BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2022 A3
LOCAL & REGION
Northwest heat wave suspected in 7 deaths
BY REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BOISE — Authorities in the Port-
land, Oregon, region kept cooling
shelters open through Sunday night,
July 31 as a likely record-break-
ing heat wave brought scorching
weather to the normally temperate
region.
At least seven people are suspected
to have died from hyperthermia
since the hot spell began a week ago.
The most recent suspected heat-re-
lated death was announced by Clack-
amas County officials on Saturday,
July 30, Portland television station
KOIN-TV reported. County offi-
cials said the elderly man died in
his home, where he did not have a
working air conditioner. The other
six suspected hyperthermia deaths
occurred earlier in the week in Mult-
nomah, Umatilla and Marion coun-
ties.
Jessica Mokert-Shibley, a spokes-
person with Multnomah County,
said the county, the city of Port-
land and other organizations would
keep overnight cooling centers open
through Sunday evening. Nearly 250
people used the overnight shelters on
Friday night, she said.
Temperatures have neared the tri-
ple digits in Portland the entire week,
hitting a high of 102 degrees Fahren-
heit on Tuesday, July 26.
The National Weather Service is-
sued an excessive heat warning for
both the Portland and Seattle, Wash-
ington, regions lasting through late
Sunday evening, with temperatures
expected to reach as high as 103 de-
grees. Shawn Weagle, a NWS meteo-
rologist based in Portland, said Satur-
day that the region had likely tied its
record for its longest heat wave with
six consecutive days in a row topping
95 degrees. A new record could be set
on Sunday, Weagle said.
The temperatures have remained
abnormally high at night — only
dropping to about 70 degrees —
making it hard for residents to ade-
quately cool off their homes before
the sun rises, Weagle said. Many
homes in the region lack air condi-
tioning.
“It’s an increasingly common issue
with our heatwaves, the lack of re-
covery at night,” Weagle said. “That
really impacts people who don’t have
air conditioning. It’s the ‘urban island
effect’ — the downtown Portland
core has been built up so much, and
that concrete is slower to cool down
overnight than a rural valley or even
suburban neighborhood would.”
The region’s heat waves also seem
to be getting stronger in general,
Weagle said. He expects relief from
the hot weather will come mid-
week.
“Right now it’s looking like Tues-
day, we’ll start to get closer to normal
but still in the 80s, and by Wednes-
day we should be a touch below nor-
mal temperatures,” he said.
The Seattle region was slightly
cooler but still topped 90 degrees on
Saturday for a fifth straight day, com-
pared to normal temperatures in the
high 70s.
Weagle said people should drink
plenty of water, do what they can to
stay cool and check on their neigh-
bors, particularly older people and
those who are at greater risk of
heat-related illnesses.
Climate change is fueling longer
heat waves in the Pacific Northwest,
a region where weeklong heat spells
were historically rare, according to
climate experts.
Residents and officials in the
Northwest have been trying to adjust
to the likely reality of longer, hotter
heat waves following last summer’s
deadly “heat dome” weather phe-
nomenon that prompted record tem-
peratures and deaths.
About 800 people died in Oregon,
Washington, and British Columbia
during that heat wave, which hit in
late June and early July. The tem-
perature at the time soared to an all-
time high of 116 F in Portland and
smashed heat records in cities and
towns across the region. Many of
those who died were older and lived
alone.
Rosemarie
Continued from A1
Rosemarie’s path through
the garden is one that tracks
all the way back, over little
roots and between flowers,
to her earliest memories of
home.
“My mom had eight of us,
so she always had fruit trees,”
Rosemarie says.
She spent a lot of time nur-
turing those trees as they came
to bear fruit. Rosemarie’s ex-
perience of growing and car-
ing for living things has con-
tinued throughout her life.
She spent more than a decade
working in a nursery with her
sister, and many years as well
working as a nurse caregiver.
Rosemarie’s sense of ad-
venture connected her to her
lifelong friend, Corrine, who
is related to the Droste family
of Droste Chocolates in Rot-
terdam, Holland. Together,
she and Corrine drove cross
country to New York, a trip
she’s managed three times in
her life, and even spent a year
there.
When she was working as
a nurse in California in her
20s, she’d found herself start-
ing to burn out on the life the
West Coast had to offer. She
was packing and preparing
for adventure, in fact planning
to see the Europe her friend
had described to her, when
she chanced to meet Robert
O’Donnell.
She’d wanted to see the
world, but for her, Robert
would become one of the big-
gest parts of it.
“I never made it to Europe,”
Rosemarie says, laughing at
the irony.
Robert was a Marine, a line-
man and a metal detectorist,
Katie O’Donnell/
Contributed Photo
Robert and Rosemarie O’Don-
nell. Robert passed away March
6, 2020, from complications due
to cancer. The couple were mar-
ried for 54 years.
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Rosemarie O’Donnell and her daughter, Katie, gathered the rocks and installed this streaming fountain at their Huntington home.
among his many talents.
“He was a jack of all
trades, and all Irish,” Rose-
marie said.
On Nov. 19, 1967, he also
became her husband and,
about a year later, a father.
Rosemarie and Robert
raised four children — Annie,
Mike, Katie and John.
Their eldest, Annie, had
grown, graduated and moved
out to serve in the Air Force
full time when Rosemarie and
Robert got the call. Some-
where along Highway 31, in
the desolate desert stretches of
Central Oregon, Annie was in
a single car accident on Aug.
25, 1987. She died at just 19.
Annie’s brothers and sister
went on to do well for them-
selves — the youngest turned
45 this year — and Rosema-
rie and Robert found peace
with time. The couple spent
over half a century together,
54 years.
When Robert was diag-
nosed with prostate cancer,
the disease was already in its
fourth stage and spreading to
his other organs. Rosemarie’s
skill as a nurse could at least
make him comfortable.
Though he fought, an unex-
pected infection led to a coma.
Rosemarie knew supplemen-
tal oxygen was the only thing
keeping his heart going.
“You’re gonna see Annie,”
she told him, as Robert passed
in the company of his wife and
other loved ones on March 6,
2020.
Rosemarie’s own health
needed support as well, spur-
ring her and daughter Ka-
tie to uproot and relocate to
Huntington, where they could
both afford land and it was an
easy drive to receive treatment
for rheumatoid arthritis.
Mother and daughter set-
tled in Huntington in Septem-
ber 2021.
“I have to get infusions ev-
ery six weeks,” Rosemarie says.
“Remicade — it’s very strong.
Two to three hours of infu-
sions every time.”
She proudly revealed the
spot on her arm where the IV
had most recently delivered
life-changing relief.
When she was first treated,
she was already feeling the
broad effects of rheumatoid
arthritis in her major joints.
The consequences of the con-
dition have the body’s im-
mune system attacking its tis-
sue at a cellular level.
Pain and stiffness are a
given, but the condition can
literally change the shape of
the joints, further separating
a person from any semblance
of an active life. Fortunately,
Rosemarie’s treatment has
worked wonders for the ail-
ment, and her faith and family
kept her spirits bright.
“Within three days (of treat-
ment) I could get up on my
own,” Rosemarie says. “I didn’t
need Katie’s help.”
Moreover, the relief allows
her to pursue her lifelong love
of gardening.
Katie helps Rosemarie travel
to her infusions and other ap-
pointments.
For fun, the two might pan
for gold one day, travel an-
other, and scout for rocks and
flowers the next.
Just two miles away is the
Snake River, which they can
visit any time.
As for gardening, though,
Katie largely leaves that to the
expert, her mother.
And if you ask nicely, she’ll
probably open the gate for a
tour.
3 candidates for governor take stage in first debate
BY COREY BUCHANAN
Oregon Capital Bureau
During the first general
election debate in a race for
who will become the next
governor of Oregon, the three
candidates empathized with
many Oregonians dissatisfied
with where the state is headed.
Each of the three women,
however, offered differing
solutions to the state’s myriad
issues in a 90-minute forum
that underscored the chasms
among their political philoso-
phies and leadership styles.
Republican nominee Chris-
tine Drazan, Democratic
nominee Tina Kotek and in-
dependent Betsy Johnson —
who are running neck-and-
neck in recent polls — shared
the stage in an event hosted
by Pamplin Media Group
and sponsored by the Oregon
Newspaper Publishers Associ-
ation at the Mt. Hood Oregon
Resort in Welches Friday, July
29. The debate was moderated
by PMG President Mark Gar-
ber and included questions
from local journalists, as well
as the opportunity for the can-
didates to confront each other
with their own inquiries.
Drazan, a Canby resident
and former Oregon House
of Representatives minority
leader who won the Republi-
can nomination, made clear
that she views her opponents
as leaders of an establishment
that has brought Oregon to
where it is today, and that
the state needs new solutions
to chronic problems such as
homelessness, a lack of hous-
ing and mental health ser-
vices, and economic insecu-
rity.
“It’s a little bit ironic to me
to constantly hear my oppo-
nents on the stage be (aghast)
on how horrible Oregon is on
this and that and the other —
Campaign photos
The three leading candidates for Oregon governor are, from left, Dem-
ocrat Tina Kotek; Betsy Johnson, running unaffiliated; and Republican
Christine Drazan.
‘We’re 50th (in the country) on
this and we have to work on
that,’” Drazan said. “They’ve
been in charge. We got here
because of their voices. There
are not two other people in the
state with more power than
them besides the governor
herself and maybe the senate
president.”
Johnson, a Scappoose res-
ident who was a Democratic
state senator before resigning
to run as a unaffiliated can-
didate, emphasized that she
represents a middle ground
between what she described
as extremes on her political
right and left, noting Drazan’s
pro-life stance on abortion
and positing that Kotek is a
part of a progressive left that
is responsible for mounting
problems.
“Oregonians are distrustful
of the radical right and they
are terrified of the progressive
left … What could be more
different and impactful than
a governor with an allegiance
only to Oregonians and not to
a party agenda or special in-
terests?” she said.
Kotek, a Portlander who
was the speaker of the house
for nine years prior to winning
the Democratic nomination,
framed herself as a candidate
who seeks solutions rather
than simply rejecting the sta-
tus quo.
“No matter what the other
candidates say today, there are
no quick fixes. There are no
miracle cures to take on these
large challenges. Only hard
work is going to allow us to
ensure that every part of our
state can thrive,” she said.
On the issues, Drazan clar-
ified that she considers Joe
Biden to be the fairly elected
president of the United States
— despite efforts from mem-
bers of her party to sow dis-
trust in the 2020 election
results — while also stating
that she would maintain the
current gun and abortion
laws in place in Oregon and
expressing opposition to Gov.
Kate Brown’s executive or-
der directing state agencies
to reduce carbon emissions.
Regarding her and her col-
leagues’ decision in 2020 to
walk out of the Capitol to
combat Democrats’ cap-and-
trade proposal while she was
the House minority leader, she
said she may have supported
some form of policy incen-
tivizing businesses to reduce
emissions — but not in the
form proposed by Democrats.
“The need to lead a Repub-
lican effort to deny quorum
on this was simply because of
the intensity of single-party
majority control,” she said.
Drazan also said she felt the
state was focusing too much
on housing to address the
homelessness crisis, and not
enough on other issues like
treating addiction and mental
health.
Kotek described the walk-
out as a decision to throw in
the towel on the issue of ad-
dressing climate change and
expressed support for the gov-
ernor’s executive order.
Further, she was the only
candidate to firmly say she
would direct public resources
to helping people living in
states where abortion is il-
legal to access that service
here. Johnson also empha-
sized her staunch pro-choice
stance on abortion, but felt
organizations like Planned
Parenthood could support
people arriving from other
states without governmental
funding.
“We are in too big of a mo-
ment in our country to say no
to women who need access to
care,” Kotek said. “And I’m the
only person in this race who
is a champion on this issue,
who has believed in access to
health care — and that is what
abortion is — and that’s why
I’m backed by Planned Par-
enthood and Pro Choice Or-
egon.”
Drazan, meanwhile, said
she is pro-life but that her re-
sponsibility as governor would
be to uphold the laws in place.
Unlike Drazan and John-
son, Kotek said she supports
IP17 — a ballot measure that
would require background
checks for purchasing fire-
arms, prohibit the sale of
large-capacity magazines (ex-
cept for military and law en-
forcement) — and established
herself as the candidate in sup-
port of gun control measures.
She clarified that she’s not
interested in “taking people’s
guns away,” however, after a
quip from Johnson suggesting
that intention.
Johnson, meanwhile, cas-
tigated Gov. Kate Brown and
state leadership for Intel’s de-
cision to build a new chip
manufacturing facility in Ohio
rather than Oregon, saying
that she had talked with In-
tel executives who said state
leadership was not receptive to
their needs and that she would
make sure she consulted reg-
ularly with major industry
players. Further, Johnson ad-
dressed her decision to vote
for the corporate activity tax
to add school funding even
though she now is against it,
saying that she felt schools
needed more money at the
time but now believes the tax
is too big of a burden on busi-
nesses and should be altered.
Similar to Drazan, Johnson
felt that Kotek’s leadership has
led to there being “tent cities
all over Portland.”
“This is a humanitarian
crisis and we must never lose
sight of the fact that it’s inexo-
rably tied to drugs and mental
illness in our streets,” Johnson
said.
In closing remarks, Dra-
zan commented on what she
felt was a divisive attitude ex-
uded by Johnson, saying she
was tired of being yelled at
and adding that she felt John-
son left the Democratic Party
when it was politically conve-
nient to do so.
Johnson said choosing Dra-
zan would be moving from
one extreme to the other and
told voters she does not care
whether you voted for Biden
or Donald Trump.
“I want to recapture the
maverick spirit and get us
back on track,” Johnson said.
Kotek, in her final remarks,
talked about how she fell in
love with Oregon when she
moved there 35 years ago
and that she views it as a state
of possibility toward what it
could become.
“I am sure I know how to
work with people and solve
problems because I have a
track record to show that,” she
added.
St. Stephen’s Preschool
Registration for 2022-23
Program for
3 and 4 year olds
Sept. - May
Mon. - Thurs., 8-11
Call: 541-523-4812
Email: bakerststephens@gmail.com
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