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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2020)
Inside In Home & Living La Grande mural gets revitalized, 2A The end of WWII, 75 years later, 8A A guilt-free cookie Follow us on the web TUESDAY • September 1, 2020 • $1.50 Good day to our valued subscriber Harlan Scott of Elgin Local Girl Scouts build nod to British sci-fi Creation of a TARDIS little library delivers prestigious award By Sabrina Thompson The Observer LA GRANDE — Fans of the British science fi ction series Doctor Who may see a familiar blue police box on the front lawn of a home on Oak Street, La Grande. Local Cadet Girl Scouts Sophia and Olivia Thornburg created a little library that looks like a blue police phone box, which happens to the form of the TARDIS, the fi ctional time machine and spacecraft from the long-running TV series Doctor Who. While this box won’t be bigger on the inside, like the TARDIS, it will contain its own treasures — the sisters are are fi lling it with books for their Silver Award. The Silver Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout in middle school can earn. It requires at least 50 hours of work and involves the scout identifying an issue in the community, creating a plan to help solve the issue and Staff photo by Dick Mason Anna Kreutz, left, and Maggie Riley stand next to a cover of the novel “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” they painted by the entrance to the La Grande Middle School Library. The La Grande teens painted several book covers to liven up the new entry way to the library. Wizards, wimps and vampires See, Scouts/Page 5A Get ready for a stroll with your neighbors Students add literary spark to library entrance By Dick Mason The Observer LA GRANDE — The covers of page- turning books are turning heads at the La Grande Middle School Library’s south entrance. The talent of two young painters whose brush strokes are making popular fi ction characters leap off pages is the reason. La Grande High School junior Anna Kreutz and 2020 La Grande High School graduate Maggie Riley recently fi n- ished painting expanded images of book covers on the walls alongside the south entrance of the school’s library. The col- orful images are of covers of works pop- ular with middle school students. They consists of “Harry Potter and the Sor- cerer’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” both by J.K. Rowling, and books from the Percy Jackson & The Olympians novel series by Rick Riordan, The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney and Walking Wednesday set for Sept. 2 By Dick Mason The Observer LA GRANDE — A four- block portion of La Grande’s O Avenue will resemble some Seattle neighborhoods in a special way for 45 minutes the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 2. The stretch, between Second Street and Walnut Street, will be closed to vehicle traffi c for Walking Wednesday, an event aimed at helping people come together during the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarter-mile por- tion of O Avenue will be shut down for an hour beginning at 6:45 p.m. to allow residents to walk freely along the street and See, Walking/Page 5A Staff photo by Dick Mason Fresh paintings of three book covers adorn the entrance to the La Grande Mid- dle School Library. the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Keri Myer, the middle school’s librarian, said she was impressed with the work done by Kreutz and Riley, noting their attention to detail. “They did a fantastic job,” she said. Myer said their art has added zest to the entrance. “They have made (the entrance) seem like a different place,” Myer said. “It brings excitement to the library.” Myer wanted to liven up the library’s south entrance because it now is its main entryway. The library’s west doors were its previous main entryway. This is no longer the case because the La Grande School District during the summer con- verted a portion of the library’s east side into two classrooms because of antici- pated enrollment growth. When La Grande Middle School stu- dents are able to return to school after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, they will be using the west entrance to get to these classrooms because it is closer. Myer said she anticipates the south entrance will be used almost exclusively to enter the library. Riley and Kreutz started their work in the winter and continued it this summer. They had to work separately, though, because of COVD-19 social distancing standards. Kreutz, who will be a junior at La Grande High this fall, said one of the biggest challenges of the project was dealing with the uneven surface of the walls at the entrance. See, Mural/Page 5A Miller mounts write-in campaign; sheriff off ballot By Ronald Bond The Observer LA GRANDE — There will be just one name on the Nov. 3 ballot for Union County sheriff. But two people are running. Deputy Cody Bowen, who won the primary election for sheriff May 19, will be the only name on the ballot, after Sheriff Boyd Rasmussen, who edged out Bill Miller for second place to qualify for the general election, withdrew from the race. Rasmussen, who is facing an ethics investigation by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, announced Aug. 12 he would no INDEX Classified ...... 4B Comics .......... 7B Crossword .... 4B Dear Abby .... 8B “On a major race like this, I haven’t had anybody that I know of as long as I’ve been here. I’m not going to say it never happened.” — Robin Church, Union County Clerk, noting she is not aware of anyone attempting a write-in campaign for a local high-end position, but Bill Miller is giving it a try for Union County sheriff. longer actively campaigning for a fi fth term as sheriff. He fi led paperwork Wednesday, Aug. 26, to offi cially have his name removed from the ballot, two days before the deadline to do so, according to Union County WEATHER Home ............ 1B Horoscope .... 4B Lottery........... 2A Obituaries ..... 3A THURSDAY Opinion ......... 4A Sports ........... 7A State .............. 6A Sudoku ......... 7B Clerk Robin Church. Miller, however, has decided to mount a write-in campaign. The former deputy sheriff, detec- tive sergeant and drug task force leader for the sheriff’s offi ce in the May primary narrowly Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Wednesday 52 LOW 90/52 Mainly clear Mostly sunny ARGUE THIS INSTEAD OF POLITICS missed out on qualifying for the November ballot, claiming just less than 25% of the vote. Ras- mussen received only 133 more votes than Miller, fi nishing with just less than 26%. Miller, who spent close to two weeks after Rasmus- sen’s announcement weighing the decision on whether to run a write-in campaign for the November election, ultimately decided to do so, pointing to his law enforcement and military experience as needed in the cur- rent social environment. “I still believe I am the most See, Sheriff/Page 5A CONTACT US 541-963-3161 Issue 104 2 sections, 16 pages La Grande, Oregon Email story ideas to news@lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page 4A. Online at lagrandeobserver.com
