2A — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
DAILY
PLANNER
TODAY
Today is Saturday, June
27, the 179th day of 2020.
There are 187 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On June 27, 1991,
Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall, the
fi rst black jurist to sit on the
nation’s highest court, an-
nounced his retirement. (His
departure led to the nomina-
tion of Clarence Thomas to
succeed him.)
ON THIS DATE
In 1844, Mormon leader
Joseph Smith and his broth-
er, Hyrum, were killed by a
mob in Carthage, Illinois.
In 1846, New York and
Boston were linked by tele-
graph wires.
In 1880, author-lecturer
Helen Keller, who lived most
of her life without sight
or hearing, was born in
Alabama.
In 1942, the FBI an-
nounced the arrests of eight
Nazi saboteurs put ashore
in Florida and Long Island,
New York. (All were tried and
sentenced to death; six were
executed while two were
spared for turning them-
selves in and cooperating
with U.S. authorities.)
In 1944, during World War
II, American forces liberated
the French port of Cher-
bourg from the Germans.
In 1950, the U.N. Security
Council passed a resolution
calling on member nations
to help South Korea repel an
invasion from the North.
In 1957, Hurricane Audrey
slammed into coastal
Louisiana and Texas as a
Category 4 storm; the offi cial
death toll from the storm
was placed at 390, although
a variety of state, federal and
local sources have estimat-
ed the number of fatalities at
between 400 and 600.
In 1974, President Richard
Nixon opened an offi cial
visit to the Soviet Union.
In 1988, at least 56 people
were killed when a commut-
er train ran into a stationary
train in Paris. In 1988, Mike
Tyson retained the undis-
puted heavyweight crown
as he knocked out Michael
Spinks 91 seconds into the
fi rst round of a champion-
ship fi ght in Atlantic City,
New Jersey.
In 2005, the Supreme
Court ruled, in a pair of 5-4
decisions, that displaying
the Ten Commandments on
government property was
constitutionally permissible
in some cases but not in
others.
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer, call
the offi ce at 541-963-3161.
La Grande teenager reported missing
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Local
law enforcement is searching
for a runaway teen.
The La Grande Police
Department in a press
release Friday reported the
family of 13-year-old Jarek
Parker told police at noon
Thursday the boy had run
away from home. The family
last saw the teen around
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Union
County may receive a
CARES grant in the next
year.
The $13.12 million
2020-21 general fund budget
the Union County Board
of Commissioners adopted
Wednesday includes an
appropriation for a Corona-
virus Aid, Relief, and Eco-
nomic Security Act grant of
up to $750,000. The appro-
priation was not included in
the 2020-21 spending plan
the county’s budget com-
mittee approved on May 20
because it was not known if
the county would receive a
CARES grant.
Since then, though, the
likelihood of Union County
receiving a CARES grant
has become much greater,
said Shelley Burgess, the
administrative offi cer/
budget offi cer for Union
Department did not report
anyone found Jarek Parker
by The Observer’s press
deadline Friday. Police also
asked anyone who informa-
tion that may help in fi nding
Jarek Parker to call detective
Ryan Miller at 541-963-1017.
Jarek Parker, 13, of
La Grande, was reported
missing at noon Thursday.
By Phil Wright
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Oregon Department of
Forestry in a press release
announced it is declaring
fi re season for its North-
east Oregon District effec-
tive 12:01 a.m., Wednesday,
July 1.
While wetter conditions
were prevalent throughout
the spring across much
of the Northeast Oregon
District, according to the
press release, the weather
is changing to a typical
summer pattern of warmer
and drier conditions,
prompting fi re managers
to announce the beginning
of fi re season on the pri-
vate lands under the depart-
ment’s protection.
“The fuel conditions will
change rapidly with these
summer weather condi-
tions,” Joe Hessel, district
forester, said in the press
release. “In some areas,
we have an abundance of
light and fl ashy fuels. These
fuels will dry out quickly
with the hotter and drier
weather. These fl ashy fuels
will often carry fi re rapidly
when they have dried out.”
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Forestry also stated
Image by Predictive Services of the National Interagency Fire Center
declaring the start of fi re
season is a move to reduce
the number of human-
caused fi res this summer.
The declaration places fi re
prevention restrictions on
landowners and the public.
Additionally, fi re prevention
regulations on industrial
logging and forest manage-
Farmers Market moving
back to Max Square
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
The La Grande Farmers
Market will move back
to Max Square on Sat-
urday, a week after the city
moved it to the parking
lot of Eastern Oregon Net
Inc., City Manager Robert
Strope said.
“One of the reasons we
moved it in the fi rst place
was the whole timing (of
when) we had the out-
break,” Strope said.
He said the decision to
move the market was out of
an abundance of caution.
“It was ‘let’s not put
people in a situation where
they could be exposed and
let’s evaluate,’” he said.
Strope added the inten-
tion was for the move to be
temporary, and given there
has not been a major surge
in cases since the outbreak
County.
The state will decide
later when and how to dis-
tribute federal CARES
funds to counties. Burgess
said having the CARES
grant in its budget will put
Union County in a posi-
tion to quickly accept and
receive it.
Union County would
have to adhere to U.S. Trea-
sury Department guidelines
when spending the CARES
grant money.
The addition of the grant
in the budget means the
county’s budget in 2020-21
will be about 5% greater
than the current year’s
budget.
Despite these rosy num-
bers, there are potential
clouds of concern on the
horizon because the fi scal
impact the COVID-19 pan-
demic will have on Union
County is not known at this
time, Burgess said.
— there were 218 confi r-
mations in two days, and
69 in the 10 days since —
and the count since the out-
break, he said, was lower
than many speculated,
moving the market back
to its original location was
OK.
He also credited those
at the farmers market for
how they handled operating
during the pandemic.
“The farmers market
from the beginning has
done an exceptional job
with social distancing and
masks,” he said, adding
he encourages those at the
market to continue prac-
ticing those measures.
“They have been very
responsible with what they
are doing. We’re seeing a
continuation of their being
attentive to precautions
they need to do.”
ment activities are put into
place.
“This year, debris
burning is prohibited
from the beginning of fi re
season.,” Hessel said in
the release. “We normally
restrict debris burning a
month or so into fi re season,
depending on conditions.
This change is an effort to
mitigate COVID-19 expo-
sure potential for the public
and our fi refi ghters. We also
want to be sensitive to neg-
ative smoke impacts for our
vulnerable populations, and
reduce the resource com-
mitments typically associ-
ated with escaped fi res.”
Contributed photo
By Alex Castle
EO Media Group
UMATILLA COUNTY
— The report of two mur-
ders in the span of 72
hours between Saturday,
June 20, and Tuesday, June
23, marks the fourth and
fi fth homicides reported in
Umatilla County this year.
On the west end of
the county, the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Offi ce is
working alongside Oregon
State Police to investigate
an apparent homicide after
Tracey Scott Medows, 29,
of Hood River, was found
dead June 20 with gunshot
wounds while stopped in
a pickup at the intersec-
tion of Lamb Road and
Interstate 82 outside of
Hermiston.
On the east end, the
Pendleton Police Depart-
ment arrested William
Harvey Butcher III, 28, on
June 23 on one probable
cause charge of second-de-
10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande School Board
adopted a 2020-21 budget
Wednesday designed to
put it in a better position to
weather possible fi nancial
shortfalls.
The school board
adopted a general fund
spending plan of $26.39
million that will allow
the district to maintain all
programs and staff while
boosting reserves signifi -
cantly. The proposal is
$1.18 million greater than
the 2019-20 budget and
will allow the school dis-
trict to build up reserves it
likely will need a year from
now to deal with expected
state budget shortfalls due
to the coronavirus-driven
economic slowdown.
gree murder for allegedly
beating and killing Daniel
Wade Self, 47, according
to a press release from the
Umatilla County District
Attorney’s Offi ce.
Both murders also
occurred within 14 days of
police initiating an inves-
tigation in Hermiston after
Jesus Eli Lopez, 21, was
found shot to death June
9 at a residence on East
Francolin Avenue.
“There’s no linkage
between the three separate
crimes,” Hermiston Police
Chief Jason Edmiston said.
“If there were a linkage
then we’d all probably be
singing a different tune
rather than, in essence, just
worrying about our own
backyard.”
While the killings may
not have a connection,
they appear to be a devia-
tion from the norm.
No homicides were
reported in Hermiston
An Independent
Insurance Agency
541-975-1364
Meteorologist Joe Sol-
omon of the National
Weather Services in Pend-
leton said the grasslands
rather than timber lands
could be the bigger concern
when it comes to wildfi res.
Fires in timber lands usu-
ally kick up starting in early
July, Solomon said, but
more cool and wet weather
is on the way and could
create a delay.
“Depending how much
perception we get of this
weather pattern, that could
really knock down the fi re
potential going forward for
the next week or two,” he
said.
The Predictive Ser-
vices of the National Inter-
agency Fire Center, Boise,
in its June 1 report of the
potential outlook for wild-
land fi res reported the
Northwest had an above
normal signifi cant large
fi re potential starting
in June in southwestern
Oregon and expanded
it to include all but the
northwestern quarter of
the region in July. That
above normal designation,
according to the outlook,
will persist into September
before the seasonal transi-
tion begins.
La Grande School Board adopts
forward-looking budget
The school district will
not spend state money
it has saved since mid-
March when all schools
in the state were closed
to curb the spread of the
coronavirus. The school
district has saved a total
of $900,000 since then,
including $250,000 on
substitute teaching costs,
$300,000 on employee pay
due to furlough days, and
savings on transportation
and athletics expenses,
according to Chris Panike,
the district’s business
manager.
The intent of building
up reserves is to put the
La Grande School District
in a position to withstand
projected decreases in state
funding in 2021-22 and
2022-23. It appears there
may not be a decrease in
Umatilla County law enforcement
report two homicides in 72 hours
Reed & Associates for
excellent service LOCALLY!
Nicole Cathey
appears Parker took a back-
pack, a teal fanny pack,
camping supplies, food and
water with him.
The Union County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce, its search and
rescue unit and Oregon
State Police are assisting La
Grande police and Parker’s
family in the search for the
boy.
The La Grande Police
State forestry initiates fi re season in Northeast Oregon
Union County may
receive CARES grant
By Dick Mason
8:30 a.m. that morning,
according to the press
release.
Parker is 5 feet 4 inches
tall, weighs 130 pounds and
has light brown hair and
hazel eyes. He was last seen
wearing a Star Wars shirt,
shorts, glasses, a Harry
Potter hat and blue tennis
shoes, according to police.
The family told police it
Toll Free 1-866-282-1925
in 2019 and the city had
been averaging just one
reported homicide per year
over the last 10 years. But
now Hermiston police are
investigating the murders
of Medows and Lopez,
along with the murder of
Jordan Deloen Crandall,
28, who was found shot
to death the morning of
March 18 next to an irri-
gation ditch near Alpine
Drive and Punkin Center
Road.
The investigation into
Crandall’s murder has
yet to yield any arrests.
Edmiston said his depart-
ment’s recent investiga-
tions have been challenged
with the unfortunate luck
of having relatively few
leads to start with and
the inherent difference
between police, who need
to show probable cause,
and prosecutors, who need
to show proof beyond a
reasonable doubt.
state funding in 2020-21.
Local education leaders,
including La Grande
School District Superin-
tendent George Mendoza,
said they anticipate the
Legislature will decide
this summer to provide
extra funding to schools.
This would allow them to
receive all the funding the
Legislature indicated it
would provide in 2020-21
when it passed an educa-
tion budget of $9 billion
for the biennium.
Panike emphasized the
budget was diffi cult to
build because there are so
many fi nancial unknowns
due the COVID-19
pandemic.
“I think this budget is as
good as it can be with what
we know about funding for
next year,” he said.
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