2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
TODAY
Today is Tuesday, Aug.
25, the 238th day of 2020.
There are 128 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On August 25, 1944,
during World War II, Paris
was liberated by Allied forc-
es after four years of Nazi
occupation.
ON THIS DATE
In 1718, hundreds of
French colonists arrived
in Louisiana, with some
settling in present-day New
Orleans.
In 1916, President Wood-
row Wilson signed an act
establishing the National
Park Service within the De-
partment of the Interior.
In 1958, President Dwight
D. Eisenhower signed a
measure providing pensions
for former U.S. presidents
and their widows.
In 1967, George Lincoln
Rockwell, founder of the
American Nazi Party, was
shot to death in the parking
lot of a shopping center in
Arlington, Virginia; former
party member John Patler
was later convicted of the
killing.
In 1980, the Broadway
musical “42nd Street”
opened. (Producer David
Merrick stunned the cast and
audience during the curtain
call by announcing that
the show’s director, Gower
Champion, had died earlier
that day.)
In 1981, the U.S. space-
craft Voyager 2 came within
63,000 miles of Saturn’s
cloud cover, sending back
pictures of and data about
the ringed planet.
In 2001, rhythm-and-blues
singer Aaliyah was killed
with eight others in a plane
crash in the Bahamas; she
was 22.
In 2012, Neil Armstrong,
82, who commanded the
historic Apollo 11 lunar land-
ing and was the first man
to set foot on the moon in
July 1969, died in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
In 2014, a funeral was
held in St. Louis for Michael
Brown, the Black 18-year-old
who was shot to death by a
police officer.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $5.6 million
2-3-11-22-26-33
Mega Millions: $49 million
11-15-31-42-63—14 x2
Powerball: $29 million
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Win for Life: Aug. 22
32-42-57-74
Pick 4: Aug. 23
• 1 p.m.: 2-6-3-8
• 4 p.m.: 3-1-4-0
• 7 p.m.: 1-7-3-7
• 10 p.m.: 7-6-9-3
Pick 4: Aug. 22
• 1 p.m.: 4-6-7-0
• 4 p.m.: 8-5-5-2
• 7 p.m.: 8-9-8-0
• 10 p.m.: 7-6-9-3
Pick 4: Aug. 21
• 1 p.m.: 3-5-5-8
• 4 p.m.: 2-9-5-0
• 7 p.m.: 7-7-7-1
• 10 p.m.: 6-1-7-8
DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
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the office at 541-963-3161.
TuESday, auguST 25, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
Competing protests face off in Hermiston
By Jade McDowell
EO Media Group
HERMISTON — Rising
tensions pushed a Black
Lives Matter protest and
counter-protest in Herm-
iston late into the night
Friday, Aug. 21.
A group of Hermiston
residents have been holding
a Black Lives Matter protest
on Friday evenings, which
organizers say usually draw
10 or fewer people. But a
Facebook event created for
the Aug. 21 protest sparked
a rumor online that, in the
words of one post shared 85
times, “BLM & ANTIFA
Members from the Port-
land area will be coming to
Hermiston,” possibly in the
range of 150 people.
By 6 p.m. about 100
counter-protesters gathered
in a parking lot on the west
side of Highway 395 and
Highland Avenue. Many
were openly carrying hand-
guns or rifles, and most
were carrying flags instead
of signs.
The group’s apparent
organizer, who declined to
give his name, asked those
gathered not to engage with
the other group of protesters
unless their life was threat-
ened, and to avoid racial
slurs and name-calling. He
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
A group of Black Lives Matter protesters skirmish with counter-protesters Friday, Aug. 21,
in Hermiston as the sun begins to set. Supporters were quick to pull back the opposing
sides as police arrived on scene. A crowd of roughly 40 BLM protesters were met with
about 100 counter-protesters at Highway 395 and East Highland Avenue.
said their goal was to pre-
vent any vandalism.
“We are Americans, we
are patriots, and we will
defend our home,” he told
the crowd.
Across the street, a
group of Black Lives Matter
protesters formed, even-
tually reaching about 40
people. They carried signs
with messages such as
“Reform the Police, Convict
the Guilty.”
Cassandra Frost,
standing on the BLM side,
said she had shown up to
protest systemic racism.
As a person of color, she
spoke of her worries about
the safety of her children
in America because of the
color of their skin. She said
she wished people could
Crews contain some fires in
Meacham Complex
Three more COVID-19
cases in LG School District
Local firefighters
take on flare-up
near Summerville
LA GRANDE — Five of
the most recent COVID-19
cases in Union County have
come out of the La Grande
School District.
Superintendent George
Mendoza in a letter dated
Wednesday, Aug. 19, said
three more staff members
within the district have
tested positive for the coro-
navirus, and that five total
cases are now confirmed in
staff members.
“We are working closely
with Center for Human
Development (CHD) to
respond to this news and
protect the health of our
community,” Mendoza said
in the letter. “Impacted
locations are the La
Grande School District
Office building, Central
Elementary and Island City
Elementary. Our district
has already deep cleaned
each staff member’s work
locations and all common
work areas that have been
utilized by those staff. In
addition, those confirmed
employees have not been
in our buildings since last
Friday.”
Union County last week
had 10 total cases, and its
overall count is at 408.
There were no new cases
in the county reported
by the CHD Sunday or
Monday.
The statewide total
moved past 25,000
Monday, as there now are
25,155 known cases of
COVID-19 in Oregon and
420 deaths attributed to the
virus. There were 220 new
cases reported Monday
The Observer
MEACHAM — A
series of fires continue to
burn in the Meacham area
— collectively known as
the Meacham Complex
— but many of the blazes
are contained or are in
patrol status, according to
an update Monday, Aug.
24, from Mike Almas, the
incident commander of the
Northern Rockies Incident
Management Team.
And local firefighters
on Saturday dealt with a
flare-up of Midnight Fire
north of Summerville.
Four of the fires in
Meacham Complex— the
Horse Fire, Hager Ridge
Fire, 896 Fire and Rattle-
snake Fire — are consid-
ered the larger and more
active ones, according to
Almas’ press release.
The Rattlesnake Fire,
burning in the Pomeroy
Ranger District, is moving
south and has burned 300-
400 acres. The other three
main fires are fraction of
the size: the Horse Fire
Photo from the La Grande Rural Fire Protection District
A helicopter Saturday, Aug. 22, helps firefighters douse
a flare-up of the Midnight Fire north of Summerville.
sits at around 100 acres,
the Hager Fire is between
50-60 acres, and the 896
Fire is about 35 acres.
Along with the
Northern Rockies Type
2 Incident Management
Team, agencies working
the Meacham Com-
plex include the Oregon
Department of Forestry,
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion, U.S. Forest Service
and local volunteer fire
departments.
The Horse and 896 fires
are burning to the east of
Meacham, and the Hager
Ridge blaze is northeast of
the small town.
And the La Grande
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict and others on Sat-
urday at approximately
2:30 p.m. responded to
assist the Imbler Rural
Fire Department and
Oregon Department of
Forestry with a flare-up of
the Midnight Fire north of
Summerville.
“Firefighters worked
into the evening,” the
La Grande Rural fire
reported, “mopping up
the perimeter of the fire
and strengthening control
lines.”
Ontario woman raises awareness for USPS
By Leslie Thompson
The Argus Observer via AP
StoryShare
ONTARIO — An
Ontario woman, who
supports many local
committees as a member
and volunteer, went to
bat on Saturday, Aug.
22, to support the U.S.
Postal Service by orga-
nizing a small peaceful
demonstration from 11
to 11:45 a.m. outside the
Ontario Post Office.
Dubbed Save Our Post
Office, the demonstration
was part of a nationwide
movement on Saturday
that she heard about from
Move On, Janet Komoto
wants to help “let our
elected leaders know
that we support the U.S.
Postal Service and we
will not put up with dis-
mantling and re-orga-
nizing the service we
currently have in place.”
The biggest concern
around the nation right
now is citizens missing
out in the electoral pro-
cess for the upcoming
presidential election in
November, as the gen-
eral election will be held
largely by mail-in bal-
lots due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
At the same time
see the “bigger picture” and
work together to make their
community better despite
their disagreements. She
also took issue with a pass-
er-by who said she didn’t
support America or the
troops.
“My brother and my
whole family are in the mil-
itary, and none of them
fought for this,” she said,
gesturing to the people
yelling insults across the
road.
On the counter-protester
side of the street, Brian
Fisher said he was there
because he wanted to show
support for law enforcement
and the military, where he
served for seven years.
“I believe everyone
matters,” he said. “Espe-
cially in the military, in a
situation like that, you’re
closer than brothers and
sisters. It doesn’t matter
what race, sex or creed you
are.”
The protest often was
a cacophony of sounds, as
protesters on both sides of
the street shouted, while
the four lanes of traffic in
between them honked and
yelled their support for one
side or the other.
At times, individual
protesters or small groups
crossed the street to con-
front the other side — most
often counter-protesters
visiting the BLM side —
and those street cross-
ings sometimes sparked
close-up yelling matches
that ended with both par-
ties’ friends dragging them
in opposite directions while
telling them to keep things
peaceful.
Photo by The Argus Observer via AP StoryShare
Locals gathered at the Ontario Post Office on Saturday
morning, Aug. 22, to demonstrate their support for the
United States Postal Service.
local and state offi-
cials are gearing up for
mail-in elections —
many for the first time
— sweeping changes
are being mandated at
the post offices across
the country, according
to a Wednesday article
on Oregon Public
Broadcasting. A USPS
spokesman cited
declining mail as reason
for the changes in that
story.
President Donald
Trump just two weeks
ago opposed funding for
USPS, saying he didn’t
want to see it for mail-in
ballots. This caused a
clamor from citizens and
lawmakers, citing poten-
tial voter suppression.
New Postmaster Gen-
eral Louis DeJoy has
said he would suspend
changes, but some post
office workers indicate it
may already be too late,
with many citing direct
impact on mail sorting
capacity.
Komoto said she can’t
believe putting a new
postmaster general in
place has made things
happen so quickly. It
would seem they would
want to keep items such
as sorting machines that
“make the job of letter
carriers more efficient,”
she said.
Komoto said the pres-
ident of JACL, who lives
in Washington, D.C., just
received his absentee
ballot for the primary
election there about 10
days ago — three-and-a-
half months after it was
postmarked in May.
Everything has really
slowed down when it
comes to the U.S. mail
at this time, Komoto
said, saying that Priority
Mail has been sometimes
taking two weeks to
arrive at its destination.
Due to the smoky air
in recent days, Komoto
kept the demonstration at
less than an hour.
The Observer
by the Oregon Health
Authority and three deaths.
The total is the seventh
time in the last nine days
Oregon has reported fewer
than 260 cases.
The positive test rate in
the state has moved up to
4.57%, but the number of
individuals currently hos-
pitalized due to the virus
has decreased.
Monday, OHA reported
98 people in Oregon hospi-
tals with confirmed cases
of COVID-19 and an addi-
tional 45 with suspected
cases. The state’s mor-
tality rate in known cases
is holding at 1.67%, giving
a survival rate of 98.33%.
Survival rate of known
Oregon cases in those 80
and older continues to be
the lowest at 76.7%, but is
at 99.1% for those under
80. Cases requiring hos-
pitalization in Oregon are
just over 8%.
The Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Preven-
tion on Monday updated
its guidance for COVID-19
testing, now saying that an
individual who has been
in close contact with an
infected person but doesn’t
have symptoms doesn’t nec-
essarily need to be tested.
The exception to that is
if they are a “vulnerable”
individual or its recom-
mended by a health care
provider or by state health
officials.
Previously, the CDC
recommended testing for
anyone who was in close
contact with a known case
— within 6 feet for at least
15 minutes.
News Briefs
School bond could
Wallowa County gets be on ballot in 2021
BAKER CITY — The
grant for nonprofits
EO Media Group
LEWISON, Idaho —
Three Wallowa County
organizations are among
21 approved for Fast-Track
Small Grants from June
through August by the
Lewis-Clark Valley Health-
care Foundation.
More than $138,000 in
grants was provided to non-
profit agencies in a nine-
county area that included
Wallowa County, five Idaho
counties and three in Wash-
ington state.
The Fast-Track Small
Grant, is a quick-turn-
around grant intended for
small nonprofits that focus
on health, wellness or dis-
ease prevention. The three
groups in Wallowa County
that have received grants
are Friends of Wallowa
School District, Divide
Camp and the Rotary Foun-
dation of Wallowa County.
Baker School Board will
be weighing whether or
not to ask voters in 2021 to
approve a property tax-sup-
ported bond measure to pay
for infrastructure improve-
ments to Baker’s aging
school buildings.
The district intended to
ask voters in the May 19
election to approve a $7.5
million bond measure to be
repaid over 10 years. But
the school board decided in
March to not put the bond
on the ballot to avoid poten-
tially adding another finan-
cial burden to residents
already affected by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Had the measure passed,
that money would have
been coupled with a $4 mil-
lion Oregon School Capital
Improvement Match grant
and a $5 million District
contribution to pay for $16.5
million in improvements.