LOCAL
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2019
THE OBSERVER — 3A
Going blue for the Tigers
L OCAL B RIEFING
From staff reports
Book fair happens in Union
UNION — The staff at Union Elementary
are sponsoring their annual book fair in the
Hutchinson Library Dec. 2-6. Volunteers will
help shoppers with selecting books for gifts.
Book purchases come with a 25% rebate. The
sale is from 3:30-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday
and 9 a.m. to noon Friday.
Take the Holiday Shopping Bus
to Wallowa County
JOSEPH — For the 20th year, a Holi-
day Shopping Bus will take Union County
shoppers to Wallowa County Dec. 7. The bus
tour coincides with the Jingle Thru Joseph
festival, which features a holiday bazaar
and many open houses at Joseph businesses
offering special sales. There still are a few
seats left. Tickets are $20 per person and can
be reserved by emailing lularoeashleylee@
gmail.com or calling Ashley at 541-398-8160.
network with other guests, and enjoy wassail
(hot cider) and other tasty holiday goodies.
OTEC plans late-night work on
Island Avenue
LA GRANDE — Oregon Trail Electric Co-op
will be running lines across Island Avenue from
N. Pine Street between 11 p.m. Dec. 3 and 4 a.m.
Dec. 4. No outage is expected. Traffic lights will
not be working, and flaggers will be on site to
direct motorists.
Cove City Council meets Tuesday
COVE — The Cove City Council will
meet at 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at 504 Alder St. On
the agenda is a report on the speed study by
Rick Stanton of ODOT, a legal review of city
ordinances, and discussion on the city’s snow
plan. There also will be two public hearings:
at 7:30 p.m. regarding a cell tower modifi ca-
tion, and at 8 p.m. regarding the Shoemaker/
Dobbs setback variance.
Next Cove senior lunch served
Tuesday in Founders Hall
Teen Book Clubs — join us
COVE — The Cove Senior meal will be
served Dec. 3 in Founders Hall at the Ascen-
sion School Conference Center. The lunch
will feature sweet-and-sour chicken, white
rice, squash and mushrooms, green salad
and rolls with lemon cake for dessert. There
is a $5 charge per meal. Coffee and tea are
available at noon and the meal is served at
12:30 p.m.
LA GRANDE — The Imbler/Elgin Philly
group is selling Christmas trees as a fund-
raiser for the students’ upcoming trip. The
lot, at the former veterinarian clinic at Island
Avenue and Walton Road, will be open from
2-8 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays
and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays until the trees
are gone. Call Aimee Patterson at 541-786-
2388 for more information.
Community invited to ‘wassail’
open house
LA GRANDE — The Northeast Oregon
Area Health Education Center and Oregon
Health and Science University School of
Nursing in La Grande are teaming up to host
a “wassail” holiday open house Dec. 3 in the
third-fl oor foyer of Badgley Hall at Eastern
Oregon University. Drop in between 3-5 p.m.
to learn about the organizations’ programs,
Annual Cove toy drive begins
COVE — The 21st annual toy drive
benefi ting Cove children now is under-way.
Donations of new unwrapped toys must be
dropped off by Dec. 13 at Cheri’s Main Street
Salon, 603 Main St., Cove, between 10 a.m.
and 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The toys will
be distributed by the Cove United Methodist
Church to Cove area children on Dec. 14. For
more information call Cheri Doren at 541-
Wallowa Hospital
continues to build
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
The clock outside La Grande City Hall has been lit blue in support of the La Grande
High School football team’s run to the Class 4A state championship game. City
Manager Robert Strope said the clock was fi rst lit blue ahead of the fi rst playoff
game, will stay lit through Saturday’s fi nal and is something the city will look at do-
ing for other sports teams in the future.
P UBLIC S AFETY R EPORT
WEDNESDAY
The Union County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce took custody of
Conner Alexander Fry, 26, of
La Grande, for fi rst-degree
burglary, unlawful entry into
a vehicle and fi rst-degree
theft. According to state court
records, a Union County grand
jury indicted Fry on Oct. 3
on the burglary charge, two
counts of unlawful entry and
fi ve of fi rst-degree theft. The
state has accused Fry of steal-
ing various items, including
a gun, from Union County
residents in early September.
Law enforcement in Umatilla
County arrested Fry on a war-
rant based on the indictment
and transferred him back here.
Police in La Grande at about
7:30 p.m. responded to a call
about a vehicle stuck on the
railroad tracks near Y Avenue
and Second Street. Police
about four hours later helped
another driver also stuck on
the tracks and asked the city
public works department to
de-ice the area.
THURSDAY
La Grande police at about
7:10 a.m. responded to the
2800 block of Spruce Street on
a report of vehicle prowlers.
Police arrested a 27-year-old
man and 23-year-old woman,
both of La Grande, on misde-
meanor for attempted unlaw-
ful entry into a vehicle and
criminal mischief. Police also
arrested the woman for misde-
meanor heroin possession.
La Grande police at 5:29
p.m. received a complaint
about animal neglect on the
1900 block of Jupiter Way.
And fi refi ghters responded
to fi ve calls for medical assis-
tance on Thursday and 15 on
Wednesday.
O BITUARIES
Roberta Sinor
Elgin
Roberta Sinor, 75, of
Elgin, died Nov. 27 at a care
facility in Boise, Idaho. An
obituary is forthcoming.
Loveland Funeral Chapel &
Crematory will be handling
the arrangements.
formerly of Elgin, died Nov.
26 at a care facility in Baker
City. A graveside service will
be held at 2 p.m. Dec. 6 at the
Elgin Cemetery. An obituary
is forthcoming. Loveland Fu-
neral Chapel & Crematory is
handling the arrangements.
is forthcoming. Loveland
Funeral Chapel & Crema-
tory will be handling the
arrangements.
UPCOMING FUNERALS
AND VISITATIONS
Sponsored by
Grace Sweek
Ellen Morris Bishop /EO Media Group
The new all-weather walkway, constructed with funds given to Wallowa Memorial
Hospital by Mary and Kirk Hayes, will connect the hosptial with clinics to the west. It is
scheduled for completion this summer.
By Steve Tool
EO Media Group
WALLOWA — Wallowa
Memorial Hospital keeps
marching along the road to
progress.
One of the latest comple-
tions is the breezeway
between the hospital and the
clinic building next door. The
breezeway is completely en-
closed but has large amounts
of window space so users can
enjoy the view.
Hospital Chief Executive
Offi cer Larry Davy said the
breezeway keeps patients
and staff out of the weather.
“It can be pretty brutal
when the wind is blowing
and the snow fl ying and
zero degrees and people are
having to walk back and
forth,” he said.
Behind the breezeway is
a new generator that soon
power the clinic. The hospi-
tal received funding to cover
most of the costs.
“The risk we have is if the
power goes out at 3:30 p.m.
and it’s dark — we’re done.
You have to cancel the rest
of the day,” Davy said. If a
community disaster somehow
overwhelmed the hospital, he
added, the generator could
provide juice to the clinic to
keep paitents there warm.
The hospital also recently
installed a half-mile, asphalt,
walking path around the
perimeter. Davy said dona-
tions funded 90-95% of the
path’s construction. Hospital
employees donated about
$20,000 of the costs. The city
of Enterprise and Winding
Waters Clinic helped, as did
individual donations.
The path is available to
everyone in the community.
But it will be especially wel-
come to residents of the Wal-
lowa Valley Senior Living,
which owns the hospital. The
path allows the care facility
residents to stroll on a fl at,
even terrain that can accom-
modate walkers, wheelchairs
as well as fl eeter pedestrians.
In the spring, there will be
benches to rest on.
Wallowa Memorial’s
newexpansion just west of
the hospital also is complete.
Offi ces and care facilities,
including Winding Waters
Clinic’s dental care facilities,
will open right after Thanks-
giving.
The hospital’s longer
term plans include build-
ing a health care clinic in
Joseph. Davy said the Wal-
lowa County Health Care
District owns property on
Daggett and Main Street in
Joseph and expects to have
bids in hand and a recom-
mendation to consider by
its January board meeting.
Weather permitting,
Davy estimated building
construction could take 10
months and fi nish in early
2021. Part of the build-
ing will be for community
health education with a
kitchen for cooking classes.
The hospital, including
the medical offi ce building
and Wallowa Valley Senior
Living, also is leaping
forward in fi scal manage-
ment. In 2014, mortgage
debt stood at $19.5 million.
Today, debt has leveled to
$7.5 million.
“We’ve paid off a lot, and
our goal is to have that
paid off in the next four to
fi ve years,” Davy said. He
added that WVSL, once a
fi nancial albatross for the
hospital district, has bro-
ken even since the middle
of last year.
10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City
Cove
Elgin
Grace Sweek, 95, of Cove,
died Nov. 27 at her resi-
dence. An obituary is forth-
coming. Loveland Funeral
Chapel & Crematory will be
handling the arrangements.
Linda Y. Johnston, 76,
of Elgin, died Nov. 27 at
Grande Ronde Hospital.
An obituary is forthcoming.
Loveland Funeral Chapel &
Crematory will be handling
the arrangements.
541-975-1364
Nov. 29-30
Ruth McClure:
2-4 p.m. Nov. 29 viewing;
9-9:45 a.m. Nov. 30
viewing followed by
10 a.m. funeral; all
at Loveland Funeral
Chapel, La Grande.
David B. Warren
Island City
Laura Chapman
Formerly of Elgin
Laura Chapman, 76,
David B. Warren, 77, of
Island City, died Nov. 26 at
his residence. An obituary
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