2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020
LOCAL
Baker County
Moving rock
Rape
suspect
in Idaho
jail
TODAY
Today is Monday, Jan. 6,
the sixth day of 2020. There
are 360 days left in the year.
EO Media Group
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Jan. 6, 1941, Presi-
dent Franklin D. Roosevelt,
in his State of the Union
address, outlined a goal of
“Four Freedoms”: Freedom
of speech and expression;
the freedom of people to
worship God in their own
way; freedom from want;
freedom from fear.
ON THIS DATE
In 1412, tradition holds
that Joan of Arc was born
this day in Domremy.
In 1759, George Washing-
ton and Martha Dandridge
Custis were married in New
Kent County, Virginia.
In 1912, New Mexico
became the 47th state.
In 1919, the 26th presi-
dent of the United States,
Theodore Roosevelt, died
in Oyster Bay, New York, at
age 60.
In 1968, a surgical team at
Stanford University School
of Medicine in Palo Alto,
California, led by Dr. Nor-
man Shumway, performed
the fi rst U.S. adult heart
transplant, placing the heart
of a 43-year-old man in a
54-year-old patient (the re-
cipient died 15 days later).
In 1998, In a new bid to
expand health insurance,
President Clinton unveiled a
proposal to offer Medicare
coverage to hundreds of
thousands of uninsured
Americans from ages 55
to 64.
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Powerball: $258 million
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Win for Life: Jan. 4
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Pick 4: Jan. 5
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Pick 4: Jan. 4
•1p.m.:3-1-6-5
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Pick 4: Jan. 3
•1p.m.:0-0-5-4
•4p.m.:7-8-7-9
•7p.m.:1-3-6-6
•10p.m.:1-0-4-2
Staff photo by Phil Wright
Ryan Caldwell of La Grande afternoon dumps a load of rock, gravel and dirt into a truck Sunday near the Inter-
state 84 exit 259 to La Grande. Caldwell works for the Oregon Department of Transportation and explained the
agency is building up this area near the exit to make it easier for rigs to get on and off the freeway.
Oregon laws
Slow roll a go in Oregon
■ New law allows cyclists to roll with caution through intersections
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Oregon bicyclists
enter the new year with a new option
— the Idaho stop.
Bicyclists in Oregon can roll through
stop signs and fl ashing red lights at
intersections without braking if they
yield to vehicle traffi c and slow to a safe
speed. The Oregon Legislature in 2019
passed Senate Bill 998 that in essence
allows cyclists to treat stops as yields.
The law took effect on New Year’s Day.
The rolling stops earned the moni-
ker “Idaho stop” because Idaho was the
fi rst state to allow rolling bicycle stops
in 1982.
Lt. Gary Bell of the La Grande Police
Department said the new law will ben-
efi t bicyclists because it allows them
to travel more easily through com-
munities. There is a trade-off, though,
because bicyclists passing through
intersections without stopping will be
more vulnerable if they are not careful.
He also warned bike riders to re-
member that obeying traffi c rules does
not guarantee their safety because
when a bike and vehicle collide, the
cyclist has far less protection and is
more likely to be injured.
“Even when bicycles are following the
law they are more exposed,” Bell said.
Mavis Hartz of La Grande, a
member of the Oregon Department of
Every effort is made to de-
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manner. Occasionally condi-
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Your paper will be delivered
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“A little learning is not a
dangerous thing to one who
does not mistake it for a
great deal.”
— William Allen White,
American newspaper editor
Transportation’s Oregon Bicycle and
Pedestrian Advisory Committee, said
cyclists should always ride defensively.
“If a car and bike collide, the bicyclist
will almost always lose,” Hartz said.
Bell also urged vehicle drivers to
have a heightened awareness of cy-
clists now that the new law is in place.
“Don’t expect cyclists to come to a
complete stop,” he said.
Hartz, co-owner of La Grande’s The
Mountain Works, said the new law
could improve the traffi c fl ow at inter-
sections for bicycles and for vehicles.
When bicyclists were required to come
to complete stops at stop signs and
fl ashing red lights, she explained, they
needed extra time to get going again
when the intersection was clear, which
meant the drivers of vehicles behind
were delayed.
“Bicycles will now not be blocking
traffi c (in those situations),” she said.
Oregon is the fi fth state to allow
some version of the Idaho law. Dela-
ware was second in 2017, Colorado
third in 2018 and Arkansas fourth in
2019.
Cell tower appeal claims
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
NEWSPAPER LATE?
Observer fi le photo
New rules went into effect for Oregon bicyclists in 2020. Bicycle riders
won’t be required to come to a complete stop at stop signs under certain
conditions.
BAKER CITY — An at-
torney representing Verizon
Wireless argues that the
Baker City Planning Com-
mission violated a federal
law on Dec. 4 when it denied
the company’s application for
a conditional use permit to
build a 70-foot cell tower in
north Baker City.
Verizon has appealed the
Planning Commission’s 5-2
vote to the Baker City Council.
The City Council will
consider the appeal dur-
ing a public hearing 7 p.m.
Tuesady at City Hall.
Verizon’s appeal was fi led
by E. Michael Connors, an
attorney with the Portland
fi rm Hathaway Larson.
He claims, among other
things, that the Planning
Commission’s denial “violates
the Federal Telecommunica-
tions Act because it prohibits
or would have the effect of
prohibiting the provision of
wireless services in the City.”
Connors also writes that
if the city denies Verizon’s
application, “it would be
virtually impossible for
Verizon to site a tower to
resolve the signifi cant gap
in coverage and capacity
in the City. That would be
a clear-cut violation of the
Federal Telecommunica-
tions Act.”
The majority of the Plan-
ning Commission concluded
that concerns about how the
proposed 70-foot tower would
affect views — a complaint
several residents expressed
to the Commission — could
not be mitigated except by
requiring Verizon to limit the
tower’s height to 50 feet.
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BAKER CITY — A Baker
County man is in jail in
Idaho, awaiting extradition
to Oregon on charges that he
raped and sexually abused a
minor girl.
Bill David Gonyer, 73,
was arrested Dec. 28 in
Ada County, Idaho, on a
Baker County warrant that
includes fi rst-, second- and
third-degree rape, sex abuse
and sodomy, using a child in
display of sexually explicit
conduct and other charges.
The incidents, which are
alleged to have happened in
Baker County between May
1, 2019, and Dec. 20, 2019, in-
volve a girl known to Gonyer,
according to court documents.
He is being held in lieu
of $1.128 million bail as he
awaits extradition, the docu-
ments state.
Baker County Sheriff’s
Offi ce deputies searched Go-
nyers’ property at 35002 Stices
Gulch Road, about 12 miles
south of Baker City, on Dec.
24, according to a press release
from the sheriff’s offi ce.
The sheriff’s offi ce applied
for the search warrant after
receiving a report on Dec. 12
regarding the sexual abuse
of a minor. After conducting
the search, deputies learned
that Gonyer was in Boise,
and they worked with Idaho
police to arrange for Gonyer
to be arrested.
The case will next go to a
Baker County grand jury.
Gonyer is currently
charged with 20 separate
counts related to the sexual
assault of a child.
Eleven of the charges carry
mandatory minimum prison
sentences upon conviction.
They are each count of fi rst-
degree sodomy, sexual abuse
and rape, Class A felonies,
eight years and four months
in prison; using a child in
display of sexually explicit
conduct, also a Class A felony,
fi ve years and 10 months; and
second-degree sodomy, sexual
abuse and rape, Class B felo-
nies, which carry mandatory
minimum prison terms of six
years and three months.
Mon-Fri Blue Plate $12:
Bean Burrito with
Pork Green Chili Sauce
with green salad and green goddess dressing.
Ski Club starts this week!
Wednesday, January 8th 8pm
Ski Flicks and Specials
Hosted by Kevin Boylan!
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