2A — 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.