HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879
Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021
Vol. 142 No. 32
$1.00
LOU MARZELES
TWO-THIRTY IN THE AFTERNOON: It looked like an eclipse on Main Street in Goldendale. Moments after this, it got darker still, and crickets began to make their night music. A cold front was colliding with the heat wave that seemed interminable last Thursday, causing this eerie mid-day dark and igniting lightning strikes that kept firefighters busy across the entire county. Thankfully none of the fires got wildly out of hand.
School district: it’s a health curriculum LOU MARZELES EDITOR Negative reactions to the Goldendale School District school board vote to approve what is called a comprehensive health curriculum may be based more on what goes on outside of Goldendale than what will happen here. “Sex ed” has been a roiling sore point for many, and the term may very well apply to districts across the state that plan to implement it to the nth degree. But in Goldendale, as District Superintendent Dr. Ellen Perconti explains, it’s a different matter. “The district has adopted a comprehensive health curriculum,” she states. “A portion of
that is sex ed. But by focusing on sex ed, it just brings out that one piece. It’s a story that’s told from one angle.” Perconti points out the district curriculum is broadly about health. “We’re not teaching any sex ed to K-3,” she says. “And the next grade band is really about relationship skills and not about sexuality at all. We’ve done the growing up piece for years. The people at the board meeting”— the vote meeting drew sharp and often unruly reactivity from almost every speaker from the public—”were responding to pieces they had seen outside of Goldendale and not specifically to our process or what we were doing in Goldendale.”
The reactivity is understandable when looking at what is contained in the curriculum the state approved, available mostly by choice by school districts with parental opt-outs also in place. Some of the detail included, especially at certain grade levels, is downright shocking to many parents. Those elements are not foreseen on any immediate horizon for Goldendale. But exactly what is going to be taught here hasn’t always been very clear. In the obfuscation, speculation led to inaccurate conclusions. And the state hasn’t always been thorough in its communications on the topic: it became easy to conflate the entire health curric-
See School page B1
County reports 46 new Covid cases in six days TAYLER BRADLEY
GETTING READY: Top, Lexi Molnar with her steer for the fair. Above, Kaden Williams preps a pig.
TAYLER BRADLEY FOR THE SENTINEL The Klickitat County Fair is coming up, something that our local kids have been preparing for for months. All these kids get animals months ahead to make sure they are able to work with them and prepare them for show and to sell at the market sale. They have been doing it for years; most start showing animals at a young age, and some even show more than one animal. There are a lot of things these kids do to make sure their animals and themselves are ready to take home those champion titles. Lexi Molnar, a 15-year-old from Centerville, is a fair expert. She has been showing animals since she was a little girl. She started showing goats and since then moved to showing a market steer and a breeding prospect heifer. She picks out her market steer in October and begins by feeding it the proper grain to ensure that he will make a high-quality market steer. She also works with him by training and grooming to gain his trust so when she goes into the show ring, her steer also performs at his best. Lexi says, “Showing an animal is a rewarding experience—you get to show off all of your hard work that you poured into your animal all the months leading to Fair.” Kaden Williams, a fifth-grader from Goldendale, also has experience showing animals at the Fair.
Kaden shows pigs for both market and breeding classes. He gets them early spring just in time for pre-show where they weigh in animals to see if they are on track in the fall. “There are a lot of things I have to do to get ready for fair,” says Kaden. He starts feeding his pigs right away to make sure that they are the right weight for the Fair. He walks them every day to help teach them so he can control his pig in the show ring. The pigs need to be nice and clean, so Kaden uses a special conditioner to make sure the pigs are bright and shiny. Needless to say, he spends a lot of time with them from start to finish. All of these kids also have to put together a record book about their animals. A record book is a book recording everything about the animal from start to finish. Both Kaden and Lexi need to keep track of things such as expenses, amount of feed, the amount of time spent with the animal, pictures, weight tracking, and so much more. They update these books as they go and turn them in before the Fair for judging. It can be a long process, but the kids do learn so much from them. The days leading to the Fair are very busy. A lot of kids and their families stay at the fairgrounds to be close to the animals, so they go up and park their campers. They have a lot of packing to do: show supplies, feed, show clothes, food, and anything else they will
See Fair page B1
Last week, the Klickitat County Health Department (KCHD) saw a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases compared to the case counts that have been reported over the last couple months. As of Friday, there were 46 new cases since Sunday, August 1, bringing the total number of active cases in Klickitat County to 66. Klickitat County has not had this many cases reported in so short a time period since late December 2020. KCHD has recorded an increase in community transmission as well as positive cases in vaccinated individuals. This number of cases corresponds with a high community transmission rate based on CDC criteria.
KCHD has also noted an increase in cases in vaccinated individuals, but the individuals have been reporting fewer symptoms and a shorter illness than those who are unvaccinated. KCHD is aware of three Klickitat County residents who are hospitalized with COVID-19; none of those individuals were vaccinated. Vaccinations are readily available for anyone 12 and older at a variety of locations within Klickitat County. All vaccines are available by appointment only and can be booked by calling Skyline Health, Klickitat Valley Health, NorthShore Medical, or Klickitat County Health Department. If you are currently experienc-
ing any COVID-19 symptoms, please contact your primary care provider about getting tested. COVID-19 symptoms can be different for everyone but generally include some of the following: fever, chills, headache, muscle aches or pains, sore throat, sinus congestion, dry or productive cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain or cramps, loss of smell or taste, and fatigue. Anyone with symptoms can be tested in Klickitat County by calling to make an appointment at Klickitat Valley Health, Skyline Health, or Northshore Medical Group.
Submit photos for 2022 Calendar The Sentinel is gearing up for its annual calendar. Over the past decade, our calendar has featured photographs from photographers in the Goldendale area. This year, in keeping with our broader distribution througout the county, we’re welcoming submissions from photographers everywhere in Klickitat County and may change the name of the calendar accordingly. The photographer whose picture is chosen for the cover will win a free Amazon Fire tablet. Here are the guidelines: - Photographs must be of scenery, which can include wildlife. No photos of people. - They must be horizontal (landscape mode)—no vertical shots will be considered.
- All photos chosen must be in high resoltion, 300 dpi or higher. Submit your photos to: 2022Calendar@goldendalesentinel.com.