2A — THE OBSERVER
D AILY
P LANNER
TODAY
Today is Wednesday, Jan.
22, the 22nd day of 2020.
There are 344 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Jan. 22, 1998, Theo-
dore Kaczynski pleaded
guilty in Sacramento,
California, to being the
Unabomber responsible for
three deaths and 29 injuries
in return for a sentence
of life in prison without
parole.
ON THIS DATE
In 1498, during his third
voyage to the Western
Hemisphere, Christopher
Columbus arrived at the
present-day Caribbean
island of St. Vincent.
In 1944, during World War
II, Allied forces began land-
ing at Anzio, Italy.
In 1970, the fi rst regularly
scheduled commercial fl ight
of the Boeing 747 began in
New York and ended in Lon-
don some 6-1/2 hours later.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme
Court, in its Roe v. Wade
decision, legalized abortions
using a trimester approach.
In 1987, Pennsylvania
treasurer R. Budd Dwyer,
convicted of defrauding
the state, proclaimed his
innocence at a news confer-
ence before pulling out a
gun, placing the barrel in his
mouth and shooting himself
to death in front of horrifi ed
onlookers.
In 1994, actor Telly
Savalas died in Universal
City, California, a day after
turning 72.
In 1995, Rose Fitzgerald
Kennedy died at the Ken-
nedy compound at Hyannis
Port, Mass., at age 104.
In 1997, the Senate con-
fi rmed Madeleine Albright
as the nation’s fi rst female
secretary of state.
In 2007, a double car
bombing of a predominant-
ly Shiite commercial area in
Baghdad killed 88 people.
Iran announced it had
barred 38 nuclear inspec-
tors on a United Nations list
from entering the country
in apparent retaliation for
U.N. sanctions imposed the
previous month.
Northeast Oregon
Storms give
snowpack a
boost
■ Snowpacks have doubled at several
sites in Northeast Oregon this month.
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — North-
eastern Oregon’s snowpack
went from paltry to plentiful.
And the transformation
took just a week or so.
A series of snowstorms
that started Jan. 10 more
than doubled the water con-
tent in the snow at several
measuring sites around the
region.
Water content, not snow
depth, is the key statistic in
snowpack because a foot of
heavy snow can hold more wa-
ter than 18 inches of powder.
The mountain snowpack is
a major source of water during
Megabucks: $2 million
1-13-20-22-29-32
Mega Millions: $130 million
16-18-29-31-37-8 x3
Powerball: $343 million
20-24-38-56-68-18 x2
Win for Life: Jan. 20
9-25-46-60
Pick 4: Jan. 21
• 1 p.m.: 4-5-9-5
• 4 p.m.: 6-5-9-3
• 7 p.m.: 5-3-6-3
• 10 p.m.: 2-6-6-7
Pick 4: Jan. 20
• 1 p.m.: 5-1-8-3
• 4 p.m.: 5-2-4-7
• 7 p.m.: 5-2-6-0
• 10 p.m.: 6-3-2-1
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3161.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Whatever people in gen-
eral do not understand, they
are always prepared to dis-
like; the incomprehensible
is always the obnoxious.”
— Letitia Landon,
English poet
the spring and summer, when
melting snow keeps streams
fl owing and refi lls reservoirs.
After a major storm at
Thanksgiving, snow was
scarce during most of De-
cember and the fi rst week of
January, leaving the snow-
pack at a little more than
half of average.
In December, for the fi rst
time since early April 2019,
the U.S. Drought Monitor
rated Northeast Oregon as
“abnormally dry,” the cat-
egory preliminary to drought.
But then the jet stream
started propelling Pacifi c
storms directly into North-
east Oregon.
Jayson Jacoby/EO Media Group
After a snowy week, the sun shone brightly on fresh powder on Sunday near Phillips
Reservoir.
A sampling of the dra-
matic changes these snowy
systems made:
• Schneider Meadows,
in the Wallowa Mountains
north of Halfway, went
from 8.4 inches of water
content on Jan. 1 (68% of
average) to 16.4 inches
now, which is exactly
average for this time of the
winter.
• Bourne, north of
Sumpter, more than doubled
the water content, from 4.3
inches on Jan. 1 (63% of
average) to 9.1 inches now,
95% of average.
• Moss Springs, in the
Wallowas above Cove, went
from a water content of 8.6
inches on Jan. 1 (84% of av-
erage) to 14.9 inches, which
is 8% above average.
Elgin
City moves toward neighborhood watch
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
ELGIN — Crime in Elgin has
ticked up in the last several months,
according to Union County Sheriff
Boyd Rasmussen.
Spurred by three major
arrests for theft and
burglary last week,
citizens of Elgin are
planning to create a
Rasmussen neighborhood watch.
“A community watch
program is a great way to get extra
eyes and ears on the community to
keep it safer,” said Elgin Mayor Allen
Duffy.
The city has called a public meet-
ing for Monday at 6 p.m. at the
“A community watch program is
a great way to get extra eyes and
ears on the community to keep it
safer.”
— Elgin Mayor Allen Duffy
Community Center, 260 N. 10th St.,
to discuss forming the watch, which
would consist of a group of residents
who are willing to volunteer their
time to help keep their communtiy
free from crime.
Elgin contracts with the sheriff’s
offi ce for law enforcement services.
Three deputies and Rasmussen will
work with the city and members of
the watch to prevent and respond to
crimes.
In the meantime,
Duffy encouraged
residents to report
anything that may be
out of the norm, such
Duffy
as different people or
vehicles frequenting
the area or excessive traffi c, to the
sheriff’s offi ce non-emergency line
(541-963-1017) or to the mayor’s of-
fi ce (541-437-2253).
“This reporting could help the
sheriff’s offi ce after a crime has been
committed, or calls could prevent
crime from taking place,” Duffy said.
For an emergency, however, call
911.
Rasmussen said having the neigh-
borhood watch will be helpful in
keeping down crime in Elgin. Other
towns, including North Powder, have
implemented a neighborhood watch
with success.
“Citizens are more aware, which is
helpful because we can’t be every-
where,” he said.
Recent vandalism at churches
and the trio of arrests for theft
and burglary preceded the call for
citizens’ involvement. Rasmussen
said the recent rise in crime will
likely decrease as more citizens are
intentionally aware of their sur-
roundings.
The meeting next week also will
cover additional details about the
watch and an introduction to the
deputies who will be involved.
Wallowa County
Enterprise mulls need for utility rate hikes
■ City looks to
implement water
increase July 1,
sewer hike Jan. 1
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
LOTTERY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2020
LOCAL
ENTERPRISE — The city
of Enterprise is putting to-
gether fi gures to determine
how large of a rate increase
to charge residents for water
and sewer services.
Those calculations are
not complete, but Recorder
Lacey McQuead said he
hopes to have most of that
information to present to
the city council at its Feb. 10
meeting.
McQuead said at the
Jan. 13 meeting she is
proposing to stagger the
increases so the water in-
crease will be implemented
July 1, and the sewer
increase on Jan. 1.
“I’m hoping this will open
up the conversation for us,”
McQuead said Jan. 13.
In addition to the stag-
gered implementation of
the increases, McQuead
said she has yet to learn
if an increase of 1%, 1.5%
or 2% will be necessary
to meet the rising costs
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of supplying water and
sewer service to residents.
Several council members
agreed they hoped to keep
the rate increase to $2 per
household.
She presented a graph
that showed a steady
increase in water rates since
2015.
In January 2014, the
council passed a resolution
to develop a rate structure
for a fi ve-year period to
meet the debt obligations
according to the loan for
the Enterprise Water
Improvement Project. The
last water rate increase
was July 1, when water
was increased to $39.15
per unit for service inside
the city limits.
Sewer costs were a bit
different.
“Sewer has bounced a
little bit for a couple of rea-
sons,” she said Jan. 13.
One of those is a $514
actual cost for liability
insurance for the sewer
department for this year.
Another is a list of re-
placement parts for sewer
department equipment.
McQuead was supplied
with estimated costs of
potential replacement items
by the sewer plant operator
and presented them to the
council Jan. 13.
McQuead emphasized the
rate hikes have nothing to
do with comparing Enter-
prise’s rates with those in
other cities of
similar size and circum-
stances.
In 2012, an assessment
of the sewer rates was com-
pleted, including evaluat-
ing the average water use
during the winter, McQuead
wrote in an email. At that
time, the rate for sewer
was $56.50 (the same rate
since 2009) and stayed at
that rate until 2013-14.
That year, the sewer rate
increased to $58.50 and
in 2014-15 it went up to
$59.50.
There has not been a
sewer rate increase since,
she said.
McQuead wrote another
increase is needed to help
the emergency or backup
funds for the water and sew-
er departments stay afl oat
by providing enough money
to replace vital equipment.
CRNA Week: January 19-25, 2020
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and deserve when facing surgery or other
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We appreciate their compassion and commitment
to your comfort and your care!
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Sheridan Klinger, CRNA
Thank you for providing safe and effective
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