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MONDAY • January 13, 2020 • $1.50
Northeast Oregon
Good day to our valued subscriber Edgar Freydl of La Grande
La Grande
Union County
Do you Starting the new year with an
want to
believe
in UFOs?
County
restores
portion
of law
■ ■ UFO reports
drop in Eastern
Oregon but
tick up statewide
■ ■ Commissioners
to reevaluate fee
portion of new
local ordinance
By Phil Wright
By Dick Mason
The Observer
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Na-
tional UFO Reporting Center
reported more accounts of
unusual aerial phenomena
in Oregon in 2019 than 2018,
but accounts from Eastern
Oregon almost fell out of
sight.
The center in Davenport,
Washington, totaled 109 re-
ports last year of unidentified
flying objects over Oregon
skies, 10 more than in 2018,
according to the center’s
online database: http://www.
nuforc.org/webreports/ndx-
lOR.html.
Eastern Oregon viewers
generated nine reports in
2018, but in 2019 the reports
dipped to five, including a
July 11 sighting near North
Powder.
The witness reported
seeing a bright orange object
morph between an orb and
oblong shape over the span of
three hours.
According to the report,
the witness was a passenger
in a car heading south on
Highway 237 about 5 miles
northeast of North Powder
at about 9:50 p.m. on a “dark,
mainly clear” night.
“Being an avid stargazer, I
looked up to the sky to watch
the stars pass by,” the witness
stated. “To the southwest
from the passenger’s front
seat I saw a strange bright
orange light in the sky hover-
ing around the moon.”
The light was no star or
planet, according to the ac-
count, and did not seem like
any aircraft the witness was
familiar with. Nor was there
a jet trail or other obvious
signs of propulsion.
“I began to get an uneasy
feeling in my stomach,” the
witness stated in the report.
“As I watched the object, the
light elongated into an oblong
shape, still showing the same
orange light.”
LA GRANDE — The
Union County Board of
Commissioners voted Friday
at an emergency meeting to
reinstate the non-financial
portion of the county’s new
right-of-way ordinance.
This means utilities and
people doing work projects
in right-of-ways of Union
County have to have to apply
for permits.
The vote Friday came two
days after the county board
voted to suspend the ordi-
nance, after representatives
of two utilities expressed
concerns about it.
The board voted 2-1 to
reinstate the non-financial
portion of the ordinance.
Commissioners Donna Bev-
erage and Matt Scarfo voted
for the motion, and Paul
Anderes voted against it.
Anderes said the new
ordinance does not need to be
revised because the county
took all the proper procedural
steps before adopting it.
He noted the county board
held public hearings on the
proposal and took input from
county staff.
“We did everything we
should have. To re-evaluate
it so quickly makes me feel a
little uneasy,” Anderes said
The county board passed
the local law in December
2019. The utility representa-
tives at the board’s Wednes-
day meeting said they were
concerned about the major
increase in fees for working
along right-of-ways of county
roads. The previous fees
were $40 for utilities and
non-commercial users. The
new ordinance jumped that
to $100 for non-commercial
EPIPHANY
See Sightings / Page 5A
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Colleen Nelson and Keith Hudson walk on a labyrinth canvas Saturday during a retreat at the Presbyterian
Friendship Center, La Grande. Nelson, former pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church in La Grande, was a co-
facilitator of the labyrinth retreat. Hudson is co-pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, La Grande.
By Dick Mason, The Observer
LA GRANDE — Bad weather prevented many people in Union County from
traveling Saturday, but it did not stop eight La Grande residents from taking a
journey into an ancient, spiritual space.
The small but hardy contingent participated in a Laby-
rinth Retreat at the Presbyterian Friendship Center, La
Grande. The aim of the five-hour event was to help people
begin 2020 with an epiphany, an enlightening realization
that allows people to understand a problem or situation
from a new and deeper perspective, said Laura Hudson.
She and Colleen Nelson, a former pastor of the Zion
Lutheran Church, La Grande, facilitated the retreat with
aim of creating a tranquil, supportive environment.
“It was a very peaceful letting go of stress, one meant to
give everyone a spiritual space,” Hudson said.
The focal point of the retreat was a walk on an expan-
sive labyrinth canvas that covered much of the floor of
the Presbyterian Friendship Center’s large meeting room.
The circuitous design is one people have been walking for
at least three millennia as a means of making personal
journeys of discovery and exploration.
Those on a labyrinth trail “are walking a sacred path,”
said Hudson, who is co-pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church in La Grande with her husband, Keith.
Hudson and Nelson encouraged the labyrinth walk-
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Nancy Knowles, an English and writing professor at
Eastern Oregon University, reflects during a stop at
the center of a labyrinth Saturday during a retreat at
the Presbyterian Friendship Center, La Grande.
See Epiphany / Page 5A
See County / Page 5A
Wallowa County
9th Circuit rejects challenge to Lostine Project
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Press
SALEM — A federal appeals
court has rejected an environmen-
talist challenge to a 2,000-acre for-
est thinning project along 11 miles
of the Lostine River in Northeast
Oregon.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals has upheld an earlier ruling
that determined the U.S. Forest
Service complied with environmen-
tal laws in authorizing the project.
The agency didn’t violate the
Healthy Forest Restoration Act
by concluding that “extraordinary
circumstances” did not justify an
environmental study of the thinning
project, which is aimed at reducing
wildfire risks, according to the 9th
Circuit.
The Forest Service properly
analyzed “resource conditions” along
the river in the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest in deciding the
project was eligible for a “categorical
exclusion” from such environmental
reviews, the 9th Circuit said.
“The Forest Service rationally
concluded the Lostine Project had
no effect, no adverse effect, likely
no adverse effect, or a neutral or
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beneficial effect on each applicable
‘resource condition,’” the ruling said.
Likewise, the thinning project
is consistent with the land and
resource management plan for the
national forest, the ruling said. “The
Forest Service reasonably interpret-
ed its plan, adhered to its relevant
processes, documented its findings,
and made rational conclusions
based on those findings.”
Contrary to allegations by the en-
vironmental plaintiffs, the Greater
Hells Canyon Council and Oregon
Wild, the agency’s “collaborative
process” for planning the project
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Tuesday
22 LOW
31/22
A bit of snow
A snow shower
VANDALISM AT TARGET RANGE
was sufficient and didn’t require a
formal group, the 9th Circuit said.
The Forest Service followed
guidelines requiring the plan to
“involve relevant stakeholders” and
to use an “open, inclusive and trans-
parent process,” the ruling said.
Wallowa County, which inter-
vened in the litigation to defend the
project, is glad the 9th Circuit has
agreed the thinning should proceed,
said Caroline Lobdell, executive
director of the Western Resources
Legal Center, which represented the
local government.
See Challenge / Page 5A
CONTACT US
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Call The Observer newsroom at
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More contact info on Page 4A.
Issue 6
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Online at lagrandeobserver.com