Rainier Jr/Sr High School junior Tyler Borders is preparing for a competitive sport that will take him to Crescent City, California in January. The sport isn’t basketball, soccer or track. It is competitive trapshooting. “There is no other sport like trapshooting,” Tyler said. “You have to treat it like a marathon. It keeps you focus. It is something that I found that I didn’t get in any other sports, like track, baseball and soccer.” Borders is a member of the Rainier Jr./Sr. High School Trapshooting Team that was formed in 2019. Through his overall competitive scoring he has earned a spot on the elite Pacific International Trapshooting 2020 All Stars Team. He found out about the award after arriving home late one day in November. “There were balloons all over the house after my family decorated to surprise me with the announce-
Columbia County Public Health’s free COVID-19 drive-by testing began on Wednesday, Dec, 2, with several vehicles lined along the driveway of St. Helens High School. Members of the Columbia County Emergency Response Team (CERT) directed drivers to the drive-thru testing site located at the front of the high school along Gable Road. Health workers dressed in blue robes, blue gloves and face coverings carefully handed each driver a packet with a nasal swab to be used for the self-administered test. The drivers used the swab for the test and handed it back to the health worker. The health worker carefully placed each swab in single sterile tube which was placed in a biohazard bag and sealed. The bags are collected and sent to a medical lab for testing. Columbia County Health Director Michael Paul said test results would likely be available within three to five days through emails. The results will also be reported to the local health department. “Those being tested will also receive an after-testing guide with instructions of what to do if they test positive or negative and how they should inform other people who they may have had contact with if they do test positive,” he said. Paul said county health is ask-
ment,” he said. “I was super happy to see all the hard work has paid off in what I really want to accomplish this year.” According to the Amateur Trapshooting Association, the sport is a specific form of clay target shooting and involves movement, action, and spit second timing. “It requires the accuracy and skill to repeatedly aim, fire and break the 4 1/4 inch disc which are hurled through the air at a speed of 42 mph, simulating the flight path of a bird fleeing a hunter,” the association’s website reads. Borders said he got involved with trapshooting when he was 7 years old. “My dad and I were driving by a trap shooting range and I asked him what it was all about and he explain how trapshooting worker,” Borders said. “I had never really seen anything else like it. You use a shotgun and you use BBs to shoot the discs.” Over the years, Borders was able to become more and more involved in the shooting as a sport and eventually joined the high school’s trapshooting team.
Borders spends much of his free time at area shooting ranges practicing his shooting to improve his skills and accuracy. “I usually shoot 300 rounds at a time and practice three times a week,” he said. “My success is play how I practice.” The regional trapshooting ranges and the competition follow pandemic-health and safety requirements, Borders said. And even though distance learning has been challenging, he said is still able to be involved in the sport that he enjoys. “It allows me time to do the shooting,” he said, “As long as I keep my grades up I will still be able to go off and shoot.” While Borders enjoys the trapshooting, he said it’s unlikely that he would attempt to make a living with the sport following high school. “You can make a living with trapshooting,” he said. “But I am not sure I want to that. I am thinking more of becoming a utility lineman. I want a job that is bit more unique, allows me to work with my hands and not be stuck in an office, and one that pays well.”
Gov. Kate Brown has released her recommended budget and policy agenda for the 2021-23 biennium, which focuses on addressing and ending systemic racial disparities, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuilding communities affected by the wildfires. Brown’s recommended budget for 2021-23 proposes $100.2 billion in total funds spending, including $25.6 billion in General Fund and Lottery Funds. The budget includes over $293.8 million in increased revenues and leaves $243.3 million in the General Fund. In addition, by the end of the 2019-21 biennium, the Rainy Day Fund is projected to have a balance of $942.3 million. Thanks to prudent spending and healthy reserves, Oregon remains in a healthy position to meet future challenges, according to Brown.
reform is also guiding the upcoming closures of three of the states 16 prisons. Mill Creek in Salem is slated to close at the start of July next year, six months later Shutter Creek in Coos Bay will close and six months after that Warner Creek in Lakeview will close. “My plan for the future of our prison system is that the state will no longer invest in extensive and expensive buildings, but invest in people,” Brown said.
ing anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 to stay home and isolate themselves for 10 days from the date symptoms developed. “We will notify their contacts and ask them to quarantine for 14 days from the date they were exposed,” he said. Identifying cases According to Paul, it is critical that COVID-19 cases be identified as soon as possible so that health officials can notify people who haven’t been affected but may have had contact with those who have tested positive. “That gives them the option of getting tested themselves or they can safely isolate themselves,” he said. Paul said the testing is a critical part of slowing the virus in Columbia County. “We have a huge number of cases in Columbia County and across the state,” Paul said. “This is eliminating as many barriers as possible to testing and we are bringing it as close to people as possible to make it easy for them to come and get tested.” According to Paul, isolated pockets of the virus spread quickly. “People who have the virus and don’t know they are positive are interacting with others and are spreading the virus,” he said. Additional drive-by testing is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Dec. 9, 16 and 30, at St. Helens High School, 2375 Gable
Road. No insurance is required. Paul said additional testing could be conducted into the new year depending on the outcome of the December tests and whether the number of case increases. Surge testing Paul said the December effort is “surge testing.” “There is a high demand in the Portland-metro area for the testing, and we have so many cases right now we need to increase our testing capacity to meet the demand for testing and so that we can identify more cases,” he said. According to Paul, a factor in Columbia County’s sharp rise in COVID-19 cases is its link to the metro area with many people commuting back and forth and vice versa, and Multnomah and Washington counties’ high surge in cases. This week, Columbia County has been ranked in the states ’extreme risk’ category due to the pandemic. Paul said in order to protect local businesses and people in the community from coronavirus, to safely reopen schools and bring down the case rate to a safe level, the county needs to increase testing capacity and community members need to closely follow the pandemic restrictions and guidelines. “People are experiencing fatigue from the pandemic,” Paul said.
Governor proposes $100 billion in spending
Racial disparities “I believe the first step in creating opportunity is recognizing that racism is endemic to our systems, impacting every part of our culture and economy,” Brown said in a press conference addressing the budget Wednesday, Dec. 1. Brown convened the Racial Justice Council this year to help advise her priorities and root policies in equity. A focus on criminal justice
Pandemic The ongoing impacts of the pandemic are felt through the budget as well, and Brown said there were challenges in creating the plan. “Let me be very, very clear: The budget does not put enough money into our schools and doesn’t make the investments in public health we need,” she said. “It is a budget built on sacrifice and hard choices.” The Oregon Health Authority estimates $252 million in resources will be needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic over the next six months, Brown said. An additional $433 million is expected to be needed for July through December of 2021. Brown called for a federal stimulus plan to help address the needs of Oregonians, including $350 million
for rent forgiveness and mortgage relief, the continuation of $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Insurance for people laid off during COVID-19 closures, a renewed Paycheck Protection Program, increased funding for schools and childcare, among other asks. “What I think is really important is that Republicans and Democrats in Washington D.C. put aside their political differences and put the American people first,” Brown said. “That means working together and solving problems.” At a glance Housing and homelessness: • $4.5 million investment to support youth aging our of foster care and facing homelessness • $20 million investment for homeowner assistance, including down payment assistance • $2 million to fund a technical assistance program through Oregon Housing and Community Services for outreach to communities of color • $2.3 million expansion of the Agricultural Workforce Housing Tax Credit for the development of housing for agricultural workers Education • $14.1 million in distance learn-
ing grants • $28.1 million in funding for the Student Success Act Early Learning account to support existing child care providers • $5.8 million for mental health consultation for child care providers in need of assistance for behavioral health needs of children • $9.1 billion in funding for the State School Fund Wildfires
• $73.7 in additional fire preparedness • $189.5 million to rebuild communities affected by the fires • $170 million accessible to the Governor’s Wildfire Economic Recovery Council for general purpose community development resources Equity • $20 million investment in equalizing compensation for public defenders • $118 million investment in statewide broadband expansion • $5.8 million to support police accountability plans and training