2A — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020
LOCAL
Economic development summit offers connections
D AILY
P LANNER
what we have to offer,” Beverage
said.
Representatives of 14 entities,
many with state, federal and local
government ties, will attend the
summit and provide information on
the services they offer to businesses.
“It will be a place where business-
es can do some one-stop shopping,”
said Beverage, the organizer of the
summit. “We want to help businesses
make the contacts they need.”
Union County’s Baum Industrial
Park is among the participants. It is
a site providing space for businesses
By Dick Mason
TODAY
The Observer
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 11,
the 42nd day of 2020. There
are 324 days left in the year.
LA GRANDE — Local business
owners have more services and op-
portunities available to them than
they realize in Union County.
This is what Union County Com-
missioner Donna Beverage said she
believes many business owners will
discover Tuesday at the 2020 Busi-
ness Summit for Economic Develop-
ment, which runs 5:30-8 p.m. at the
Blue Mountain Conference Center,
404 12th St., La Grande.
“It will be a good way to showcase
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Feb. 11, 1979, followers
of Ayatollah Ruhollah Kho-
meini seized power in Iran.
ON THIS DATE
In 1531, the Church of
England grudgingly ac-
cepted King Henry VIII as its
supreme head.
In 1861, President-elect
Abraham Lincoln bade fare-
well to his adopted home-
town of Springfi eld, Ill., as
he headed to Washington for
his inauguration.
In 1937, a six-week-old sit-
down strike against General
Motors ended, with the com-
pany agreeing to recognize
the United Automobile
Workers Union.
In 1945, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill
and Soviet leader Josef
Stalin signed the Yalta Agree-
ment, in which Stalin agreed
to declare war against Impe-
rial Japan following Nazi
Germany’s capitulation.
In 1968, New York City’s
fourth and current Madison
Square Garden, located on
Manhattan’s West Side at the
site of what used to be the
Pennsylvania Station building,
opened with a “Salute to the
USO” hosted by Bob Hope
and Bing Crosby. (The same
evening, the New York Rang-
ers played their fi nal game
at the third Garden, tying the
Detroit Red Wings 3-3.)
In 1975, Margaret Thatcher
was elected leader of Brit-
ain’s opposition Conserva-
tive Party.
In 1990, South African
black activist Nelson Man-
dela was freed after 27 years
in captivity.
In 2008, the Pentagon
charged Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed and fi ve other
detainees at Guantanamo
Bay with murder and war
crimes in connection with
the Sept. 11 attacks.
In 2011, Egypt exploded with
joy after pro-democracy pro-
testers brought down President
Hosni Mubarak, whose resig-
nation ended three decades of
authoritarian rule.
In 2012, pop singer
Whitney Houston, 48, was
found dead in a hotel room
bathtub in Beverly Hills,
California.
LOTTERY
to relocate or for new businesses to
start. The park completed paving
work last spring and offers electri-
cal, water, sewer and other services
to business willing to operate there.
Beverage said three local businesses
that are expanding their operations
have purchased lots and are con-
structing buildings at the park.
Other organizations coming to the
summit include the Small Business
Administration and Small Busi-
ness Development Center, Business
Oregon and the Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative. Beverage said she
believes these entities will benefi t
from having representatives at the
summit because they will get a
better idea of the services offered to
businesses in Union County.
“They will learn what others have
to offer,” Beverage said.
This also makes it easier for the
staffs of the organizations and agen-
cies and institutions to make referrals
for business owners in the future.
People attending the summit also
can attend presentations on business
planning, funding, marketing and
workforce development.
Window closing on time to vaccinate students
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Center for Human Develop-
ment sent out 229 letters to
parents of students across
Union County whose school
records do not show the
children have received all
required vaccinations.
Oregon state law requires
the immunization of school-
children. If a child has not
been immunized or records
have not been updated to
show he or she has received
required vaccines or are
exempt, parents have until
Feb. 19 to update the records
or the child will not be al-
lowed to attend school.
“There are no exceptions
to students returning after
the exclusion day without
either the documentation of
needed vaccination or the
appropriate paperwork com-
pleted for claiming a medical
or non-medical exemption,”
said Elizabeth Sieders, pub-
lic health specialist at CHD.
According to the Oregon
Health Authority, medical
exemptions can be tempo-
rary or permanent and done
when there is a severe risk
of an adverse reaction to a
vaccine. It is up to the child’s
doctor to determine if the
risk is enough to allow an
exemption.
A non-medical exemption
can be given due to personal,
religious or philosophical
beliefs. Parents who would
like to claim this must fi rst
provide a certifi cation of vac-
cination education.
For either exemption,
schools need the proper doc-
umentation before students
can return to classes.
“Students may not be re-
Contributed by Center for Human Development
This is a sample copy of an exclusion letter in Union County. The La Grande-based
Center for Human Development sent 229 of the letters to notify parents and guardians
whose children lack required immunizations or whose records were not up to date.
ceiving the required immu-
nizations for many reasons.
Most of the time it is simply
that the parents have fallen
behind in getting their child
in to get these done,” Sieders
said. “The intent of the school
exclusion process is to have
a way to enforce deadlines.
If there were not deadlines,
and consequences, many
people would never make it
a priority to keep themselves
or (their) children up to date
on vaccines, but rather vac-
cinate during an outbreak as
a reactionary method.”
Children who miss class
due to the exclusion date will
be marked as unexcused,
according to the Oregon De-
partment of Education. Each
district will follow its own
attendance policy in regard
to responding to the absence.
“We prefer not to disrupt
the education of a student
and highly value students
in schools attending on a
regular and consistent basis,”
La Grande Superintendent
George Mendoza said. “We
prefer not to exclude anyone
if at all possible (and offer) a
great deal of communication,
support and information
gathering in advance of the
cut-off date.”
Sieders said it is important
for students to remain up to
date on their vaccinations.
Not only does missing school
have a negative effect of
learning, staying properly im-
munized can help prevent the
spread of disease and illness.
“As we know, vaccines pre-
vent many diseases,” Sieder
said. “Diseases fl ourish and
spread in places where many
people gather closely for pro-
longed periods of time, like
school and daycare. ... As the
local health department, our
role is to try to decrease the
barriers to families staying
vaccinated by providing free
or low cost vaccine and in-
creasing accessibility outside
of primary care clinics.”
In Union County, the
schools with the high-
est number of incomplete
records include Cove Charter
School and La Grande
Middle School, whose num-
bers were in the 40s. Central
had the highest number of
students with no records,
with 6. Local preschools and
daycares, and the Riverbend
Academy students did not
receive any letters. Accord-
ing to the Oregon Health
Authority’s data on vaccina-
tion rates, 89% of Union
County is vaccinated. Union
is among one of the lowest in
vaccination rates, just ahead
of Grant County at 88%.
Second man arrested for 2019 Baker City robbery
Megabucks: $3.6 million
7-12-16-38-47-48
By Chris Collins
EO Media Group
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Win for Life: Feb. 8
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer,
please call the offi ce at 541-
963-3161.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We had better live as we
think, otherwise we shall end
up by thinking as we have
lived.”
Paul Bourget, French author
(1852-1935)
BAKER CITY — Baker
City Police have arrested a
second man on allegations
that he helped rob two men
of cash and a cellphone
while assaulting one of
them during an altercation
at Cedar and H streets last
summer.
Zachary Aron Carter, 22, of
Baker City is charged with
six counts of second-degree
robbery and one count each
of third-degree assault and
second- and third-degree
theft, District Attorney Greg
Baxter said Monday.
Carter is accused of partic-
ipating in the robbery with
Colvin William Cutshall III,
30, of Baker City.
Carter was arrested on
a Baker County grand jury
indictment at 9:40 p.m. Sat-
urday at Campbell and East
streets. He was arraigned
Monday in Baker County
Circuit Court, Baxter said.
Bail has been set at $50,000.
Cutshall, who has been
held at the jail on other
charges since Nov. 19, was
arrested on a grand jury in-
dictment for the same crimes
on Feb. 3. The grand jury
indicted both men on Jan.
30, court documents state.
Cutshall and Carter are
charged with robbing Caleb
Day, 22, and Dillon Bald-
win, 20, both of Baker City,
at 1:30 a.m. in the area of
Cedar and H streets on July
L
22, 2019.
The charges of second-
degree robbery, a Class B
felony, accuse Cutshall and
Carter, in different scenar-
ios, of working together to
threaten Day and Baldwin
while claiming to be armed
with a dangerous weapon
when they took their prop-
10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City
Day when they took his wal-
let and cellphone valued at
more than $100, which con-
stitutes second-degree theft,
a Class A misdemeanor.
The third-degree theft
charge, a Class C misde-
meanor, accuses the two men
of taking cash of less than
$100 from Baldwin.
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erty, the indictments state.
Upon conviction, second-
degree assault carries a
mandatory minimum prison
term of fi ve years and 10
months.
The two men are charged
with third-degree assault, a
Class C felony, for allegedly
causing physical injury to
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