The Observer., December 30, 2019, Page 40, Image 40

DECADE IN REVIEW
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019
THE OBSERVER — 22C
2018: A daring rescue, a rejection, a retirement and a closure
10 — Rescuers save
man dangling from
tree
Local emergency person-
nel received nationwide rec-
ognition after saving hunter
Edward Voelker of Prineville.
The hunter was in a tree
north of Highway 244 in late
August 2018 when he fell.
His safety harness caught in
the tree, and for two days he
dangled upside down more
than 30 feet in the air.
Steve Royston of Salem
and his son Joseph Royston
of Stayton were hunting in
the area and heard Voelker
yelling for help. Soon a
multi-agency effort consist-
ing of the La Grande Rural
Fire Department, search
and rescue members of the
sheriff’s offi ces of Union
and Umatilla counties and
employees of the Oregon
Trail Electric Co-op and U.S.
Forest Service converged to
save Voelker and rush him to
emergency care.
9 — Wes defeats
Mona for circuit
judge
Wes Williams eked out
a win against incumbent
Mona Williams in the
November 2018 election for
judge of the 10th Judicial
District, which encompasses
the circuit courts of Union
and Wallowa counties.
Mona Williams was the
Wallowa County district at-
torney when Gov. Kate Brown
appointed her to the bench
in Northeast Oregon, part of
the governor’s effort to add
diversity to the state’s judicial
department. Wes Williams
was an attorney in La Grande.
The two are not related.
Wes Williams won with
52.6% of the vote to Mona
Williams’ 47.4%.
8 — B2H protestors
push against Idaho
Power’s big line
The Stop B2H Coalition in
September 2018 wanted to
give locals a sense of what a
tower for the massive Board-
man to Hemingway power
line would look like. They set
a 100-foot swath of foil on the
hillside going up to Morgan
Lake, which is visible from
some parts of La Grande.
Coalition member Peter
Barry owned the land that
displayed the representa-
tion of the tower. He said
the glinting silver became a
topic of conversation, which
was the group’s aim. But this
was only a small representa-
tion, he said, of the 185-foot-
tall towers that will hoist
the 500-kilovolt line on its
route from Boardman to
the Hemingway substation
south of Nampa, Idaho.
Observer fi le photo
The La Grande Rural Fire Department at this La Grande City Council meeting in late 2018 recognizes employees of Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative for their role in the rescue of a hunter who fell from a tree and dangled upside down for two days.
7 — Steve McClure
to gazing limits, and they
retires as Union
pushed for change. That revi-
County commissioner sion did not come to fruition.
Steve McClure entered lo-
cal politics in the early 1980s
when he won the election to
the Elgin School Board. He
lost a tight race for Union
County commissioner in
1988 but two years later
accepted an appointment to
the board. After that, he won
seven full terms as county
commissioner. He wrapped
up 2018 as his last full year
in public service.
6 — Woodgrain buys
Boise Cascade plant
Boise Cascade in May
2018 announced plans
to phase out its lumber
operations in Elgin, a move
that would leave 90 people
jobless. Woodgrain Millwork
that September bought the
Boise Cascade mills in La
Grande and Pilot Rock, plus
the particle board plant in
Island City. The Idaho-based
company offi cially took over
the facilities in November.
5 — Blue Mountains
Forest Plan revision
raises concerns
The U.S. Forest Service
aimed to present a new
version of the contentious
Blue Mountains Forest Plan
after more than 15 years of
meetings, collaborations and
disagreements about uses
on public forest lands. But a
number of individuals and
organizations were dissatis-
fi ed with the Forest Service’s
proposals on a variety of
fronts, from road closures
4 — Greenway
project slows to
crawl
The Grande Ronde River
Greenway project continued
its years-long saga. The city
of La Grande completed
Phase 1 of the project about
six years earlier, but Phase 2
for a paved trail from east of
Riverside Park in La Grande
to a pond on the east side of
Island City remains in meet-
ing rooms and discussions
with city, Union County
and Oregon Department of
Transportation offi cials.
3 — La Grande talks
housing crisis
The lack of housing for
residents of all income levels
plagued the town and con-
sumed hours of city council
discussions. The city received
a grant to conduct a hous-
ing study. The state listed
La Grande as “severely rent
burdened,” and in November
2018 the city’s planner, Mike
Boquist, said La Grande was
in a housing crisis, mean-
ing 25% of residents were
paying more than 50% of
their income toward rent or
mortgages.
2 — EOU rejects
Pearson partnership
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity in 2017 sought proposals
from for-profi t companies to
help develop online cur-
riculum and marketing
strategies. Three companies
Observer fi le photo
Mona Williams lost her position as circuit court judge of the 10th Judicial District in a
tough 2018 race to challenger Wes Williams.
submitted bids, and EOU
looked at making a deal with
Pearson Online Learning
Services. But in August
2018, EOU President Tom
Insko announced there
would be no deal largely
due to Pearson’s high cost to
students.
1 — Market Place
Family Foods closes
The grocery store in down-
town La Grande survived
a year and three months
before shutting the doors in
February 2018 for a “transi-
tion.” Owner Troy Berglund
fi led for bankruptcy. The
grocery store stayed closed
the rest of the year and
reopened as Market Place
Family Fresh in 2019.
Observer fi le photo
Steve McClure in 2018 refl ects on almost three decades
of public service, including his years as Union County
commissioner.
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