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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 LOCAL/REGION DAILY Sumpter Valley Railroad rolls on during pandemic PLANNER By Lisa Britton TODAY For the EO Media Group Today is Tuesday, July 14, the 196th day of 2020. There are 170 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On July 14, 2016, terror struck Bastille Day celebra- tions in the French Riviera city of Nice as a large truck plowed into a festive crowd, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State extremists; the driver was shot dead by police. ON THIS DATE In 1789, in an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside. In 1798, Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to pub- lish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the United States government. In 1914, scientist Robert H. Goddard received a U.S. patent for a liquid-fueled rocket apparatus. In 1921, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted in Dedham, Mas- sachusetts, of murdering a shoe company paymaster and his guard. (Sacco and Vanzetti were executed six years later.) In 1933, all German polit- ical parties, except the Nazi Party, were outlawed. In 1980, the Republi- can national convention opened in Detroit, where nominee-apparent Ronald Reagan told a welcoming rally he and his supporters were determined to “make America great again.” In 2013, thousands of demonstrators across the country protested a Florida jury’s decision the day before to clear George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. In 2014, the Church of En- gland voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing women to become bishops. LOTTERY Megabucks: $3.8 million 8-14-15-19-29-41 Mega Millions: $83 million 10-15-20-49-53—22 x5 Powerball: $79 million 14-19-61-62-64—PB-4 x2 Win for Life: July 11 31-34-46-59 Pick 4: July 12 • 1 p.m.: 6-9-5-0 • 4 p.m.: 9-0-2-7 • 7 p.m.: 1-0-0-1 • 10 p.m.: 2-0-9-2 Pick 4: July 11 • 1 p.m.: 4-9-0-9 • 4 p.m.: 5-2-3-0 • 7 p.m.: 3-4-4-8; • 10 p.m.: 4-2-0-9 Pick 4: July 10 • 1 p.m.: 6-0-4-3 • 4 p.m.: 1-2-6-1 • 7 p.m.: 2-9-3-8 • 10 p.m.: 4-8-6-4 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the offi ce at 541-963-3161. SUMPTER — The Sumpter Valley Railroad started steaming along its tracks in the late 1800s, and it continues today — even in the midst of a pandemic. The schedule, however, is different this summer to keep under the state guidelines. “We’re just trying to accommodate,” said Kim Svaty, depot manager. “People are glad to be out.” The train is seating about 65 passengers, which is half its capacity. Family groups can sit together, and then 6 feet of distance is kept between the next riders. In regular years, people could board at either the McEwen Depot or Sumpter Station for a round-trip ride. Now all trips begin at McEwen. Riders disembark at Sumpter, the train is dis- infected, and then the same group gets back on the train. No new riders will be allowed midtrip. Masks are required for passengers while walking through closed cars, but are not mandated for people sit- ting in the open cars. Reservations must be made in advance through the SVRR website, www. sumptervalleyrailroad.org. This enables the railroad to track riders in case contract tracing is necessary. “We have a way to notify Photo courtesy of Sumpter Valley Railroad The No. 19 Mikado locomotive will turn 100 this summer. The Sumpter Valley Railroad plans a birthday party for the Mikado on Aug. 8. people by the train,” Svaty said. Riders need to print their Umatilla County commissioner candidates dismiss systemic racism as local issue Wanted man arrested after hit-and-run By Alex Castle and Antonio Sierra The Observer EO Media Group UMATILLA COUNTY — Umatilla County com- missioner candidates HollyJo Beers and Dan Dorran, both of whom are white, provided dif- fering prospectives on the local presence of systemic racism in the wake of recent protests. Zaira Sanchez, census equity coordinator for Hermiston-based Latino advocacy group Raices, highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a grim example of the inherent inequalities that exist. According to data on 650,000 of the United States’ COVID-19 cases from the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Preven- tion that the New York Times reported on July 5, Black and Latino people have been three times as likely to contract the virus and nearly twice as likely to die from it in compar- ison to white people in the United States. While that CDC data only includes information on 82 cases reported in Umatilla County as of May 28, 63 of those cases were Hispanic or Latino people and 19 were white. Those numbers would mean Latino and Hispanic resi- dents of Umatilla County, which account for roughly 27% of the population, accounted for nearly 77% of the county’s cases at the time. Umatilla County Com- missioner George Murdock acknowledged these dis- parities in a July 8 inter- view with Oregon Public Broadcasting, during which he stated local migrant workers are at greater risk of exposure because they are often living in “dormitory-like situations” and traveling to work in tightly packed vans. Hermiston City Coun- cilor Roy Barron, who also is the community part- nership liaison for Raices, pointed out these dispari- ties in living conditions and wealth put people of color at greater risk of the virus are a result of systemic inequalities — inequali- ties derived from a history of housing discrimination against people of color and land ownership restrictions that limited people of col- or’s ability to pass wealth down to future generations. Beers, however, said she felt the biggest issues with local racism stem from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. “A lot of people will say it does. I think the obvious population here is the tribes. The tribes are the most racist people I’ve ever encountered,” Beers said. “The racism goes both ways.” Beers claimed the tribal government is racist toward white resi- dents through preferential hiring at its workplaces by choosing tribal mem- bers over “more qualifi ed” applicants. While she said she doesn’t think all tribal members are personally racist, she believes there is a general prejudice against white residents because of the historical injustices the American government perpetrated against indige- nous communities. “There’s many of them out there that are very prej- udiced and still cling to the ‘white man screwed us over’ type deal, and it’s the same with slavery. None of us have owned slaves here that live today and we didn’t cause them all that,” she said. “And it’s the same thing with the Native Americans. We’re not the ones that did that to you. So people need to get over it and move on. They’re being prosperous. They’re looked up to for what they’ve done. And they need to leave that neg- ative behind.” Chuck Sams, spokesman for the CTUIR, said Beers’ com- ments showed a “shock of ignorance” and were “extremely disappointing.” Sams noted Beers is a member of the Oregon Three Percenters and con- siders herself a consti- tutionalist, but she was EO Media Group BEND — Members of the Unity Community of Central Oregon are inviting the public to walk through their new labyrinth during this time of a global pan- demic and civil unrest. About a dozen volun- teers gathered Saturday at the spiritual organization’s property off Cooley Road in Bend to build the labyrinth. The group placed stones along a circular path, sim- ilar to a maze but with no dead ends. Bend resident Lisa Gott- wald, who joined the orga- nization last year and led the effort Saturday, said walking through a labyrinth can help heal people who have been through trau- matic events. She has been through her own struggles, after her husband died a few years ago, and she lost her home in a wildfi re when she lived in California. She sees a labyrinth as a kind of cure. “It is a tool that gives you peace as you walk it,” Gottwald said. “If you are really feeling shattered or blown apart in your family life during this time, a walk through the labyrinth is an opportunity to just stop everything.” Before entering the lab- yrinth, people should state what they want to address in their lives, Gottwald said. “Start at the begin- ning with that in mind,” she said. “Then as you are winding your way back out, you are walking into your intention.” LEN Meserve, 77, a builder in Bend, designed the labyrinth for the orga- nization. Meserve has built more than 100 labyrinths across the United States. Since he moved to Bend, 14 years ago, he has built about 20 in the city. He said he is drawn to how labyrinths connect people with the Earth and the ancestors and indige- nous peoples who walked on the land. He also said people often come to laby- rinths looking for guidance. “If you have a question, come with your question,” Meserve said. “I tell people to come with a loving heart and your highest aspirations and feed the labyrinth.” 975-2000 MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst 1123 Adams Ave., La Grande 541-963-5741 redcrossdrugstore.com 306 W North St, Enterprise (541) 426-7455 olivebranchpharmacy.com Photo by Ryan Brennecke/EO Media Group Members of the Unity Community of Central Oregon work to place stones Saturday, July 11, while building a laby- rinth on the spiritual organization’s property in Bend. New Name. Same Great Team. Same Exceptional Service. Travis T. Hampton, D.P.M. Foot and Ankle Surgeon LESS STRESS MORE FUN! La Grande 1408 N Hall Street Enterprise 601 Medical Parkway 1809 Gekeler Ln. La Grande 541-963-4700 www.GVfoot.com ACDelcoTSS 10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City Baker 3175 Pocahontas Rd. PROTECTING our Residents during this Pandemic 541-963-0265 888-843-9090 An Independent Insurance Agency Reed & Associates for excellent service LOCALLY! Nicole Cathey LA GRANDE — A hit-and-run Saturday afternoon in La Grande led to the arrest of a man who was wanted for theft and sexual crimes going back more than a decade. La Grande police at 2:53 p.m. received a report of a hit-and-run on the 2200 block of Adams Avenue, according to the department’s daily bul- letin. Offi cers arrived and arrested Christopher Wil- liam Burrows, 37, for mis- demeanor hit-and-run. Police also found Burrows had two arrest warrants out of Umatilla County. State court records show one warrant was from 2006 for two counts of identity theft, two counts of forgery and one count each of attempt to commit a crime and theft. The identity theft charges are felo- nies, and the others are misdemeanors. The other warrant was from 2005 for three mis- demeanor sexual crimes of sexual abuse, contrib- uting to the sexual delin- quency of a minor and sexual misconduct. Court records also show Burrows has a Pend- leton address, but Bur- rows on his Facebook page reported he moved to Baker City on March 8. For now, Burrows will reside in jail in La Grande. “People Who Care” La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR www.lagrandeautorepair.com seemingly unaware the issue of tribal preference had already passed consti- tutional muster. In the 1974 case Morton v. Mancari, a group of Indian employees at the Bureau of Indian Affairs legally challenged the bureau’s Native Amer- ican hiring preference on the grounds that it was a violation of the Equal Employment Opportu- nity Act of 1972. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the hiring preference, arguing a hiring preference for American Indians wasn’t a matter of race. Despite the tribes’ hiring policy, Sams said 64% of the CTUIR’s work- force are non-Indian. A 2018 report found an over- whelming majority of workers at tribal enter- prises, such as Wildhorse Resort & Casino and Cayuse Technologies, are non-Indians, while CTUIR members and other Amer- icans Indian only hold a slight lead on non- Indians working in tribal government. Sams said the tribes don’t consider using tribal preference unless an appli- cant meets the minimum qualifi cations for the job. Responding to Beers’ “tribes are the most racist people I’ve ever encoun- tered,” Sams suggested she brush up on Oregon’s early history as a territory and state. 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 Bend group creates labyrinth for peace amid pandemic By Kyle Spurr ticket, then show it at the McEwen Depot’s window (the depot is closed to vis- itors). The train leaves McEwen at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. most weekends. At times, a short train will be added that runs from Sumpter to the river and back. Updates are posted on the SVRR website and Facebook page. Round trip fares are $24 adults, $20 seniors, $14 children, or $70 for a family (two adults, two chil- dren). The short trains have reduced ticket prices. Staged train robberies are set for July 25 and 26 when bandits ride up and pretend to rob the train. “We have a bunch of new bandits — and they don’t complain about wearing masks,” Svaty said. 541-975-1364 Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 Medicare, Auto, Home insurance and Annuities www.reed-insurance.net Kevin Reed
