RECORDS AND MORE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 3A
COMMUNITY City names winners of summer Beautifi cation Awards
Briefs
Fish for free this
weekend
SALEM — Everyone can
fi sh for free in Oregon on
Saturday and Sunday, Aug.
15-16. Although no licenses
or tags are required, all other
fi shing regulations apply
including closures, bag
limits and size restrictions.
All anglers are reminded to
follow the ongoing COVID-19
precautions. See the Oregon
Sport Fishing Regulations to
fi nd out more and remember
to check for any in season
regulation changes at https://
myodfw.com/recreation-re-
port/fi shing-report. Check
for access before you go.
Many spots have reopened
to public access but some
may still be closed due to
the pandemic and/or wildfi re
season.
Cove candidate applica-
tions due Aug. 21
COVE — The city of Cove
is seeking candidates to
fi le for the Nov. 3 general
election. The city will elect a
mayor (two-year term) and
city councilors (four-year
term). For fi ling information
and forms contact Cove City
Hall at 541-568-4566 or email
cityadmin@cityofcove.org.
Applications with signature
pages will be accepted until
noon Aug. 21.
Choir canceled but mu-
sic will go on
LA GRANDE — Art Center
East has decided to cancel
Grande Ronde Community
Choir this fall due to the
ongoing pandemic. In lieu
of practicing together as a
choir, ACE and choir director
Mike Frasier are looking
at another way to explore
music together. Those inter-
ested, both prospective and
existing choir participants,
are encouraged to add their
perspective to the discussion
by fi lling out a short survey
at www.surveymonkey.
com/r/F5GHDXQ.
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; face coverings
required for age 2 and
older.
Aug. 22 — STAN CASE:
10 a.m. celebration of
life, Case arena at 64066
Booth Lane, La Grande;
face coverings and social
distancing required;
watch the livestream
at www.lovelandfuner-
alchapel.com (click on
“Funeral Videos” near
bottom of page).
Aug. 29 — MIKE MAY:
4 p.m. memorial service,
Riverside Park Pavilion,
La Grande; face cover-
ings and social distanc-
ing required.
— Calendar
courtesy of Loveland
Funeral Chapel,
La Grande
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
residence of Kirk Bor-
derding and Seren Kop-
etski was selected for the
La Grande Community
Landscape and Forest-
ry’s Summer Beautifi ca-
tion Award. Borderding and
Kopetski have transformed
a former “juniper night-
mare” at their home, 1610
Foley St., into a handsome
landscape.
“What started out as a
two-week vacation evolved
into a six-month project
involving 300 tons of rock,
hundreds of plants and mul-
tiple trips to GrandeScapes
Nursery for supplies and
advice,” said Kopetski. “We
wanted to pack the front
yard with lots of fodder for
the pollinators so we would
have fun watching the
wildlife from the house’s
beautiful windows. The
tricky part was fi nding the
right plants that would not
become deer food too.”
The sloping front yard
covered in juniper has
been replaced with rock-
lined terraces and path-
Submitted photo
Kirk Borderding and Seren Kopetski transformed a former
“juniper nightmare” at their home, 1610 Foley St., into a
handsome landscape and won a La Grande Community
Landscape and Forestry’s Summer Beautifi cation Award.
Blue Summit Realty, 102 Greenwood St., was selected for
a La Grande Community Landscape and Forestry’s Sum-
mer Beautifi cation Award. Owner Haley Hines worked
with Garden Girl, LLC, to add plantings of shrubs and pe-
rennials that complement the building.
ways that form the struc-
ture for a diverse planting
of shrubs and perennials. In
addition to creating a hab-
itat for native pollinators,
removing the juniper also
makes the landscape more
fi re resistant. The Oregon
Department of Forestry
lists ornamental juniper as
highly fl ammable and rec-
ommends removing juniper
shrubs near homes.
Blue Summit Realty,
102 Greenwood St., was
idential and commercial
properties that add to the
beauty and diversity of
La Grande’s environment.
Nominations for this award
are made by members of
the La Grande Landscape
and Forestry Commis-
sion, city employees and
community members. The
awards are given season-
ally, in spring, summer and
fall.
The selection committee
looks for landscaping that
Submitted photo
selected for the commer-
cial award. Owner Haley
Hines worked with Garden
Girl, LLC to add plant-
ings of shrubs and peren-
nials that complement the
building. New lawn and
sidewalks were installed
and the gravel parking area
was paved, eliminating
dust and the need to spray
weeds.
The purpose of the
Beautifi cation Awards Pro-
gram is to recognize res-
MILESTONE
Allan & Eddie Claudson — 60th anniversary
PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT
MONDAY, AUG. 10
TUESDAY, AUG. 11
7:39 a.m. — La Grande
police responded to a report
of a low hanging wire at 2100
Alder St. The utility service
was notifi ed.
8:59 a.m. — Oregon State
Police were informed of a
loose horse on Highway 82
near Courtney Lane in Imbler.
An animal enforcement offi cer
responded and the owner now
has the horse in possession.
10:04 a.m. — La Grande
police responded to a report of
domestic disturbance on the
2900 block Cedar Street and
resolved the situation.
10:34 a.m. — Union County
Sheriff’s deputies arrested one
person in a domestic dispute
on Highway 244 at milepost 41
in La Grande.
12:02 p.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce cited
and released Kayla Marie Ruth
Johnson, 28, on two Umatilla
County warrants for failure to
appear.
6:57 p.m. — La Grande
police took a report of a hit
and run on the 1500 block of
Fifth Street.
5:47 a.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce assist-
ed Union Fire on a fi re call on
Delta Street in Union.
10:25 a.m. — La Grande
police responded to a report
of a deer tangled in a cord on
the 2700 block of Gekeler Lane
but were unable to locate the
deer.
4:36 p.m. — The Wallowa
County Sheriff’s Offi ce cited
Elizabeth Rose Johnson, 21,
on a Union County warrant for
failure to appear.
5:49 p.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce arrest-
ed Timothy Earl Branson, 51,
on a charge of assault IV and
harassment.
7:21 p.m. — La Grande
police cited Jorge Alejan-
dro Fuentes, 27, for theft of
services.
10:18 p.m. — The Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce arrest-
ed Joseph Dean Furgerson,
31, for criminal mischief I,
manufacture and possession
of a destructive device, unlaw-
ful entry into a motor vehicle
and reckless burning.
Allan and Edytha “Eddie”
Claudson were married Aug.
13, 1960, at the First Baptist
Church in Lakeview. They
met in college and graduated
in 1960, after which they each
found high school teaching
jobs in Richland. After three
years they moved to Ontario,
where Allan taught math at the
junior high, high school and
community college. Their two
children were born in Ontario,
then the family moved to La
Grande. From 1975 to 2000
Allan and Eddie operated a
business that evolved into
Claudson’s Sew and Soak on
Adams Avenue. Allan taught
math at EOU all the while,
retiring after 38 years as an
educator. They will celebrate
their 60th wedding anniver-
sary with memories of many
wonderful trips and fun
camping over the years.
Staff was close to inmates and without masks at SRCI
By Leslie Thompson
Argus Observer
ONTARIO — Oregon
Department of Corrections
on Friday denied a public
records request fi led by the
Argus Observer for video
footage from inside Snake
River Correctional Institu-
tion pertaining to correc-
tional offi cers not wearing
face coverings while in
close proximity to inmates.
However, in that same
letter, it was stated that in
their own review of the
10 hours of video footage
requested it was found that
staff at the prison were not
always in compliance.
According to Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown, the
Oregon Department
of Corrections has the
responsibility to ensure
employees follow rules and
policies.
ODOC’s response
was to a standing request
sent on July 21 for video
footage to see whether cor-
Photo contributed by Malheur Enterprise
The Oregon Department of Corrections stated that in a re-
view of 10 hours of video footage it reviewed, the state
found that staff at Snake River Correctional Institution in
Ontario were not always in compliance with wearing face
coverings while in close proximity to inmates.
rectional offi cers are fol-
lowing social distancing
mandates. The request was
sent after the newspaper
received multiple com-
plaints from family mem-
bers of inmates, as well as
inmates, themselves, that
offi cers not wearing masks
while less than 6-feet
away from inmates was an
ongoing issue in spite of
the pandemic.
On July 30, SRCI
offi cials contacted the
newspaper seeking fur-
ther information about
the request, and it was
explained that the news-
paper would like footage
from inside both the min-
imum and maximum
facility in order to look
through it and track how
many times correctional
offi cers were in frame
without a mask in close
proximity of inmates.
“At the outset, we
acknowledge the public’s
interest in seeking infor-
mation about staff com-
pliance with wearing
face masks when six feet
of physical distancing
is not possible during
the current novel coro-
navirus COVID-19 pan-
demic,” reads the letter
sent to the newspaper on
Friday. “We have taken
this into consideration
in reviewing your public
records request. During
our review of requested
institution video footage,
we acknowledge that
there is video footage that
depicts some instances in
which correctional staff
who were not able to main-
High-speed chase leads to one arrest; driver escapes on foot
The Observer
LA GRANDE — An
early morning vehicle pur-
suit led to one La Grande
individual being arrested
and has La Grande police
seeking a second person.
According to a press
release from LGPD, offi -
cers attempted a traffi c
stop on Caleb Nelson,
27, of La Grande, on
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integrates color, texture,
seasonal diversity and
appropriate use of hard-
scapes and space; land-
scaping that promotes
resource conservation,
wildlife habitat and/or food
production; and owners
who have overcome special
circumstances. Nomina-
tions for the fall beautifi ca-
tion award may be sent to
trees@cityolagradnde.org,
or call the Urban Forestry
Division at 541-663-1952.
Wednesday, Aug. 12, a
little after 3 a.m. Nelson
had committed several
traffi c violations, then led
offi cers on a high-speed
chase in the 2012 Jeep
Patriot he was driving. He
later stopped at the 2900
block of Misty Avenue and
took off on foot.
LGPD and the Union
County Sheriff’s Offi ce
were unable to locate
Nelson, who had an active
felony arrest warrant prior
to the attempted stop. Offi -
cers found weapons and
drugs during their inves-
tigation, and Nelson is
facing additional weapons,
drug and traffi c crimes.
His passenger,
35-year-old Mykel Hansell
of La Grande, stayed at
the vehicle and cooper-
ated with law enforce-
ment. Hansell was arrested
for unlawful possession
of methamphetamine, was
cited and then released
from custody.
LGPD asks individ-
uals with information that
could lead to the loca-
tion of Nelson to call
541-963-1017.
tain six feet of physical
distancing are not wearing
face masks as required by
the Department’s policy.”
In the letter, DOC
explained its decision was
based on those records
being exempt under ORS
192.335(5) and ORS
192.345(23) in order to
maintain internal order
and security, and the
safety of staff and adults
in custody that work or
live in our correctional
institutions.”
As such, DOC deter-
mined in its review of the
requested footage that “if
disclosed, would allow
adults in custody to avoid
surveillance and permit
identifi cation of potential
weaknesses in the depart-
ment security measures.”
The Argus Observer
intends to appeal the
ODOC decision to not
release the video footage,
and has reached out to
legal counsel.
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