DECADE IN REVIEW
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019
THE OBSERVER — 18C
2014: Shelter from the Storm building tapped for demolition
10 — Wallowa
County works to
protect moraine
Wallowa County draws
thousands of visitors a year
to hike its expanses, raft and
fi sh rivers, ski the backcoun-
try and take in the dramatic
Wallowa Lake moraines.
The moraines are geological
features unique in Oregon
and one of the state’s “Seven
Wonders.”
Early in 2014, the Wallowa
Lake Moraine Partnership en-
tered into an agreement to buy
almost 1,800 acres from the
Ronald C. Yanke Family Trust,
owner of a large swath of Wal-
lowa Lake’s east moraine.
A successful deal would
result in a Wallowa County
becoming the owner and
manager of a large portion of
the Wallowa Lake Moraines,
thus preserving the land for
the public.
The project is ongoing and
less than $500,000 away
from hitting its goal to com-
plete the transaction. The
clock continues to tick down
on the deal — the Wallowa
Lake Moraines Partnership
needs to secure the total
$6,567,948 no later than Jan.
29, 2020.
9 — Eastern Oregon
University adopts
institutional board
Eastern Oregon University
offi cials, staff, faculty and stu-
dents had to travel long dis-
tances each month to attend
the State Board of Higher
Education meetings. But that
practice ended in 2014 when
the state voted in the spring to
allow Eastern to have its own
institutional board.
The La Grande-based col-
lege had the option of joining
a consortium consisting of
Oregon’s other regional and
technical universities, which
would have been under
one board and a branch of
Oregon State University,
University of Oregon or Port-
land State University.
Then EOU President Bob
Davies took public input and
recommended the university
get its own board, which the
state Senate approved.
8 — Calico Weapons
plans to move to
Elgin
Firearms manufacturer
Calico Light Weapons Sys-
tem announced in July 2014
it would relocate its world
headquarters from Corne-
lius to Elgin, bringing jobs
and a possible boost to the
economy.
Calico Light’s president,
Chris Holmgren, said he
loved Northeast Oregon and
the region may be a better fi t
for the company’s products.
He said people on the west
side of Oregon lashed out
at him in response to mass
shootings. He said he even
received death threats. Then
Union County Commis-
sioner Mark Davidson said
the community was likely to
welcome Calico Light.
The company continues to
operate in Elgin.
7 — Barreto wins
House District 58
race
Cove resident and La
Grande business owner Greg
Barreto won the election to
the Oregon House as repre-
Observer fi le photo
March co-organizer Sharon Evoy, right, leads protesters in chanting, “Find another spot,” during a rally in June 2014. The rally was to show Union
County commissioners the disapproval of the decision to demolish the Shelter From the Storm advocacy center building.
sentative of District 58.
Barreto, owner of Barreto
Manufacturing, entered the
race in 2014. His campaign
had some bumps along the
way, such as at fi rst accept-
ing then returning a $30,000
campaign contribution from
Nevada businessman Loren
Parks. He ran against John
Turner of Pendleton in the
Republican primary.
Barreto and Turner, a
former Marine colonel and
former president of Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege, faced off at multiple
candidate forums. Come
elections night, Barreto ran
away with the race, taking
83% of the vote in Union
County and 80% in Wallowa
County. The bigger surprise
came with winning 51% of
the vote in Umatilla County.
Barreto faced Democrat
Heidi Van Schoohoven in the
general election and cruised
to victory with 73% of the
vote in the Republican-heavy
district.
He announced in 2019
he would not seek a fourth
term.
6 — Burglaries target
businesses
La Grande and Island
City businesses in October
were the targets of a rash of
burglaries.
The report of the fi rst fi ve
break-ins came the morning
of Oct. 18, 2014. Four days
later, nine more businesses
were hit. Police considered
the two sets of crimes
related.
The culprits did not take
much — cash that was on
hand — but they left behind
plenty of property damage.
They broke windows to gain
entry, then broke cash boxes
and registers and in some
cases made off with alcohol.
Some businesses had security
cameras that captured footage
of the crimes, but law enforce-
ment was not able to identify
the criminals from the images.
Another spate of burglar-
ies occurred in December,
but police could not con-
clude the same people were
involved in three sets of
crimes.
5 — Urban Renewal
Agency OKs
$500,000 for grocery
story
The La Grande Urban
Renewal Agency made a bold
move in August 2014 with
a 4-3 vote to help fund the
establishment of a grocery
store in downtown at the
corner of Adams Avenue and
Fourth Street.
Developer Al Adelsberger
and grocer Troy Berglund
presented the idea of Market
Place Family Foods. The pair
said the new store would cre-
ate jobs and bring a vibrancy
to downtown La Grande.
Some members of the
Urban Renewal Agency were
dead set against funding the
project, arguing the amount
was too much and other
projects needed funding. The
agency ultimately decided to
provide the funding as a loan
that would convert to a grant
if the project met certain
conditions.
4 — EOU plans for
downsizing
Eastern Oregon Universi-
ty again faced a tight budget
and in 2014 made about $4
million in cuts largely due to
declining enrollment.
The university began the
process of cutting about two
dozen faculty positions and
around six administrative
roles.
Then EOU President Bob
Davies announced the cuts
in June, marking the third
time in his fi ve-year tenure
he had to cut jobs at Eastern.
The college had to trim $3.8
million in 2011 and about
$2 million in 2013. Eastern’s
enrollment in recent years
was trending down. Student
credit hours dropped about
11% in 2014-15 and declined
about 7% in 2013-14.
A lack of state funding for
higher education also played
a role in the college’s budget
woes. The Legislature had
increased the funding for
schools very little during the
15 years prior despite rising
costs and increasing enroll-
Observer fi le photo
Greg Barreto of Cove, right, during his November 2014 election night victory to be-
come the new representative of Oregon House District 58.
ment in the state’s higher
education system.
3 — La Grande
approves $31.85
million school bond
2014 became a landmark
year for the La Grande
School District. Voters in No-
vember passed a $31.85 mil-
lion bond for maintenance
and capitol construction.
The vote was close —
3,190-3,154, a difference of
36.
This was the fi rst con-
struction bond district voters
passed since the mid-1970s.
Central Elementary School
was a focal point of the
campaign to pass the bond
because $14.2 million of
the revenue from the bond
would go toward replacing
the aging school.
The bond also would fund
the construction of six new
classrooms, renovations of
the high school gym and
auditorium, and security
enhancements in all schools
in the district.
2 — State passes
recreational
marijuana
Oregon voters in the
November 2014 election de-
cided to legalize recreational
marijuana.
Early in the year, the
state opened the gates to
legal medical marijuana
dispensaries, which many
cities and counties moved
to ban until the establish-
ment of regulations. Union
County and Island City
jumped on the ban, but
La Grande failed to pass a
moratorium by the May 1
deadline.
Green Apothecary became
La Grande’s fi rst medical
marijuana dispensary when
it opened Sept. 1.
The vote to legalize
recreational marijuana
sent the city back to the
drawing board and to
considering a moratorium
on all future marijuana
businesses until crafting
regulations.
1 — Shelter to be
demolished for new
courthouse
The community was
excited toward the end of
2013 with the news Union
County would receive $2
million from the state to
build a new courthouse.
That excitement in large
part dissipated when the
Union County Board of
Commissioners voted in
March 2014 to site the new
courthouse at the location
rented by the Shelter From
the Storm Community
Advocacy Center.
Commissioners said they
would do what they could
to mitigate harm to the
nonprofi t domestic violence
shelter, which had come
about as the result of a Com-
munity Development Block
Grant specifi cally for Shelter
From the Storm.
The organization notifi ed
the county it would sue, but
Circuit Judge Eva Temple
ruled Shelter From the
Storm was a county ten-
ant with an expired lease.
Another eviction hearing
determined the county could
ask the nonprofi t to vacate
the building.
The county board’s move
resulted in protests in sup-
port of the shelter, and the
nonprofi t fi led an appeal
to the county’s site plan
application. The county and
Shelter From the Storm
in December reached an
agreement, with the county
paying $75,000 to help the
organization move to its loca-
tion in Island City.
Thank you for letting us
serve you in 2019.
Let us help make
2020 a Great
Year!
3 Depot St, La Grande • 539 S. Main, Union
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