LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
TODAY
Today is Thursday, July
30, the 212th day of 2020.
There are 154 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On July 30, 1945, the
Portland class heavy cruiser
USS Indianapolis, having
just delivered components
of the atomic bomb to Tinian
in the Mariana Islands, was
torpedoed by a Japanese
submarine; only 317 out of
nearly 1,200 men survived.
On This Date
In 1619, the first represen-
tative assembly in America
convened in Jamestown in
the Virginia Colony.
In 1792, the French nation-
al anthem “La Marseillaise,”
by Claude Joseph Rouget
de Lisle, was first sung in
Paris by troops arriving from
Marseille.
In 1844, the New York
Yacht Club was founded.
In 1908, the first round-
the-world automobile race,
which had begun in New
York in February, ended in
Paris with the drivers of the
American car, a Thomas
Flyer, declared the winners
over teams from Germany
and Italy.
In 1916, German sabo-
teurs blew up a munitions
plant on Black Tom, an
island near Jersey City, New
Jersey, killing about a dozen
people.
In 1956, President Dwight
D. Eisenhower signed a
measure making “In God We
Trust” the national motto, re-
placing “E Pluribus Unum”
(Out of many, one).
In 1960, the recently
founded American Football
League saw its first pre-sea-
son game, in which the
Boston Patriots defeated the
host Buffalo Bills 28-7.
In 1965, President Lyn-
don B. Johnson signed a
measure creating Medicare,
which began operating the
following year.
In 1975, former Teamsters
union president Jimmy Hof-
fa disappeared in suburban
Detroit; although presumed
dead, his remains have
never been found.
In 1980, Israel’s Knesset
passed a law reaffirming all
of Jerusalem as the capital
of the Jewish state.
In 2001, Robert Muel-
ler, President George W.
Bush’s choice to head the
FBI, promised the Senate
Judiciary Committee that if
confirmed, he would move
forcefully to fix problems at
the agency. (
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer, call
the office at 541-963-3161.
Black Lives Matter sign up in Pendleton
Crowdfunding
campaign raises
money for sign
By Alex Castle
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — People
traveling west through
Pendleton can look up
and to the right to see an
example of the area’s local
connection to the Black
Lives Matter movement.
A billboard on Southeast
Seventh Street and Court
Avenue prominently dis-
plays the phrase used as a
unifying message of the
nationwide protest move-
ment against police brutality
and systemic racism. The
billboard is set to display the
message in Pendleton until
at least mid-October thanks
to a local crowdfunding
campaign.
“I think it’s a symbol that
this isn’t something that just
impacts a small marginal-
ized group because lots of
people had to come together
to donate their money to
get this billboard up,” said
Briana Spencer, one of the
campaign’s donors who is
Photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
A billboard on Southeast Seventh Street and Court Avenue, Pendleton. displays the
phrase “Black Lives Matter” on Monday, July 27. The billboard, paid for through a crowd-
funding campaign, went up on Monday, July 20, and will stay up through mid-October.
Black and Puerto Rican and
a member of the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation. “People
always say put your money
where your mouth is, and
we did that.”
The campaign raised
$2,670 as of Friday, July 24,
and was inspired by a sim-
ilar one in St. Helens, where
residents raised enough
funds to put up a Black
Lives Matter billboard ear-
lier this July.
Paige Snively, a
29-year-old living in Chi-
cago who is originally from
Pilot Rock, helped orga-
nize the campaign from
afar after seeing local res-
idents expressing interest
in doing something similar
on a Pendleton community
Library brings browsing outside
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Cook
Memorial Library card-
holders can browse books
again with the library’s
Take-out(side) option.
The inaugural effort was
Tuesday, July 28, from
3:30-5:30 p.m. in front of
the Library in downtown
La Grande.
“I love this. I think it is
really great,” La Grande
mother Valerie Colwell
said. “My kids have been
starving for books so we
order a bunch of them
online at one time. But it
is really great to be able
to browse through the
books.”
The Take-out(side)
move by the library pro-
vides an avenue for indi-
viduals to peruse through
books that may otherwise
be left indoors while the
library is closed to the
public.
“We noticed our new
book shelf was full, and
people tend to find books
more while browsing,”
Library Director Kip Rob-
erson said. “We are going
to gauge how popular it
is after the first few days
and will likely move for-
ward and bring out more
books.”
The library selected
children and young adult
Staff photo by Sabrina Thompson
Aiyana Colwell and her mother Valerie Colwell browse
Cook Memorial Library’s young adults collection Tues-
day afternoon, July 28, in downtown La Grande, during
library’s’ first Take-Out(side) event.
books, new books, audio-
books and DVD bundles
and brought them outside
the front of the library
with a laptop and scanner
to check out materials.
Patrons had to wear masks
and gloves to browse the
outside stacks.
A small cart of free
books and the community
pantry also were avail-
able outside, along with
book returns and pickup.
Roberson said the library
is eager to reopen fully
to the public but is doing
what it can in the mean-
time to continue to serve
the community.
Census takers are on their way to Union County
In-person interviews for the census begin for people who did not return forms
By Sabrina Thompson
Facebook page.
“That’s when I jumped
in where I’m truthfully just
a project manager for the
cause,” Snively wrote in
an email. “The real effort
is being put in by those
in the community every
day to raise Black voices
and awareness for the
movement.”
The campaign raised the
Photo contributed by U.S. Census Bureau
Census takers will be knocking on doors in Union County starting Thursday, July 30,
of homes where locals have not responded to the 2020 census. Census takers have
to wear a mask, maintain distancing and be clearly identifiable with a badge and bag.
Bureau received more than
40 million items of per-
sonal protective equipment
for office and field staff
nationwide, including 2.4
million masks and 48,000
gallons of hand sanitizer.
Nationally, more than
91.6 million housing
units have self-reported.
The U.S. Census Bureau
had set a goal of 60.5%
response, and by July 8 the
rate was at 61.9%.
The internet has
yielded 73 million of the
responses. The online
option is new to the census
and helped provide a safe
and secure way to respond,
according to Albert Fon-
tenot, associate director for
the Decennial Census Pro-
grams. He also reported
more than 17 million res-
idents responded by mail
and 1.2 million responded
over the phone.
The U.S. Census
Bureau did not provide the
number of local responses
at the time of publication.
The Bureau pushed
back key days for the
census, including the
start of in-person census
takers visiting homes.
The plan is to complete
this phase by Oct. 31. The
primary reason for the
change in dates is due
to the COVID-19 pan-
demic forcing a change in
operations, according to
Fontenot.
$1,200 necessary to install
the billboard on July 20 and
rent the space for one month
within 24 hours of Snively
setting it up July 1 on
GoFundMe.com and adver-
tising it on social media.
The quick response
within the community sur-
prised Snively as the cam-
paign hit $1,845 on July 9,
enough to rent the space
for a second month, and
then hit a goal of $2,495 on
July 20, enough for a third
month.
“I think that speaks to
the level of belief and sup-
port in the community
around the cause,” Snively
stated in an email.
There have been 74
donors to the campaign so
far, with contributions aver-
aging a bit more than $35
and individual donations
ranging from $5-$100.
If the campaign falls
short of the making the
monthly rent and billboard
has to come down, the
campaign indicates on its
GoFundMe page the left-
over donations will go to
organizations supporting
the Black Lives Matter
movement.
News Briefs
Stabbing injures
La Grande man
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande Police Depart-
ment is investigating a stab-
bing that took place early
Wednesday, July 29, and
sent one man to the hospital.
A 911 caller at 1:29 a.m.
reported a stabbing
occurred at the intersec-
tion of 16th Street and
Washington Avenue in La
Grande, according to the
press release from the police
department.
Officers arrived shortly
after and made contact with
Adrianna Gockley, 20, and
Shawn McAdams, 29, both
of La Grande. According
to the press release, officers
learned Gockley stabbed
McAdams in the abdomen
one time following a phys-
ical altercation between
them. McAdams suffered a
non-life-threatening injury,
and an ambulance took him
to Grande Ronde Hospital,
La Grande.
The early investigation
revealed drugs and alcohol
may have played a factor
in this incident, police
reported, and while Gockley
is cooperating in the investi-
gation, McAdams is not.
The La Grande Police
Department received assis-
tance from the La Grande
Fire Department, the Union
County Sheriff’s Office and
the Oregon State Police. La
Grande police also reported
the investigation is ongoing
and there have been no
arrests, but anyone who may
have information about this
case should contact Erica
Rush, special victim’s detec-
tive, at 54-963-1017.
EOU helps students
with funding during
pandemic
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
Starting Thursday, July 30,
census takers will begin
knocking on the doors of
Union County residents
who have not responded to
their 2020 census.
Efforts to ensure public
safety during the pandemic
have been a focus for
the U.S. Census Bureau,
according to Timothy
Olson, associate director
of field operations.
“Our commitment
throughout the census pro-
cess has been to protect
every employee and the
American people through
all interactions we have,”
Olson said at a press con-
ference. “Our protective
equipment, along with
training and expectations
that all staff meet social
distancing and all very
interactions are the corner-
stones of our commitment
to protect people’s health
during this pandemic.
You may have noticed we
updated our policies very
recently and now require
all census employees who
have any public interac-
tions to wear a face mask
regardless of location or
geography.”
The U.S. Census
THuRSday, July 30, 2020
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon University
awarded almost $308,000
to 282 students through
funding from the federal
CARES Act.
The university in a press
release reported it received
$579,164 from the federal
government to distribute
directly to on-campus stu-
dents to help with housing,
food, health care, child care
or unpaid unemployment
benefits. To be eligible for
the benefits, students had
to be registered for EOU
classes and have submitted
their Federal Application for
Financial Student Aid form.
The legislation also helps
students attend on-campus
classes and students cannot
use the funds to directly
cover tuition costs.
As of June 30, 282 stu-
dents at the university in
La Grande met the require-
ments, the press release
stated.
But students who were
eligible for CARES Act
funding received help
through the EOU Founda-
tion’s Student Crisis Fund.
According to the univer-
sity, the fund raised more
than $16,000 in a matter of
weeks to help students stay
in college.
International student
Samantha Blake attends
EOU virtually while living
in Baker City. Blake did
not qualify for CARES
Act funding because she
is taking classes online.
When her husband lost his
job with the pandemic and
unemployment payments
stalled, she turned to EOU
to cover phone and internet
costs, according to the
press release, and the Stu-
dent Crisis Fund kept her
on track to graduate in June
2021.
“The Financial Aid
Office told me about the
help available,” Blake said
in the press release. “We
were so far behind on bills it
was scary. For someone who
didn’t qualify for assistance
through other channels, I
was so lucky (EOU Founda-
tion donors) were willing to
be generous.”
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity also stated it has more
than $271,000 remaining in
CARES funds and will con-
tinue to distribute to stu-
dents in need.
VA reports security
breach at Walla
Walla vet center
WALLA WALLA — A
privacy breach at the Walla
Walla Veterans Affairs
Medical Center is bringing
more security measures to
the facility, according to
a press release from U.S.
Department of Veterans
Affairs.
The Walla Walla facility
is mailing notices to 687
veterans whose information
was involved in the attack,
according to the press
release.
Letters for veterans
who have died have been
sent to next of kin to be on
the lookout for suspicious
behavior.
According to Veterans
Affairs, Benefits Recovery
Specialists Inc., a former
contractor with the VA,
notified the department on
June 4 about malware it
found on company systems
on April 30.
BRSI hired cyber secu-
rity specialists and began
an internal investigation
taking the affected systems
offline to remove the mal-
ware and ensure the secu-
rity of its information sys-
tems, according to the press
release.
A forensic investigation
found that on or about May
29, the press release stated,
“an unauthorized actor
deployed Maze ransomware
within BRSI’s systems.”
Veterans Health Admin-
istration files containing
personal information may
have been among those
accessed or acquired
between April 20-30.
— The Observer