LOCAL
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
CHECKS
Continued from Page 1A
Island City before returning
to work May 17. During
that time, though, the
26-year-old La Grande res-
ident did not receive any
benefi ts. She said she has
fi led for nine weeks now.
“There were defi nitely
factors that play into why
I haven’t gotten my unem-
ployment yet, on top of it
being extremely delayed,”
she said. “I have only
just now started to see
progress.”
Turley reached out by
phone to get her claim pro-
cessed but ran into a recur-
ring problem, she said,
thousands of times.
“I called in the fi rst
maybe two weeks of
the shutdown. I called
the Oregon unemploy-
ment main numbers, I’m
not joking, maybe 7,000
times,” she said, later clar-
ifying she couldn’t keep
track of the number of
times she called. “It was
always busy.... I was get-
ting a letter each week that
they had gotten my weekly
claims and to keep fi ling.”
One day in mid-May,
before she went back to
work, she got four letters
“I called in the fi rst maybe two
weeks of the shutdown. I called
the Oregon unemployment main
numbers, I’m not joking, maybe
7,000 times. ”
Emily Turley, who was laid off for two months from her
position at Lucky’s Pub & Eatery
— including at least one
that required her action —
but some were well out of
date.
“One letter said please
respond within fi ve days,
or we will make a decision.
It was dated April 12,” she
said.
Turley’s earnings while
working at Lucky’s prior to
the layoff left her just short
of enough income to have
her claim fi led based solely
on that position, she said.
Her claim, she said, had to
take her prior employment
at HWY 30 Cannabis, a
medical marijuana store in
La Grande, into account.
“The reason it was
delayed was they had to
investigate my employ-
ment,” she said. “I put
in my two weeks and
resigned from my job
there. They have to deter-
mine it was a grave enough
reason to leave to issue the
unemployment.”
Turley did receive her
stimulus check from the
federal government, but she
said the last two months
have been stressful.
“Currently my bills are
past due. I’m going on two
months of being past due.
I cleaned homes a little bit.
Scraping by, for sure,” she
said, adding later, “I get
very stressed when my bills
aren’t paid. I care about my
credit and have always paid
my bills on time.”
She received help from
her family, was able to get
food stamps and has picked
up a rental assistance
packet from Community
Connections.
Turley was one of the
fi rst employees brought
back at Lucky’s because
she wasn’t getting unem-
ployment, and she is
THE OBSERVER — 5A
working 40 hours a week
again.
“Made $500 in tips this
past weekend,” she said. “I
needed it so bad. I’m very
grateful. People are being
generous on top of being
grateful things are back.”
Teresa Moody also was
out of work for nearly two
months.
The self-employed hair-
stylist and owner of All
About You Salon in La
Grande closed on March
23, when Brown announced
the state’s shutdown
mandate.
“We kind of have to do
what she says,” Moody, 55,
said.
She fi led her fi rst claim
online in early April and
kept fi ling weekly, and kept
hitting a roadblock — one
she didn’t understand.
“I got a letter that said
my claim couldn’t be pro-
cessed. I kept claiming
online,” she said. “I would
get the letters that they
couldn’t process the claim.
“I have not received any-
thing other than denials.”
After a few weeks
without success online, she
tried to phone in and, like
Turley, ran into the busy
signal.
“I tried to call in one
day 700 times to the 800
number,” she said, anecdot-
ally noting that she learned
that day her phone log
deletes prior calls after 200.
“I tried at different times
during the day. You can
get through after hours....
I even attempted the Bend
offi ce number and it was
always busy.”
A week later, she fi nally
got through late in the
morning.
“When I put my Social
Security number in I was
put on hold. I was on hold
the whole time, and was on
my home computer,” she
said. “At 12:00 the phone
disconnected and I got a
busy signal.”
Moody fi nally was
given a suggestion to try
WorkSource Oregon, and
when she heard back, she
received some stunning
news — a fact, she attri-
butes, to the state’s anti-
quated unemployment com-
puter system.
“Someone called me
back and wanted my Social
Security number for my
claim. I gave it to him.
(He) asked me to repeat
my name. That was not the
name associated with my
Social Security number.”
She was not, however,
a victim of identity theft.
Rather, she said, her pre-
AUCTION
MIRACLES
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
Preparing for the sale
this year posed unique
challenges. Last year, Amy
Herron’s middle son, Gabe,
showed a goat in 4-H for
the fi rst time. This year,
her youngest, Ben, also
has a goat he is selling.
Earlier this week, the
Herrons, from Imbler,
set up to shave their Boer
goats — 12-year-old
Gabe’s goat is named
Timmy, while 10-year-old
Ben has Jimmy. Amy said
last year, they learned
in person how to trim
the animal when Gabe
prepped to show his goat
for the fi rst time.
But with the social
distancing measures,
they spent a lot of time
watching videos online
for refreshers on what the
show animals needed to
look like.
“(Last year) we had
people actually able to
help us through the pro-
cess. They could come
and show us what we
needed to do,” Herron
said. “Not having people
be able to come and show
us has been a big differ-
ence this time. This year
I have to try to remember
what we did last year, and
like I said we’ve watched
a lot of videos, made a lot
of phone calls, emailed,
texted a lot of people
(asking), ‘How do I do
this again?’”
Herron trimmed the
fi rst goat, Timmy, her-
self Monday, then on
Tuesday showed her sons
what she did while they
took turns shaving a side
of the second animal,
Jimmy. She also took care
of the trouble areas such
as the legs — the animal’s
“socks” are to be left
untrimmed, she said —
tail, neck and face.
“You leave from their
ankles and knees down
basically, and then you’re
supposed to leave that fl ag
on their tail. That’s what
all the videos have told
us,” Herron said.
The family said Timmy
had a tough go Monday,
so Tuesday they kept him
nearby while Jimmy went
under the shears.
“This goat was
freaking out,” Ben Herron
said. “That one was, too.”
It worked out, though,
as the animal rarely
fl inched during the hour-
plus long process.
“Yeah, someone who
knows what they’re doing
could probably do it
faster,” Amy Herron said
with a laugh.
Ben Herron seemed to
enjoy his turn.
“I actually like this,”
he said while he worked
on his goat’s right side.
“This is fun. You’re get-
ting a haircut, bro.”
The 10-year-old spent
the latter part of the pro-
“I must admit, I rolled
my eyes around trying to
see who was asking me that
question,” she said.
Donnell determined God
was speaking to her and
replied, “Father, I think I
would like to go to heaven
right now.”
The questioner, who
Donnell is certain was God,
asked if she had forgotten
that a few weeks prior he
gave her a mandate to write
out all of the miracles she
had experienced in her life.
But she had not started on
the project.
“So I guess I better stay
awhile longer and do what I
told you I would do,” Don-
nell answered.
She wrote her book on a
decades old IBM personal
computer and enjoyed the
process, just as she nor-
mally does.
“When I’m writing I get
so involved that after three
hours I think, ‘Where did
the time go?’” Donnell said.
“Mandated Miracles” is
Donnell’s fi rst book but not
her fi rst foray into writing.
She has written numerous
short stories, been a leader
of the local Right Writers
group and attended writing
conferences throughout the
state, said Bobbi Allstott, a
longtime friend of Donnell
who lives in Central Point,
Idaho, and previously lived
in La Grande.
“She has never stopped
opening herself up to
learning,” said Allstott, who
helped Donnell get “Man-
dated Miracles” published
by Amazon.com.
Those Donnell writes
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Gabe Herron, 12, trims the back of Jimmy, his brother’s goat, Tuesday afternoon at the
family’s home in Imbler.
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Amy Herron does touch-up work on Jimmy the goat as
she helps her sons prepare for the Eastern Oregon Live-
stock Show’s auction, which will be virtual this year for
the fi rst time.
cess while his brother
took a turn and his mom
did touch-up work holding
the goat in the instances it
did get jumpy.
“Hey, buddy, it’s
alright,” he said to Jimmy.
“It was interesting,”
Ben said at the conclusion
of the trim. “It was weird,
I’m not used to cutting
hair. It was kind of fun.”
All that remains is
cleaning up the animals,
weighing, fi lming and
sending in the details.
Amy Herron said both
animals are about 85
pounds, and by the time
of the sale “should be
about perfect.” Goats must
weigh in between 75-130
pounds.
“It’s stressful, trying to
read through everything
and make sure you don’t
miss something,” she said.
We’ve watched so many
videos.”
She commended her
sons for their work in
taking care of the animals
even during the unusual
lead-up to an even more
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unusual sale.
“It’s fun, but it is
stressful,” she said.
“There were times this
year when I was thinking
why did we do this? The
guys have done a good
job.”
Buyers — who Friday
will be able to register
on the same site — will
be able to see the orders
of the entries so they can
jump on to bid rather than
wait through the entire
auction.
“You can kind of know
what time of day kids will
be showing,” Smith said.
Smith also said buyers
will be able to give
“add-ons” — extra money
outside of the sale — but
they don’t have to wait
until auction day.
“That option can be
done ahead of the auc-
tion,” she said.
She also spoke with
optimism on how she
believes the sale will go,
noting that even during
an unprecedented time
and downturn, businesses
want to back the youth of
the community.
“I think it’s going to
go well,” Smith said. “All
of us on the auction com-
mittee, the chair sub-com-
mittee, they are also get-
ting calls. People want to
know how to support kids.
People are worrying about
making sure the kids are
supported.”
FIREWORKS
Continued from Page 1A
The show was moved
to Union in 2018 from La
Grande because Eastern
Oregon University could no
longer host the fi reworks due
to construction on campus.
The show had been con-
ducted at EOU for at least
three decades.
Imbler Mayor Mike
McLean said his city also
essentially had no choice but
to cancel its parade due to the
pandemic.
“We’re very sorry, but
it had to be done,” McLean
said.
The mayor noted that
with the cancellation of the
county’s fi reworks show, the
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vious married name —
Webb — was attached to
her Social Security number,
even though she has been
married to her current hus-
band since 1998.
Moody and her hus-
band continue to wait for
their stimulus check, and
she also was unable to get
Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance through the
CARES Act.
Still, they have been
able to get by, dipping into
their “nest egg” and relying
on her husband’s railroad
retirement board and sick-
ness benefi t from his time
with Union Pacifi c.
Moody was able to
reopen her salon May 21
but only can see about
half of the customers she
typically would in a day
because of additional
cleansing measures.
One of her frustrations
during the last two months
was the lack of communi-
cation from the state.
“Obviously that ball was
dropped, and I know these
are unprecedented times”
Moody said. “No one saw
this coming. You kind of
did, but didn’t, (so) why
would you tell people that
you’re going to have their
back (if) your system can’t
control it?”
Contributed photo
Evelyn Donnell, 93, of La
Grande, has written her fi rst
book, a personal account of
miracles. She plans to write
a romance novel next.
about in her new book
include her husband, Ste-
phen, who died 2018. The
couple had been married 69
years. Stephen Donnell, an
engineer, was active in the
community and not afraid
to speak out on local issues.
Evelyn, calling him the love
of her life, writes about Ste-
phen with wit and charm.
“Not long ago my hus-
band took a solo fl ight to
heaven. I’m sure he is there
now, probably talking with
angel engineers about how
to build needed structures
on planets in space,” Evelyn
Donnell wrote.
Donnell, who grew up in
Michigan and once taught
kindergarten, moved to La
Grande decades ago. All-
stott said that members of
the Right Writers have been
encouraging Donnell to
write a romance novel ever
since she read aloud the
draft of its opening chapter
several years ago, which
piqued unceasing curiosity.
“They have never
stopped asking about her
characters,” Allstott said.
NOW HIRING
parade might have drawn
an especially large crowd,
which would have made
NOW
HIRING
it even
more diffi
cult to
maintain social distancing
requirements.
And the East Oregonian,
The Observer’s related paper,
reported the Shake the Lake
fi reworks show at Wallowa
Lake also has been canceled.
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