Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2019)
LOCAL WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2019 FIGHT Continued from Page 1A at $1,200, a 1991 Dodge pick- up valued at $1,000 and the home at 61307 Conley Road, Cove. Court documents peg the market value at $264,840 for the three-bed- room two-bath 1,863-square- foot manufactured home built in 2003 that sits on 4.77 acres of land. The home was a point of contention in Williams and Lee’s divorce, according to evi- dence presented at Lee’s bail hearing in the murder case. Williams’ sister Peggy Titus and her lawyer, Glenn Null, fi led motions Oct. 10 in civil court to keep Lee from receiv- ing any benefi ts from the sale of Williams’ estate, which was schedule for Oct. 13. Williams fi led for divorce from Lee in July of 2018 due to irreconcilable differences. Because Williams died before the divorce was fi nalized, and therefore the couple’s assets were not yet divided, there is a question of who rightfully owns the property in Cove. According to court docu- ments regarding the divorce and the Union County Asses- sor’s offi ce, Williams owned the house. Divorce records also state Williams and Lee would equitably divide the benefi ts from the sale of the house once the divorce was fi nalized. Null also fi led a motion requesting the court to declare Lee as Williams’ “slayer” and thus acknowl- edge he is “a person who, with felonious intent, takes on or procures the taking of life of a decedent.” That declaration would guaran- tee Lee would not receive any of the benefi ts from the estate. Attorney Floyd Vaughn, who represents Lee in the estate matter, fi led an objec- tion, arguing it would be un- just to declare Lee the slayer as his guilt is still a matter for the criminal trial. Lee’s RV repair shop, where Lee worked and lived at the time of Williams’ death, is another asset under consider- ation. Vaughn objected to the inclusion of the business in the sale because Lee owned the property before marrying Williams. The dissolution of marriage documents con- fi rm Lee’s ownership of the business and his right to the THE OBSERVER — 5A proceeds from its sale. Lee, through Vaughn, on Oct. 22 fi led an objection to the asking price of $299,000 for the Cove house, claim- ing it was more than 10% lower than the listing price of $335,000, and that after other deductions, the sales commis- sion and other debts, the offer is too small to entertain. The house remains for sale. Circuit Judge Thomas Powers is presiding in the es- tate matter and the murder case. The court set Nov. 26 for a hearing on the money from any sale of the estate and objections to offers. The next proceeding in Lee’s murder case is a pre- trial conference March 9, 2020. The trial remains on the docket for the month of April. CAMERA Continued from Page 1A The towers stand on 2 acres of land deeded to the ODF by what was then the Bowman-Hicks Lumber Co. for the purpose of establishing a lookout. Also there is communications equipment serving the ODF, state and county agencies powered by a line from Pacifi c Power and Light, Howard said. The ACTi i96 PTZ camera completes a full rotation in about 15 minutes. If smoke is detected, an alert is sent via a microwave signal west to Mount Emily and down to La Grande, where the signal is relayed to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center in Prineville. Once notifi ed of an alert, the center views the image sent by the cam- era and then contacts the appropriate response units to check it out. Howard said that since the camera was installed in July, there have been several alerts but all have proven to be legal burns. Although the state-of-the-art camera is the latest technology, it’s by no means a “silver bullet” and they won’t replace human eyes, he said. “We just like having it in our tool box of different tools” for detecting fi res, Howard said. That “tool box” includes a partnership the ODF has developed with the U.S. Forest Service, Wallowa County and other state agencies. Paul Karvoski, fi re chief for the county and the city of Enterprise, works Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group Matt Howard, unit forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Wallowa Unit, looks at a view transmitted from the fi re-detection camera on Howard Butte on a computer in his offi ce in Wallowa. closely with the ODF and hopes to see additional cameras located in the county. “I can’t say enough about it,” he said on the one on Howard Butte. “I’d like to get three or four more in the county.” In particular, he’d like to see one es- tablished on Courtney Butte overlook- ing Troy, which was nearly destroyed by the Grizzly Fire in August 2015. Nathan Goodrich, U.S. Forest Service fi re management offi cer for the Wal- lowa Valley Ranger District of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest based in Joseph, said there are no such cameras in his area. Although there are lookout towers, they are lacking in basic infrastructure required for a camera, such as power lines, cables, hardware and line-of-sight connections to which the microwave dishes can transmit. “We’ve been looking at those (camer- as) for some time now, but they’re pretty spendy to get into,” he said. “They’ve shown to be pretty successful.” But Goodrich is relatively satis- fi ed with his lookout towers that are manned during the peak fi re season from June to October. “They’re invaluable,” he said. “You can’t talk to a camera and get more information.” UNION Continued from Page 1A including roof, step repair and fl ooring work, are needed because of the age of the school district’s buildings. Its high school was built in 1912 and the J.F. Hutchinson building was constructed in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The S.E. Miller building and the high school gym were built in the 1950s. Projects the school board will be rating in terms of prioritization include handi- Dick Mason/The Observer capped accessibility improve- ments at the high school and Bond funds will pay for major renovation work on Union its gym. Wells said presently High School’s gym. it is hard for people with mobility issues to get into parents and grandparents under a portion of the the high school because it and great-grandparents, roadway to heat its gym. does not have an elevator, Wells said, some of whom The pipes needed to be and steps must be climbed have mobility issues. repaired a number of times, once inside since it has has Possible improvements to which meant the asphalt three levels. boost handicapped accessibili- over it had to be torn up and The gym is also diffi cult to ty in the gym include expand- replaced each time. This has reach for those with health ing the foyer of the gym’s taken a toll on the roadway, issues because of steps that main entrance and placing a Wells said. The superin- need to be climbed to get into ramp within it. A further step tendent also noted that the its foyer and then into the might involve installing a steam that escaped from the bleachers. Wells said mak- ramp in the bleachers. tunnel to the gym eroded ing the gym handicapped Among the other work the the roadway’s asphalt. This accessible is critical because bond council will be consid- underground steam is no so many people go there ering is repairing portions longer an issue because the for high school graduation, of the roadway separating high school gym received its the annual Christmas and the high school from the own heating system several spring concerts and the an- high school gym and Union nual FFA banquet. Elementary School’s S.E. “We draw our biggest Miller building. crowds for these events each Wells said steam from the year,” he said. high school’s furnace was Many of those coming are once pumped via a pipes years ago. Another project the school will be taking input on involves the windows for classrooms in the S.E Miller building. Wells said they need to be replaced for safety reasons. The current win- dows are only 2.5 feet above the ground, making it easy for people to see inside. Some of the issues the school district will address with the $8 million are ones related to the outdated de- sign of the buildings. Wells noted that when the high school was built in 1912, it was designed so that heat leaving the building would be funneled to its roof to melt snow. The space under the roof was thus not insu- lated. Unfortunately, correcting this loss of heat will not be as simple as installing insula- tion. Wells explained that architects have told him that if insulation was installed under the roof it would cause it to collapse under the weight of snow, which instead of melting would accumulate. The superinten- dent said he hopes that an affordable solution to this issue can be developed. FAMILY OWNED PROCESS Continued from Page 1A “When the legislature has control off the process, they often gerrymander the districts so they are not competitive or don’t represent the communities of interest,” Turrill said. “The incumbents then have almost no ability to be replaced. The shape of the district does not matter. It’s the votes for the politician.” The group met for nearly a year before reporting to the Legislature. Lawmak- ers wouldn’t even hold a hearing on proposed legis- lation, according to Turrill. With that 2017 failure, a few task force members hope to ask the state’s 2.7 million voters to put the in- dependent process in place and change how redistrict- ing has worked for the past 160 years. Last week, a political action committee, “People Not Politicians,” fi led a petition to put the matter on the 2020 ballot. The measure would create the Citizens Redistricting Commission comprised of four Democratic voters, four Republican voters and four voters who identify with a third party or are nonaffi liated. The ballot effort has drawn together an unusual constellation of Oregon groups. Included are groups rang- ing from Common Cause Oregon and Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group to the Oregon Farm Bureau and the Taxpayer Association of Oregon. Also on board are the NAACP of Eugene/ Springfi eld, the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters of Oregon. The Independent Party and Progressive Party have also signed on. To get before voters in November 2020, the groups need to submit 1,000 signatures backing the proposed ballot title. Once the measure lan- guage is approved, they will need 149,360 voter signatures to earn a spot on the ballot. The measure comes at a time when redistricting is coming under scrutiny across the country. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it couldn’t stop legislators from creating districts that give their own party an edge in voter regis- tration. Eric Holder, former attorney general in the Obama administration, has launched a campaign aimed at the issue and 541-786-8984 several states are consider- ing reforms. Most such efforts target states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, where Republi- cans have been accused of using redistricting to give their party lopsided legisla- tive victories. While few claim that Or- egon’s redistricting process is so partisan, critics say it leaves some Oregonians without a voice. It’s also not clear how the Democratic Party, which has dominant command of state government, will respond. Molly Woon, spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Oregon, said the party is neutral on the idea but may take a stance next year. The Oregon Republican Party didn’t respond to a request for comment. Evan Ridley, political director of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, said in an email that a “balanced citizen-driven commission made up of Oregonians from across the state would provide a better opportu- nity for transparency and fair representation for all Oregonians, especially those who tend to be under- represented in the Legisla- ture like rural Oregonians and seniors.” The process of reshaping boundaries of the districts served by senators and representatives happens every 10 years following the latest census. The U.S. Census Bureau is gearing up for the 2020 count, which could produce another congressional seat for Oregon. “The stakes are super high,” said Julie Parrish, a former Republican state representative who sup- ports the initiative. She pointed out that after the last redistricting in 2010, the House’s 30-30 party split changed. She worries that Democrats will seek a tighter grip on state govern- ment in the next process. She said it could put some Democrats who’ve publicly supported redis- tricting reform in an awk- ward position. She already expects the state’s powerful unions, a key constituency of the Democratic Party, to challenge the initiative. La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst ACDelcoTSS Alliance Self Storage 2105 E L Ave., La Grande • allianceselfstorage123@gmail.com www.CountrysideSheds.com STORAGE BUILDINGS (541) 663-0246 Locally owned and operated for over 25 years 10505 N. McAlister Road (Corner of Hwy 82 & N. McAlister Rd.) Thank you Chamber Members Arising Dawn & Hope Campaign RENT to OWN 215 Elm Street La Grande (541) 963-5440 UNION COUNTY www.VisitUnionCounty.org northwestfurnitureandmattress.com starting at $ 68 Month
