families if they would wide regarding how implementation
Mendoza also showed how CO-
desire a full return. He said the
of key COVID-19 safety practices
VID-19 has been affecting students survey results plus consultations
have turned out in their districts.
and staff.
with the Center for Human Devel-
“Not surprisingly, those that
The district has 2,188 students,
opment, Grande Ronde Hospital,
adhered to key practices kept their
Mendoza said during his presenta- Union County Board of Commis-
COVID numbers low, and those that
tion, and since the start of the school sioners and Union County Emer-
did not, their COVID numbers were
year, 20 staff and 26 students have gency Management all support the signifi cantly higher,” he said.
tested positive for COVID-19, and
full return.
He said the understanding of
32 staff and 167 students have
Mendoza also stressed he listens the virus and key safety measures
shown primary symptoms.
to what local public health offi cials make it feasible for Union County
In all, he said, between staff and say about keeping schools safe and to move to having middle and high
“K-12 is all in, we’re going, every day, for the rest of
the school year.”
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school students back on campus
classes every weekday. He also ad-
vised parents to give those students
some concrete advice: Tell them if
they can reach out and touch some-
one in school, they are too close.
Mendoza also said while students
are returning to school, maintain-
ing key safety practices is a prior-
ity. Staff still must maintain 6 feet
of physical distance between one
another and continue to physically
distance from students to the great-
est extent possible, and close contact
rules still apply. He also emphasized
the need for vaccinations, which
could have the most signifi cant
effect on returning to normalcy in
schools.
Scott Carpenter, the school
district’s director of education,
during the virtual town hall
explained that elementary grades
will continue classes 8 a.m to 1 p.m.
each weekday. Middle and high
school students starting April 12
will attend classes 9 a.m. to 1:25
p.m. in two blocks of periods that
alternate, with periods 1-4 one day
and 5-8 the next. Keeping the later
morning start prevents elementary
school students from riding buses at
the same time as middle and high
school students, he said, and lunch
will be “grab and go,” 1:30-2 p.m.,
when the school day ends.
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