LOCAL
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2019
THE OBSERVER — 3A
Baker County woman searches for purr-fect solution
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — Karen Skeen knows
that her noble task will never be com-
pletely fi nished but she’s also comforted,
on these cold winter nights, in the knowl-
edge that 19 feral cats are not starving or
freezing.
Skeen, one of the founders of New Hope
for Eastern Oregon Animals, is celebrating
a nearly three-month campaign to capture
the 19 cats from a property near North
Powder and fi nd safe places for them to
live.
Although Skeen, who has been helping
feral cats for more than two decades, said
she has seen larger colonies of feral cats
in Baker City, the North Powder situation
was challenging because the site, about 2
miles outside the town in southern Union
County, is isolated with few places for the
cats to shelter.
“They would never have survived” the
winter, Skeen said. “This is one of the big-
gest campaigns I’ve been involved in.”
It all started in late September.
Skeen said she got a phone call from
a woman whose father and stepmother,
Gary and Carol Tate, had died just a day
apart at their home near North Powder.
When someone opened the door of a
storage building on the property about 20
cats ran out, Skeen said.
The animals were feral, although it’s
possible they been fed, she said.
New Hope For Eastern Oregon Animals
and another Baker City animal rescue group,
Best Friends of Baker, each donated $1,000 for
the effort to trap the cats, have each spayed or
neutered, and try to fi nd homes for the felines.
While volunteers, including Megan Ken-
dall of Baker City, were working on the
latter task, volunteers from Baker City
drove daily to the property near North
Powder to put out food for the cats, Skeen
said.
Kendall said she solicited interest
through Facebook posts as well as adver-
tisements in the Baker City Herald and
the Elkhorn Media Group radio stations.
Eventually seven property owners, all in
rural areas of Baker County, each agreed
to take on at least two of the feral cats.
Each property includes a barn where the
cats can get out of the weather, and all prop-
erty owners agreed to feed the animals.
“It’s just wonderful,” Kendall said of the
residents who offered to help the cats.
Skeen agreed.
“The barns that the cats were trans-
ported to were all extremely nice and
clean and the caregivers are all caring
people,” she wrote in an email.
Once volunteers had arranged for places
to take the feral cats, they started planning
the trapping campaign, Skeen said.
That began just before Thanksgiving. The
fi rst time the trap was set up it corralled 10
cats.
Another time six more cats were captured.
Volunteers returned later and noticed
that food left at the site had been eaten,
and a subsequent trapping netted three
more cats, Skeen said.
Because it was so late in the year and
P UBLIC S AFETY R EPORT
FRIDAY
Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce
arrested Wesley English, 18, of
La Grande, for third-degree theft
and second-degree burglary.
The Union County Sheriff’s Of-
fi ce at about 12:20 p.m. respond-
ed to Island City on a report of
someone who was mentally ill.
The Union County Sheriff’s
Offi ce at 4:38 p.m. received
a report from Highway 203
and Pierce Road, La Grande,
regarding animal cruelty.
A La Grande caller at 5:45
p.m. reported harassment. An
offi cer contacted the caller and
referred the person to Shelter
From the Storm, the nonprofi t
that provides services to victims
of domestic violence.
SATURDAY
La Grande police at about
12:19 p.m. responded to a noise
complaint on the 1800 block
of Adams Avenue. The person
causing the noise was in a men-
tal state but agreed to go to bed.
SUNDAY
Oregon State Police arrested
Percy Brigham, 50, of Car-
son, Washington, for felon in
possession of a weapon and
driving while suspended.
A caller in Union at 2:39 p.m.
reported two dogs in the area
of the 800 block of West Arch
Street were chasing sheep. The
caller warned he would take the
dogs to the shelter if need be.
Emergency services at about
4:40 p.m. responded to a crash
that resulted in an injury at
Wilkinson Lane and Peach
Road, La Grande.
And, fi refi ghters responded
to nine calls for medical as-
sistance on Sunday, 12 on
Saturday and nine on Friday.
Firefi ghters responded to two
fi re calls over the weekend. The
fi rst was a house fi re Saturday
afternoon in North Powder which
destroyed a home but caused no
injuries. The second was a fi re
started by a candle in a home
on Lake Avenue in La Grande
late Sunday night. The candle
fi re, reported at 11 p.m., burned
a small hole in a couch but was
out when fi refi ghters arrived.
O BITUARIES
Clarence Lee Blaylock
Formerly of Cove
1938-2019
Clarence Lee Blaylock,
81, formerly of Cove, died
Oct. 21 at his
home in Sa-
lome, Arizona.
Clarence
was born May
3, 1938, in
Crossville, Tennessee, to
Clarence and Vera Blaylock.
In 1964, he married Betty
Ann Barnett, and they had
three sons: Timothy, Brian
and Delbert. Clarence and
Betty lived in Cove from the
late 1960s to the late 1990s.
Clarence and Betty shared
42 years of marriage and
a love for the outdoors,
hunting, fi shing and gold
prospecting. They were
members of numerous gold
mining clubs and spent
many summers as camp host
in Auburn for the Eastern
Oregon Mining and Pros-
pecting Club.
Surviving relatives include
his sons and daughters-in-
law, Timothy and Tammy
Blaylock, Brian and Fran
Blaylock and Delbert
Blaylock; brothers, Edward
Blaylock, Douglas Blaylock
and Ronald Blaylock; sisters,
Alice Burdette, Donna Misra,
Edna Burges and Annette
Sapp; and numerous grand-
children and great-grandchil-
dren.
He was preceded in death
by his wife, Betty, in 2006;
parents, Clarence and Vera;
sister, Rita Burdette; and
brothers, Bill Blaylock and
Kenneth Blaylock.
Editors note: This obituary is
being reprinted due to an error.
UPCOMING FUNERALS
AND VISITATIONS
Sponsored by
Dec. 28
Nellie Lathrop:
11 a.m. memorial
service, Joseph Baptist
Church.
temperatures had dropped, she is board-
ing those three cats until spring when
they will be made available for adoption
as well.
One of the property owners who volun-
teered to adopt some of the feral cats, who
asked not to be identifi ed, said the cats —
four in all — were a welcome addition to a
cattle ranch that had been without feline
protection for some time.
“We had an infl ux of rats, mice and
snakes,” the owner said. “That’s one of the
biggest reasons we had been looking to
acquire some cats.”
The owner was also happy to be able to
help rescue the animals.
“I love the opportunity to give these
guys a second chance, understanding
where they came from,” the owner said.
That the cats were spayed or neutered,
and vaccinated, was a “huge plus,” the
owner said.
“I appreciate having this program,” the
adopter said. “It gives these cats a second
chance, and there’s a need for it in the county.”
L OCAL B RIEFING
Get to know your
child’s brain
Nominate a great
teacher
LA GRANDE — North-
east Oregon Network,
based at 2008 Third St.,
Suite A, in La Grande, will
offer “Understanding Your
Adolescent: Providing a
Culture of Care,” a two-
session course for parents,
caregivers and educators.
Participants will learn the
latest information and re-
search on brain states and
how these impact learning
and cognitive development
in adolescents ages 12-18.
Held Jan. 9 and Jan. 16,
the sessions will run 6-8
p.m. in the La Grande
High School commons, 708
K Ave.
“Understanding Your
Child: Providing a Culture
of Care,” which covers
cognitive development in
children ages 0-11, will be
offered March 5 and 12.
Each session will be held
in the Island City Elemen-
tary School Library, 10201
W. Fourth St., from 6-8
p.m.
Register at www.
neonoregon.org/upcoming-
trainings. For more infor-
mation, call 541-624-5101.
PENDLETON — The
InterMountain Education
Service District encourag-
es students, parents, staff
and community mem-
bers to nominate a great
teacher in the IMESD
district for 2021 Oregon
Teacher of the Year. The
Oregon Department of
Education, in partnership
with the Oregon Lottery,
sponsors the Oregon Re-
gional Teacher of the Year
awards to honor exem-
plary educators in every
region of the state. Nomi-
nations may be submitted
through Jan. 31. Anyone
can nominate a teacher at
www.oregonteacherofthe-
year.org/nominate.
Oregon Education Ser-
vice Districts will select a
winner from their region
and the selected teachers
will be honored in May.
In September, one of the
Regional Teachers of the
Year will be named the
2021 Oregon Teacher of
the Year. Regional Teach-
ers of the Year will receive
a cash prize of $500 and.
The 2021 Oregon Teacher
of the Year will receive a
$5,000 cash prize (with
a matching $5,000 going
to his or her school) and
serve as a spokesperson
and representative for all
Oregon teachers.
Sophomores
invited to apply for
OTEC Youth Rally
scholarship
BAKER CITY — Ore-
gon Trail Electric Coop-
erative, with headquarters
in Baker City, is accepting
applications for current
high school sophomores
for the Idaho Youth
Rally scholarships. This
educational opportunity is
available to the families of
OTEC members in Baker,
Grant, Harney and Union
counties.
The annual Idaho
Youth Rally, a week-long
leadership camp held in
Caldwell in July, brings
together students from
around the Western
states to participate in a
variety of activities and
classes promoting positive
relationships and build-
ing skills in leadership,
teamwork and persever-
ance. Students are given
the opportunity to learn
about government, drug
and alcohol awareness,
and the electrical/energy
industry. The application
deadline for the Youth
Rally is March 1.
Applications and spe-
cifi c criteria for all OTEC
scholarships and youth
programs are available
at www.scholarships.otec.
coop, youthtour.otec.coop
and youthrally.otec.coop.
Smart Driver class
could save you
money on car
insurance
LA GRANDE — There
will be an AARP Smart
Driver class on Jan. 11 at
Grande Ronde Hospital
in La Grande. The class
runs from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. with an hour break
for lunch. The cost is $15
for AARP members and
$20 for nonmembers. The
class is open to all, and
completion can get you a
break on your auto insur-
ance premiums. Call the
instructor, Fred Moore, at
541-910-9797 to sign up or
for more information.
Ban on cannabis-infused alcoholic beverages
The Associated Press
SALEM — Oregon is
renowned for its craft beer
and increasingly for its
high-grade marijuana, but
the state is keeping the two
apart — for now.
In a new ruling, the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission,
which regulates both alcoholic
products and recreational
marijuana, beer and other
alcoholic drinks as of Jan. 1
may not contain either THC,
the psychoactive component
of cannabis, or CBD, the non-
psychoactive part that is said
to relieve stress and pain.
Mark Pettinger, spokes-
man for the agency, cited
concerns raised by the U.S.
Food and Drug of potential
liver damage from CBD,
also known as cannabidiol.
“We’ve wanted to address
the issue of CBD getting into
alcohol and because there are
a lot of unknowns about the
effect of taking CBDs,” Pet-
tinger said Friday. “There’s
very little scientifi c evidence.
People are using them for
wellness, but how they inter-
act with other substances, not
a lot is known.”
Pettinger said until
federal agencies establish
regulations surrounding
CBD, his agency needed
to step in and impose the
La Grande Observer
Holiday Hours
ban. The Oregon agency
next will work on banning
a bar from mixing a non-
alcoholic CBD beverage
on the premises with an
alcoholic beverage to cre-
ate a CBD cocktail.
Oregon has been at the
forefront in efforts to legalize
marijuana. It was the fi rst
state to decriminalize per-
sonal possession, in 1973 and
legalized medical marijuana
in 1998 and recreational use
in 2014. But Oregon is in a
bind because federal regula-
tions surrounding CBD,
which is derived from hemp,
have not caught up with the
legalization of hemp on the
national level.
Pettinger noted the U.S.
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
and Trade Bureau, or TTB,
which approves the formula
for any kind of alcoholic bev-
erage, has not approved the
use of CBD in any drinks.
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Ne
Artists?
• Watercolor, acrylic
& oil paints
• Sketch pads &
drawing paper
• Coloring books • Canvas
• Charcoal • Pigment liners
• Markers & colored pencils
Christmas Eve: CLOSE at 3 PM
Christmas Day: CLOSED
There will be NO PAPER published on
Wednesday, December 25th
We will reopen for business
Thursday, December 26th • 7:30 AM - 5 PM
New Years Day: OFFICE CLOSED
There WILL BE a paper published January 1st
GRANDE
Ronde
Retirement & Assisted Living
1809 Gekeler Ln.
La Grande
541-963-4700
601 Adams Ave. • La Grande
541-963-8671