LOCAL
MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 3A
Union County Safe Communities Coalition: Working together in 2019
By Glenas Orcutt
The Union County Safe Communities Co-
alition had a fruitful year full of partnerships
and working together for a safe,
healthy, drug-free community.
January and February are
typically fi lled with planning
and educational outreach op-
portunities in Union County.
As part of that effort, we sought
Orcutt
to educate and expand capacity
among our coalition members as well as our
community. In January, a meeting facilita-
tion presentation was held with a seminar
follow-up in April on meaningful meetings.
Our Youth Council, consisting of Union
County middle school and high school students,
is a huge part of our plan in reaching and
working with youth. The council participated
in Kick Butts Day, Reward and Reminder
and Red Ribbon Month and more. The Youth
Council also helped at the Union County Fair,
the Cove Cherry Fair, the Drug Free Run and
the Day of the Dead Celebration.
Kick Butts Day is a national day of activ-
ism that empowers youth to stand out, speak
up and seize control against big tobacco. The
Reward and Reminder program takes place
about once per quarter with youth visiting
area merchants that sell tobacco products.
The youth try to buy tobacco products to see
if the merchant/clerk asks for identifi cation.
This program helps educate local retailers
about age and ID requirements for purchas-
ing tobacco products.
In March was the annual Oregon Liquor
Control Commission ID check training held
in partnership with Center for Human
Development. A commission representative
held two sessions teach participants what
the laws are to purchase alcohol, tobacco and
marijuana. The Oregon age requirement for
these substances is 21.
While our focus is on youth, many of our
presentations and messaging efforts are
directed to the parents of teens and preteens.
In April, the Union County Safe Communities
Coalition and Center for Human Develop-
ment held a “Parenting Is Prevention” town
hall on underage drinking.
We also held the National Marijuana
Initiative event in May at the Blue Moun-
tain Conference Center, La Grande. The
presentation, “Cannabis & Kids, What Do
You Need to Know,” featured three nation-
ally recognized experts who talked about
the effects of marijuana on youth.
In July, the coalition staff, adult chap-
erones and three members of the Youth
Council attended a Community Anti-Drug
Coalitions of America training in Dallas,
Texas. The mid-year training institute
offered in-depth interactive sessions specifi -
cally for community coalition leaders and
staff. At mid-year, there also are two levels
of training for the coalition youth leadership
activities. The youth who attend then bring
these activities back to their communities to
teach at local schools.
Of course, August was all about the annual
Drug Free Run held at the Mount Emily
Recreation Area. The race featured a 5K,
10K and family fun run. The run raises mon-
ey through sponsorships and race entries
that are used throughout the year for youth
substance abuse prevention activities.
The run supports the seventh-grade
conference each September, bringing all
seventh-graders in Union County to East-
ern Oregon University where national and
local speakers talk about substance abuse
prevention, bullying, social media, build-
ing cultures of dignity and a host of topics
that are relevant to that age group. That
evening featured community presentations
for parents on the same topics.
In September, the coalition was busy
promoting National Family Day, which
encourages families to eat together. Area
restaurants offered discounts on meals
to families to encourage them to sit down
together, have a great meal and talk to one
another.
October brought a host of Red Ribbon
month activities with door decorating
contests at La Grande Middle School, poster
contests at elementary schools throughout
the county and our Youth Council Red Rib-
bon pledge campaign.
With the help of our community part-
ners, the Union County Safe Communities
Coalition in 2019 achieved its mission of
“Working together for a safe, healthy and
drug-free community.”
Glenas Orcutt, of Union, is the coalition assistant
for the Union County Safe Communities
Coalition
L OCAL B RIEFING
Teens invited to join
book club
LA GRANDE — Cook
Memorial Library is seek-
ing new members for the
library’s middle and high
school book clubs. The
next meetings will be held
Thursday in the library’s
Community Room. The
middle school club will
meet at 3:30 p.m. and the
high school club at 4:30
p.m. This is a free activity.
For more information, call
541-962-1339, visit the
library at 2006 Fourth St.
in La Grande or go to www.
cookmemoriallibrary.org.
City commissions
meet this week
LA GRANDE — The La
Grande Arts Commission
will meet Wednesday and
the Parks & Recreation
Advisory Commission will
meet Thursday. Each city
commission meeting starts
at 5:30 p.m. in the Parks &
Recreation Offi ce at Pioneer
Park. Commissioners are
sought for the arts commis-
sion. Contact Stu Spence,
Parks & Recreation director,
at 541-962-1348 for more
information.
Sign up up for Mental
Health First Aid
LA GRANDE — Grande
Ronde Hospital is sponsor-
ing a Mental Health First
Aid Course from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Jan. 16 and Jan.
17. The same eight-hour
session will be taught each
day in the classroom at
the hospital’s Pavilion, 909
Adams Ave., La Grande.
Mental Health First
Aid is a public education
program that introduces
participants to risk factors
and warning signs of men-
tal health problems, builds
understanding of their ef-
fects and provides training
on how to offer initial help
in a mental health crisis.
For more information and
to register for one of the
sessions, call 541-963-1486.
Union County DA
appoints special
deputy district
attorney
LA GRANDE — Union
County District Attorney
Kelsie McDaniel appointed
Gregory Baxter to take
over the prosecution of
arson suspect Kael Knight.
Baxter is the district attor-
ney for Baker County.
“He started the case and
handled it before he was
appointed to Baker County,”
McDaniel said. “He wanted
to see it through.”
McDaniel said appoint-
ments like this are rare in
Union County and usually
due to a confl ict but that
is not the case in this situ-
ation.
Knight faces several
counts of arson. State court
records show he has a plea
hearing and sentencing
Jan. 24.
OTEC seeks
candidates for board
of directors
BAKER CITY— Oregon
Trail Electric Cooperative is
seeking candidates for three
board of director seats for
2020.
The board positions up for
election, which is in May, are:
Position 1 – Union County,
held by incumbent George
Galloway
Position 2 – Baker County,
held by incumbent Aletha
Bonebrake
Position 3 – Harney
County, held by incumbent
Robert Cargill
If you are a member of
the cooperative and inter-
ested in running for the
OTEC Board of Directors,
contact the administration
at 541-524-2831 or visit
otec.coop/annual-meeting-
board-elections for nomi-
nating committee informa-
tion, qualifi cations and
applications. The nominat-
ing committee recommends
candidates for the board
elections and is requesting
any members interested in
running to contact them on
or before Jan. 31. Nomina-
tions by petition are due by
March 3.
EOU receives
high rankings for
fi re, business and
education degrees
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University reported
several of its programs and
services received national
and regional recognitions this
year, including a No. 1 spot
for its online Fire Services
Administration program.
The privately supported
website Intelligent.com
ranked Easter’s bachelor of
science degree in fi re ser-
vice administration as the
No. 1 fi re science degree.
Intelligent also ranked
Eastern’s newly revived
MFA in creative writing as
No. 4 among online mas-
ter’s degrees in creative
writing, its online master’s
education degree program
No. 20 and the online early
childhood education degree
at 25.
EOU’s College of Busi-
ness also earned distinc-
tions. Onlineschoolsreport.
com ranked the college’s
online economics degree an
No. 9 in the nation. Intel-
ligent ranked the online
business administration
degree at No. 12. And
MBACentral.org ranked
Eastern’s no-application-fee
online master of business
administration program
at No. 16. And the website
Colleges of Distinction re-
O BITUARIES
Dona C. (Gildersleeve)
Elliott
Imnaha
1927-2019
Dona Carol Elliott, 82, of
Imnaha, died Dec. 16, 2019.
A service is not planned at
this time.
Dona was
born July 29,
1937, in Enter-
prise, to Edgar
and Leona
(Thornburg) Gildersleeve of
Imnaha, joining her sister,
Pat. She attended the one-
room school until 1949 when
the family moved to Enter-
prise. In 1954, Dona gradu-
ated from Enterprise High
School, and she married Jim
Elliott Dec. 26, 1955.
Dona loved riding horses
and being around her ani-
mals. She was a real estate
agent, clerical worker and,
most important to her, a lov-
ing wife, mom, grandma and
great-grandma. Dona had a
deep love for the Lord and
enjoyed getting together with
her friends for Bible study.
Surviving relatives include
her husband, Jim; children
and their spouses, Trisa and
Jess Barton of Joseph, Laurie
Elliott of Selah, Washington,
and Dave and Tera Elliott of
Enterprise; six grandchildren
and 11 great-grandchildren;
and sister and brother-in-law
Pat and Ken Stein.
P UBLIC S AFETY R EPORT
FRIDAY
The Union County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce at about 9:25 a.m.
responded to the Island City
Walmart, 11619 Island Ave., on
a report about an intoxicated
driver. Deputies arrested Cecil
Kuckup Bettles, 34, of Bosque
Farms, New Mexico, for driving
under the infl uence, driving
while suspended and felony in
possession of a weapon plus
violating probation.
The Union County Sheriff’s
Offi ce at 10:56 a.m. received a
request for extra patrols due to
thefts on the 10200 block of F
Street, Island City,
La Grande police at 6 p.m.
received a report from the 300
block of Lane Avenue that a dog
bit a person. Police took a report.
A La Grande resident at 7:47
p.m. reported receiving harassing
calls.
A little after 11 p.m., La
Grande police responded to
another report of a dog bite.
La Grande police at 11:34 p.m.
received a second report from a
resident about harassing calls.
SATURDAY
And at 1 a.m., La Grande po-
lice again dealt with harassing
telephone calls. An offi cer con-
tacted the two parties involved,
and they seemed to reach a
mutual agreement.
A caller in La Grande in the area
of 1200 Hall Street at 8:38 a.m.
reported livestock on the loose.
La Grande police at about
1:15 p.m. responded to the
2200 block of Island Avenue to
check on the welfare of a person
having mental health issues. The
person was OK and left the area.
Oregon State Police arrested
Alexander Crieghton Declue,
22, of Pendleton, for posses-
sion of unlawful weapon, pos-
session of methamphetamine,
possession of heroin and felon
in possession of a weapon, all
felonies.
La Grande police at about
2 p.m. responded to the 900
block of 13th Street for a bur-
glary. Police took a report.
A North Power caller at 3:45
p.m. reported two aggressive
dogs on the loose on the 400
block of F Street.
SUNDAY
The Union County Sheriff’s
Offi ce arrested Brian Wurde-
man, 41, of Kennewick, Wash-
ington, for domestic violence
charges of misdemeanor
harassment and menacing and
felony assault and strangula-
tion.
And fi refi ghters responded
to 10 calls for medical as-
sistance on Sunday, fi ve on
Saturday and six on Friday.
Harley E. Greenlee
La Grande
1937-2019
Harley Edward Green-
lee, 82 of La Grande, died
Dec. 31, 2019, at his resi-
dence. At his
request, there
will not be a
service.
Harley
was born
Nov. 30, 1937, in Picher,
Oklahoma, to Harley and
Rittie (White) Greenlee.
He served in the U.S. Navy
aboard the USS Alamo
from 1957-1962.
Harley was employed with
Boise Cascade in Elgin until
retirement. He enjoyed fi shing
and listening to music.
Surviving relatives
include his wife, Roberta;
children and their spouses,
Howard and Jana Green-
lee of La Grande, Donna
and Robert Handegard of
La Grande, Gary Greenlee
of Bend, Louise and Eric
Phillips of La Grande, and
Christopher and Mandy
Greenlee of La Grande;
and 16 grandchildren and
16 great-grandchildren.
In lieu of fl owers, memo-
rial contributions may be
made to Loveland Funeral
Chapel to help with funeral
expenses.
Online condolences may be
made to the family at www.
lovelandfuneralchapel.com.
cently featured Eastern.
EDsmart.org, a publish-
er of college resources and
rankings, placed Eastern
at No. 9 on its list of the
top 20 colleges in Oregon
for 2019-20. University of
Oregon, Eugene, ranked
No. 1, and Blue Moun-
tain Community College,
Pendleton, rounded out the
list at No. 20. Eastern also
ranked 10th on study.com’s
list of accredited online
schools.
EOU reported it jumped
to No. 77 in U.S. News and
World Report’s ranking of
universities in the West
and came in at No. 37
among public schools in
the region.
Collegeconsensus.com
placed EOU as No. 4 for
affordable online colleges,
and collegevaluesonline.
com set Eastern as No. 5
for the most affordable col-
leges in the Pacifi c North-
west. And EOU earned a
“bronze” from the website
Military Friendly for sup-
port of active duty and
former members of the U.S.
military.
UPCOMING FUNERALS
AND VISITATIONS
Sponsored by
Frederick A. Vanslyke
La Grande
Frederick A. Vanslyke,
87, of La Grande, died
Jan. 5 at his residence. An
obituary is forthcoming.
Loveland Funeral Chapel
& Crematory will be han-
dling the arrangements.
Barbara A. Amyx
La Grande
Barbara A. Amyx, 86,
of La Grande, died Jan. 2
at Wildfl ower Lodge. An
obituary is forthcoming.
Loveland Funeral Chapel
& Crematory will be han-
dling the arrangements.
Jan. 6
Donna Johnson:
2 p.m. funeral service,
Cove Baptist Church.
Jan. 18
Virginia
Linkenhoker:
2 p.m. memorial service,
La Grande United
Methodist Church;
reception follows in the
Fellowship Hall.