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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2019)
LOCAL FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019 THE OBSERVER — 5A INITIATIVES Continued from Page 1A you working,” Smith said. The state lists 16 steps before a measure gets on a ballot. The long process starts when petitioners get the state’s initial approval of a ballot measure and then gather 1,000 voter signatures to “sponsor” the measure. The state Justice Department then formally drafts the measure summary that would appear on a ballot, and petitioners are free to pursue getting signatures equal to 6% of voters who participated in the 2018 general election. Smith shelved his plan before rounding up the fi rst 1,000 signa- tures. “I stopped at that point because I realized it was going to be impossi- ble to achieve my goal,” Smith said. “It made me feel like the power of the people has become zero.” He simply wanted to participate in the process to help his neighbors and community without needing the help of a large advocacy group. “Individuals do not have that power. Power comes from a mass of people agreeing with you, and for individuals without any help, there’s no way to make that work,” he said. He’s dropped the initiative and instead is running for a House seat PARADE Continued from Page 1A universities),” Nightingale said. He took the opportunity to be involved in many activi- ties while in college, perform- ing in the marching band and also in theater produc- tions and with the Grande Ronde Symphony. Nightingale went on to attend graduate school at the University of Washington, where he earned a master’s degree in biology and a doctorate in physiology, both from the university’s College of Fisheries. A 1966 La Grande High School graduate, he said his interest in biology was sparked at Eastern by work he did to help a researcher with a genetic study involv- ing fi eld mice. After graduate school, Nightingale worked for a number of aquariums before he was hired by the Vancou- ver Aquarium Marine Sci- ence Centre in 1993, today known as Ocean Wise, where he worked for 25 years before retiring in December of 2108 as its president and CEO. Ocean Wise grew signifi cantly under Nightin- DISTRICT Continued from Page 1A La Grande Learning Acad- emy, which serves students in grade school through high school. The enrollment total also includes the Rising Stars program, which provides spe- cial services to 12 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The latest head count numbers indicate that La Grande High School has 683 students and La Grande Middle School has 558. Of the district’s three elemen- tary schools, Central is the largest with 472 students, Island City is next with 303, and Greenwood is close behind with 295. At the secondary level, The Associated Press fi le photo The long process of getting an initiative on the ballot starts when petitioners get the state’s initial ap- proval of a ballot measure and then gather 1,000 voter signatures to “sponsor” the measure. in Eugene. In Oregon, initiatives face a long and winding road to the ballot. Most never make it. Between 2010 and 2018, only one in three initiatives received approval from the Elections Division to circu- late, according to agency data. Of 314 petitions fi led over the gale’s watch and today has 500 staff members and more than 1,300 volunteers. Awards Nightingale won during his career include a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal and Distin- guished Service Award from Canadian Accredited Zoos and Aquariums. Nightingale, since his retirement, has continued to work on ocean conservation and Arctic issues as a mem- ber of the board of directors of Polar Knowledge and other groups that focus on address- ing the impacts plastics have on the ocean and expanding ocean awareness. Those who have taken note of Nightingale’s work over the course of his career include Michael Byers, who serves as Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and Interna- tional Law at the University of British Columbia. “John Nightingale is one of the world’s great ocean champions,” Byers said in a statement provided to the Observer by EOU. Today’s homecoming parade will start at Max Square, at Fourth Street and Adams Avenue, and run east on Adams Avenue to O Avenue. Mendoza anticipates that La Grande High School’s enrollment will fall next year school year because it appears that the graduating senior class will be replaced by a smaller freshman class. Mendoza expects enroll- ment at LMS to jump since it appears that its outgoing eighth-grade class will be replaced by a larger incom- ing sixth-grade class. The superintendent said a teacher may have to be added at LMS in the next school year as a result of the projected growth, but no changes in staffi ng will likely be needed at LHS. past decade, 23 gained the required signatures to qualify for the ballot. Of those, 10 were approved by voters. With just over eight months left until the July 2 deadline to qualify for the general election ballot next fall, only three initiative petitions have submitted the 1,000 sponsor SHERIFF Continued from Page 1A military police. He retired in 2014 after a 21-year career in the mili- tary, which included six years in the National Guard in the 1990s. He then returned to the Grande Ronde Valley and now lives in Cove with his wife, Jody, and their two children, age 6 and 8, for whom he is a stay-at-home dad. Rollins said in his news release that he felt compelled to run for sheriff READING Continued from Page 1A in Central Washington during World War II and is haunted by what she fi nds, and what it will mean for humankind. Mixing history with the altering of reality, Shields hopes readers will walk away feeling the magic she has created in her book. Before Monday’s public reading, the author will give a talk to an EOU writing class, in which, she said, “I will go into how I combine the fantastical with the mundane. It is one of my favorite things to do in writ- ing.” Shields has been honored signatures and been cleared for regular signature gathering. The fi rst is a measure called “Get Big Money Out of Oregon Elec- tions III,” a proposed constitutional amendment to allow laws that regulate contributions and expen- ditures made to infl uence elections. The measure “Tolls Need Voter because he would bring “a unique perspective to law enforcement” and would love to give back to the commu- nity he calls home. The two others who have fi led for the race are Boyd Rasmussen, who is completing his 15th year as Union County Sheriff, and Bill Miller, who works for Union County Community Corrections and earlier was a sergeant with the UCSO. A story with biographical informa- tion about Rasmussen and Miller was published in the Sept. 18 Observer. The sheriff’s election is nonparti- san. Under nonpartisan rules, an elec- tion will be conducted in conjunction with the primary election in May of 2020. Should one candidate receive more than 50% of the votes, the individual will be the lone candidate on the November 2020 ballot. If no candidate tops 50%, the two with the most votes will go on to the November election. The fi ling deadline for the May 2020 sheriff’s election is March 10. “Ars Poetica has connected La Grande to the large culture of American society. It is invaluable to our community.” — David Axelrod, Ars Poetica series organizer with various awards for her writing, including the 2016 Washington State Book Award, the Autumn House Fiction Prize, the Tim McGinnis Award for Humor, a Grant for Artist Projects from Artist Trust and the A.B. Guthrie Award for Outstanding Prose. The Carl and Sandra Ellston Ars Poetica Literary Lecture Series was created at EOU in the 1960s and has been running ever since as a way to provide cultural enrichment to the people of La Grande. “Ars Poetica has connect- ed La Grande to the large culture of American society,” the series organizer, David Axelrod, said. “It is invalu- able to our community.” According to Axelrod, there are benefi ts to at- tending these readings in that the writers’ voices The Little-Known Story of Marie Dorion presented by Beverly White ALASKA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, IDAHO, MONTANA 5($&+PLOOLRQ3DFLÀF1RUWKZHVWHUQHUVZLWKMXVW2QH&DOO PNDC CLASSIFIED - Daily Newspapers 29 newspapers - 1,187,980 circulation Number of words: 25 z Extra word cost: $10 Cost: $540 (Runs 3 consecutive days including wkds.) PNDN 2x2 DISPLAY - Daily Newspapers 27 newspapers - 1,016,864 circulation Size: 2x2 (3.25”x2”) Cost: 1x 2x2: $1,050 More info: Cecelia@cnpa.com or call (916) 288-6011 expose the larger world around us. For a more complex understanding of the words on the page, it is as important for a writer to speak his or her words aloud as it is for the reader to hear them. As Shields puts it, liter- ary readings “show writ- ers that there are a lot of different ways to tell a story. When telling their own stories, it allows them to fi nd their own voice. As writers we all have our own unique voice.” UNION COUNTY MUSEUM THIRD TUESDAY SERIES Free ! 7 p.m., Tuesday, October 15 PACIFIC NORTHWEST ucmuseumoregon.com >ŝƩůĞtŚŝƚĞŚƵƌĐŚ͕ϯϲϲ^͘DĂŝŶ^ƚƌĞĞƚ͕hŶŝŽŶ We honor them for all they do to benefit their patients and improve our quality of life. National PA Week: October 6-12, 2019 Contact Dick Mason at 541-786-5386 or dmason@ lagrandeobserver.com. Follow Dick on Twitter @lgoMason. Fall Into The Holidays Sat., October 12 Come to the Union County Fairgrounds for our 2nd Annual Fall Into the Holidays Bazaar Something for Everyone • Over 35 Vendors Kmhhgjlqgmj[geemfalqYf\`Yn]Y^mf%Údd]\\Yq • Food will be available • Free Admission Approval” is a proposed constitu- tional amendment requiring voter approval for certain road tolls. “Oregon Psilocybin Services Act” would allow the manufacture, delivery and administration of psilocybin. Elections Division data shows that prospective initiatives are lagging slightly behind where initiative petitions typically are in the process at this point. In 2018, only 10 of 45 proposed initiatives were approved to cir- culate for signature gathering. On average, backers of those petitions had at least nine months to gather signatures after receiving their certifi ed ballot title from the at- torney general, and some less time considering they were appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court. In the 2020 cycle, the toll roads measure was cleared to circulate in December. The initiative is backed by Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, and Julie Parrish, former state representative from West Linn. According to Parrish, volunteers gathered signatures at county fairs and public events across Oregon this summer. So far, she said, they haven’t had to do any paid signa- ture gathering, which speaks to the volunteer pool available to them to get this initiative off the ground. Learn more about Physician Assistants in our online Provider Directory at www.grh.org today!
