RECORDS AND MORE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 3A
OBITUARIES
COMMUNITY Saturday wildfire burns 350 acres near Milton-Freewater
Meetings
• UNION — The Union School
Board will meet via Zoom
Wednesday, Aug. 12, at
6 p.m. for its regular monthly
meeting. For instructions
on how to access the online
meeting, call the Union School
District at 541-562-6115.
• PENDLETON — The Board of
Directors of the InterMountain
Education Service District will
convene Wednesday, Aug. 12,
at 10 a.m. at the IMESD, 2001
SW Nye Ave., Pendleton. The
agenda includes a report on
school reopening from Super-
intendent Mark Mulvihill and
Jon Peterson.
Briefs
Free service for job
seekers interested in
long-term care
LA GRANDE — The De-
partment of Human Services
announced the availability of
a resource for job seek-
ers who are interested in
working in long-term care.
ConnectToCareJobs.com
connects you with nearly 700
nursing, assisted living and
residential care facilities in
Oregon and more than 1,400
adult foster homes.
Mike McCormick, interim
director of the Oregon De-
partment of Human Services
Offi ce of Aging and People
with Disabilities, stated in a
press release, “For Orego-
nians who want to receive
care in a long-term care fa-
cility, it is essential that those
facilities have enough staff
to meet the needs of people
who want to live there.”
Photo by Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Virginia Kaz
La Grande
Multiple agencies
responded Saturday,
Aug. 8, to a wildfi re in
the southeast hills just
outside Milton-Free-
water. The fi rst call
came at about 1:30 p.m.
for a blaze that was
climbing the hills in the
Nichols Canyon and
Marie Dorion Park area.
Milton-Freewater Rural
Fire District took the
incident lead, assisted
by Milton-Freewa-
ter Fire Department,
East Umatilla Fire and
Rescue and Pendleton
Fire Department. The
blaze spread to about
350 acres before it was
brought under control
by 4:30 p.m.
Virginia Kaz, 79, of
La Grande, died Aug. 9
at a local care facility.
Arrangements are by Love-
land Funeral Chapel &
Crematory.
Upcoming
local
services
Aug. 15 — PAUL
WAGONER: 11 a.m.
celebration of life, Indian
Rock; casual dress pre-
ferred.
Aug. 15 — ALIDEAN
McMASTER: 2 p.m.
graveside service,
Hillcrest Cemetery, La
Grande; masks required
for age 2 and older.
Aug. 22 — STAN CASE:
10 a.m. celebration of
life, Case arena at 64066
Booth Lane, La Grande;
masks and social distanc-
ing required; watch the
livestream at www.love-
landfuneralchapel.com
(click on “Funeral Videos”
near bottom of page).
Aug. 29 — MIKE MAY:
4 p.m. memorial service,
Riverside Park Pavilion,
La Grande; please wear
masks and respect social
distancing.
PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT
FRIDAY, AUG. 7
5:35 a.m. — La Grande po-
lice cited John W. Fine, 52, for
attempting to elude police.
7:04 a.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce
received a report of loose
livestock near the railroad on
Curtis Road and Miller Lane in
Union.
11:47 a.m. — La Grande
police took a report on a large
group gathering at Riverside
Park.
12:59 p.m. — La Grande
police responded to a report
of harassment and advised
parties of their options.
6:16 p.m. — Evan Allen
Mock, 25, was arrested while
lodged in the Union County
Jail and charged with sex
abuse crimes and invasion of
personal privacy.
the 900 block of North Main
Street in Union.
2:30 p.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce took a
report of a barking dog that
sounded to be in distress on
Lower Perry Loop.
3:14 p.m. — The Walla Walla
Police Department arrested
Farnum Skylar Smart, 35, on a
Union County failure to appear
warrant for theft.
10:28 p.m. — La Grande
police responded to a report of
vandalism on the 700 block of
Division Avenue.
SATURDAY, AUG. 8
1:57 a.m. — Umatilla Tribal
police cited Tanner James
Free, 21, and Jessey James
Thomas Quinn, 24, in lieu of
lodging on a Union County
failure to appear warrant. Free
was charged with theft, and
Quinn was charged with un-
lawful possession of metham-
phetamine.
12:21 p.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce took a
report of a wanted person on
SUNDAY, AUG. 9
12:47 a.m. — La Grande
police responded to a report
of a loud party on the 2200
block of Jakob Avenue. The
offi cers spoke to the revelers,
who agreed to turn down the
music.
12:19 p.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce
responded to a report of
shoplifting on the 63000 block
of Highway 203.
6:24 p.m. — La Grande
police returned a stolen bike to
its owner.
8:40 p.m. — La Grande po-
lice took a report of a dog bite
incident on the 2900 block of
Fir Street. The victim was taken
to the hospital for medical
attention.
Library off ers laptop and hot spot bundles to patrons
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Cook Memorial Library
is now offering laptop and
Wi-Fi hot spot bundles for
patrons to borrow.
The new ChromeKits
program offers library
users the opportunity
to borrow a Chrome-
book laptop and a Wi-Fi
hot spot together for a
week at a time. Internet
hotspot devices use cell-
phone signals to connect
to the internet and broad-
cast a Wi-Fi connection for
nearby wireless devices to
use.
Beginning with two
ChromeKits, the pilot pro-
gram will help determine
the actual need for com-
puters and connectivity
in La Grande. The library
stated in a press release
that according to the latest
data available from Broad-
bandNow, at least 1,000
Union County residents
live without home internet
access, and it is estimated
that nearly 20% of county
residents don’t have a com-
puter in their home.
“During the pan-
demic closure, the library
expanded its digital library
offerings; however, that
expansion has only ben-
efi ted those patrons who
have internet access,”
said Library Director Kip
Roberson.
The new ChromeKit
lending program is a way
to give everyone equal
access to technology.
“This program is per-
fect for us,” Roberson said
in the release. “We’re all
about providing access and
taking away barriers.”
Providing patrons with a
laptop with internet access
outside the library can
alleviate the stress of job
hunting or completing an
online training, it can give
students access at home to
complete homework, or it
can give access to someone
who would rather use a
connected laptop from
home rather than using
their mobile device from
their car in the library’s
parking lot while connected
Baker City author set to publish fi rst novel
He plans ‘The City of Snow and Stars’
to be the first of 12 books in a series
By Lisa Britton
For EO Media Group
Stephen Howard’s novel
was years in the making but
it only took him a month to
get into book form.
“I busted
out 50,000
words in 29
days,” he said.
That was
in January of
2019. All told,
Stephen
Howard
he ended up
with about
56,000 words for his fi rst
draft.
He and his family moved
to Baker City in May 2019
and he started working on
the second draft.
At the same time, he
began work as a freelance
editor for New Degree
Press, a publishing com-
pany that works on a hybrid
model where authors use
crowdsourcing to fund pub-
lishing costs. The author
retains 100% of creative
rights to the book.
“The students I worked
with went on to get their
books published,” he said.
He also had a book.
On June 1, 2020, he sub-
mitted his own manuscript
to the publisher. It was
accepted June 28.
Howard is nearing the
end of his crowdsourcing.
His goal is $5,000 which
will result in paperback
copies, an ebook, editing,
cover design, layout,
format, and copy editing.
Every supporter receives
a signed copy of his book.
If he raises $6,000 he
will print hardcover books.
Hitting $8,000 will add
an audiobook that he will
narrate.
He plans to release “The
City of Snow and Stars” in
December under his author
name S.D. Howard.
Here is the link to his
pre-order campaign: https://
igg.me/at/the-city-of-snow-
and-stars/x/24124975#/
About the book
“The City of Snow and
Stars” refl ects hardships
Howard has faced himself.
The book addresses
three main challenges. The
fi rst is abuse.
“Abuse is prevalent in
today’s society and it’s not
talked about,” he said.
He is a survivor of abuse.
His book addresses various
forms, including physical,
mental, verbal, emotional
and sexual.
The second compo-
nent of the book is human
traffi cking.
“No one talks about
it because it makes them
uncomfortable,” he said.
The third addresses this
question: Why does God let
bad things happen?
“That’s something that
I’ve struggled with,” he
said.
Looking at his own life,
he said he would not change
what happened — if he
hadn’t endured those expe-
riences, he wouldn’t have
made the strong connec-
tions through his recovery.
“The City of Snow and
Stars” is the fi rst book of
12. He said the series will
be divided into several
trilogies.
“This book was sup-
posed to be a stand-alone
book,” Howard said. “I’ve
been working on this world
since I was 16 — this one is
an introduction.”
His main character is
Trinia.
“The fate of her people
rests in her hands,” he said.
“Everyone has access to a
magical ability, a gift from
God, that awakens when
they turn 16.”
Her gift is to make per-
fect duplicates of herself.
But her father wants to
exploit that gift to create an
army.
He describes the book
like this:
“I hope that in reading
this book you will discover
the pieces of the fl awed and
broken characters who are
looking for the answers in
yourself the same as I did.
Their story is our story in
so many ways because the
truth is this: We are all a
little broken.”
— Calendar
courtesy of Loveland
Funeral Chapel,
La Grande
to the library’s Wi-Fi.
ChromeKits are avail-
able to La Grande resident
cardholders age 18 and
older whose accounts are
in good standing and have
been active for at least six
months. There is no fee
to check out a bundle, but
late fees of $5 per day and
replacement costs will
apply. Call the library at
541-962-1339 to reserve
a ChromeKit. For more
information about library
resources, go to cook
memoriallibrary.org.
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