2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
TODAY
Today is Saturday, Aug.
1, the 214th day of 2020.
There are 152 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On August 1, 1957, the
United States and Canada
announced they had agreed
to create the North Ameri-
can Air Defense Command
(NORAD).
ON THIS DATE
In 1714, Britain’s Queen
Anne died at age 49; she
was succeeded by George I.
In 1907, the U.S. Army
Signal Corps established an
aeronautical division, the
forerunner of the U.S. Air
Force.
In 1912, the U.S. Marine
Corps’ first pilot, 1st Lt.
Alfred A. Cunningham, went
on his first solo flight as he
took off in a Burgess/Curtis
Hydroplane from Marble-
head Harbor in Massachu-
setts.
In 1914, Germany de-
clared war on Russia at the
onset of World War I.
In 1936, the Olympics
opened in Berlin with a
ceremony presided over by
Adolf Hitler.
In 1944, an uprising broke
out in Warsaw, Poland,
against Nazi occupation; the
revolt lasted two months
before collapsing.
In 1981, the rock music
video channel MTV made its
debut.
In 2007, the eight-lane
Interstate 35W bridge, a
major Minneapolis artery,
collapsed into the Mississip-
pi River during evening rush
hour, killing 13 people.
In 2014, a medical
examiner ruled that a New
York City police officer’s
chokehold caused the death
of Eric Garner, whose video-
taped arrest and final pleas
of “I can’t breathe!” had
sparked outrage.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $4.6 million
12-22-28-32-34-38
Mega Millions: $20 million
17-20-27-31-34—19 x4
Powerball: $126 million
7-29-35-40-45—PB-26 x2
Win for Life: July 29
4-29-32-77
Pick 4: July 30
• 1 p.m.: 0-5-2-7
• 4 p.m.: 5-2-3-6
• 7 p.m.: 4-6-7-8
• 10 p.m.: 7-3-9-9
Pick 4: July 29
• 1 p.m.: 4-1-6-3
• 4 p.m.: 2-2-3-1
• 7 p.m.: 5-8-5-9
• 10 p.m.: 6-0-9-8
DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer, call
the office at 541-963-3161.
CORRECTION
The Observer in the Thurs-
day, July 30, 2020, article,
“Census takers are on their
way” reported inaccurate
information from the U.S.
Census Bureau regarding
the start date of census tak-
ers visiting homes. Census
takers began training July 30
and will start visiting homes
Aug. 11.
SaTuRday, auguST 1, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
Lightning sparks fires in Blue Mountains
Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest puts
more restrictions
into effect
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
Lightning strikes caused
several fires to break out in
Union County on the night
of Wednesday, July 29. But
Union County Emergency
Services Manager JB Brock
said rainfall following the
lighting extinguished the
flames before firefighters
arrived.
“There were several
down strikes on the face of
Mt. Harris and Mt. Fanny,
and dispatch was getting a
ton of calls as fires popped
up,” Brock said. “But then
rain came through, which
made finding the fires
difficult.”
Calls regarding the fires
started coming at 8 p.m.
according to Union County
dispatcher Ronda Griffin.
Most fires were near Cove,
and by 9 p.m. dispatch
answered 32 calls about the
fires.
The Blue Mountain
Interagency Dispatch
Image contributed by Oregon Department of Forestry
This image of the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon displays where fires popped up
Wednesday night as thunderstorms rolled through the area. The hot and dry conditions
could spark more fires.
Center and John Day Inter-
agency Dispatch Center
received approximately 30
reports of fires, according
to a press release from the
Oregon Department of For-
estry, which also antici-
pated more reports as hot
weather continues and the
fire danger remains high.
The National Weather
Service in Pendleton is
forecasting dry conditions
and high temperatures into
the low 90s for La Grande
through the weekend. The
NWS issued an excessive
heat warning for the town
for Friday, which had a high
of at least 100.
Assistant forecaster Ann
Adams, however, said the
Grande Ronde Valley is
unlikely to see any addi-
Cove eyes revised charter
By Dick Mason
The Observer
COVE — A munic-
ipal court may be on the
horizon for Cove.
The town’s residents
this fall could vote on a
revised city charter that
would make it easier to
create a municipal court.
Cove City Recorder
Donna Lewis said the
city is having difficulty
enforcing its ordinances,
and a municipal court
would remedy that issue.
While the city council
has revised the charter, it
still needs to pass a res-
olution directing Lewis
to put it in the ballot for
the Nov. 3 election. The
council will vote on this
resolution when it meets
Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 7 p.m.
at city hall.
Coronavirus restric-
tions still limit the number
of people who can attend
the meeting. Information
on watching the meeting
online is available on the
city of Cove’s website,
www.cityofcove.org.
The city has been
working on revising the
charter for the past year-
and-a-half with some
assistance from the
Photo contributed by the city of Cove
The Cove City Council takes to city hall, above, Tuesday,
Aug. 4, to pass a resolution to place the town’s revised
charter on the ballot for November.
League of Oregon Cities,
which advocates for Ore-
gon’s cities via the Leg-
islature and other means.
The league suggested
revisions to make sure
wording in the city’s
charter conforms to state
and federal laws.
Lewis said the league
was a “big help” with the
project.
The Cove City Council
made its revisions at six
public meetings, and at
least one revisions reflects
society’s technological
advancements.
For example, the cur-
rent charter states the city
must advertise all council
meetings in three sources
or locations, which can
include The Observer and
the Cove post office but
not the city’s own website.
But the revision would
allow the city to post
notices about its meetings
on the city website.
Lewis said she can
understand why the
present charter omits the
website.
“I don’t think we had
a website in 2000,” Lewis
said, which was the last
time the town revised the
charter.
Other revisions
involved making language
in the charter gender
neutral. For example,
the word “councilor”
replaces all references to
“councilman.”
Local film festival goes online for 2020
EOFF selection
committee working
to choose 12
features, 40 shorts
News Briefs
La Grande
recreational
pot tax fizzles
LA GRANDE — La
Grande voters probably
will not vote in November
on a 3% tax on recreational
marijuana.
The La Grande City
Council held a public
hearing and first reading
on the proposal on July 1.
But City Manager Robert
Strope said Tuesday the
council is likely to table
the measure at its meeting
Monday, Aug. 3.
The city had sched-
uled a second reading for
the tax ordinance at that
meeting, which would have
allowed the council to vote
and put the measure on the
ballot for the Nov. 3 general
election.
Strope said he is recom-
mending the council table
the tax proposal because
there is now no need for it.
Earlier this year this
was a possibility when
Rona Lindsey, the owner
of HWY30 Cannabis, a La
Grande medical marijuana
dispensary, started a peti-
tion drive asking residents
to consider repealing the
local ban on the sale of rec-
reational marijuana.
Lindsey had until July 6
to submit her petition to the
city, but she did not submit
petition by the deadline.
‘’It would not make sense
to have it on the ballot when
there would be nothing to
tax,’’ Strope said.
Second arrest made
in connection to
2018 murder
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
annual Eastern Oregon
Film Festival in La Grande
will be completely online
for the 2020 season.
The weekend-long fes-
tival in October has oper-
ated in venues along Depot
Street in downtown. But
due to coronavirus regula-
tions regarding gathering
sizes, the festival’s films
now will be available for
viewers to screen at home
Oct. 22-24.
“We are not ones to
give up easily and throw
in the towel,” festival
director Christopher Jen-
nings said. “We are still
going to do it for several
reasons.”
He said that includes
respecting the time and
money filmmakers have
put into their projects.
Additionally, the festival
has elevated the area, Jen-
nings said, and would like
to keep the event on peo-
ple’s radar.
“If we stopped it would
be easy not to pick it up
tional thunderstorms or
lightning in the coming
days.
In response to rising fire
danger levels, additional
public use restrictions went
into effect Friday on the
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest that prohibit camp-
fires, wood stoves, briquette
fires and other activities.
The restrictions allow
Staff photo by Sabrina Thompson
The Eastern Oregon Film Festival in La Grande operated in 2019 in downtown venues
but this year goes entirely online because of the coronavirus.
“We will still have a hub for the
festival. A place for people to come
together to discuss the film, ask
questions and talk to the people
who make them.”
— Christopher Jennings, EOFF director
again,” Jennings said. “We
want to keep our name
and the event in people’s
minds. It is something
people from all over have
come to look forward to.”
This year’s festival
received more than 120
films, which the film festi-
val’s selection committee
is narrowing down to
about 12 features and up to
40 short films.
Jennings said if cases
in Union County improve
and the governor lifts
gathering regulations,
it is possible the event
will be in person. The
festival likely will use
Vimeo to stream films and
use a meeting platform
to give audience mem-
bers the chance to talk to
filmmakers.
“We will still have a
hub for the festival,” Jen-
nings said. “A place for
people to come together to
discuss the film, ask ques-
tions and talk to the people
who make them.”
campfires in fire pits at
developed recreation sites.
Anyone with a camp-
fire must have a tool that
can serve as a shovel and
at least 1 gallon of water.
Campfires must be attended
at all times and com-
pletely extinguished prior
to leaving. Campfires also
are OK in Designated Wil-
derness Areas — however,
campfires are not allowed
in the Lakes Basin of the
Eagle Cap Wilderness any
time of the year.
Chainsaw use requires a
permit, and generators must
be contained in the bed of a
pickup or in an area with all
flammable material at least
10 feet away. Other internal
combustion engines are
prohibited, except for motor
vehicles.
Forest users also cannot
drive motor vehicles off
developed forest roads and
trails with one exception:
Vehicles may be used to
access campsites within
300 feet of an open devel-
oped road.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Forestry Northeast
Oregon District also imple-
mented public use restric-
tions that went into effect
Friday on lands under its
protection.
JOHN DAY — A second
suspect has been arrested
for murder and arson
after a couple’s house was
destroyed by fire in rural
Grant County in 2018.
Gabri-
elle I. Con-
nery, 46, of
Albuquerque,
New Mexico,
was arrested
Gabrielle by the Albu-
Connery
querque Police
Department
on a fugitive
warrant from
Grant County,
according to a
Isaac
July 30 press
Connery
release from
Grant County
Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
A July 27 grand jury
indictment accuses Con-
nery of first-degree murder
for the deaths of Terry and
Sharon Smith, first-degree
arson and unauthorized
use of a vehicle on July
18, 2018. She is being held
in the Bernalilo County
Detention Center, awaiting
extradition to Oregon.
Her son, Isaac Connery,
23, was arrested in New
Mexico on June 26 on the
same charges. He has been
extradited to Oregon and
is being held in the Grant
County Jail with bail set at
$500,000.
The two are accused of
killing Terry and Sharon
Smith in July 2018 and set-
ting fire to their home on
Nans Rock Road in the Lay-
cock Creek area between
Mt. Vernon and John Day.
Enterprise woman
cited after refusing
to wear face mask
ENTERPRISE — A
woman upset that she was
required to wear a face
mask at Ace Hardware
in Enterprise was cited
for trespassing when she
refused to get a mask or
leave the premises Friday,
July 24, according to a
Wallowa County sheriff’s
deputy.
The deputy said the
matter has been turned over
to the Enterprise Police
Department. The woman
was not identified.
Nick Cameron, owner of
the store, said the woman
became upset when told she
was required to wear a face
mask or leave the store. She
refused to do either until
the deputy arrived. At that
point, she cooperated with
the deputy and left.
Cameron said the
state Occupational Safety
and Health Administra-
tion is the agency charged
with enforcing Gov. Kate
Brown’s orders intended to
combat the COVID-19 pan-
demic. On Wednesday, July
22, Brown issued stricter
guidelines to be imple-
mented Friday that included
face masks indoors.
Cameron said OSHA
has told him the agency has
received complaints about
the store, though no cita-
tions have been issued. He
wants to keep it that way,
and said he had no choice
but to call police.
American Red Cross
seeks volunteers
PORTLAND — The
American Red Cross is
seeking volunteers to help
during fire season in the
Pacific Northwest, the orga-
nization announced in a
press release.
Shelter needs are a spe-
cial point of emphasis,
according to the release.
The crisis support group
also is seeking help on the
health care front from RNs,
LPNs, LVNs, APRNs, NPs,
EMTs, paramedics, MDs/
DOs or PAs who have an
active, current and “unen-
cumbered” license. There
also are roles for CNAs or
CHHAs.
Those interested in vol-
unteering should visit red-
cross.org/volunteertoday.
— EO Media Group