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THURSDAY
•
June 4, 2020
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Armia Jean Shawver of La Grande
Union, Wallowa counties hope to enter Phase 2 this week
Union County meets contact tracing requirements,
has one active case of COVID-19

By Ronald Bond
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Union and
Wallowa counties both have for-
mally submitted requests to
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to enter
Phase 2 of reopening, and will
know Thursday if they are able to.
They are among 28 counties
statewide that as of Wednesday
had applications for entry into
Phase 2 submitted, which were
marked “under review” on oregon.
gov.
Counties on Thursday, May 28,
received a letter from Brown out-
lining the criteria to request entry
into Phase 2, which, if approved,
a county can enter after 21 days
in Phase 1. Union County offi cials
submitted their application Friday,
May 29, to move to Phase 2 at
12:01 a.m. June 5. Wallowa County
offi cials also requested to move
into the second phase June 5.
“Union County continues to
meet all Phase I prerequisites and
as documented in the previously
submitted plan is fully capable of
meeting additional Phase II cri-
teria,” the county’s letter to Brown
stated.
According to Wallowa Coun-
ty’s request, “Wallowa County
still meets all the original prereq-
uisites and Wallowa County meets
the additional criteria, as set out in
your letter (Thursday), required to
enter Phase II.”
Union County has seen six
cases of COVID-19, the disease
caused by the coronavirus. Two
of those cases were announced in
the initial days after the county
entered Phase 1 on May 15,
including one the day of, but the
county has not seen a new case in
more than two weeks, with the last
reported case May 18. Currently,
the Oregon Health Authority
See, Phase 2/Page 2A
Flooding
takes a
toll on
farmers
— again
Grande Ronde Valley
farmers reeling from
second major flood in
four months

By Dick Mason
The Observer
Staff photo by Ronald Bond
Hundreds of individuals — many La Grande residents and Eastern Oregon University students — gathered Tuesday at La Grande City Hall
for a racial equality protest. The large group lined most of the block along Adams Avenue and Fourth Street, and at one point many marched
to the corner of Island and Adams.
Hundreds protest in La Grande
Demonstration goes
for hours, remains loud
but mostly peaceful

By Ronald Bond
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Hundreds
of people gathered Tuesday after-
noon outside La Grande City
Hall for a racial equality pro-
test, the latest in a string of pro-
tests nationwide after the death
of George Floyd last week at
the hands of a police offi cer in
Minneapolis.
The event, which drew people
of multiple age groups and ethnic-
ities, was a follow-up to a smaller
rally over the weekend. Protesters
lined the city hall block along
Adams Avenue and Fourth Street,
many carrying the signs and
chanting the refrains that have
rung across the country.
“We’re not doing this as blacks
to be blacks vs. whites. We’re
doing this as everybody vs. rac-
ists,” said Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity student George Balowski, one
of a large throng of EOU students
at the event.
Evvy Thayer, a La Grande
resident and Arizona State Uni-
versity online student, carried a
sign she said was meant to detract
from stereotyping.
“There’s a stereotype that
every single black is a criminal,
and they’re not. There’s a stereo-
type that all whites are racists,
and they’re not. There’s a stereo-
type that every single cop is bad,
and there are good cops,” she
said. “It’s the ignorance — when
people start looking at the skin
tone and focusing on the skin
tone. There’s bad people in every
race, but when you target one
race, you can’t do that.”
Thayer said she grew up in
a small town where she experi-
enced racism but also saw people
defend her.
“I was one of two black
people. I have seen the racists
of racism, but I have also seen a
lot of people stand up and speak
up for me when I wasn’t able to
speak up for me,” she said. “And
that’s how I know not every
person is racist. I’ve had people
stand up for me, put people down
because they are coming after me
because of the color of my skin.”
She added she cried when she
saw the size of the rally, encour-
aged by the amount of support
shown at the protest.
“The amount of diverse people
that are here has me so inspired,”
she said. “Something is changing.
We are watching a revolution
happen. People are realizing what
is happening in America today,
and they are saying enough is
enough.”
Balowski gave a similar mes-
sage of looking past race.
“We’re all the same if you put
the racism aside. That’s all it is. I
love everyone. It’s so powerful to
have all these people behind us,
so why would you want to divert
that to have less options? We want
to get as many people as we can.
I love seeing all kinds of faces. If
it’s a Mexican rally, I’m out here.
If it’s a white rally and my white
friends are out here, I’m out here.
My white foster parents took me
in. They text me every day that,
“I appreciate you being strong
through this.”
Originally from Detroit, Mich-
igan, where he said he grew up
in foster homes before moving to
Crane, Balowski said he has felt
love in La Grande.
“This city will show you love.
You go to the right spots to fi nd
it, this city will show you love,”
he said. “It’s a red city, you know
that, but the college brings the
diversity. And the college kids
See, Protest/Page 2A
UNION COUNTY — A cruel
encore by Mother Nature is cre-
ating turbulence for local farmers.
Many Union County farmers
are facing considerable chal-
lenges after being struck by a
second major fl ood in four months
when heavy rainfall in late May
caused the Grande Ronde River
and Catherine Creek to jump their
banks.
“It has been a double whammy
this year,” said Union County
farmer Tim Wallender.
Wallender lost between 10 and
15 acres of garbanzo beans and
10 acres of blue grass because
of the fl ooding. Because of road
fl ooding, he couldn’t get to the
fi elds to pump water off his water-
logged acres. He plans to begin
pumping water off the land and
back into the Grande Ronde River
as soon as he can.
It is too late to replant much of
the crops he lost with marketable
ones, so Wallender is considering
his options.
“All I can do is plant a forage
crop like oats or barley for my
livestock,” Wallender said.
Bill Merrigan, the general
manager of Blue Mountain Seeds
of Imbler, said the full extent of
the fl ooding in Union County is
not known because crop plants are
obscuring the standing water on
many fi elds.
“You can’t see it unless you
walk right up to it,” Merrigan
said.
See, Flooding/Page 2A
Elgin seniors celebrate with parade through town
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
ELGIN — Seniors at
Elgin High School received
a reverse parade leading up
to an original graduation
ceremony.
Rather than the seniors
walking through town as
families, friends and sup-
porters watched, each
senior stood at a light pole
under a banner displaying
their name and photo as
others drove through town
toward the high school foot-
ball fi eld where the cere-
mony took place.
“It is so unique and we
are getting to involve the
community in it,” graduate
Tymra Anderson said. “It
was really well thought out
and planned. I am going
to miss walking, but the
uniqueness of the gradua-
tion makes up for it.”
The Union County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce led the parade of
cars down Division Street.
Faculty and staff of Elgin
High School rode a deco-
rated bus and cars followed
suit, decorated with purple
and white balloons and
paint. On each side of the
street, seniors in their caps
and gowns waved until the
last car passed. The grad-
uation students took to a
bus for a ride to the football
fi eld for the ceremony.
Because of social
See, Elgin/Page 2A
INDEX
Business ...... 1B
Classified ..... 3B
Comics ......... 9B
Crossword ... 6B
Staff photo by Sabrina Thompson
Ty Hammond waves to a car going down Division Street
as part of the parade through town celebrating Elgin High
School’s class of 2020.
CONTACT US
Dear Abby .. 10B
Horoscope ... 6B
Lottery.......... 2A
Obituaries .... 3A
SATURDAY
Opinion ........ 4A
Spiritual life . 6A
Sudoku ........ 9B
Weather ..... 10B
SPRING IS CRAPPIE FISHING SEASON
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Issue 67
3 sections, 20 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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