LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
TODAY
Today is Thursday, July
23, the 205th day of 2020.
There are 161 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On July 23, 1829, William
Austin Burt received a pat-
ent for his “typographer,” a
forerunner of the typewriter.
ON THIS DATE
In 1885, Ulysses S. Grant,
the 18th president of the
United States, died in New
York at age 63.
In 1914, Austria-Hungary
presented a list of demands
to Serbia following the
killing of Archduke Franz Fer-
dinand by a Serb assassin;
Serbia’s refusal to agree to
the entire ultimatum led to
the outbreak of World War I.
In 1948, American pioneer
filmmaker D.W. Griffith died
in Los Angeles at age 73.
In 1967, five days of dead-
ly rioting erupted in Detroit
as an early morning police
raid on an unlicensed bar
resulted in a confrontation
with local residents that
escalated into violence that
spread into other parts of
the city; 43 people, mostly
Blacks, were killed.
In 1982, actor Vic Morrow
and two child actors,
7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and
6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi
Chen, were killed when a
helicopter crashed on top
of them during filming of
a Vietnam War scene for
“Twilight Zone: The Movie.”
(Director John Landis and
four associates were later
acquitted of manslaughter
charges.)
In 1983, an Air Canada
Boeing 767 ran out of fuel
while flying from Montreal
to Edmonton; the pilots
were able to glide the jet-
liner to a safe emergency
landing in Gimli, Manitoba.
(The near-disaster occurred
because the fuel had been
erroneously measured in
pounds instead of kilograms
at a time when Canada was
converting to the metric
system.)
In 1997, the search for
Andrew Cunanan, the
suspected killer of designer
Gianni Versace and others,
ended as police found his
body on a houseboat in
Miami Beach, an apparent
suicide.
In 1999, space shuttle Co-
lumbia blasted off with the
world’s most powerful X-ray
telescope and Eileen Collins,
the first woman to com-
mand a U.S. space flight.
In 2003, a new audio-
tape purported to be from
toppled dictator Saddam
Hussein called on Iraqis to
resist the U.S. occupation.
Massachusetts’ attorney
general issued a report
saying clergy members
and others in the Boston
Archdiocese probably had
sexually abused more than
1,000 people over a period
of six decades.
In 2006, Tiger Woods
became the first player since
Tom Watson in 1982-83 to
win consecutive British
Open titles.
In 2017, a tractor trailer
was found in a Walmart
parking lot in San Antonio,
Texas, crammed with dozens
of immigrants; ten died and
many more were treated at
a hospital for dehydration
and heat stroke.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $4.2 million
7-11-19-27-40-48
Mega Millions: $113 million
14-25-26-41-43—15 x3
Powerball: $97 million
13-16-32-58-59—PB-9 x2
Win for Life: July 20
7-45-47-65
Pick 4: July 21
• 1 p.m.: 2-2-4-8; • 4 p.m.: 9-4-7-6
• 7 p.m.: 4-7-7-7; • 10 p.m.: 0-5-0-6
Pick 4: July 20
• 1 p.m.: 2-4-8-3; • 4 p.m.: 5-5-3-4
• 7 p.m.: 0-9-7-5; • 10 p.m.: 2-1-8-1
DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
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the office at 541-963-3161.
THuRSday, July 23, 2020
Woman celebrates recovery
By Andrew Cutler
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE —
When Tori White found
out she had tested positive
for COVID-19, she didn’t
believe it at first.
White, 27, of Enter-
prise, tested positive
June 5 for the virus after
a visit from her mother.
White said she was told to
get tested after her mom
returned home to Wash-
ington state and tested
positive.
“When my mom called
me and told me she tested
positive, I was like, ‘I’m
not gonna have it. I feel
fine,’” White said. “Even
my boss was like, ‘Yeah,
you’re probably gonna
come back negative.’ And
we were shocked when it
came back positive.”
White, who quarantined
herself for two weeks fol-
lowing the diagnosis, said
her mother was alerted
by the Oregon Health
Authority that she had
come in contact with the
virus, prompting the initial
positive test for her mom.
The dominos slowly fell
after that first call.
“During her visit, she
felt fine and I felt fine,
and then she left and on
her way back, she got a
call from OHA saying
that one of her techs she
had recently worked
with — because she did
a sleep study, because
she has muscular dys-
trophy — tested positive
for COVID,” White said.
“They did a test on her
and it came back positive.
And then she called me
right away, and I went and
got tested that day, and the
next day I found out that I
was positive as well.”
Despite not having any
symptoms during her test,
she did develop extreme
Photo contributed by Tori White
Tori White of Enterprise poses for a photo with her daughter, Kinleigh. White tested
positive for COVID-19 June 5 after a visit from her mother. White said she was told to
get tested after her mom returned home to Washington state and tested positive.
fatigue, body aches, leg
cramping and the loss of
smell and taste. White said
compared to how the virus
has affected others, her
case was mild.
“My lungs hurt just a
teeny bit, but that was it,”
she said. “I never got a
cough and I never even got
a fever.”
White, who has lived
in Wallowa County since
she was 15, said her symp-
toms lasted for the rest
of the time she was in
quarantine.
“My legs started
cramping really, really
bad to the point where I
just wanted to cry. I was
just rubbing my thighs up
and down with my hands,
so I didn’t know what to
do,” she said. “And then
the next day I just felt very
tired and I could barely
keep my eyes open. And
then I just slept. The whole
time I had it, I just was
sleeping all day, all night
long with no problem. I
was just so tired.”
During her quaran-
tine, White said she was
frequently in touch with
someone from the state
health authority who
would check in with her
and make sure she was
doing all right.
“He was letting me
text him with questions,”
White said.
Being in quarantine
also meant being away
from her daughter, Kin-
leigh. White said the
3-year-old stayed with her
father in Joseph and had
been out of the house prior
to White’s visit from her
mother.
“I couldn’t see her for
three weeks and that was
really hard,” White said. “I
couldn’t see anybody. I had
a lot of people calling me
and texting me, and some
people were really sup-
portive and some people
weren’t to be honest.”
White said her
employer, Wallowa
Valley Center for Well-
ness, was extremely sup-
portive of her while being
quarantined.
“My boss was texting
me like every day, asking
me if I needed anything,”
she said. “You know, just
saying really nice things to
me the whole time.”
White said her family,
including her sister,
who lives in La Grande,
dropped off groceries out-
side her front door twice
while she was quarantined.
After being just one
of a handful of individ-
uals in Wallowa County
to contract the virus,
White said her advice to
anyone else wondering
about COVID-19 is pretty
straightforward.
“Well, I just tell people
that my case was really
minor. I tell them infor-
mation that OHA told me.
And I tell them that if they
have questions they should
call OHA,” she said. “I had
people texting me, like,
‘Hey, sorry to bother you.
But like, I’m having these
symptoms. Can you tell
me your symptoms and
what do you think I should
do? I’m just worried.’ And
I always tell them, if you’re
worried, just go get tested.
It’s really fast and simple.”
All-abilities playground now open
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY —
Karla Macy was ecstatic
to watch her 4-year-old
son, Gus, cavort on Baker
City’s newest playground,
but she was perhaps even
happier to hear what he
said while he played.
Gus repeated it over and
over, a simple phrase that
could be the slogan for the
nearly 2-year, $300,000
effort that culminated
Friday morning at Geis-
er-Pollman Park.
“I can do this.”
By himself.
And that’s just what
Gus did.
He was among about
a dozen kids who swung
and slid and spun on toys
designed to accommodate
all children — including
those, like Gus, who use
wheelchairs.
Gus, who has spina
bifida, played in the warm
July sunshine while his
mom sat nearby and rev-
eled in her boy’s newfound
independence.
“Previously, when we’re
at a traditional playground,
I’m always getting Gus in
and out of his chair,” said
Macy, who has been pro-
moting Baker City’s cam-
paign to build the all-abil-
ities playground since its
inception.
Photo by Lisa Britton/For the EO Media Group
Gus Macy, front, and his brother, Henry, play with Jas-
mine Webb, right, on Friday morning at Geiser-Pollman
Park, Baker City’s newest playground, which accommo-
dates all children.
“I actually sat down on
a bench and watched him
play.”
The playground debuted
around 9 a.m. Friday. It’s
the south side of the park,
adjacent to another group
of toys that were installed
in May 2014.
Joyce Bornstedt, the
city’s technical adminis-
trative supervisor, whose
duties include overseeing
city parks, said the city
invited families whose
children were featured in
the city’s application for
a grant from the Moda
Health company. The city
won the online voting con-
test in the spring of 2019
and received $37,740.
Bornstedt said the city
is not sanitizing either the
new equipment or the 2014
toys.
“There’s really no
ability to sanitize because,
I mean we could sani-
tize and 2 minutes (later)
somebody that was
infected could be there,”
she said.
Bornstedt encourages
people to wear face cov-
erings at the park and to
bring hand sanitizer to
apply before and after
using the playground.
Macy said she appreci-
ated not only that Gus was
able to play without her
help, but that he was able
to join his brother, Henry,
6.
Macy said one of her
favorite moments so far
at the new playground
is watching 10 kids on
a merry-go-round, two
of them in wheelchairs.
When someone asked to
go faster, one girl said,
“everybody who can push,
get off and push.”
Having kids of all abil-
ities play together was the
purpose of the new play-
ground, Macy said.
“It’s just really
exciting.”
News Briefs
Tuesday fires do
no damage, cause
under investigation
LA GRANDE —
Nobody was injured in a
series of fires along McAl-
ister Road and Gekeler Lane
early Tuesday afternoon.
The fires, reported at
12:57 p.m., included a
three-quarters of an acre
blaze on a field about 200
yards south of Buchanan
Lane, at least two to three
spot fires in ditches along
Gekeler Lane plus a hay-
stack fire on Gekeler Lane.
Firefighters extinguished
the blazes in about 20 min-
utes except for the hay-
stack fire, which will burn
out on its own, said Craig
Kretschmer, chief of the
La Grande Rural Fire
Department.
Firefighters are moni-
toring the haystack.
The fires on Gekeler
Lane were about 300 yards
southeast of the one on
McAlister Road. The fires
damaged some fencing in
addition to the haystack, but
there was no major property
damage, Kretschmer said.
The cause of the blazes
is under investigation. Kret-
schmer said vehicle mal-
function that generated
sparks may have ignited the
fires, adding that it appears
unlikely someone started
the fires intentionally.
“We found no evidence
of arson,” Kretschmer said.
Firefighters from four
agencies extinguished the
field and ditch blazes —
the La Grande Rural Fire
Department, the La Grande
Fire Department, the Union
Rural Fire Department and
the Oregon Department of
Forestry. Field Deputy State
Fire Marshal Casey Kump
also was at the scene to help
with the investigation, Kret-
schmer said.
FDA recalling dozens
of hand sanitizer
products
WASHINGTON — The
Food and Drug Adminis-
tration has recalled about
75 types of hand sanitizer
products that tested positive
for methanol contamina-
tion, according to the FDA’s
website.
The most-listed product
is about two dozen varieties
of BLUMEN hand sanitizer
produced by Mexico-based
4E Global. The full list
of what has been recalled
can be found at https://bit.
ly/3eSLm8j.
According to the FDA,
methanol, also known as
wood alcohol, can be toxic
when absorbed through the
skin or ingested. Ingesting
the product also can be life
threatening.
“The agency is aware
of adults and children
ingesting hand sanitizer
products contaminated
with methanol that has led
to recent adverse events
including blindness, hospi-
talizations and death,” the
FDA wrote in its online
information about the
recall.
The agency’s investiga-
tion of methanol in hand
sanitizers is ongoing.
Symptoms of substantial
exposure to methanol can
include nausea, vomiting,
headache, blurred vision,
permanent blindness, sei-
zures, coma, permanent
nervous system damage or
death.
— EO Media Group
Weston Food Pantry continues to feed community during pandemic
By Alex Castle
EO Media Group
WESTON — Nearly
a dozen people lined up
along Franklin Street in
Weston on Saturday, July
18, waiting for their turn to
cycle through the Weston
Food Pantry and pick up
some much-needed food for
the next month.
As millions of Ameri-
cans and thousands of local
residents have faced unem-
ployment throughout the
coronavirus pandemic,
the food pantry has con-
tinued to distribute free
food to people in need from
10-11 a.m. each third Sat-
Photo by Alex Castle/EO Media Group
Volunteers help distribute food items to people in need
Saturday, July 18, at the Weston Food Pantry.
urday of the month.
While the virus and its
risks have eliminated most
community gatherings, vol-
unteers and shoppers were
bustling about in masks and
gloves on July 18, laughing
and catching up together as
they do each month.
“Most of these people
grew up together and are
here to help one another,”
said Greg Phillips, one of
the volunteers who helps
manage the food pantry.
“We’re really proud to be
able to support our commu-
nity like this.”
For safety reasons during
the pandemic, all volunteers
are required to wear face
coverings and gloves while
working in the food pantry,
and patrons must wear face
coverings and are limited
to three individuals around
the food-stocked oval tables
within the small building.
Patrons are asked to either
wait in their vehicles or
keep distance between
other families as they wait,
and some masks are avail-
able at the door for people
who don’t have one.
“We’ve got a routine
down now,” volunteer and
assistant manager Bill
Dobos said of the pantry’s
coronavirus precautions.
Roughly two dozen vol-
unteers and a six-person
board of directors run the
pantry, which receives sup-
ported from the Commu-
nity Action Program of East
Central Oregon (CAPECO)
and the Oregon Food Bank.
While based in Weston, the
food pantry serves residents
of Athena, Adams and
other surrounding commu-
nities in northern Umatilla
County.
Volunteer Carol Kirk
said local firefighters and
EMS personnel regularly
help unload truckloads of
food and supplies sent by
CAPECO each month.
Each shipment usually
has enough of everything,
Kirk said, to provide for the
community — except for
items like bread, milk, eggs
and cheese.
Phillips said the food
pantry uses some of its lim-
ited monetary donations to
pay for those items.