2A — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2020
LOCAL/REGIONAL
DAILY Peaceful vigil in Baker City honors George Floyd
PLANNER
By Sam Anthony
EO Media Group
TODAY
Today is Saturday, June 6,
the 158th day of 2020. There
are 208 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On June 6, 1968, Sen.
Robert F. Kennedy died at
Good Samaritan Hospital in
Los Angeles, 25-1/2 hours
after he was shot by Sirhan
Bishara Sirhan.
ON THIS DATE
In 1799, American politi-
cian and orator Patrick Henry
died at Red Hill Plantation in
Virginia.
In 1816, a snowstorm
struck the northeastern
U.S., heralding what would
become known as the “Year
Without a Summer.”
In 1918, U.S. Marines
suffered heavy casualties as
they launched their eventu-
ally successful counteroffen-
sive against German troops
in the World War I Battle of
Belleau Wood in France.
In 1933, the fi rst drive-in
movie theater was opened
by Richard Hollingshead
in Camden County, New
Jersey.
In 1944, during World
War II, Allied forces stormed
the beaches of Normandy,
France, on “D-Day” as they
began the liberation of
German-occupied Western
Europe.
In 1966, black activist
James Meredith was shot
and wounded as he walked
along a Mississippi highway
to encourage black voter
registration.
In 2005, the Supreme
Court ruled, 6-3, that people
who smoked marijuana
because their doctors
recommended it to ease
pain could be prosecuted for
violating federal drug laws.
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TODAY’S QUOTE
“A great man is one who
leaves others at a loss after
he is gone.”
— Paul Valery, French poet
and essayist (1871-1945)
CORRECTIONS
Grande Ronde Hospi-
tal’s walk-in clinic will
move to the new urgent
care clinic under con-
struction at 10303 S.
Walton Road, Island
City. A photo caption
in the Thursday, June
4, business section mis-
stated that information.
The Observer regrets the
error.
The page 1A story
“Hundreds protest in
La Grande” in the June
4 edition misspelled
the name of one of the
protesters. The correct
spelling is Ebby Thayer.
BAKER CITY — About
115 people attended a
Monday night vigil in Baker
City for George Floyd, the
man a Minneapolis police
offi cer killed during a May
25 arrest.
Many of those who
attended the peaceful event
brought fl owers and can-
dles to place on a memo-
rial at Central Park, beside
the Powder River between
Washington and Valley
avenues.
The event was intended
to be a peaceful memorial,
not a protest, said Boston
Colton of Baker City, who
organized the vigil.
“My main motivation
was to be able to show that
there’s a person behind
these protests, and a lot of
people aren’t recognizing
him for it,” Colton said. “He
was a father, a brother, a son
who had to painfully die for
nine minutes.”
There was a nine-minute
period of silence during
the vigil, and many people
seemed on the verge of
tears. Afterward, people
one by one placed can-
dles and fl owers on Floyd’s
memorial.
Baker County Sheriff
Travis Ash, who attended
the vigil, lauded Colton for
putting on a peaceful event.
“I think it’s great what
he’s doing, bringing people
together,” Ash said of
Colton.
The sheriff, who was
wearing his uniform, said
although he was on duty he
also attended the vigil out of
a personal interest. Ash said
he believes what happened
to Floyd was horrifi c, and
police are supposed to pro-
tect and serve citizens.
Gabriel Clark came to
the vigil with a sign that
read, “I am grateful to
breathe and honored to be
here for someone that can’t.”
“When there’s a local
event like this it’s our job
to come out and support
it,” Clark said. “Coming
together is the fi rst step
toward change and unity.”
While people did come
together, those in atten-
dance were careful to stay
distanced from those around
them and many wore masks
as a precaution against
spreading the coronavirus.
Matt Diaz, a Navy vet-
eran, said, “It’s important
that George Floyd gets
justice.”
“I took an oath to defend
the Constitution, and it
doesn’t seem like the Con-
stitution is being honored,”
Diaz added.
Chris McCullough of
Baker City said bringing
attention to what’s going on
in a positive way is some-
thing the world needs.
“I feel like a lot of the
protests have gotten out of
hand and people have lost
sight of what this is really
about,” he said,. “It’s about
a man who lost his life
needlessly.”
New bridge will assist walkers and ATV riders at Ladd Marsh
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Crossing Ladd Creek near
Hot Lake is becoming as
easy as picking up a pair of
binoculars to identify the
abundant waterfowl at Ladd
Marsh.
Boy Scout Carter Perry
recently built a bridge for
all-terrain vehicles and foot
traffi c, making it much
easier for people to travel
around the area. The foot-
bridge is one of 15 to 20 in
the Ladd Marsh Wildlife
Area and is one the best you
fi nd anywhere, according to
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife biologist Cathy
Nowak.
“It is the Taj Mahal of
footbridges,” Nowak said.
The features that impress
her include its high arch.
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Boy Scout Carter Perry kneels on the bridge he recently
built across Ladd Creek outside La Grande for his Eagle
Scout project.
“The arch will make it
less likely to be washed out
(when there is high water),”
said Nowak, who works at
the Ladd Marsh Wildlife
Area.
The bridge is proving to
be a big help for people who
use ATVs while spraying
for weeds and doing other
work at Ladd Marsh and
assists those who hunt there.
“It makes it much easier
and safer (for people to
travel in the Ladd Marsh
area),” Nowak said.
This bridge will be espe-
cially helpful to people trav-
eling around the area in
the winter when snow and
ice cover much of Ladd
Creek, making it diffi cult
to see it. Those walking
in the area risk falling
into the creek during the
winter as a result, Nowak
said. This wintertime risk
is now greatly reduced by
the bridge since it is easy to
see, even when it is snowy.
“It is very visible,”
Nowak said of the span,
which is about a mile north-
west of Hot Lake Springs.
The bridge is made of
pressure-treated wood and
concrete footings. Perry
made the bridge for his
Eagle Scout project.
Miller’s Home Center,
RC Mac, Inc., Oregon Trail
Electric Co-op and the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife assisted Perry
with the project.
Perry, who will be
a junior at La Grande
High School this fall, is
a member of Boy Scout
Troop 516. He is the son of
Shaye and Mary Perry.
Carter Perry has com-
pleted all of his require-
ments for his Eagle award.
A Eagle court of honor
ceremony has been post-
poned though because
of COVID-19 social dis-
tancing rules, which pro-
hibit large gatherings. Eagle
courts of honor are cele-
brations recognizing Boy
Scouts who have attained
Scouting’s highest rank.
Greater Idaho group gets
OK to collect signatures
in Union County
Grant County emergency ops
overspends budget by almost $75,000
The Observer
JOHN DAY — The
Emergency Operations
Center that Grant County
established amid the
COVID-19 pandemic has
overspent its $125,000
budget by almost $75,000.
The Grant County
Court approved $125,000
in funding for the center
in March, and the center
has obligated $197,019
in payouts through May,
according to information
presented in Grant County
Court May 27 by EOC
Incident Commander Dave
Dobler.
Grant County Trea-
surer Julie Ellison said
at the meeting the EOC
will need another budget
transfer to make payroll
and pay invoices to make
it through the fi scal year
through June.
In a document Dobler
presented in court, he
detailed $60,000 of unex-
UNION COUNTY —
Signature collection has
begun in 13 of 15 counties
for the proposal to move
the Oregon/Idaho Border,
including in Union County.
Move Oregon’s Border
For a Greater Idaho would
turn northern California and
Eastern Oregon into Idaho
territory.
The effort to move the
border, according to Move
Oregon’s Border For a
Greater Idaho’s proposal,
would bring counties in
Oregon and California that
are Republican into the pri-
marily Republican state of
Idaho. The Greater Idaho
group contends this would
be good for Republicans and
Democrats because it would
strengthen the number of
voters on both sides; Repub-
licans with more numbers
and Democrats with less
opposition. The group says
moving the border will help
the area fi nancially.
Clerks in the following
counties have approved
the petition: Baker, Curry,
Douglas, Grant, Harney,
Jackson, Jefferson, Jose-
phine, Morrow, Sherman,
Umatilla, Union and Wal-
lowa. Several locations
in Union County have
petitions available for
signatures.
Clerks in the following
counties have rejected the
petition: Coos, Crook, Gil-
liam, Lake and Wheeler,
with Greater Idaho sup-
porters fi ghting the decision
in court in Crook and Lake
counties.
Union County would
need 706 signatures to get
the proposal on the ballot in
November. Mike McCarter,
leader of the movement, said
there is another path to put-
ting this before voters.
“We are asking the move-
ment in every rural Oregon
county to put an equal effort
into the parallel strategy of
asking their county commis-
sioners to pass a resolution
to ‘refer’ an advisory ques-
tion to the November ballot
in their county,” he said. “If
a county court or a county
board refers it to the ballot,
we don’t have to collect
any more signatures, and
they get to let their voters
decide.”
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pected expenses: $35,000
for federal reimbursement
tracking software, $12,000
for rent at the airport,
$9,500 for wifi and $3,000
for non-EOC expenditures.
But the document also
claims the EOC is within
its budget.
Dobler originally
requested $250,120 to fund
the center for 90 days, but
the Grant County Court
authorized $125,060 with
the plan to reassess in
45 days. The document
Dobler presented in court
appeared to be working
from the $250,120 fi gure.
“I went through my
county commissioner for
requests, and did the best
I could, and that’s really,
really where we’re at,”
Dobler told the EO Media
Group. “So if the court has
an issue with that, I guess
we’ll deal with that at one
particular time or another.”
Ellison said the county
transferred the $125,000
from the general fund con-
tingency to the relief help
fund for the EOC in March
with $23,564 budgeted for
materials and services and
$101,436 budgeted for per-
sonnel services.
The $23,564 corre-
sponds with a procurement
request Dobler submitted
in court March 25 for sup-
plies, including $18,000
for communications and
information technology.
Ellison said that account is
underfunded by $9,815.
The documents Dobler
presented in court list an
additional $10,200 supply
procurement request on
March 13 for a total of
$33,800, but that $10,000
fi gure was never actually
budgeted.
The personnel ser-
vices account has $15,195
remaining, Ellison said,
but there are thousands of
dollars in accounts pay-
able and invoices that
must still be paid.