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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2019)
Inside SPORTS Elf, grant help library, 2A Top Turkey Tactic, 1B Tigers maul The Dalles Follow us on the web MONDAY • November 25, 2019 • $1.50 Feeding hungry at the holidays Good day to our valued subscriber Bud Hill of La Grande A giant step back in time ■ ■ Mammoth or UNION COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT HITS RECORD LOW By Sabrina Thompson mastadon remains now at EOU The Observer LA GRANDE — For those who are fortunate, the holiday season includes deli- cious food to delve into, from turkey and ham to savory side dishes and sweet des- serts. However, not everyone has the means, space or time to make them. People and or- ganizations are stepping up to ensure no one goes hungry during Thanksgiving by serv- ing free dinners and distrib- uting food across Union and Wallowa counties. The day before Thanksgiv- ing, Community Connection of Northeast Oregon will give away meals after lunch at the Union County Senior Center in La Grande. Target- ing senior citizens, who often are living on limited budgets, CCNO partnered with the La Grande Safeway’s Turkey Bucks Program to raise funds for the meals. The money for the goods came from Safeway custom- ers, who rounded up their purchase totals or made direct donations that pass through to Community Connection. Store director Gordon Royal said the Safe- way has a goal of 200 meals by the end of the year and is well on the way with 140. “It is a great way to provide meals for the community,” Royal said. Other organizations are providing dinners on Thanks- giving Day. The Wallowa County Cham- ber of Commerce is hosting a Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Cloverleaf Hall, at the Wallowa County Fair- grounds in Enterprise from 1-2:30 p.m., and Neighbors Together of Union County is hosting a dinner at 1 p.m. at the Presbyterian Friendship Center, on Spring Street, La Grande. In Union, a free com- munity dinner will be served from 1 to 4 p.m. at the EOLS Clubhouse on Delta Avenue. See today’s local briefs for more information about these meals and locations. “Many people say they are thankful they have a place The overall civilian labor force in the county stood at 11,982, a drop of 16 from a year ago. But during this span, the number of unemployed fell from 558 to 474. The county’s unemployment rate “had been flirting with this record low by posting 5.1% rates during July, August, and September of this year and in several months during the prior two years,” according to the Employment Department. “But, until October, the rate had never dropped to 5%.” Union County last month had 8,150 private employees, according to the state, an increase of 120 from the prior October. Private sector gains were widespread, with six industries each adding 20-40 jobs. Retail trade employees rose from 230 to 260. Pro- fessional and business services added 40 employees to rise to 550. And the education and health service sector also added 40 for a total of 1,760 employees. Jim Whitbeck said there are jobs available here. The La Grande business owner and city councilor has confidence in the local economy. ”I think it’s pretty strong right now,” he said. Whitbeck opened Blue Mountain Outfitters in June 2014 in downtown La Grande, offering See Hungry / Page 5A See Report / Page 5A By Dick Mason The Observer Ronald Bond/The Observer GCT Land Management Inc. employees Dan Seulean, left, Kalin Schacher, center, and owner Gust Tsiatsos pour concrete for a footing Thursday at the 16th Street Elevation Pointe Project. The Oregon Employment Department reported Union County’s unemployment rate dropped to 5% in October, and since October 2018 added 20 construction jobs. ■ ■ Oregon Employment Department reports unemployment in October dips to 5% By Phil Wright, The Observer LA GRANDE — Union County unemployment in October dropped to a meager 5%. The Oregon Employment Department reported the figure was a record low in comparable rates dating back to 1990. Ronald Bond/The Observer Jim Whitbeck, right, owner of Blue Mountain Outfitters in downtown La Grande, discusses a display Friday with employees Carolyn Brandt and Eric Lincoln. Whitbeck said the business is going on five-and-a-half years of growth. “I think the thing I hear the most is a lot of people are surprised a business like ours can make it.” — Jim Whitbeck, Blue Mountain Outfitters owner LA GRANDE — A fossil is a messenger from the past. Eastern Oregon University now has such a message- carrier on campus — the partially fossilized remains of a mammoth or mastodon, recently recovered near Prineville by EOU students and faculty. What information does this creature, which is at least 10,000 years old, have to share? The complete answer may not be known until the mid 2020s. Faculty and students from EOU’s anthropology and biology departments are now beginning the long process of painstakingly cleaning and examining the partial remains of the creature. “We will be working on this for three to five years,” said Rory Becker, an EOU anthropology professor who led a group of students on a dig at the Prineville area site in October with fellow anthropology professor Linda Reed-Jerofke and biology professor Joe Corsini. The remains are of the front quarter of the creature. EOU professors and students hope to find out what hap- pened to the rest of it. “Where did the rest of it go? It is a bit of a mystery,” Corsini said. One possibility is the re- mains were carried away by carnivores in Central Oregon when mammoths roamed. Corsini said the mammoth will be examined closely for teeth marks that could reveal another animal pulled its remains away. Construction workers in a gravel quarry owned by Craig Woodward, an EOU alum, discovered the pre- historic remains earlier this year. He immediately alerted Eastern about the find. Woodward died not long after the bones were discovered and his family carried out his See Remains / Page 5A Forest Service tries again on forest plans By Andrew Cutler EO Media Group PENDLETON — After taking a step back this spring from updating the long-term management plans for the three national forests in the Blue Moutains after 15 years of try- ing, the U.S. Forest Service is ready to move forward again. And this time, the agency is tak- ing extra steps to try and resolve deep-rooted concerns of residents, industry and environmental groups. The Blues Intergovernmental Council has been formed to help frame the process of developing a new methodology for forest plan- ning for the Wallowa-Whitman, Malheur and Umatilla national forests. A series of meetings be- tween county commissioners and key Forest Service personnel have been held across the Blue Mountain region over the past year to help kickstart a framework for cross- jurisdiction work. WEATHER INDEX Classified .......4B Comics ...........7B Crossword .....4B Dear Abby .....8B Home .............1B Horoscope .....4B Lottery............2A Obituaries ......3A WEDNESDAY Opinion ..........4A Sports ............7A Sudoku ..........7B Weather .........8B “The underlying intent is to ensure that we can develop plans for the three national forests that would provide the opportunity for durable relationships with our com- munities and to make an important difference on the landscape for the long term,” said Eric Watrud, the forest supervisor on the Umatilla National Forest. The three forest plans — which together total more than 5,000 pages — contain guidelines for Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Tuesday 24 LOW 36/26 A snow shower Snow showers THANKFUL TO HAVE A HOME everything from grazing and timber harvest to wilderness protections. Forest plans are due to be revised every 10 to 15 years to account for changes in the landscape and to keep up with the latest science. The current Blue Mountains forest plans, which were last updated in 1990, remain in effect. “The 1990 plan is continuing to work, but this is an opportunity to update something that was See Plans / Page 5A CONTACT US HAVE A STORY IDEA? 541-963-3161 Call The Observer newsroom at 541-963-3161 or send an email to news@lagrandeobserver.com. More contact info on Page 4A. Issue 140 2 sections, 18 pages La Grande, Oregon Online at lagrandeobserver.com
