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TUESDAY • July 7, 2020
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Debbie McConnell of La Grande
Coronavirus pandemic
New Day
reports
COVID-19
outbreak
Submitted photo
Paul Howard of La Grande
died Thursday at a Boise hos-
pital due to complications
from COVID-19, his brother,
John Howard, reported. Paul
Howard was 62.
Local man
succumbs
to virus
Paul Howard
contracted the
coronavirus three
weeks ago
Only 1 of 9 staff
members still an active
case; others recovered
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Jan Marrs, co-owner of Almosta Farm at Cove, shows how it easy it is to work with her Nigerian dwarf
goats. Almosta Farm is on the new Union County Farm Loop map.
AROUND THE FARMS
Union County Farm Loop map to be released soon
By Dick Mason
The Observer
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
LA GRANDE — John
Howard described his younger
brother, Paul Howard, as a man
who didn’t complain in spite of
the circumstances he faced.
“He did the best he could
with the hand he was dealt
with,” John Howard said. “As
family members and friends,
we were proud of the way he
handed himself all the way
through life.”
Paul Howard, 62, died
Thursday due to complications
from COVID-19, his brother
said.
“It’s just the sudden
shock,” John Howard said
Monday. “Three weeks
ago Paul was enjoying life,
enjoying his work and family
and doing all the things he
loved to do. In three weeks,
it’s all gone. It’s a total shock.
It seems surreal.
“Paul had many years of life
ahead of him if it had not been
for the COVID virus.”
John previously told The
Observer his brother con-
tracted the virus through
community spread and was
admitted to Grande Ronde
Hospital, La Grande, and ini-
tially returned home after a
three-day stay in the hospital.
“I think he had a fl are-up
with the virus,” John Howard
See, Howard/Page 5A
UNION COUNTY — GPS
units will be no match for this
new map.
The Union County Farm
Loop map soon will be avail-
able online and in print
throughout the county.
The loop map provides
a self-guided scenic drive
through a series of farms,
ranches, backyard farm stands,
pastures, orchards and agri-
culture-related businesses,
said the map’s creator, Janet
Dodson of North Powder, who
is involved in agritourism proj-
ects throughout Northeast
Oregon.
The map outlines a route
starting in La Grande at Avella
Orchard on Fir Street and then
running to Summerville, Cove,
Union, the Hot Lake area
and ending back La Grande
at Community Merchants on
Adams Avenue, whose features
include locally raised meat.
The map, which is being
fi nalized, will have about 18
stops.
The map is a revised edition
of the Cove-Union Farm Loop
map, one created by Dodson
and put out 2016. That map
featured stops along a 40-mile
Staff photo by Dick Mason
Jan Marrs, co-owner of Almosta Farm at Cove, greets one of her Ni-
gerian dwarf goats on June 30. Almosta Farm is on the new Union
County Farm Loop map.
loop that began in Island City
and ran southeast to Union and
then north to Cove and Lower
Cove Road and fi nally west to
Island City.
All of the stops on the
Union County Farm Loop
are at sites where visitors are
welcome during operating
hours or, in many cases, by
appointment.
The map is part of an effort
to develop agritourism in
Union County.
“Agritourism is a way for
farms and ranches to diversify
See, Loop/Page 5A
LA GRANDE — The Oregon
Health Authority last week listed
New Day Enterprises, La Grande,
among the entities that had expe-
rienced a workplace outbreak of
COVID-19.
The outbreak, which saw nine
members of the New Day staff
contract the virus, has largely
passed, according to executive
director Christy Slack. Most, in
fact, have returned to work.
“We have nine confi rmed
and eight have been cleared and
recovered,” Slack said Thursday.
“We have one currently out
with a positive case. She has not
returned to work since then.”
New Day Enterprises — a pri-
vate, nonprofi t community mental
health facility — serves adults
with intellectual and develop-
mental disabilities, providing a
place to live and opportunities to
interact within the community.
Slack said none of New Days’
roughly 30 clients, nor the rest of
the staff of about 60, have con-
tracted the virus.
The OHA’s weekly report lists
the outbreak as having been “fi rst
reported” June 13, though it was
not included in the report until
July 1.
New Day should be in the clear
by mid-July if nothing changes.
“(From) what I’m under-
standing, if there is no increased
report from 28 days from the
onset, the outbreak should be con-
sidered washed, so to speak,” she
said.
Slack said the outbreak was
traced to an individual at Light-
house Pentecostal Church, the
source of the recent major out-
break in Oregon. When health
authorities contacted New Day
about there being potential cases
within its staff, Slack said they
See, Outbreak/Page 5A
Red-tailed hawk
released into wild
Raptor had been hit by a truck May 9 near Cove
By Dick Mason
The Observer
COVE — This adult red-
tailed hawk lacks a name but not
odds-defying spunk.
The raptor, which could not
stand nearly two months ago after
being hit by a truck near Cove,
was reintroduced into the wild
Thursday afternoon, capping an
unlikely comeback story.
“It was one of those positive,
feel-good events,” said Donna
Rainboth, an Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity science education pro-
fessor who led the release of the
hawk.
Rainboth placed the raptor
back where it was found May
9 after it had spent almost two
months recovering at the Blue
Mountain Wildlife Rehabilita-
tion & Education center, Pend-
leton. Lynn Tompkins, director of
Blue Mountain Wildlife, said the
bird’s recovery is nothing short of
remarkable.
“It could not stand the fi rst few
days it was here,” she said. “I was
not optimistic that it would make
it. It is nice to be wrong.”
Tompkins initially feared the
reason the bird could not stand
was because it had a broken back
or pelvis.
However, x-rays indicate the
bird had no broken bones. Still,
Tompkins knew the bird had
MORE INFORMATION
• To learn more about Blue Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education,
visit, bluemountainwildlife.org.
See, Hawk/Page 5A
INDEX
Classified ...... 4B
Comics .......... 7B
Community .. 3A
Crossword .... 4B
Contributed photo by Jenny Phelps
Donna Rainboth releases a red-tailed hawk back into the wild Thurs-
day near Cove close to where it had been hit by a truck May 9.
CONTACT US
Dear Abby .... 8B
Home ............ 1B
Horoscope .... 4B
Letters ........... 4A
THURSDAY
Lottery........... 2A
Obituaries ..... 3A
Opinion ......... 4A
Sports ........... 6A
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