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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER Daily Planner TODAY Today is Tuesday, July 7, the 189th day of 2020. There are 177 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On July 7, 1865, four peo- ple were hanged in Wash- ington, D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abra- ham Lincoln: Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government. ON THIS DATE In 1898, the United States annexed Hawaii. In 1948, six female U.S. Navy reservists became the first women to be sworn in to the regular Navy. In 1954, Elvis Presley made his radio debut as a Memphis, Tennessee, radio station played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.” In 1976, the United States Military Academy at West Point included female cadets for the first time. 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Missing teenager found unharmed The Observer Vandals post anti-tourism signs in Joseph By Bill Bradshaw EO Media Group JOSEPH — Signs in Joseph were vandal- ized recently to convey anti-tourist messages and heighten fear that tourists are bringing COVID-19 to the area, according to Joseph City Administrator Larry Braden. Braden reported the vandalism to the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office the afternoon of Thursday, June 25. He said he had discussed the matter with Mayor Teresa Sajonia and they agreed he should call the sheriff’s office in Enterprise. Braden said June 26 that a deputy came to Joseph, took some photographs of the vandalized signs and opened an investigation. Possibly the worst damage was whiting out the words “forget to” in the sign reading “Don’t forget to come back” at the north end of town, leaving it to read, “Don’t come back.” Other signs read, “Tour- ists, the fact that you are here reveals how selfish you are,” “Tourists Go Home! You are the spread — COVID-19,” “Tourists did Submitted photo Someone tried to white-out the words “forget to” on the back side of a welcome sign at the north end of Joseph, making the sign read “Don’t come back.” A sign along the Joseph Highway blames tourists for spreading COVID-19. It is one of several that city workers removed. you bring us COVID” and “Tourists, before you came, you checked the COVID count here didn’t you? So you know you could be responsible for bringing us community spread COVID. Negligent homicide?” The posting of simple anti-tourism signs had been going on for about a month. The whited-out sign is believed to have happened the night of June 23, “as best as we can tell,” Braden said. “There are some local expression and committing a crime such as vandalism. “Honestly, with the freedom of speech thing, I’m OK, but when we have to start spending taxpayer dollars to fix it, this is van- dalism and it’s crossing the line,” he said. “This van- dalism is what I’d like to get stopped.” Sajonia agreed. “It’s important for people to have opinions, but they can’t deface public prop- erty,” she said. “It’s owned by the taxpayers.” Photo by Ellen Morris Bishop/EO Media Group EO Media Group LOSTINE — The Los- tine City Council is back up to full strength, having voted Wednesday, July 1, to welcome Spencer Shelton to Position No. 3. Mitchell Shelton resigned from the council sticker,” Braden said. “We want to let it be known that this is happening and want to find out who it is to pros- ecute them.” Sajonia said she is fully behind Braden’s efforts to stop the vandalism. “It’s a criminal offense; it’s defacing public prop- erty,” the mayor said. “Larry was pretty upset about it and I back him on it.” Braden said he sees a clear line between the First Amendment freedom of Last of county’s 2020 graduations By Sabrina Thompson The Observer IMBLER — The mem- bers of Imbler High School’s class of 2020 ended their high school careers with an outdoor ceremony on the Fourth of July. Eleven of the 13 gradu- ating students stood on the stage as their parents and supporters watched from vehicles on the Lee Lowe Field. Although the seniors fin- ished their classes in April, district officials decided to wait to hold a ceremony in the hopes of an indoor grad- uation as the school has done in years past. That tra- dition did not happen due to the coronavirus pandemic. Staff photo by Sabrina Thompson Imbler High School graduates unload from a bus Saturday after riding through town to celebrate their commencement from high school in an outdoor ceremony. Still, Imbler Superintendent Angie Lakey-Campbell said she and the graduating class enjoyed the outdoor commencement. “Several students asked why we haven’t held fes- tivities outside before,” Lakey-Campbell said. The ceremony hon- ored all of the graduating seniors, even the two who did not attend. This, along with only letting a lim- ited number of people onto the field near the stage, allowed the school to follow Gov. Kate Brown’s execu- tive orders banning large gatherings of more than 25 people. For those who wished to watch the cere- mony, Imbler School Dis- trict livestreamed the com- mencement on Facebook. “Nobody could have predicted our senior year would be cut so short,” valedictorian Benjamin Wagner said in his speech. “But just like the reason given for the cutoff, this is only a small part of our lives. We will move on and soon 2020 will be but a dis- tant memory.” Umatilla County commissioner candidate admits he wrote racist letter wrote the letter himself and made false statements to the HERMISTON — A police and on social media. racist letter that recent The end result is a verbal Umatilla County commis- and written admission by sioner candidate Jon- Mr. Lopez that the athan Lopez claimed letter was fabricated.” was left anonymously Lopez previously in his mailbox was posted a photo of a written by Lopez him- typed letter full of self, according to racist, homophobic Lopez Lopez and Hermiston and misogynist slurs Police Chief Jason to Facebook, stating Edmiston. he had received the letter On Monday, July 6, but he had “no resentment Edmiston said in an email for whomever wrote this.” that Lopez had confessed he The letter, as shown in wrote the letter. Edmiston the photo, stated in part that said the case would be for- Lopez and other “Mexi- warded to the Umatilla cans” were “not welcome County District Attorney’s here” and that “America Office for review for initi- is for the God fearing, pro ating a false report, a Class gun, pro life humans who A misdemeanor in Oregon. refuse to be controlled by “From the onset, this the government.” alleged incident has been When contacted by the thoroughly investigated,” East Oregonian, Lopez ini- tially stated that it was a big Edmiston wrote in an misunderstanding. He said email. “Our investigation he just meant to speak with has shown that Mr. Lopez EO Media Group Lostine City Council welcomes new member By Bill Bradshaw people who don’t want tour- ists and they’re custom making signs and stickers and posting them around town,” he said. He said there were even plywood signs screwed to Oregon Department of Transportation signs with similar messages. So far, he said, the paper signs and stickers required only a few hours to take them down. But repainting amounts to real vandalism. “Vandalizing signs is more than just posting a Imbler High School ends 2020 commencement celebrations By Jade McDowell LA GRANDE — Jarek Parker, a 13-year-old from La Grande who was missing nearly a week, was found and reunited with his family, La Grande Police Lt. Jason Hays announced late Wednesday. The teen was Parker “healthy and safe and was reunited with his family” Wednesday evening, according to Hays, who also said police would not provide more details. Parker left his La Grande home June 25 and was reported missing that day. He had taken food, water and camping equipment, La Grande police previously reported. TuESday, July 7, 2020 LOCAL/REGION in June. Spencer Shelton’s nomination and election were effective immediately. However, Shelton, Mayor Dusty Tippet and Councilor Darci Calhoun, who holds Position No. 2, will all stand for reelection during the general election in November. In another matter, water- master Shawn Young and Fire Chief Tippet said spring maintenance in the city water department had been delayed because of the wet weather. Young said the water department’s telem- etry system is working correctly. “As a lifelong resident of this diverse community, I’m disgusted someone would try to carelessly advance their personal ambitions at the risk of others.” Jason Edmiston, Hermiston police chief Edmiston about racism in Umatilla County and use the letter as an example of the type of racism people experience, but often don’t speak out about publicly. “I never meant to file a report, it just kind of spi- raled out,” he said, adding he “never meant to mislead” the public. When questioned about his statements on Facebook and the fact he told an East Oregonian reporter on June 24 that he had found the letter in his mailbox when he got home, he confirmed he had told a police officer La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst ACDelcoTSS the same story. Lopez ran for a seat on the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners during the May 2020 primary and placed fourth. He also is a member of the city of Hermiston’s Hispanic Advi- sory Committee. Edmiston said his depart- ment also was forwarding information to the district attorney’s office about pos- sibly fraudulent statements in Lopez’s entry in the May 2020 voter’s guide about his background and educa- tion. Those claims were also reported in an East Orego- nian story before the election. Edmiston also said Hermiston police learned Lopez never served in the U.S. Coast Guard as stated, which would be a violation of the 2013 Stolen Valor Act. Lopez has not provided documentation to the East Oregonian to confirm his claim of Coast Guard ser- vice when asked. “This investigation is par- ticularly frustrating as we are in the midst of multiple major investigations while battling a resource shortage due to the current pandemic,” Edmiston said. “The time spent on this fictitious claim means time lost on other matters, not to mention it needlessly adds to the incredible tension that exists in our nation today. As a lifelong resident of this diverse community, I’m dis- gusted someone would try to carelessly advance their per- sonal ambitions at the risk of others.” In light of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Union County we are taking extra precautions to ensure all of our customers safety. Red Cross will be closed from 1:30- 2:30 PM, Monday through Friday, in order to clean the contact areas of the pharmacy Stay home let more thoroughly. Olive Branch will be open and doing Drivethru ONLY. Please feel free to call in and leave refills on our phone line for us Deliver your continued service. 541.963.5741 ext. 1 medicines to you Thank you for your support as we make every effort to keep you and your loved ones safe during this time. Red Cross Drug Store Management “People Who Care” 1123 Adams Ave., La Grande 541-963-5741 redcrossdrugstore.com 306 W North St, Enterprise (541) 426-7455 olivebranchpharmacy.com
