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Alex McHaddad for Mayor of La Grande
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THURSDAY
•
May 21, 2020
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Nikki Welter of Cove
Bowen makes November runoff for Union County sheriff
“I’ve put a ton of time and
effort to be seen and available
in the community,” Bowen said.
“I spoke from the heart and was
honest and transparent.”
Rasmussen is holding on to
second place with 2,664 votes or
26% of the total. Bill Miller of
Elgin is in third place with 2,525
— just 139 behind Rasmussen —
or 24.6%.
Union County Clerk Robin
Church said she has more than
200 ballots that require signa-
ture verifi cation and more bal-
lots are trickling in from outside
Rasmussen holds slim
lead over Miller for
second place
Bowen
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
Rasmussen
Miller
Rasmussen.
The race received a total of
10,255 votes in the Tuesday night
primary, according to the latest
results from the county elections
offi ce. Bowen of La Grande won
4,263 votes or 41.6% of the total.
He said results were exciting and
humbling.
UNION COUNTY — Cody
Bowen was the top vote-getter in
the race for Union County sheriff
in Tuesday’s primary election. It
looks like in November’s general
election the deputy and school
resource offi cer will face his
boss, Union County Sheriff Boyd
Union County. Miller’s chance of
gaining enough votes is slim, but
Church said there still remains a
possibility that he will bring in
enough votes to run alongside
Bowen on the November ballot.
Rasmussen said he appreci-
ated the support he received from
Union County residents.
“My family and I have endured
much this past year, and it is grat-
ifying to see the solid support to
advance me to the fall election,”
he said in a written statement.
Rasmussen came under fi re
late in the campaign when the
Oregon Department of Justice
released a report about its 2019
investigation of the sheriff for
accusations of misconduct years
before. The justice department
concluded Rasmussen was beyond
the statute of limitations to face
any charges. Rasmussen touted
that as the justice department
clearing him of wrongdoing.
Miller said win or lose, he was
proud of the race he ran, quoting
his slogan “integrity, transparency
and hard work” as what drove him
Beverage
wins in
race for
reelection
Imbler
science
teacher
honored
By Dick Mason
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
The Union County Board
of Commissioners is set to
begin 2021 with a cast of
familiar faces, including
Donna Bev-
erage, who
Tuesday night
won the race
for reelection
for Position 3,
Beverage defeating chal-
lenger Michael Barry.
Beverage, a Union cattle
rancher, is completing her
fi rst term as commissioner.
She received 6,130 votes, or
64.1%, of the total to Bar-
ry’s 3,412, or 35.7%.
“I am humbled and hon-
ored that I will be able to
serve Union County for
another four years,” said
Beverage, the only Union
County commissioner who
was up for reelection this
year.
The victor said she
intends to keep doing what
she been doing since taking
offi ce in early 2017.
“I will continue to be
fi nancially responsible and
help businesses in Union
County,” she said.
Beverage said she wants
the county to continue
focusing on developing
Baum Industrial Park,
which the county operates
adjacent to Highway 82 just
north of Island City. Bev-
erage counts the county
board’s actions to develop
the park as one of her
proudest accomplishments
See, Beverage/Page 5A
See, Sheriff/Page 5A
JD Cant, who
teaches ag sciences
at Imbler High
School, is regional
teacher of the year
By Dick Mason
The Observer
Photos by Ellen Morris Bishop/EO Media Group
Jake Kurtz (right) applies a strip of colored glass that will make a silver hatband while Stirling Webb twirls the un-
fi nished hat. Webb and Kurtz of Moonshine Glass, Enterprise, are creating glass mementos to honor graduating
seniors and high school staff in Wallowa County.
Mascots of glass
Enterprise artist crafts glass mementos for grads
By Ellen Morris Bishop
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE — Amid the
gloom and uncertainty of the coro-
navirus pandemic, glass artist Stir-
ling Webb of Moonshine Glass,
Enterprise, had an inspiration.
This graduation for high school
seniors was going to be disap-
pointing in scale and scope. So
why not give these students some-
thing special to celebrate their per-
sistence amid social distancing,
vanished sports, an obliterated
prom and a school year fraught
with uncertainty?
His idea: to present each senior,
and each faculty member of the
three high schools in Wallowa
County, with a tangible memento
of their school and mascot. For
Joseph, an Eagle feather. For Wal-
lowa, a Cougar paw. For Enterprise,
an Outlaw cowboy hat. Webb pre-
sented the idea to school principals,
who gave him a somewhat guarded
thumbs-up to pursue the idea, he
said.
For support, Webb turned fi rst
to the Enterprise Animal Hos-
pital Inc., the veterinarians who’ve
helped his wife, Emily Bright, with
the Humane Society kittens she
fosters.
“They said ‘yes’, as long as I had
some other sponsors,” Webb said.
Armed with a positive response,
he approached the Wallowa Valley
Center for Wellness, the staff
of Winding Waters Community
See, Mascots/Page 5A
Stirling Webb of Moonshine Glass,
Enterprise, holds three of the Cou-
gar paws that will go to Wallowa
High School graduates and staff
Saturday.
IMBLER — An Imbler
educator who makes sure
students everywhere are
remembered received an
honor Tuesday that will not
soon be forgotten.
JD Cant,
an agricul-
tural sciences
instructor, was
recognized as
the Oregon
Cant
Department
of Education’s
teacher of the year for the
InterMountain region.
Cant received a $500
check from the educa-
tion department and the
Oregon Lottery Commis-
sion during a ceremony at
Imbler High School via a
video conference. Cant,
speaking from the school’s
science room, accepted
the award with a touch of
humility.
“We are all in this
together,” Cant said. “I’m
just a piece of the puzzle.”
The educator now is in
the running for the Oregon
Department of Educa-
tion’s 2021 teacher of the
See, Teacher/Page 5A
State economists say Oregon budget has a $3 billion gap
Gov. Brown says federal aid, spending
cuts needed to save services and schools
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown says federal aid
must go hand-in-hand with
spending cuts to offset
almost $3 billion that state
tax collections and other
sources will be short.
Brown made her state-
ment Wednesday after state
economists told lawmakers
the COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic has resulted in
an unprecedented eco-
nomic downturn from shut-
downs in business activity
and public life.
Oregon’s unemploy-
ment rate jumped from
a modern low of 3.5% in
March to a modern high of
14.2% in April. Oregon’s
state general fund budget
draws more than 90% of its
money from personal and
corporate income taxes.
The combined general fund
and lottery budget for the
2019-21 cycle is $23.7 bil-
lion, and virtually all of the
potential spending cuts of
$2.7 billion will fall within
the year starting July 1.
“The steepness of this
decline is unprecedented,”
state economist Mark
McMullen said during a
video conference of the
House and Senate revenue
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committees.
While he and senior
economist Josh Lehner said
they expected a quick eco-
nomic recovery when busi-
ness activity resumes — as
early as the second half of
2020, and an “all clear” by
mid-2021 — “it takes a full
year or more before pain is
realized.”
They also projected
state coffers will get less
than originally forecast in
the following two budget
cycles. Oregon did get $1.4
billion as its share of $150
billion in federal aid from
the recent CARES Act,
although $415 million is
tentatively earmarked for
local and tribal govern-
ments other than Portland,
Multnomah County and
Washington County.
“Make no mistake, the
budget gap created by this
pandemic is too large to
bridge without additional
congressional action,”
See, Budget/Page 2A
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DIGGING INTO OREGON COVID NUMBERS
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