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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2019)
2A — THE OBSERVER FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2019 LOCAL Cold, wind affect harvest D AILY P LANNER TODAY Today is Friday, Nov. 8, the 312th day of 2019. There are 53 days left in the year. By George Plaven EO Media Group TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On Nov. 8, 2016, Re- publican Donald Trump was elected America’s 45th president, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton in an astonishing victory for a celebrity business- man and political novice. Republicans kept their majorities in the Senate and House. Trish Yerges/For The Observer ON THIS DATE In 1861, during the Civil War, the USS San Jacinto intercepted a British mail steamer, the Trent, and detained a pair of Confeder- ate diplomats who were enroute to Europe to seek support for the Southern cause. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln won re-election as he defeated Democratic challenger George B. McClellan. In 1923, Adolf Hitler launched his fi rst attempt at seizing power in Germany with a failed coup in Munich that came to be known as the “Beer-Hall Putsch.” In 1950, during the Ko- rean War, the fi rst jet-plane battle took place as U.S. Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown shot down a North Korean MiG-15. In 1960, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon for the presidency. In 1987, 11 people were killed when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded as crowds gathered in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, for a cer- emony honoring Britain’s war dead. In 2004, after a decade, the U.S. dollar was eliminat- ed from circulation in Cuba. LOTTERY Megabucks: $5.8 million 3-5-17-25-30-47 Mega Millions: $145 million 2-9-24-49-54-19-x3 Powerball: $50 million 15-28-46-62-64-17-x3 Elgin native Dr. Roselyn Smith, left, of Miami, Florida, visited the Elgin Museum and Historical Society Monday with a suitcase full of historical treasures that she donated to the museum in her mother’s name. Smith’s mother was the late Ethel Smith, a reporter-editor and owner of the Elgin Recorder. Smith donated the historical photos, newspapers, school yearbooks and other documents to the museum for their venue displaying the Elgin Record- er’s history. Accepting the donation on behalf of the museum is Charlie Horn, center, and Gerald Hopkins. Career success for rural students By Trish Yerges For The Observer More information Elgin alumna and clinical psycholo- gist Roselyn Smith, PhD, of Miami, Florida, made a recent presentation be- fore the Elgin High School student body, describing her career journey and how rural students can overcome any limita- tions they think they have because of growing up in a remote, rural area. Smith is the daughter of the late Arthur and Ethel Smith of Elgin. She attended Elgin schools and in 1974 graduated from Elgin High School. Now, 45 years later, she has returned to her alma mater for the fi rst time to share her story and encourage a new generation of rural students seeking to fi nd their niche in the world. Recounting her early adult years, Smith said she had wondered what she was going to do with her life after high school. She had to start some- where with a modest goal in mind, she thought. “So, following graduation, I enrolled at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario,” Smith said. “After that I got a job working for the Urban Renewal Offi ce in Salem as a secretary.” She worked conscientiously, and then opportunity knocked when a position for an administrative assistant opened up with the City of Salem Airport and Transit Division. “I’d never done anything like that, and the job involved supervising two women older than myself,” she said. “Although I didn’t feel confi dent, I told myself I could learn this job, so I applied and got it.” To learn more about Dr. Roselyn Smith or to listen to podcasts featuring her, visit her website at https://roselynsmithphd.com. With this kind of growth mindset, Smith became profi cient at her new job. Her boss noticed her quality work performance and saw her potential, and he encouraged her to go back to school and “at least get your bachelor’s degree,” she recalled. “So I went back to school, fi rst to Chemeketa Community College in Salem and afterward to Willamette University,” Smith explained. During this time, she visited friends in Los Angeles, where one of her friends convinced her to fi nish her education at University of California Los Angeles. She moved to Los Angeles, and in 1984 she graduated from UCLA with a de- gree in economics. This, in turn, opened up opportunities for her to work in public policy analysis and as a business- woman before she earned a doctorate degree of philosophy in psychology from the University of Miami in 2004. Smith pointed out to her student audience that each single event in their lives begets the next, and that they should not fear failure when trying new things. “Even if you fail at something, it was still a learning experience, and that has value too,” she said. Keeping an open and optimistic mind to possibilities and accepting the advice and direction of caring mentors in her life contributed greatly to Smith’s professional growth and award-winning achievements. She did not allow any perceived limitations or roadblocks stop her from accepting new opportunities. She kept telling herself, “I can learn this,” and she did. She illustrated, “If I hadn’t taken this opportunity, then this other one would never have happened either. They are all connected to each other.” Embracing this philosophy has paid off in larger-than-life ways for Smith, opening doors she never anticipated, and she assured her EHS student audience that this truth can be theirs as well in whatever interests them personally, whether it is developed here at home or away. While Smith currently works as a clinical psychologist in Miami, she was in recent years accepted into the Fulbright Specialist Program and the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resil- ient Cities as a consultant in human resilience, critical incident and disaster mental health, preparedness, response and recovery. This has been a pin- nacle honor in her professional life to date, she said, and a reminder to her how rural students can achieve great things by believing in themselves and saying yes to opportunities, supportive people and education that promote their interests. Following her presentation to the student body, Smith visited Emily Sorensen’s health class to present information about mental health intervention with a focus on loss and grieving. Win for Life: Nov. 6 10-36-40-59 Running for vets, Grande Ronde Academy Pick 4: Nov. 7 • 1 p.m.: 8-7-4-8 • 4 p.m.: 6-6-8-2 • 7 p.m.: 7-2-6-1 • 10 p.m.: 9-6-5-9 Pick 4: Nov. 6 • 1 p.m.: 3-3-7-7 • 4 p.m.: 4-9-4-1 • 7 p.m.: 6-8-7-9 • 10 p.m.: 0-8-7-2 ■ Grande Ronde Academy fundraiser honors veterans, includes a 10K and 5K run and a 1-mile run/walk By Sabrina Thompson The Observer NEWSPAPER LATE? Every effort is made to de- liver your Observer in a timely manner. Occasionally condi- tions exist that make delivery more diffi cult. If you are not on a motor route, delivery should be before 5:30 p.m. If you do not receive your paper by 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, please call 541-963-3161 by 6 p.m. If your delivery is by motor carrier, delivery should be by 6 p.m. For calls after 6, please call 541-975- 1690, leave your name, address and phone number. Your paper will be delivered the next business day. QUOTE OF THE DAY “Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” — Margaret Lee Runbeck, American author Tomorrow morning, people will have the chance to run through La Grande as a participant in the sixth annual Veterans Fun Run hosted by Grande Ronde Academy. The run honors the veterans who have served and are serving, promotes healthy activities and sup- ports GRA. The event includes a 10K and 5K run and a 1-mile run/walk, starting at the parking lot behind Grande Ronde Academy, 507 Palmer, La Grande, adjacent to Pioneer Park. The 5K and 10K runners will make their way through South La Grande. Once participants return to the event site, there will be activities including mak- ing cards to send to local veterans. “I am a Gulf War veter- an,” Cody Vavra said about why he participates. “I love seeing people come together and honor the sacrifi ces made by the veterans. I am not a runner by any means, but this is a great event that supports a great school.” Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., with the 10K leaving at 8 a.m., 5K leaving at 8:30 a.m. and the 1-mile run/walk leaving at 9 a.m. Veterans participate for free. The cost for non-veterans is $25, a family is $60, and kids in eighth grade and younger are $10. For $10 more, participants may pur- chase a T-shirt. There are prizes for those who come in in fi rst to third place and prize drawings throughout the event. La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst ACDelcoTSS Nicole Cathey 10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City 541-975-1364 Veterans erans er an n D ns Day Breakf B Br Bre Breakfast ea ak k fast kf fa ast Call us for your catering needs. Fr ee to Free t o A All Al onday nday ay N Novemb ovem m b ber 1 11 1 Monday November 11th 8am m to 10am 10a 1 10 0am 0a am Our banquet room is ready for your holiday gatherings. First t Ba Baptist Church aptist a pti st Ch C Churc urc 541-963-8766 tendepotstreet.com An Independent Insurance Agency Reed & Associates for excellent service LOCALLY! GRA is a nondenomi- national Christian private school with 36 students from kindergarten to eighth grade. According to GRA, proceeds from the Fun Run go toward expenses for the event as well as helping with curriculum and schol- arship funds. In addition to the fundraising aspect, the school began the event in 2013 as an outreach opportunity to involve the community in recognizing and honoring veterans. BAKER CITY — Farm- ers in Eastern Oregon are optimistic about the size and quality of this year’s potato crop, despite cold weather during harvest that can lead to issues with starch content and bruising. Mark Ward, who grows roughly 200 acres of Rus- set Burbank potatoes near Baker City, estimated yields are up 5% over the previous year, thanks in part to a more mild summer and much- needed reprieve from wildfi re smoke choking out sunlight in the valley. Ward said potatoes also benefi ted from a longer grow- ing season, as the fi rst fi eld frost did not come until late September, giving potatoes more time to fi nish bulking underground. In the past, Ward said farmers could expect frost by Sept. 10. However, Ward said, when the cold weather did come it was “one of the coldest, windiest harvests we’ve ever had,” with temperatures not getting much over 50 degrees during the day and two below-freezing nights in the teens. “It defi nitely affects the quality,” Ward said. “With colder temperatures, the potatoes are going to bruise more.” Ward, who serves as chair- man of the Oregon Potato Commission, grows spuds for J.R. Simplot Co. that are used to make french fries for restaurants, including McDonald’s. Apart from bruising, he said colder weather can prompt potatoes to convert some starches into sugar, which makes for a darker colored, less appetiz- ing french fry. “That is not what the po- tato companies want,” Ward said. “They want a white, very light-colored french fry.” Mother Nature has been particularly unkind to potato growers in places like Idaho and across the Midwest, where early frost and freez- ing weather are forcing farmers to rush harvest or risk losing thousands of acres of spuds. Though the 2019 harvest was challenging, Ward said the Eastern Oregon crop ap- pears to have avoided disaster. Oregon grows about 7% of all U.S. potatoes, with 46,000 acres statewide. More than two-thirds of those spuds come from Umatilla and Morrow counties in the Columbia Basin. Greg Harris, farm man- ager at Threemile Canyon Farms near Boardman, said snow in March delayed plant- ing by a few weeks, but oth- erwise he was very pleased with the growing season. The summer was more mild compared to recent years, Harris said, with fewer days of triple-digit heat stifl ing the plants’ growth. Medicare, Auto, Home insurance and Annuities Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 www.reed-insurance.net Kevin Reed
