DECADE IN REVIEW
15C — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019
2011: Ranchers protest wolves; man dies in Elgin shooting
10 — Solar plant power
up near Joseph
A 500-kilowatt solar facility
near Joseph went live in Novem-
ber 2011. The Prairie Creek solar
project can power as many as 100
homes.
The city of Joseph’s sewer and
wastewater treatment plant’s
100-kilowatt array will offset ap-
proximately 90% of the project’s
power usage. Both systems are
part of the Oregon Solar Incentive
Program through Pacific Power.
“This is cutting-edge technology
and the next wave of the economy,”
said Eric Anderson of Pacific Power
at the time. “We’ve worked closely
over the last 10 months with Sun
Storage and we’re pleased that
the Prairie Creek Project is finally
built. We are really glad they did
this and used Oregon-made prod-
ucts.”
9 — Soldier with local ties
killed in Afghanistan
Army Spec. Thomas J. Mayberry,
21, formerly of La Grande, was
killed Dec. 3, 2011, along with two
other soldiers in Afghanistan.
Officials did not provide details
of the attack and said only the
soldiers died “when enemy forces
attacked their unit with an impro-
vised explosive device.”
The soldiers were infantry with
2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regi-
ment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,
1st Armored Division.
Mayberry joined the Army in
2009. He had been stationed in
Camp Casey, South Korea, and
was awarded the National Defense
Service Medal, Korea Defense Ser-
vice Medal, Afghanistan Campaign
Medal with a Campaign Star, Glob-
al War on Terrorism Service Medal
and an Army Service Ribbon.
His aunt, Julie Siefker of La
Grande, said joining the Army
changed Mayberry for the better.
“He wanted to be deployed. He
wanted to go fight for his country.
He made something of himself and
he was so proud of it,” she said,
adding, “He is my hero. Absolutely,
my hero.”
Mayberry was survived by his
spouse.
The Blue Mountain Conference
Center at the La Grande National
Guard Armory held a funeral
service for Mayberry, complete with
full military honors.
8 — EOU library to get $8
million facelift
Eastern Oregon University’s ag-
ing Pierce Library, which turned 60
earlier in 2011, was about to get an
$8 million, top-of-the-bookshelf, $8
million interior renovation.
The work began in mid-Septem-
ber with a schedule to complete in
the summer of 2012. The remodel
would provide more natural light in
the library, add a second-floor mez-
zanine and allow a striking view of
Mount Emily from almost any por-
tion of the main and second floors.
University officials at the time
said the renovations would create
a brighter, more spacious building,
one both warm and welcoming to
students.
7 — Crossing the Blues
festival bites the dust
La Grande’s Crossing the Blues
festival came to an end in March
2011.
At the outset, the festival’s
biggest booster was then-Mayor
Colleen Johnson. Back in 2007 she
helped organize an arts-and-music
celebration to showcase the city
and draw throngs of visitors to the
area. She left the city council at the
beginning of 2011.
Jon Larkin helped stage the
Crossing the Blues festival the
Observer file photo
Joseph rancher Kerry Tienharra speaks at an anti-wolf rally in March 2011 outside the offices of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
La Grande.
3 — Rash of arson fires
hits downtown La Grande
three years of its existence. He
told the La Grande City Council
in March the leadership team
intended to hand the festival over
to an organization or group of
volunteers willing to carry on. But
the team could not find an agency
to take it over.
“It has been disheartening to
see a project we worked so very
hard at dwindle in support and
interest,” Larkin said at the time,
reading from a prepared statement.
“Nobody wants to see the festival
disappear, but it seems clear we do
not have the manpower or leading
agency to continue the tradition.”
6 — Area protesters blast
presence of wolves
About 40 people showed up in
March 2011 in La Grande for an
anti-wolf rally, vilifying the species
and also the government agencies
that protect it.
Dale Potter, an Enterprise resi-
dent and the head of a group called
Wolf Free Oregon, was a principal
organizer of the rally. As the sign-
carrying crowd formed up in the
Bi-Mart parking lot to march on
the nearby Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife Northeast Region
office, Potter gave a reporter some
reasons for his activism.
“It’s about the danger the wolf
presents to the public and the
diseases he carries,” he said then.
“Wolves come right into the yards
and leave scat. Dogs pick up the
spores and carry them into the
house and transmit them to people.”
While public safety was the main
concern of some protestors, others
had financial fears and business on
their mind. Connie Dunham, whose
family ranches in the Imnaha cattle
country, said stock losses have been
heavy since wolves started showing
up around the ranch.
Dave Sherod represented Stew-
ards of the Wallowas and said the
group formed to help people protect
their property and their freedom.
“We firmly believe the wolf is
disrupting the peace of Wallowa
County,” he said.
Wallowa County Commissioner
Paul Castilleja attended the rally.
He said he sees the presence of
wolves as an encroachment on
property rights.
The walk to the state fish and
wildlife office was uneventful.
Agency personnel stayed inside as
the crowd, mostly people from rural
areas, gathered to listen to speakers.
5 — Remodeling project
helps Habitat for
Humanity
Funding for the next Grande
Ronde Valley Habitat for Humani-
ty-built home in Union County was
in an upswing the summer of 2011
thanks to the remodeling of the La
Observer file photo
The Grande Ronde River floods Hilgard State Park in May 2011.
Union County Emergency Services at the time predicted extensive
lowland flooding between Island City and Imbler.
La Grande police and firefighters
took on a series of fires in downtown
La Grande the morning of Aug. 1,
2011. One blaze extensively dam-
aged Dawn’s Delights, a used mer-
chandise store at 1409 Adams Ave.
While firefighters were on the
scene, they found numerous other
small fires in the area, including
two in the alley behind Dawn’s,
two on Adams Avenue, two on
Greenwood Street and one on Jef-
ferson Avenue. One fire burned in
a dumpster at M.J. Goss Motor Co.,
and another in a Goss Motor Co.
parking lot. The fires also included
one in the doorway of the Future 1
College of Cosmetology.
La Grande police four days later
arrested La Grande residents
Joseph Swink, Kyra Johnston and
Vanessa Burns, all 19-22, for first-
degree arson and related crimes.
2 — Pavilion burns down
Observer file photo
Law enforcement and ambulance personnel respond the morning
of Aug. 13, 2010, to 480 S. Eighth in Elgin where an officer shot and
killed a man following a domestic disturbance.
Grande Retirement Center.
The sprawling residential
complex on Seventh Street near
Washington Avenue underwent a
total makeover in 2011. Contrac-
tors remodeled all 46 apartments,
and virtually everything they
removed in the process ended up as
donations to the local Habitat for
Humanity Re-Store.
In Union County and other plac-
es, Habitat for Humanity builds
homes for people who might not
otherwise be able to afford them.
The Re-Store sells the donated
material, with proceeds going to
the next local housing project.
The retirement center, owned
by Enterprise-based Chrisman
Development, was built some 30
years earlier. Center manager
Donna Brownlee said at the time
the owners decided on the remodel
after purchasing the property in
May 2009.
“Basically we’re upgrading and
bringing things up to current
codes,” Brownlee said.
4 — County struggles with
flooding
High waters submerged portions
of Union County in May 2011.
Heavy rainfall sent the Grande
Ronde River over its banks to
record flood levels, prompting
the National Weather Service in
Pendleton to issue a flood warning
for the river.
Catherine Creek in the Union
area was on the rise, and crews
worked to fill sandbags. Little
Creek jumped its bank, and the
high water damaged several
homes. The Union and North
Powder fire departments and
students from Union High School
filled sandbags. Reports of flood-
ing also came in from Wolf Creek
Lane and Gilikson Road near
North Powder.
Union County Emergency
Services warned residents about
extensive lowland flooding between
Island City and Imbler and the
possibility that some county roads
could be under water.
La Grande Office
1207 Adams Ave.
541-663-9000
Baker City Office
2195 Main St.
541-523-7390
www.johnjhoward.com
Firefighters faced some chal-
lenging conditions Feb. 12, 2011,
when they were called to an early
morning fire at the Riverside Park
Pavilion in La Grande.
When firefighters arrived on
the scene at 4:20 a.m., six minutes
after receiving the call, the entire
roof of the 97-year-old structure
was ablaze.
The La Grande, Cove and Imbler
rural fire protection districts all
responded, sending tankers, a wild-
land fire engine and firefighters.
The pavilion stored a variety of
content, including kitchen equip-
ment, a new mower and other lawn
maintenance gear and property
belonging to the Soroptimist Club.
The fire destroyed the historic
pavilion and everything inside.
The city of La Grande owned the
pavilion and insured it for $492,000
and the contents for $132,000.
1 — Elgin officer shoots,
kills man
Elgin Police Officer Eric Kilpat-
rick responded the morning of Aug.
1, 2011, to a disturbance at a home,
where he shot and killed Richard
Lee Shafer. He was 60.
According to Oregon State Police,
which helped investigate the shooting,
Shafer was inside his home and hold-
ing a rifle. The officer fired at least one
round, and Shafer died at the scene.
A Union County grand jury
found Kilpatrick was justified
in the use of deadly force and
cleared him of wrongdoing. But the
residents of Elgin later recalled the
mayor and the city subsequently
ended its police department and
contracted with the Union County
Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement
services. The shooting also resulted
in a multi-million-dollar civil law-
suit in federal court.