LOCAL & STATE
BAKER CITY HERALD • SATuRDAY, JunE 4, 2022 A3
BMCC Board postpones
decision on faculty layoffs
BY JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege Board of Education at its
meeting Wednesday, June 1,
postponed action on a 2022-
23 budget proposing fac-
ulty layoffs.
The board’s reading of state
law requiring seven day public
notice was responsible for the
delay, BMCC President Mark
Browning explained.
The board plans to recon-
vene in a special meeting June
6 to consider approval of the
budget. The budget committee
agreed to the BMCC Faculty
Association’s request to resume
talks on teacher layoffs June 3.
“I don’t ever want to close
that door,” Browning said. “We
have a plan, but of course (the
administration) is willing to
listen. The (BMFA) came up
with some good ideas before
talks broke down. I give them
credit for that.”
Before the final decision to
delay the budget vote, the fac-
ulty union went ahead with its
rally outside Pioneer Hall. The
demonstration of support for
teachers attracted about 120
attendees, according to new
BMFA President Sascha McK-
eon. She has been on the union
executive team for two years
and a biology instructor for 10.
“The other faculty and I are
grateful for the extraordinary
support we have had from our
students, alumni and the com-
munity at large,” she read in a
statement to the board. “As of
this afternoon, our petition to
save BMCC faculty has gar-
nered over 1,900 signatures
between our Google sheet and
Change.org.”
The event featured sign-car-
rying, blue and yellow
T-shirted union supporters,
a band of instructors play-
ing classic rock, and stacks of
pizza boxes and water bottles.
Public speakers’ comments be-
gan at 5 p.m.
The first speakers were Roy
Barron, Hermiston city coun-
cilor and educator, and En-
rique Farrera of Clackamas,
vice president of the Oregon
Essay
Continued from Page A1
But the basic require-
ments are the same: good
spelling, sentence struc-
ture, and documented
research.
“It’s a great opportunity
for our kids to deep dive
into American history
and do quality research,”
Wilde said. “We’re so
thankful for your contest.”
DAR registrar Lynne
Zwanziger told Wirth that
her essay will be go into
the DAR history book.
“This will go down in
history,” she told Wirth.
The American History
Essay Contest is open to
grades 5-8. One winner
is selected by the local
chapter to advance to the
state level.
“There’s a lot of work
to doing these essays,”
said DAR member Joan
Smith. “To win state, you
have to have an extra
special essay.”
Ramp
Continued from Page A1
Although the work will re-
sult in temporary sidewalk
closures and detours, from the
vantage point of a wheelchair
or a walker, the improvements
at nearly 50 intersections
in the city, to comply with
Americans with Disabilities
standards, will make the city
easier to navigate.
In some places, textured
yellow pads, with soft bumps
called “truncated domes,” will
be installed. These are highly
visible for people with sight
impairments, and secondarily
they alert drivers who might
confuse the ramp as a vehi-
cle entrance. The texture also
alerts people who are blind that
they’ve reached safe passage.
The ramps will have a gentle
slope of 8.3 percent.
Moles said crews are work-
ing on Campbell Street —
where a new section of side-
walk will be built on the north
side of the street near Interstate
84 — and Dewey Avenue.
Specific schedules are diffi-
Hall, but found them locked.
McKeon produced a key, and
the crowd marched into the
hallway outside the confer-
ence room. Part-time philoso-
phy teacher Nicholas Nash led
the way.
Chair Don Rice of Board-
man, Vice Chair Jane Hill
of Pendleton, Kim Puzey of
Hermiston and Chris Brown
of Heppner attended in per-
son. Bill Markgraf of Baker,
Kent Madison of Echo and
Abe Currin of Milton-Freewa-
ter attended remotely.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Sign-carrying faculty sup-
About 100 Blue Mountain Community College faculty, students and
porters opposed to layoffs
community members gather Wednesday, June 1, 2022, on the Pendle- marched into the room. Rice
ton campus to protest proposed budget cuts before a meeting of the allowed 30 minutes for pub-
lic comments of a maximum
BMCC Board of Education.
three minutes each. About 15
community members, present
and past BMCC faculty and
students spoke. Alan Feves of
Pendleton said he supported
the faculty because the com-
munity needs arts and music.
Dale Baker said he graduated
45 years ago but his automo-
tive and auto body degrees are
no longer available.
Then the board turned to its
agenda.
“We recognize that the
board has a fiduciary respon-
sibility to pass a balanced
budget,” McKeon said as fac-
ulty association president,
“but propose you have an
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian equally great responsibility
About 100 Blue Mountain Community College faculty, students and
to advocate for the commu-
nity’s needs. Well, they are
community members gather Wednesday, June 1, 2022, on the Pend-
leton campus to protest the college administration’s budget proposal (here), speaking loud and
clear — discretionary cuts to
that would cut several teaching positions.
faculty and student scholar-
Education Association, the
“Something is hinky here,”
ships should come from other
union that represents the fac-
Early wrapped up. He urged
line items.”
ulty association. Paul Keefer,
an outside audit of at least the
Two agenda items took up
Boardman mayor, 1987 BMCC past five years, and to “send
most of the meeting’s time.
grad and sixth grade teacher,
the architects of this outrage
Dean Tammy Krawczyk re-
next addressed attendees, fol-
packing.”
ported on early college credit
lowed by Hermiston educa-
McKeon thanked all who
classes for high school stu-
tor Tammy Fisher. Umatilla
spoke and attended the rally.
dents. Executive Vice Presi-
teacher Chris Early, president
“A budget says a lot,” she
dent John Fields reported on
of Columbia River UniServ,
added. “Students don’t come
accreditation and enrollment.
which supports OEA locals in for a snazzy website or pretty
Chair Rice and President
the region, rounded out the list. campus. They come for good
Browning concluded the
Speakers sounded themes of faculty. Diversity of courses
meeting by explaining the
unity and solidarity, and em-
and quality of instruction will postponement of a budget ap-
phasized the value of full time get them where they want to go proval vote. Board member
teachers to students and the
in life.”
Brown shook hands with and
community. Two urged admin-
Faculty supporters formed thanked the remaining facul-
istrators to “figure it out.”
outside the doors of Pioneer
ty-supporting guests.
The prize-winning essay
“The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”
By Bailee Wirth
It all started July 28, 1914, when my brother An-
drew went to fight in World War I in France. My
brother was a great person and I would have done
anything for him. He wasn’t just my brother, he was
my best friend. When he went to war I just hoped I
would see him again, but while he was serving, he dis-
appeared and no one ever saw him again. My family
and I were devastated. I didn’t just lose my brother, I
lost my best friend.
On November 11, 1921, my family and I were
invited to see The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,
which was a couple years after my brother disap-
peared. A couple weeks later we went and visited
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. My family and I
were grateful that we could go to this very special
event. When my family and I went to the ceremony
we looked at the wonderful tomb, it was the most
beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was huge and from
as far away as I was, I could still see that it was made
out of marble. I went up to the guards and asked,
“How much does The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
weigh?” They said, “The base of The Tomb weighs
over 158 Tons.” My family and I were so surprised. We
wondered how much it was worth because marble
was a lot of money.
The meaning of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
is to honor the people in World War I.
According to the Arlington Cemetery website, “In
October 1921, four bodies of unidentified U.S. military
personnel were exhumed from different American
military cemeteries in France. The unknown soldiers
were placed on a horse-drawn carriage and taken to
Arlington National Cemetery Nationwide, Americans
observed two minutes of silence at the beginning of
the ceremony.”
The Tomb represents all the soldiers that served
for us and lost their lives for everyone to survive and
not have to deal with a war. It is for the people who
died and no one knew who they were. Thousands of
people risked their life and The Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier is to hope that people will respect that. You
are free and safe, because of those people and that is
the most important thing that The Tomb of the Un-
known Soldier represents. According to the Arlington
National Cemetery website, “The Tomb sarcophagus
is decorated with three wreaths on each side panel
(north and south). On the front (east), three figures
represent Peace, Victory and Valor. The back (west)
features the inscription: “Here rests in honored glory
an American soldier known but to God.”
Bibliography
“The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.” Arlington
National Cemetery, www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Ex-
plore/Tomb-of-the-Unknown-Soldier.
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald, File
Standing water serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Spring
residents check their prop-
erty for such potential breed-
ing spots.
Continued from Page A1
“With the amount of rain
that has fallen in recent days,
The 200,000-acre dis-
draining or removing any-
trict includes most of Baker,
thing that can hold water for
Bowen and Keating valleys.
The average high tempera- up to 5 days will help reduce
ture during May was almost 6 mosquitoes around your
degrees below average at the home,” he said.
Baker City Airport.
April’s average high was
Trapping and testing
nearly 7 degrees cooler than
In addition to controlling
average.
mosquito numbers, Hutchin-
The chilly spring has kept son and his crew maintain a
standing water, whether from series of traps across the dis-
rainfall or from flood irriga- trict — baited with carbon di-
tion, relatively cool.
oxide, the same gas we exhale,
The warmer the water,
which is how the bugs find us.
the faster mosquitoes move
Hutchinson collects mos-
through their larval stages,
quitoes from those traps
Hutchinson said.
regularly and sends the dead
Floodwater mosquitoes,
bugs to a testing laboratory
which make up the bulk of
at Oregon State University
the bugs locally early in the
in Corvallis, where the mos-
season, laid their eggs last fall. quitoes are tested for West
Conditions changed rap-
Nile virus.
idly starting in early April,
Mosquitoes can transmit
transitioning from an un-
the virus to people through
usually dry start to the year,
bites. West Nile virus has
Hutchinson said.
been found in mosquitoes in
“It’s been an interesting
Baker County every year in
spring,” he said.
the past decade except 2018
Hutchinson and his sea-
and 2020.
sonal staff spend most of their
In 2021, the virus was de-
time during the spring apply- tected in 19 batches of mos-
ing products that kill mosquito quitoes trapped in the Baker
larvae — a process known, ap- Valley Vector Control Dis-
propriately, as larviciding.
trict. One person and one
The goal, Hutchinson said, horse were also infected, ac-
is to minimize the population cording to the Oregon Health
of adult mosquitoes, since
Authority.
they cause all the itchy prob-
Hutchinson said he didn’t
lems in the district.
have any information about
With several relatively
the one human case.
warm days during the second
Most people infected with
half of May — of the five days the virus have no symptoms,
during the month that topped according to the state health
70 degrees, four happened in officials, but about 20% will
the second half, including a
have symptoms such as a fe-
monthly maximum of 84 on ver, headache, body aches,
the 26th — the workload in- vomiting, diarrhea or a rash.
creased.
In rare cases the virus can
“We’ve been pretty busy
be fatal.
with the larviciding the last
Although floodwater
couple weeks,” Hutchinson
mosquitoes tend to be most
said. “The adult numbers
numerous in the district
have been low, but we’re start- early in the summer, a dif-
ing to notice a few with the
ferent species, the culex
warmer weather.”
tarsalis, a permanent wa-
Although the soggy spring ter mosquito, is much more
has increased the amount
likely to carry West Nile vi-
of submerged acreage in the
rus, Hutchinson said.
district, Hutchinson said the
When adult mosquito
ongoing drought, with irriga- numbers reach certain
tion water likely to be in short thresholds, based on public
supply, could result in a mod- reports and trapping totals,
erate mosquito population
Hutchinson can use both
this summer.
truck-mounted foggers and
Mosquitoes can also breed aircraft to spray a pesticide
in small water sources, in-
that kills adult mosquitoes.
cluding birdbaths, discarded
More information about
tires and almost anything else the Vector Control District
that can hold water for sus-
is available at https://www.
tained periods.
bvvcd.org/ or by calling 541-
Hutchinson recommends 523-1151.
cult to list for the entire project,
she said.
“Just the way things are set
up the guys will be jumping
around a lot,” Moles said.
In addition to Campbell and
Dewey, ramps will be upgraded
on sections of Main, Broadway
and Elm streets.
Those sections of streets,
though inside the city limits,
are also part of state highways,
which is why ODOT is respon-
sible for the project.
Chad Maxwell of Murray
Smith Consultants, the com-
pany ODOT hired to oversee
the local project, said some of
the ramps haven’t been touched
in 10 to 20 years.
Besides the curb ramps,
workers will install a rapid
flashing beacon at the intersec-
tion of Myrtle and Elm streets
in south Baker City.
Its design is similar to the
one on Campbell Street just
west of the Powder River
bridge.
Those who missed the open
house can still contact Vicki
Moles via Vicki.L.MOLES@
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
odot.oregon.gov as the project
Work was underway on June 2, 2022, on a wheelchair-accessible curb ramp on Dewey Avenue near Estes Street in Baker City.
ramps up.