The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, August 15, 2020, Image 2

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The Observer., August 15, 2020, Page 2, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text2A — THE OBSERVER DAILY PLANNER Museum to boost internet presence By Dick Mason TODAY The Observer Today is Saturday, Aug. 15, the 228th day of 2020. There are 138 days left in the year. UNION — Leaders of the Union County Museum want people who under- stand technology of the future to help them illumi- nate the past. The Union County Museum Society’s board is launching a search for indi- viduals with internet skills that can be used to promote the museum, which cur- rently is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We recognize the need to update and enhance how the museum is presented to the public on the internet,” said Nod Palmer, presi- dent of the Union County Museum Society. Palmer said this is why the society is seeking pro- fessionals with social media and website experience to get more people interested in visiting and supporting the museum. Individuals needed include those who can put photos of museum displays on internet sites that can easily be seen on small smartphone screens. The Union County Museum Society is seeking proposals for its internet project. Palmer said indi- viduals and businesses experienced in website design and search engine optimization are encour- TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On August 15, 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule. ON THIS DATE In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV. In 1769, Napoleon Bona- parte was born on the island of Corsica. In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory. In 1939, the MGM musical “The Wizard of Oz” opened at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces landed in southern France in Opera- tion Dragoon. In 1945, in a pre-recorded radio address, Japan’s Em- peror Hirohito announced that his country had accept- ed terms of surrender for ending World War II. In 1965, the Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York’s Shea Stadium. In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York. In 1971, President Richard Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents. In 1998, 29 people were killed by a car bomb that tore apart the center of Omagh, Northern Ireland; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility. In 2004, in Athens, the U.S. men’s basketball team lost 92-73 to Puerto Rico, only the third Olympic de- feat ever for the Americans and the ﬁ rst since adding pros. LOTTERY Megabucks: $5.2 million 1-9-27-33-36-44 Mega Millions: $24 million 8-22-29-43-56—9 x4 Powerball: $169 million 2-6-18-36-37—PB-21 x2 Win for Life: Aug. 12 6-12-36-49 Pick 4: Aug. 13 • 1 p.m.: 2-9-8-6 • 4 p.m.: 3-0-4-8 • 7 p.m.: 9-1-2-0 • 10 p.m.: 7-9-6-5 Pick 4: Aug. 12 • 1 p.m.: 9-8-8-2 • 4 p.m.: 7-7-2-5 • 7 p.m.: 9-4-7-1 • 10 p.m.: 2-4-5-1 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the ofﬁ ce at 541-963-3161. SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020 LOCAL Staff photo by Dick Mason This linograph machine was used by the Oregon Scout newspaper in Union in the late 1800s. The Union County Museum’s board is launching a search for people with internet skills that can be used to promote the museum, which currently is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. aged to submit a proposal in response to a Request for Proposals. Qualiﬁ ed indi- viduals can request the RFP from Palmer by phone at 541-910-9006 or email at nodpalmer@gmail.com. All proposals must be received by 5 p.m., Sept. 4. The museum’s season traditionally runs from Mother’s Day to early fall. Due to the pandemic, the museum didn’t open this spring, and Palmer said the doors will stay closed the rest of 2020. Still the museum has been a hub of activity at times as vol- unteers have done exten- sive maintenance and cleaning in its buildings, which have dozens of dis- plays on everything from farming and rodeos to old hairstyling equipment and cameras. The museum’s treasure trove of displayed photos includes one from 1948 of former presidential candi- date Thomas Dewey with Eastern Oregon Livestock Show leaders. Dewey, then governor of New York who would go on to become the Republican party’s nom- inee for president, later lost in the 1948 general elec- tion to incumbent Harry Truman in one of the great upsets in political history. Today Dewey is one of the only presidential candidates from a major party to have campaigned in Union. Items like the photo of Dewey are among those Palmer wants people to be able to see virtually. “We want to have You- Tube exhibits (of museum items),” he said. The museum society is also hoping to make its social media presence more dynamic by posting videos of events. These could include Oregon Trail activ- ities often conducted at the Union County Museum by people portraying pioneers. Palmer also wants to use the internet to make it easier for people to sign up for museum society mem- berships, make donations and purchase merchandise such as history books. The internet presence project is being launched now in part because museum leaders believe it is important the history on display at the museum is not forgotten while it is closed. “We want to stay in the public eye,” Palmer said. Health education center has a new program coordinator Hailey Hulse fills the role at NEOAHEC By Sabrina Thompson The Observer LA GRANDE — The new pro- gram coordinator for the North- east Oregon Area Health Education Center is no stranger to the inside of a hospital. Hailey Hulse has been in and out of operating rooms as a patient, when shadowing doctors and as the MedQuest camp director. Now the soon-to-be med student will take on the role of program coor- dinator with the organization that has helped shape her future medical career. “I see being program director as a platform to reach others across Oregon and share my passion for rural health care,” Hulse said. Hulse began her journey into the medical ﬁ eld when she was a sophomore at Cove High School as a frequent patient in the hos- pital. By the time she had gradu- ated in 2015, Hulse had ﬁ ve knee Contributed Photo Northeast Oregon Area Health Ed- ucation Center has named Med- Quest camp director Hailey Hulse as its new program coordinator. surgeries due to sports injuries and health conditions. To date she has had 19 operations for various health issues. “I was born with a discoid La Grande School District to oﬀ er free lunches for K-8 By Dick Mason The Observer LA GRANDE — Thanks to the Oregon Legislature, all La Grande School District students in kinder- garten through eighth grade will enjoy free lunches throughout the upcoming school year. At a special session Monday, Aug. 10, the Legislature voted to provide about $40 million to the Fueling Students for Success pro- gram, which is part of the Students Success Act. Chris Panike, the La Grande School District’s business manager, said funding the district will receive from the Fueling Students for Suc- cess nutrition program will boost the reimbursement the school dis- trict receives for lunches to 90% of what students normally are charged for them. That level will put the school district in a position in which it will be economically feasible to offer free K-8 lunches, Panike said. The money that went to Fueling Students for Success came from the state’s new corporate activity tax. The La Grande School District was eligible for Fueling Students for Success funding because this is the ﬁ rst year in which all its schools serving K-8 students met the Com- munity Eligibility Provision qualiﬁ - cation level. Schools meet the CEP level if at least 40% of their stu- dents qualify for it. CEP students are those who qualify for help from one or more government assistance programs outside of those provided by school districts. La Grande School District stu- dents will be served lunches once school begins Aug. 31. Present plans call for students in kinder- garten through third grade to attend classes on site, which means they will be served free lunches at their schools. Students in all other grades will be taking classes via dis- tance education due to state rules aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Off-site students will be able to pick up lunches at any grade school in the school district. Those in grades 4-8 will not be charged, but the cost for high school students is $3. High school students who have qualiﬁ ed for free and reduced cost lunches via an application process will pay less. Panike said he was very happy when he learned the Legislature had provided the needed funding to the Fueling Students for Success program. “We worked very hard (at setting up the K-8 free lunch program),” he said. Panike said that the free K-8 lunches will not only help the school district’s younger students and their families, but it will also help its staff. He explained that staff members will no longer have to spend time getting students and their families to ﬁ ll out applications for free and reduced cost lunches. It will also mean they will no longer have to spend time getting K-8 fam- ilies to pay unpaid balances for lunches. medial meniscus in my left knee, and with the impact of sports it had just kept tearing, left me with no meniscus by 17. My ﬁ fth sur- gery in high school was a medial meniscal transplant,” Hulse said. “I had been engulfed by the med- ical ﬁ eld. I didn’t want it to take over my life, so instead I used my experience for inspiration.” As Hulse became more inter- ested in her own medical care she began talking with the doctors treating her about job shadowing and watching surgeries. From there she decided she would go to school to become an orthopedic surgeon. During her pre-med education at Lewis-Clark State College in Lew- iston, Idaho, she learned more about the NEOAHEC, based at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, and its programs. In 2018 Hulse became camp director for the summer MedQuest program, and she helped establish this year’s virtual camp by connecting stu- dents with medical professionals. MedQuest is a program where students who are interested in the health care industry are able to learn directly from professionals through job shadowing and facility tours. Hulse said she didn’t have the opportunity to learn like this, so helping students begin their exploration of a medical career has been one of her favorite parts of her role. “When you have such a tight- knit community like ours, there is more opportunity to do things,” Hulse said. “We are a community of health professionals who want to share our expertise.” As program coordinator, Hulse will oversee all of the North- east Oregon Area Health Educa- tion Center’s programming while also continuing her role as Med- Quest camp director. Additional programs she will oversee include Girls in Science and the Health Speaker series. Hulse will be in charge of scheduling, promoting and determining the structures of various camps and programs offered. Working at the health education center will be a perfect bridge to Hulse’s next challenge: applying to and attending medical school. Gov. Brown sends Malheur County back to Phase 1 after increase in COVID-19 cases Associated Press SALEM — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Thursday, Aug. 13, she will restore phase 1 restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Malheur County, along the Idaho border. It’s the third Eastern Oregon jurisdiction to have restrictions tightened because not enough progress has been made, The Orego- nian/OregonLive reported. That means swimming pools, movie theaters, bowling alleys and recreational sports leagues must shut down. Out- door gatherings will be capped at 50 people, down from 100. The new restrictions go into effect Monday, Aug. 17, and will remain for at least three weeks. “Over the past month, COVID-19 cases in Malheur County have risen so much that restrictions must be put back in place or we risk fur- ther illnesses and death in the region,” Brown said in a state- ment. “I know this change is difﬁ cult, but immediate action is necessary in order to reduce the spread of the disease and protect all those who call Mal- heur County home.” Brown allowed many coun- ties to reopen May 15 but warned she would restore restrictions if necessary. Brown last month ordered Umatilla County back into stay-home status and moved Morrow County back into Phase 1. Other Oregon counties at the same stage include Clack- AP ﬁ le photo Gov. Kate Brown speaks at a news conference in March. Brown Thursday, Aug. 13, sent Malheur County back to Phase 1 as the county has seen a steady run of COVID-19 cases and has more than 850 during the pandemic. “I know this change is difﬁ cult, but immediate action is necessary in order to reduce the spread of the disease and protect all those who call Malheur County home.” — Gov. Kate Brown amas, Lincoln, Multnomah and Washington. Since the pandemic began, Malheur has recorded 851 con- ﬁ rmed or presumed infections and 15 deaths. Malheur has the third most conﬁ rmed or pre- sumed infections per capita, behind only Morrow and Umatilla. The county has been on Brown’s Watch List since July 3, indicating that without progress restrictions could be restored. Eight other counties are currently on the list: Baker, Hood River, Jefferson, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Umatilla and Wasco.