2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
LOCAL
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019
Getting closer to the Quiet Zone
Wallowa County
Food Bank gears
up for busy season
TODAY
Today is Friday, Nov. 22,
the 326th day of 2019. There
are 39 days left in the year.
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Nov. 22, 1963, John F.
Kennedy, the 35th president
of the United States, was
assassinated while riding in
a motorcade in Dallas; Texas
Gov. John B. Connally, in
the same car as Kennedy,
was seriously wounded; a
suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald,
was arrested; Vice President
Lyndon B. Johnson was
sworn in as president.
ON THIS DATE
In 1935, a fl ying boat,
the China Clipper, took off
from Alameda, California,
carrying more than 100,000
pieces of mail on the fi rst
trans-Pacifi c airmail fl ight.
In 1967, the U.N. Security
Council approved Resolution
242, which called for Israel
to withdraw from territories
it had captured the previous
June, and implicitly called
on adversaries to recognize
Israel’s right to exist.
In 1977, regular passenger
service between New York
and Europe on the super-
sonic Concorde began on a
trial basis.
In 1990, British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher,
having failed to win re-
election of the Conservative
Party leadership on the
fi rst ballot, announced she
would resign.
In 1995, acting swiftly
to boost the Balkan peace
accord, the UN Security
Council suspended eco-
nomic sanctions against
Serbia and eased the arms
embargo against the states
of the former Yugoslavia.
In 2005, Angela Merkel
took power as Germany’s
fi rst female chancellor.
In 2017, former sports
doctor Larry Nassar, ac-
cused of molesting at least
125 girls and young women
while working for USA
Gymnastics and Michigan
State University, pleaded
guilty to multiple charges of
sexual assault.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“A man does what he
must — in spite of personal
consequences, in spite of
obstacles and dangers and
pressures — and that is the
basis of all human morality.”
— President John F. Kennedy
Sabrina Thompson/The Observer
La Grande City Manager Robert Strope, left, Environmental/Regulatory Superin-
tendent Kyle Carpenter and Federal Railroad Administration member Jeff Stewart
observe the Fir Street crossing Tuesday to make sure the arm meets all regulations.
This inspection is part of what may be the fi nal steps in the city’s efforts to implement
a Quiet Zone that bans trains from blowing whistles at certain crossings.
VA to expand support
for caregivers of veterans
■ Starting in June 2020, caregivers of veterans who served
anytime after 1974 will be able to apply for full services
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Caregivers of veterans
soon will receive additional support from the
Department of Veteran Affairs.
The VA’s Caregiver Support Program,
which now assists caregivers of veterans who
served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the
United States, will grow each of the next two
years. Starting in June of 2020, caregivers
of veterans who served anytime after 1974
will be able to apply for full services, and
sometime in 2021 caregivers of veterans
who served during or after World War II can
apply.
Once the expansion is fully phased in, care-
givers of all veterans who served from World
War II on will be eligible for full benefi ts
from the Caregiver Support Program, which
today is available only to caregivers of post-
9/11 veterans. To be eligible for full benefi ts,
caregivers must be caring for veterans with
medical conditions linked to their time serv-
ing in the military.
“This is exciting. It is a big deal. People
have a lot of questions about it,” said Peggi
Spears, interim director of the Walla Walla
VA’s Caregiver Support Program and a social
worker for the Walla Walla VA, who visited
La Grande Wednesday.
The Caregiver Support Program is being
expanded by the VA MISSION Act Congress
passed in 2018, which calls for expansion of
the VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assis-
tance for Family Caregivers.
“Caregivers play a critical role in the
health and well-being of some of our most
vulnerable veterans,” said VA Secretary
Robert Wilkie in a VA news release. “Under
the MISSION Act, we are strengthening
and expanding our program to positively
impact the lives of veterans and deliver the
best customer experience to them and their
caregivers.”
The benefi ts caregivers of post-9/11 veter-
ans receive, which will soon be available to
almost all caregivers of veterans, include a
stipend and health insurance.
Spears said one reason benefi ts like these
“Caregivers play a critical role in the
health and well-being of some of our
most vulnerable veterans. Under the
MISSION Act, we are strengthening and
expanding our program to positively
impact the lives of veterans and deliver
the best customer experience to them
and their caregivers.”
— Robert Wilkie, United States Department
of Veterans Affairs secretary
are important for caregivers is that many
gave up jobs to help loved ones and lost
out on more than fi nancial benefi ts in the
process.
“Many give up gratifying careers to serve
as caregivers,” she said.
The expansion of services means older
veterans will be getting benefi ts in addition
to the ones they already receive. One of the
important ones they already receive is respite
service, which is help given to caregivers to
give them time off. Spears knows fi rst hand
how important this is. She was the caregiver
for her husband, a veteran who needed
extensive caregiving before dying about two
years ago. She told The Observer in 2018
that if not for this VA service, she would have
become ill from the stress and exhaustion of
caring for her husband.
Spears said the medical issues veterans
face with the help of caregivers generally
varies depending on when they served. She
said many who served in Vietnam suffer
from health problems related to the effects of
Agent Orange, a defoliant. World War II vet-
erans who served in jungles of the Pacifi c are
more likely to have chronic fungus-related
health issues. A common malady veterans of
all wars suffer from is post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Spears said for the VA to continue to
expand its support of caregivers is a wonder-
ful gesture of support for caregivers and the
veterans they assist.
“We need to honor what (the veterans did)
with acts of kindness,” she said.
ENTERPRISE — Now
entering into its busiest
time of the year, the Wal-
lowa County Food Bank in
Enterprise and Wallowa is
preparing to meet the food
needs of the county.
“It’s essential,” said Con-
nie Guentert, manager of
Community Connection
of Wallowa County, which
oversees the food bank.
“Food is a basic need.”
Countywide, the food
bank serves about 75 fami-
lies and about 190 people
each month, she said.
“That number ebbs and
fl ows,” she said. “That num-
ber continues to increase in
the winter – signifi cantly.”
She noted the special
circumstances that arise
during the colder months.
“The holidays are
during that time, people
with seasonal jobs are not
working … and relying on
unemployment,” Guentert
said. “So the food bank is
extremely busy during the
winter months.”
She sees the role of the
food bank as vital to the
community.
“A lot of people, a lot of
families rely on the food
bank to meet their needs
every month,” she said.
“Food and security, the food
bank helps alleviate that.”
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She said that although
the food bank intends to
help those in real need,
recipients are not required
to prove their income is low.
“It’s a self-declaration,”
she said. “We have generous
income levels. Anyone who
qualifi es for SNAP (food
stamps), they’re defi nitely
going to qualify for the food
bank.”
One of the main pro-
grams that assists the food
bank is the Fresh Alliance
program, with partners
Safeway in Enterprise and
the Market Place in Joseph.
Under Fresh Alliance, the
grocery stores take fresh
items that are about to
reach their expiration dates
off the shelves, freeze them
and donate them to the
food bank for distribution.
Occasionally they’re items
that cannot be frozen, such
as produce.
Kayla Thacker, assistant
manager at the Market
Place in Joseph, said that
the store started partici-
pating in Fresh Alliance
offi cially about a month
and a half ago. She said
the food bank checks the
items to make sure they’re
safe to give out before
distribution.
“That way (recipients) get
a chance to go through the
items and get fresh, not just
canned, goods,” she said.
Call us for your
catering needs.
Our banquet room is
ready for your
holiday gatherings.
541-963-8766
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