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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020 REGION DAILY Oregonians can travel — but to where is the question State parks, PLANNER campgrounds, more TODAY Today is Saturday, March 28, the 88th day of 2020. There are 278 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On March 28, 2003, American-led forces in Iraq dropped thousand-pound bombs on Republican Guard units guarding the gates to Baghdad and battled for control of the strategic city of Nasiriyah. President George W. Bush warned of “further sacrifi ce” ahead in the face of unexpectedly fi erce fi ghting. ON THIS DATE In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, ruled 6-2 that Wong, who was born in the United States to Chinese im- migrants, was an American citizen. In 1941, novelist and critic Virginia Woolf, 59, drowned herself near her home in England. In 1963, the Alfred Hitchcock fi lm “The Birds” premiered in New York. In 1969, the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, died in Washington, D.C., at age 78. In 1978, the U.S. Su- preme Court upheld, 5-3, the judicial immunity of an Indiana judge against a lawsuit brought by a young woman who’d been ordered sterilized by the judge when she was a teenager. In 1979, America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurred with a partial meltdown inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Is- land plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania. In 1987, Maria von Trapp, whose life story inspired the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music,” died in Morrisville, Vermont, at age 82. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the widow of U.S. Olym- pic legend Jesse Owens. LOTTERY Megabucks: $1.2 million 2-23-25-36-46-48 Mega Millions: $107 million 2-8-16-18-31-14 x2 Powerball: $160 million 5-9-27-39-42—PB-16 x2 Win for Life: March 25 1-23-35-48 Pick 4: March 26 • 1 p.m.: 7-9-8-4 • 4 p.m.: 9-5-2-8 • 7 p.m.: 2-4-3-8 • 10 p.m.: 4-8-0-5 Pick 4: March 25 • 1 p.m.: 9-8-5-5 • 4 p.m.: 2-7-3-7 • 7 p.m.: 4-0-0-1 • 10 p.m.: 7-5-7-0 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the offi ce at 541-963-3161. TODAY’S QUOTE “You cannot fi nd peace by avoiding life.” — Virginia Woolf ( 1882-1941) Idaho residents told: Stay at home 3 weeks The Associated Press BOISE — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday issued a statewide stay-at-home order as the coronavirus continues to spread. Little announced the order will remain in effect for 21 days. Idaho has more than 189 confi rmed cases of COVID-19 through Thursday spread throughout the state. The order requires Idaho’s 1.75 million res- idents to self-isolate at home unless they are health care workers, public safety employees or other “essential workers” such as gro- cery store employees. Little said some com- munities now had com- munity spread, in central Idaho’s Blaine County and highly populated southwestern Idaho, which includes Boise. Community spread means it’s not clear where or from whom a person became infected. Washington state and Oregon have also issued statewide stay-at-home orders in recent days. other are closed By Dick Hughes For the Capital Bureau Gov. Kate Brown said the far-reaching executive order she issued this week should not stop immediate families from motoring for relaxation or driving to a trailhead, as long as they maintain proper social dis- tancing while hiking. “The goal here is to limit your social circles. The goal is to stay away from crowds. The goal is to maintain social distancing,” Brown said of Oregon’s efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19. “Oregonians are very innovative and creative, and I encourage them to comply with the spirit and the letter of the executive order.” Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton noted most camp- grounds and boat ramps are closed, so Oregonians and visitors should research their plans before heading out. In a letter sent to all police agencies in Oregon, he emphasized Brown’s order was not close to mar- tial law. People don’t need documentation showing they are traveling legally to or from work or other per- mitted activities. “There are no cur- fews and a person’s move- ments are not restricted under the Governor’s Exec- utive Order,” Hampton wrote. “While details are offered in the order relating to social distancing, spe- cifi c business closures and non-essential social gatherings, (Oregonians’) movements are generally unrestricted.” Motorists should not be pulled over under suspicion of violating the executive order. “If, however, you are committing a traffi c viola- tion or crime that would be enforced independent of the order, you may be stopped, like any other day,” he wrote. As Hampton noted, the challenge may be fi nding a place to recreate. In her executive order, Brown said the need for a strong “Stay Home, Save Lives” directive was rein- forced by seeing crowds had gathered last weekend at the Oregon Coast, Smith Rock State Park, Columbia River Gorge and other places in defi ance of social distancing guidelines. State parks, public and private campgrounds and many other recreation sites now are closed, either under the governor’s order or voluntarily. Oregonians are allowed to go outside for recreation so long as they maintain appropriate social distancing — at least for 6 feet, except for family members living in the same residence. Oregon’s beloved ocean beaches are not closed but getting there – legally – could be problematic. “The state parks closure doesn’t impact the ocean shore, but it does close all state park-managed parking efforts to maintain social distancing and strains our supply channels, public safety resources and health care system. “We look forward to hosting you again when things are back to normal.” Friends of the Columbia Land Trust also has closed the Mosier Plateau in Oregon and the Lyle Cherry Orchards in Wash- ington. Both are popular for hiking. But the rules for some activities remain unclear. At Brown’s Wednesday teleconference with reporters, the governor was asked whether her stay-home order applied to couples in long-term rela- tionships who don’t live together but frequently stay over at one another’s residence. “Every family is in a different situation,” Brown responded. “The spirit of the executive order is to severely limit your social circles. So that’s all I will say about sleeping together at this point.” AG targets stores for price gouging during outbreak Oregon’s Justice Department sends letters to four convenience stores, expects more By Jake Thomas Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — The Oregon Department of Justice is accusing four convenience stores of price-gouging on its sales of toilet paper, bottled water and surgical masks. The agency on Tuesday issued cease-and-desist let- ters to two stores in Salem, one each in Keizer and Portland stating they were charging an “unconscio- nably excessive price” for goods that have been in high demand during the coronavirus outbreak. Last week Gov. Kate Brown declared an “abnormal disruption to the Oregon marketplace” because of the coronavirus pandemic. The declaration followed reports of stores selling out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer or selling these and other items at exorbitant prices. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum can use the state’s consumer protec- tion laws against companies that increase the price of essential products by 15% or more. Essential products include food, fuel, water, cleaning products and med- ical supplies and services. Since setting up a price- gouging hotline on March 16, the Justice Department received more than 100 phone calls and complaints, according to spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson. The letters don’t specify how much stores were charging for essen- tial goods. They notify each store that the depart- ment has received one or more complaint about them charging excessive prices and orders them to stop. The letters also warn the stores the attorney general may seek civil penalties of up to $25,000 per viola- tion and require businesses to pay restitution to injured consumers. The department sent two of the letters to 7-11 stores for charging excessive prices for surgical masks. One store is at 4715 N.E. Columbia Blvd., Portland, the other is at 2002 Lan- caster Drive N.E., Salem. REPORT PRICE GOUGING VIOLATIONS If you have been charged an excessive price for a product or service under normal circumstances, fi le a complaint with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline by calling 503- 378-8442, or go online to www.doj.state.or.us, click on the link for con- sumer protection and open the online com- plaint form. Photo contributed by the Oregon Zoo American beaver Filbert (left) with Maple in the beaver den at the Cascade Stream and Pond habitat at the Oregon Zoo. The zoo added Maple this month. Oregon Zoo adds beaver 3-year-old Maple joins Filbert in Cascade Stream and Pond habitat Phone numbers listed for each of the 7-11 stores were not functional. A message sent to an email address for media inquires on 7-11’s corpo- rate website Thursday after- noon was not immediately answered. Another letter accused the AM-PM convenience store at 501 Lancaster Drive N.E., Salem, of selling excessively priced bottled water. No one answered the phone at a number for the store listed online and the call did not go to voicemail. The department sent the fourth letter to Keizer Food Market at 4495 River Road North for exces- sively raising its price of toilet paper. Luke Peca, store manager, denied the accusation. “We don’t even sell toilet paper,” he said. Edmunson said in an email the department has followed up on many com- plaints by contacting the business or sending out an investigator. She said busi- nesses often don’t under- stand the state’s price- gouging laws and will lower prices after being contacted. “If we are not satisfi ed, we will follow-up with a cease-and-desist letter,” she said. “We have been monitoring the complaints closely and will probably be sending more out.” The declaration also applies to online retailers. Rosenblum was one of 33 state attorneys general who signed a letter sent on Wednesday to Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Facebook and Walmart warning them that they aren’t exempt from state price-gouging laws. The letter cited one incident where a two-liter bottle of hand sanitizer was sold online for $250 on Craigslist. 10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City Observer staff PORTLAND — “Branch manager” Filbert welcomed a new coworker this month when Maple, a 3-year-old North Amer- ican beaver, joined him at the Oregon Zoo’s Cascade Stream and Pond habitat. “Maple settled in right away,” according to a news release from the zoo, “and the toothy twosome are already swimming and playing together. “Beavers are very social animals, so it’s wonderful to wel- come a new member to the family,” said Julie Christie, senior keeper for the zoo’s North Amer- ican animals. “Filbert and Maple are getting along really well, and it’s great for both of them to have a friend to play with.” Filbert was born at the zoo in 2011 to Willow and Aspen. Since they died last year, he’s been get- ting a lot of special atten- tion from his care staff, including adventure walks around the zoo. He’s espe- cially popular on the zoo’s social media channels, where his industrious wood-gathering activities have earned him the title 541-975-1364 “branch manager.” Filbert also is known for his skills as a research assistant. In 2015, he lent his services to Oregon State University for its Beaver Genome Project. Maple joins Filbert in the zoo’s Great Northwest area, near the river otters and western pond turtles. The two beavers share a lodge and spend their days chewing on wood to keep their large, pow- erful teeth worn down. To encourage these natural behaviors, keepers anchor branches to the beach or clamp the branches upright for them to chew. Though Oregon is known for its beaver pop- ulation, that hasn’t always been the case. In the 19th century, American beavers were hunted and trapped for their fur; by about 1900, they were almost gone from many of their orig- inal habitats. Pollution and habitat loss also affected their survival. In the last 100 years, thanks to re-establish- ment programs and hunting regulations, bea- vers have made a suc- cessful comeback. The International Union of Conservation of Nature now lists beavers as “a species of least concern.” Metro, the regional government that man- ages the Oregon Zoo, has preserved and restored more than 90 miles of river and stream banks in the region through its voter-supported nat- ural area programs. By protecting water quality and habitat, these pro- grams are helping to pro- vide the healthy ecosys- tems needed for beavers, fi sh and other wildlife to thrive. Beavers are fre- quently observed in Metro region waterways. The zoo also reported it is working to save endangered California condors, Oregon silver- spot and Taylor’s check- erspot butterfl ies, western pond turtles and northern leopard frogs. Other proj- ects focused on saving animals from extinction include studies on polar bears, orangutans and cheetahs. Support from the Oregon Zoo Foundation enhances and expands the zoo’s efforts in con- servation, education and animal welfare. Members, donors and corporate and foundation partners help the zoo make a differ- ence across the region and around the world. FAMILY OWNED La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst An Independent Insurance Agency Reed & Associates for excellent service LOCALLY! Nicole Cathey lots and beach accesses,” said Liz Merah of the Governor’s Offi ce. “The Oregon Parks and Recre- ation Department has the authority to close the beach temporarily for health reasons.” And that department said in the FAQs posted online, “If people don’t get the message that clumping up and overwhelming local areas is a bad idea, we’ll have to revisit the decision to leave all beaches open.” Some coastal cities and counties also have closed beach access, as well as lodging, in part to keep vis- itors from spreading coro- navirus and overwhelming local health facilities. In the Columbia Gorge, local offi cials also urged visitors to stay away — for now. Hood River County Chair Mike Oates, Hood River Mayor Kate McBride and Cascade Locks Mayor Tom Cramblett issued a statement saying: “An infl ux of visitors creates an undue burden on our ACDelcoTSS 215 Elm Street La Grande (541) 963-5440 northwestfurnitureandmattress.com Medicare, Auto, Home insurance and Annuities Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 www.reed-insurance.net Kevin Reed
