A8
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
‘New Idaho’ still improbable New state chief
but would sway U.S. politics operating offi cer
bucking cancer
New Idaho: Re-drawing the map
A La Grande, Ore. farmer is seeking comment on the idea of eastern portions of Washington and
Oregon joining Idaho. The new, supersized Idaho would see a 125 percent population increase.
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
Proposed state of Idaho
Area in detail
By Jade McDowell
A year after La Grande
farmer Ken Parsons proposed
Oregon and Washington’s east-
ern counties join Idaho, the idea
is no closer to reality.
“I haven’t heard a peep
from anybody in probably six
months,” he said Monday.
Parsons hopes the idea might
gain new legs after Election
Day, however. The concept cap-
tured the region’s imagination
last year, spawning news arti-
cles and discussions of “what if”
around the Pacifi c Northwest,
because rural conservatives felt
Boise might be more recep-
tive to their ideas than Salem
or Olympia. That feeling tends
to be exacerbated by watching
election results roll in.
Even if the idea remains
nothing more than a hypo-
thetical, those “what if” con-
versations offer an interesting
political science exercise when
looked at through the lens of
the upcoming election.
One hypothetical model
would see the 17 Oregon coun-
ties east of Hood River County
and the 20 Washington Counties
east of King County join Idaho.
That scenario would see Ore-
gon’s population drop by about
13 percent and Washington’s
population by 22 percent, while
Idaho’s population would rise
by 125 percent to 3.68 million.
Since the 435 seats in the
House of Representatives are
apportioned every 10 years
based on the states’ population
count in latest census, Wash-
Spokane
Seattle
EO Media Group
WASHINGTON
Olympia
Yakima
Oregonian research
Pendleton
Portland
Jade McDowell
and Alan Kenaga/
EO Media Group
La Grande
Salem
Eugene
IDAHO
Bend
Burns
Boise
Idaho Falls
OREGON
Pocatello
Twin Falls
Medford
ington would likely lose two of
its 10 representatives to Idaho,
and Oregon could possibly lose
one of its fi ve representatives to
another state.
Electoral College votes,
meanwhile, are based on the
number of senators and repre-
sentatives a state has serving
in Washington, D.C. If reliably
blue state Washington lost two
representatives and reliably red
state Idaho gained two, future
Republican presidents could
count on another two “safe”
Electoral College votes in the
foreseeable future — possibly
three, depending on whether
Oregon grew enough to hang
on to all of its representatives.
In a tight race like 2016, it
could make a difference.
The odds to all of that hap-
pening are slim to none, howev-
er. And Parsons understands that
he’s fi ghting an uphill battle. But
he did say he was encouraged by
what seemed like genuine inter-
A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY
V ETERANS :
Did you know there may be VA benefits available for
you as a result of your spouses’ military service?
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information,
located at Grant County Court House.
est from a variety of Malheur
County food producers who
told the media last fall that they
would join Idaho in a heartbeat
if offered the chance.
“Everything about Malheur
County is more identifi ed with
Idaho,” Owyhee Produce gen-
eral manager Shay Myers told
the Capital Press at the time.
“I wish I knew how to actually
make this happen.”
If Malheur County led the
way, Parsons said, it was possi-
ble a handful of other counties
would be on board with sup-
porting an effort to redraw state
lines.
“It all comes back, to me,
to Malheur County,” he said.
“If they don’t want to move
into Idaho I don’t see any other
counties having the economic
and political incentive.”
Parsons said he is looking to
be more of a “facilitator” than
a leader on any movement to-
ward secession, which is why he
made a Yahoo group on the is-
sue, which later spurred a Face-
book group called “E. Washing-
ton/E. Oregon join Idaho.”
That group drew 240 mem-
bers, who have discussed topics
such as messaging (they prefer
talk of “shifting boundaries” to
“seceding”) and the differ-
ences in responses by Idaho,
Oregon and Washington on
political questions such as
allowing Syrian refugees
into their state.
“One of the nice things
about having Eastern
Washington and Oregon
be a part of Idaho, is that
(maybe) people on the east
side would stop viewing
Democrats as awful Seattle
and Portland liberals, but
as Spokane or Boise mod-
erates who want to reach a
reasonable compromise,”
page administrator Dan
Wallace wrote.
Parsons said even if the
boundaries between the
states never do change, gen-
erating public discussions
around the issue sends a
message to Democrats in
Salem and Olympia that
they shouldn’t just run over
the concerns of Republicans
representing the eastern
counties on topics such as
minimum wage.
“It’s saying, ‘Listen, the
people in eastern Oregon
and eastern Washington are
upset. They don’t like what
you’re passing,’” he said.
Call 541-575-1631 for an appointment
Open: Mon, Wed, & Fri 10am-4pm by appointment.
Debbie Ausmus
245 South Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845
OPEN WED. & THUR.
9 am - 5 pm
541-575-1113
24 hrs/7 days wk
debbie.ausmus@
countryfinancial.com
On behalf of Grant
County and Beyond in
Full Support of Sheriff
Palmer, we would like to
apologize if your name
was listed without your
permission. We only
printed names that were
given to us.
04669
Katy Coba was ready since
April for this year’s Tough
Enough to Wear Pink day at the
Pendleton Round-Up.
It has been a turbulent year
for Coba, a Pendleton native
and longtime director of the
Oregon Department of Agricul-
ture. She was diagnosed with
breast cancer on Oct. 19, 2015,
undergoing 12 weeks of chemo-
therapy and another six weeks
of daily radiation treatment.
Coba said she was feeling
healthy and ready to don her
new pink shirt and cowboy
boots at last month’s rodeo. She
was joined by her friend and
fellow breast cancer survivor
Ann Knutson, who traveled all
the way from Oklahoma City
to take part in Tough Enough
to Wear Pink. In fact, the entire
arena was awash in pink from
the grandstands to the buck-
ing chutes to raise money and
awareness for local patients.
Last year, the Round-Up
brought in more than $36,000
for cancer support groups.
Coba, 54, said she’s always
been thankful to the rodeo com-
munity for embracing such a
good cause, supporting people
like her personal cancer hero,
Pendleton High School Span-
ish teacher Kathryn Youngman,
who is facing her third bout
with the disease.
This year, however, was dif-
ferent.
“This year will bring a
whole new meaning, because
it’s touched me personally,”
Coba said before the event. “I
think I will refl ect on how lucky
and blessed I am in so many
ways.”
Fortunately for Coba, she
was able to catch her cancer
early. It started with a routine
mammogram, where doctors
noticed a small lump on her left
side that didn’t look right. It was
probably nothing serious, they
told her, but scheduled an ultra-
sound and biopsy to be sure.
The results left both Coba
and her doctors stunned — tri-
ple-positive breast cancer, the
type that spreads more quickly
and aggressively than usual.
The worst part of the ordeal,
Coba said, was breaking the
news to her husband, Marshall,
as well as their two grown
daughters, friends and family.
“I wanted to protect them,
because I knew they were going
to be scared and worried about
me,” she said.
As for herself, Coba said
she’s very much a process per-
son. She simply viewed it as
another challenge to overcome.
Katy Coba
“I just immediately went to,
‘OK, I’ve got it. Now, what do I
do about it?’” Coba said.
The treatments began with
a lumpectomy in early Novem-
ber, where doctors removed the
small lump from her breast.
The cancer had not spread to
her lymph nodes, which was a
promising sign. She then began
chemotherapy on Dec. 2.
If telling friends and family
was the most diffi cult part of
battling cancer, Coba said los-
ing her long brown hair was the
second-most diffi cult.
“When you lose your hair,
you become a very visible pa-
tient,” she said. “It’s all out there
in the public.”
Chemotherapy and radia-
tion can lead to a litany of side
effects, yet Coba said she still
felt well enough to continue
working full-time at the ODA in
Salem. She alerted her staff and
Gov. Kate Brown, all of whom
lent their support and pulled to-
gether to make sure the depart-
ment didn’t miss a beat.
“They would have been fi ne
if I had been gone fi ve days a
week,” Coba said with a laugh.
“The overwhelming support
was quite humbling.”
Coba still has a long way to
go before she’s out of the woods.
She will continue to receive tar-
geted treatments via an IV in-
jection once every three weeks
through December. Breast
cancer patients aren’t declared
cancer-free until after 10 years,
assuming there are no setbacks.
In the meantime, Coba has
plenty to keep her busy. She
began her new job Oct. 1 as Or-
egon’s new Chief Operating Of-
fi cer, overseeing the day-to-day
operations of state government.
Coba said the experience
will also lead her to become an
advocate for women to get regu-
lar mammograms and checkups,
which in her case might have
saved her life. The 1982 Round-
Up queen said she was excited
to be back home to support
Tough Enough to Wear Pink,
and hopes to reach out to cancer
patients however she can.
“This has given me the op-
portunity to be thankful to live
every day,” she said.
Your Rural Fa mily Health Clinic
Grant County
HEALTH
Department
528 E. Main, St. E,
John Day
Monday - Friday
8am - 5pm
Karen Triplett, FNP
Services Provided:
Farmer hopes
election discontent
renews New
Idaho discussion
• Primary Care
• Acute Care
• Women’s Health
Exams
• Men and
Children Exams
• Immunizations
• Family Planning
• Contraception
• Pregnancy Testing &
Referrals
• HIV Testing &
Referrals
• Cacoon
• WIC
• High Risk Infants
• Maternity Case
Management
Grant County Health Department does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin,
disability, or age in admission, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activitie s, or in employment.
Appointments
available
Call and schedule your
appointment today!
TOLL FREE
888-443-9104
or 541-575-0429
A MAN
WAKES
UP in the
morning
after sleeping on...
an advertised bed, in advertised
pajamas.
Baker City
2830 10th St.
541-524-0122
Every other Monday
in John Day
170 Ford Rd.
541-575-1311
He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR,
have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his
ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an
ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person
hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his
non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE.
Then it’s too late.
AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK?
DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE
Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it!
Blue Mountain Eagle
MyEagleNews.com
Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710