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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER Daily Planner TODAY Today is Tuesday, July 28, the 210th day of 2020. There are 156 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On July 28, 1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2. ON THIS DATE In 1794, Maximilien Robe- spierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine. In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. In 1929, Jacqueline Bou- vier Kennedy Onassis was born in Southampton, N.Y. In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand payments they weren’t scheduled to receive until 1945. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced the end of coffee rationing, which had limited people to one pound of coffee every five weeks since it began in Nov. 1942. In 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Em- pire State Building, killing 14 people. In 1959, in preparation for statehood, Hawaiians voted to send the first Chi- nese-American, Republican Hiram L. Fong, to the U.S. Senate and the first Japa- nese-American, Democrat Daniel K. Inouye, to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 peo- ple, according to an official estimate. In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics opened. In 1989, Israeli comman- dos abducted a pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim cleric, Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid, from his home in south Lebanon. In 2016, Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Philadelphia, where she cast herself as a unifier for divided times as well as an experienced leader steeled for a volatile world while aggressively challenging Republican Donald Trump’s ability to lead. In 2017, the Senate voted 51-49 to reject Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s last-ditch effort to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul with a trimmed-down bill. John McCain, who was about to begin treatments for a brain tumor, joined two other GOP senators in voting against the repeal effort. LOTTERY Megabucks: $4.4 million 1-8-19-27-36-45 Mega Millions: $124 million 8-33-39-54-58—17 x3 Powerball: $117 million 5-21-36-61-62—PB-18 x2 Win for Life: July 25 21-29-42-58 Pick 4: July 26 • 1 p.m.: 1-9-3-3; • 4 p.m.: 7-1-9-5 • 7 p.m.: 6-2-4-3; • 10 p.m.: 1-5-8-6 Pick 4: July 25 • 1 p.m.: 8-6-8-2; • 4 p.m.: 0-7-9-5 • 7 p.m.: 4-2-6-4; • 10 p.m.: 9-7-2-8 Pick 4: July 24 • 1 p.m.: 8-3-6-2; • 4 p.m.: 6-0-5-7 • 7 p.m.: 5-6-2-0; • 10 p.m.: 3-7-7-1 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the office at 541-963-3161. TuESday, July 28, 2020 LOCAL/REGION Elgin School District needs building work By Dick Mason The Observer ELGIN — The Elgin School District’s aging buildings do not need to be replaced, but they do need $9.3 million in renovation work. This is the conclusion Scott Marshall of Straight- line Architecture of Boise, Idaho, has arrived at after preparing a School Facili- ties Assessment Report for the Elgin School District. “The overall condi- tion of the district’s pri- mary facilities is fair to below fair,” said Marshall, Straightline’s principal architect, in his assessment report. The buildings need major repair and systems upgrades, he said. The good news is the school district has some breathing room. “Overall, the buildings currently do not appear to be immediate health, life, or safety concern for stu- dents and staff in occupied spaces,” Marshall wrote in his report. Marshall said an Oregon Department of Education methodology known as the Replacement Cost Index indicates it would be more feasible financially for the Elgin School District to renovate its building rather than replace them. The cost of making the renovations at Stella Mayfield Elementary Staff photo by Dick Mason Stella Mayfield Elementary School in Elgin needs $4.28 million worth of renovations, according to the Elgin School District’s new facilities assessment. Replacing the elemen- tary school, which opened in 1949 and serves about 290 students, would cost almost $18 million. “The overall condition of the district’s primary facilities is fair to below fair.” Architect Scott Marshall, in his assessment of Elgin School District facilities School, which opened in 1949, would be $4.28 million. The expense of replacing the school would be $17.9 million, Mar- shall told the Elgin School Board on Monday, 21. The school district’s pre- school building, built about 70 years ago, would cost $1.4 million to replace but $161,000 to remodel. At Elgin High School, built in 1958, the cost of doing the remodeling work would be $4.91 million, while the replacement cost would be $23.12 million. The total $9.3 million would cover numerous items, including new boilers at Stella May- field and EHS, a fire alarm upgrade at the high school Wallowa limits horse numbers News Briefs Construction work closing Highway 204 for two days By Bill Bradshaw EO Media Group WALLOWA — A request for a variation on an ordinance prohib- iting more than one horse per acre within city limits was denied Tuesday, July 21, by the Wallowa City Council. Quinn Berry, who keeps three horses at his Holmes Street prop- erty of less than 2 acres, requested the variance on the city’s animal ordi- nance that requires 1 acre of pasture for every horse. The city had sent him a letter asking him to fix the problem after several neighbors complained about the horses. Berry shared photo- graphs of his place to demonstrate its cleanli- ness and invited council members to view it per- sonally to emphasize that he was not in violation of the spirit of the ordi- nance enacted to prevent odors and other nuisances arising from too many animals in town. But Mayor Gary Hulse said it can be a problem for neighbors. “It becomes a nuisance to everybody downwind,” he said. Councilman Joe Town agreed, saying the and a new bus facility. Marshall said he believes EHS and Stella Mayfield are not close to growing to the point they are meeting or exceeding their student capacity. He said Stella Mayfield, which had 290 students in 2019- 20, is at 83% capacity and Elgin High School, which had 191 students, is at 55% capacity. Elgin High School is at low risk of exceeding the state’s recommended max- imum capacity limits and Stella Mayfield is at low to moderate risk, Marshall said. Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group Incoming city library Director Holly Goebel, left, listens as her predecessor, Kristin Tompeck, gives her final li- brary report to the Wallowa City Council at its meeting Tuesday, July 21. The city hired Goebel at the meeting and accepted Tompeck’s resignation. variance should not be granted. “We’re not going to change the ordinance for one horse,” he said. When the mayor asked if the council wanted to vote on a variance, no motion was made. “I’m not willing to make a motion on a vari- ance until he’s looked for other pastures,” Coun- cilman Scott McCrae said. Berry said that there are no stables in the city and he has not found any pastureland outside of town. McCrae said that if the council did approve such a variance, others may request one, too. Berry mentioned 4-H and FFA project animals that are kept in town. Councilman Oran McCrae said those ani- mals are acceptable because they are in town for a limited period of time and gone by fair time. Berry was left in a position of having to seek other accommodations for his horses, such as out-of- town pastures. In another matter, the council officially hired Holly Goebel as the new director of the Wallowa City Library, replacing Kristin Tompeck, who submitted her letter of resignation. Marshall suggested the school district look into getting voters to pass a bond to help finance the renovations recommended in the report. He recom- mended that the school dis- trict also consider applying for a Oregon School Capital Improvement Match grant from the state before pur- suing passage of a bond. School Districts which receive OSCIM grants are eligible to receive up to $4 million. Marshall said school districts will receive such funding to match bond levies approved by voters. The Elgin School Dis- trict, Marshall said, is now in a position to apply for a OSCIM grant because it has had a school facili- ties assessment conducted. Union County school dis- tricts which have received OSCIM grants, or ones similar to them, over the past decade for major building and maintenance projects include Imbler, North Powder and Union. The Elgin School Board will discuss the facili- ties assessment report in August. No members of the board commented Monday on what direction they believe the school district should take in light of the information presented in the report. “There are lot of options,” said Elgin School District Superintendent Dianne Greif. TOLLGATE — The Oregon Department of Transportation is closing Oregon Highway 204 — the Weston-Elgin/Toll- gate Highway — at mile- posts 34 and 35 from 6 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4 through 6 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, for construction of a retaining wall to protect the highway from future flood damage. The flooding of Phillips Creek this spring caused significant damage, ODOT reported in a press release. The two-day closure allows for construction at the work site 6 miles west of Elgin. There is no local detour available for highway traffic, the transportation department advised, and travelers will need to use alternate routes around the closure. A single lane clo- sure now at the work site with up to 20-minute delays will change to the tempo- rary full closure on Aug. 4. Hiker rescued on Snake River HAT POINT LOOKOUT — A 45-year-old Portland man was rescued Saturday, July 25, after being missing more than 72 hours during a hike that took him down to the Snake River, said Mike Hansen, incident commander for Wallowa County Search and Rescue. The man, whom Hansen declined to name, had some scratches, bumps and bruises, Hansen said. “He was very, very tired, hungry and had sore feet,” he said. When Hansen inter- viewed him the next day, the man — who was hiking alone — said he intended to spend one night on the bench below Hat Point on Wednesday, July 22. How- ever, while traveling south and looking for a way back to the top, he missed the trail and ended up where Sluice Creek empties into the Snake River. Hansen said the man decided to go on down to the Snake in hopes of finding help. There, he found some commer- cial rafters, who took him downstream until they came upon a jet boat oper- ated by Hells Canyon Adventures out of Oxbow. The jet boat took him about 15 miles upstream to Hells Canyon Dam where there is a boat launch and road access. “He got lucky,” Hansen said. — EO Media Group Death, mutilation of cow near Fossil bewilders investigators By Sierra Dawn McClain Capital Press FOSSIL — Authori- ties are investigating the death and mutilation of yet another cow — this time, on rangeland near Fossil. And the culprit may have left a clue: a boot print. The black Angus cow, a breeding animal worth about $1,000, was found Thursday dead and muti- lated — tongue, genitals and reproductive organs cut out. Her carcass was found upright, front legs tucked underneath, a position investigators say they hav- en’t seen before. The cause of death is unknown, and authorities told the Capital Press the case is ongoing. “She died in a position she couldn’t have gotten into by herself. I don’t have any kind of logical expla- nation for it,” said David Hunt, owner of Hunt Ranch and a partner-producer for Painted Hills Natural Beef Inc. Photo contributed by Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office Rancher David Hunt of Wheeler County found a dead and mutilated cow Thursday with her tongue, genitals and reproductive organs cut out — and she was placed in an upright position. “There was definitely foul play involved in this animal’s death,” said deputy Jeremiah Holmes of the Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office. This isn’t the first time Hunt has lost an animal to mysterious mutilation. Last December, he found a dead bull in the snow with its nose, lips, ears, tongue, tail and genitals removed and blood drained. Deputy Holmes said he worked on that case, too, with no leads. Hunt isn’t the only rancher to lose an animal this way. FBI case files record thousands of killings and mutilations of cattle across the U.S. since the 1970s. The animals are usu- ally found with the same body parts missing — and no culprit has ever been arrested. Hunt said he found the cow Thursday morning when he visited the pasture, as he does once a week, at a spot about half a mile from the nearest road. He said he immediately called the sheriff’s office. Holmes said it’s hard to tell how the cow died. By the time authorities arrived, the animal had likely been dead a few days, past the window to perform a necropsy. The tongue and genital wounds were “clean-cut,” said Holmes, not by a wild animal. But Hunt noted the wounds weren’t as clean-cut as those of his bull last winter. How the cow died is a mystery. There were no dart punc- tures, no bullets, no stran- gulation marks, no rope burns, no tire tracks, no signs of poison. In previous cases, people have speculated culprits may be cult members, satanic worshipers, even aliens. But something makes this case unique. Deputy Holmes said about 100 yards away from the carcass, officers found a partial boot print. It’s possible it was the rancher’s own print. But Hunt says he hadn’t stepped out of his vehicle in that area for a long time, it didn’t look like his boot and Holmes said wind and rain would likely have cov- ered over the print by now if he had. The print, he said, appears fresh. The case continues. “I didn’t say much when my bull died last winter,” said Hunt. “But this time, the cops wanted permis- sion to publicize so maybe people can keep their eyes open. I say: all right, tell anyone you want. It won’t bring back my dead cow, but maybe we’ll catch the killer.”
