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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2020)
SPORTS Inside New laws to know for 2020, 2A Standout siblings Seaweed as cow food?, 1B Follow us on the web WEDNESDAY • January 1, 2020 • $1.50 City drops ball on 2020 ■ La Grande celebrates new year with annual block party Good day to our valued subscriber Terry Gray of La Grande PUBLIC SAFETY THAT’S A WRAP: Eric Madsen of Elgin retires after 23-year career with OSP The Observer “He checked on us every hour and brought us hot coffee. If it were not for him, I would have had a miserable experience,” Madsen said. Fast forward, and Madsen is a retiring OSP senior trooper who wrapped up a 23-year career Tuesday, one in which he tried to touch the lives of others the way that trooper did his in the late 1980s. Madsen succeeded in a big way in the eyes of people such as Wade Foersterling of Baker City. Madsen helped Foerster- ling change a blown tire Dec. 21 on I-84. “Not only did he get down in the dirt and rocks to help us change the tire. When the spare was (found to be fl at), he offered to call the tire store to see if we could fi nd a used tire and give me a ride to get it,” Foersterling wrote in a letter sent to The Observer. “He tried to help us in any way he could. He didn’t need to do as much as he did, and for that, we will always have his kindness in our hearts.” Madsen said the opportunity to help people often made his job a joy. “I have been blessed to have a career I loved,” he said. Madsen’s law enforcement career dates back to 1988 when he began serving as a reserve offi cer for both the Union Coun- ty Sheriff’s Offi ce and the La Grande Police Department. He later worked for the Portland Police Bureau and the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce before joining OSP in 1997. Madsen has been in the state police La Grande offi ce since 1999. Sgt. Kyle Hove credits Madsen with being an outstanding UNION — Jane and Frank Wentzel of Baker City in August 2018 bought land in Union they hoped to build a home on. The property at 103 N. Bellwood St. is near Cath- erine Creek and close to their daughter. The Wentzels, both in their 70s, saw it as an ideal spot. What happened with trying to build there was far from ideal. After fi ghting for more than a year to live on the land, the Wentzels ended the effort. “The most maddening part was we wanted to use that land and live there, right by the riverfront,” Jane Wentzel said. “But we came to a dead end.” Union City Administra- tor Doug Wiggins said the Wentzels purchased the land knowing they would have to get a conditional use permit in order to build a home there. The city zoned the 2.2 acres the Wentzels purchased as commercial property in 2015 after completing a near- ly $30,000 study to develop a zoning map of the city. Jane Wentzel said she thought getting the permit would be a “no-brainer” be- cause two houses were estab- lished nearby. The Wentzels submitted an application for the permit Oct. 10, 2018. The city’s planning commission considered the matter a week later at a public hearing. Prior to and during the hearing, locals spoke for and against the permit. Busi- ness owners who shared the road with the property were concerned about their ability to grow their businesses and stood in opposition. Other locals were concerned it would take away land from new businesses that might revitalize the community. “You will add another nail in Union’s coffi n if this is approved,” Dick Middleton, See Madsen / Page 5A See Fight / Page 5A The Observer See New Year / Page 5A ■ Baker City couple had looked to build in Union By Sabrina Thompson By Sabrina Thompson LA GRANDE — Despite the rain, the crowd in down- town La Grande rang in the new year and new decade as part of the annual New Year’s Eve Block Party. At midnight, a metal ball covered in lights descended the fl agpole atop the Johnson building. The crowd joined in counting down from 10 to one, then burst out in whoops and shouts of “Happy New Year” to mark the start of 2020. Ashley O’Toole of La Grande founded and organized the event, now in its sixth year, which the La Grande Main Street Downtown organization hosts. O’Toole said he came up with the idea for the block party after seeing a rendering in 2014 for the refurbishment of the street corner where a flagpole and clock topped the building. “It reminded me of a New Year’s Eve party I went to when I was deployed in Spain,” said O’Toole, a U.S. Navy veteran. “They had a clock and everyone gath- ered around to watch the clock turn to midnight and celebrate.” He said the ball drop is based on the famous New Year’s Eve party in New York City’s Times Square. This year, the La Grande ball, which local contractor Bryan Grimshaw constructed, has new light ropes. In previous years it was decorated with around 1,500 Christmas lights. “The ball looks completely different,” O’Toole said. The La Grande Rural Fire District used one of its ladder trucks Sunday morning to reach the top of the build- ing and place the ball on the fl agpole. La Grande Main Street Downtown posted on Couple ends fight to build Staff photo by Dick Mason Oregon State Police senior trooper Eric Madsen communicates Tuesday using his police car’s radio. Madsen worked in the agency’s La Grande offi ce and retired Tuesday after 23 years on the job. By Dick Mason, The Observer LA GRANDE — Three decades ago in far from ideal circumstances, Eric Madsen, then a National Guardsman, received a glimpse of his future. Madsen was stuck in a ditch in a fi ve-ton unheated military vehicle that had $2 million worth of equipment. A careless truck driver had forced the rig off Interstate 84 near Meacham. Madsen and another Guardsman faced a seven-hour wait for a tow in frigid conditions. A generous Oregon State Police trooper made that wait bearable. Truck inspections crucial to ODOT’s ‘vision zero’ ■ State wants zero deaths on its roads by 2035, but an increasing number of trucks is taxing inspectors Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a two- part series on crashes involving trucks and the inspections completed by the Oregon Department of Transportation to prevent them. By Sam Stites Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Truck inspections are the primary tool for prevent- ing accidents that disrupt Oregon’s highways, hospitalize thousands and leave hundreds dead each year. The Oregon Department of Transportation raised the bar for safety in adopting a new action plan in 2016. The agency envisions a future with no deaths from traffi c accidents on Oregon’s roads. While crashes involving commer- cial trucks account for only a small portion of the state’s annual death INDEX Business ...... 1B Classified ..... 4B Comics ......... 7B Crossword ... 5B WEATHER Dear Abby .... 7B Horoscope ... 5B Lottery.......... 2A Obituaries .... 3A FRIDAY Opinion ........ 4A Sports .......... 6A Sudoku ........ 7B Weather ....... 8B toll — only 58 of the 502 fatalities in 2018 involved a truck — ODOT’s Motor Carrier Division takes seri- ously the inspection of trucks as a means of prevention. The number of vehicle miles traveled by trucks in Oregon has increased by 181 million miles the past decade. With an increasing number of trucks on the road, state truck in- spectors have become smarter about how they carry out their work, using data to target repeat offenders and keep both trucks and drivers with Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Thursday 29 LOW 38/32 An evening shower A snow shower LACK OF SNOW DOESN’T DETER ELK chronic issues off the road. In 2018, state specialists com- pleted 18,549 inspections and issued more than 3,500 citations and warnings. Through November, there have been more than 16,500 inspections and 2,900 warnings or citations is- sued to drivers or trucking compa- nies this year. A majority of those inspections are done at ports of entry at Woodburn, Klamath Falls, Huntington, Ashland and Cascade Locks. See Vision / Page 5A CONTACT US HAVE A STORY IDEA? 541-963-3161 Call The Observer newsroom at 541-963-3161 or send an email to news@lagrandeobserver.com. More contact info on Page 4A. Issue 1 3 sections, 24 pages La Grande, Oregon Online at lagrandeobserver.com
