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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER DAILY PLANNER TODAY Today is Tuesday, Sept. 1, the 245th day of 2020. There are 121 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On Sept. 1, 1945, Amer- icans received word of Japan’s formal surrender that ended World War II. (Be- cause of the time difference, it was Sept. 2 in Tokyo Bay, where the ceremony took place.) ON THIS DATE In 1894, the Great Hinck- ley Fire destroyed Hinckley, Minnesota, and fi ve other communities, killing more than 400 people. In 1923, the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokoha- ma were devastated by an earthquake that claimed some 140,000 lives. In 1939, World War II began as Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In 1942, U.S. District Court Judge Martin I. Welsh, ruling from Sacramento, Calif., on a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Fred Korematsu, upheld the wartime detention of Japa- nese-Americans as well as Japanese nationals. In 1972, American Bobby Fischer won the internation- al chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, as Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union resigned. In 1983, 269 people were killed when a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet jet fi ghter after the airliner entered Soviet airspace. In 1985, a U.S.-French expedition located the wreckage of the Titanic on the fl oor of the Atlantic Ocean roughly 400 miles off Newfoundland. In 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued a “desperate SOS” as his city descended into anarchy amid the fl ooding left by Hurricane Katrina. In 2009, Vermont’s law allowing same-sex marriage went into effect. In 2018, at a nearly three- hour memorial service for the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain in Wash- ington, McCain’s daughter and two former presidents led a public rebuke of President Donald Trump’s divisive politics and called for a return to civility among the nation’s leaders. LOTTERY Megabucks: $1.1 million 14-24-26-34-42-45 Mega Millions: $68 million 3-9-50-53-64—1 x3 Powerball: $47 million 5-21-22-29-43—PB-10 x2 Win for Life: Aug. 29 13-19-38-57 Pick 4: Aug. 30 • 1 p.m.: 0-5-7-2 • 4 p.m.: 3-6-9-2 • 7 p.m.: 5-8-8-0 • 10 p.m.: 7-0-5-0 Pick 4: Aug. 29 • 1 p.m.: 3-6-0-0 • 4 p.m.: 4-6-9-5 • 7 p.m.: 9-7-3-6 • 10 p.m.: 9-0-5-8 Pick 4: Aug. 28 • 1 p.m.: 6-4-1-5 • 4 p.m.: 9-7-7-6 • 7 p.m.: 7-7-5-9 • 10 p.m.: 6-9-9-7 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the offi ce at 541-963-3161. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 LOCAL/REGION 200 march in Pendleton for BLM By Alex Castle and Antonio Sierra EO Media Group PENDLETON — Despite a palpable sense of anger, a Black Lives Matter march on Saturday, Aug. 29, in Pendleton remained peaceful and unimpeded. By 3:30 p.m., about 150 people gathered opposite of Roy Raley Park on South- west Court Avenue with an array of American, Confed- erate, “Trump” and “Thin Blue Line” fl ags. Others carried signs indicating their support for police, while offi cers with the Pendleton Police Depart- ment stationed themselves at the street corners. Counter protesters joined in chants of “Blue lives matter,” “All lives matter” and “U-S-A” as roughly 200 protesters against police brutality and racial injustice trickled into the park to listen to community speeches at 4 p.m. “We will not acknowl- edge them. We will not be them. Ignore them,” Briana Spencer, one of the pro- test’s organizers, said at the opening of the event as attendees donning masks and carrying signs circled around the park lawn. Spencer, a Black, Puerto Rican woman of the Con- federated Tribes of the Photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group Black Lives Matter protesters begin to march Saturday, Aug. 29, through Pendleton. Umatilla Indian Reser- vation, worked alongside Nolan Bylenga, a Black Pendleton resident run- ning for House District 58, and John Landreth, a white Boardman resident, to orga- nize the protest. The three met weekly with Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts to create safety plans for each stage of the protest. Roberts also provided a statement to organizers that supported protesters voicing their pain over the killings of George Floyd and other people of color, which he condemned as “inexcusable,” while urging protesters to hold offi - cials accountable and seek change peacefully. The event included groups and organizers from the Walla Walla and Tri- Cities areas, and refl ected its young and diverse crowd in its pre-selected speakers. “The youth is what is going to change what is wrong,” said Max Jean Maddern, a 17-year-old non-binary member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Maddern also spoke Mural restoration underway By Sabrina Thompson The Observer Photo contributed by Chris Jennings Local artist Lea Over paints over the graffi ti Saturday Aug. 29, on the mural at 110 Depot Street, La Grande. This is the fi rst step of the project to restore the mural. are a little brighter, but it doesn’t look bad at all.” The next step in the process will be to repaint the mural. Jennings said he would like to keep as much of the original look as possible, but with how old and faded the mural is, fi nding the right color matches may be diffi cult. Jennings still is consid- ering how the repainting will work, deciding between groups working in shifts over the next month or possibly painting it all one night. Jennings said, “About 15 to 20 people have signed up to revitalize and repaint.” Local artists and com- munity members have begun volunteering time and donating funds for the project. Jennings esti- mated the total cost to be around $1,000, and as of Monday, Aug. 31, he has collected a little more than $400. “Ultimately it looks like it will be a cool col- laboration with local art- ists,” Jennings said. “We are going to make it about keeping our downtown beautiful and rich with culture and vibrancy. Hopefully something like this doesn’t happen again.” State reduces steelhead bag limit for Oregon’s Snake River and tributaries EO Media Group SALEM — Due to low returns, daily bag limits for hatchery summer steelhead will be reduced to two fi sh per day for the Snake River and trib- utaries when the season opens on Tuesday, Sept. 1, according to a press release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fishery managers in the Snake River basin estimate about 32,000 hatchery steelhead are bound for the Snake River and its tributaries. While this is still well below the 10-year average of about 90,000 fi sh, it’s an improvement over the previous year’s run of about 23,000. Additionally, pre- season forecasts indicate about 18,000 wild steelhead will cross Lower Granite Dam, nearly twice last year’s return and about 70% of the 10-year average. The intent of reducing the bag limit to two fi sh per day is to ensure enough hatchery fi sh return to hatchery facili- ties to meet production objectives. “While we expect to meet brood- stock collection goal, we’re dealing with small margins for error. Man- aging conservatively ensures we can overcome any unforeseen cir- cumstances if they arise,” said Kyle Bratcher, ODFW District fi sh biolo- gist in Enterprise. “Luckily, the uptick NEWS BRIEFS 13 seeking seats on Baker City Council Covering graffiti is the first step LA GRANDE — Work began during the weekend to revitalize a recently defaced mural in down- town La Grande. Christopher Jennings the morning of Saturday, Aug. 22, discovered someone had spraypainted comments, including a curse word and racial slur, across the mural in the alley outside his venue, hq, 10 Depot St. After fi ling a report with the police and talking to the building owner and the city, Jen- nings received permission to revitalize the mural. Jaime Gustavson and Lea Over worked on cleaning up the graf- fi ti Saturday morning, Aug. 29. The local art- ists painted over the van- dalism with a color closely matching the base as part of the fi rst phase of the project. “We took some of the actual paint chips from parts of the wall that were crumbling and got them matched,” Jennings said. “It doesn’t look like it has been tagged at all, although a couple of spots to their experiences with racism in local schools, and detailed some changes they’d like to see imple- mented in policing, such as higher training and edu- cation requirements for offi cers. In addition to reading other prepared statements from Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Bylenga ended the community speeches with some of his own remarks before the demonstrators entered the streets of Pendleton. “Only light can drown out darkness,” Bylenga Photo by Eric Barker/Lewiston Tribune Due to low returns, daily bag limits for hatchery summer steelhead will be reduced to two fi sh per day for the Snake River and tributaries when the season opens on Tuesday, Sept. 1. in this year’s run allows us a little more wiggle room to avoid a situation like last year when we had a one-fi sh limit.” Steelhead are currently making their way through the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers. While the steelhead season opens on Sept. 1, Bratcher doesn’t expect catch rates to pick up until the later end of the month. The best fi shing is typically in October and November in the Grande Ronde River and during late winter and early spring in the Wallowa and Imnaha rivers. Daily bag limits for hatchery summer steelhead will be reduced to two fi sh per day for the Snake River and tributaries when the season opens on Tuesday, Sept. 1. said. “Only love can drive out hate.” As protesters began to march across the 10th Street Bridge, a contingent of anti- Black Lives Matter demon- strators approached the rear of the march to confront the crowd. Police offi cers and the protest’s internal secu- rity separated the counter protesters from the rest of the marchers. Throughout down- town Pendleton, men car- rying assault rifl es would sometimes appear to either stand in front of a busi- ness or track the protesters. The police escort was also accompanied by protester security mounted on motor- cycles that constantly cir- cled the route. As the march returned to the park, many of the counter protesters awaited them across the street in the parking lot of the Dave’s convenience store. Organizers assembled the protesters at the amphi- theater and requested they all lay on their stomachs for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the same amount of time a dying George Floyd was pinned down by Minneap- olis police in May. Multiple counter-pro- testers refused interview requests with the EO Media Group. BAKER CITY — A baker’s dozen of candidates will vie for six seats on the Baker City Council in the Nov. 3 election. A total of 13 people have qualifi ed for the ballot, said Katie LaFavor, city recorder. The deadline to fi le as a candidate was 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25. The list of candidates includes three incumbents — Doni Bruland, Arvid Andersen and Jason Spriet. The other candidates are: Shane Alderson, Annie Croucher, Joanna Dixon, Kerry McQuisten, Betty J. Milliman, Damon Rose, Heather Sells, Gretchen Stadler, James C. Thomas and Johnny Waggoner Sr. Voters will pick six can- didates in the Nov. 3 elec- tion, as six of the seven seats on the city council are up for election. Typically there are only four openings. But this year there are six because two councilors resigned earlier this year, and their replacements, appointed by remaining councilors, serve temporary terms that end Dec. 31. The two appointed councilors are Spriet, who is running for a full term, and Larry Morrison, who did not fi le as a candidate. Councilor Lynette Perry is the only councilor whose term continues into 2021. She was elected in 2018 to a 4-year term. Mayor Loran Joseph and Councilor Randy Schiewe can’t run for re-election due to the term limits clause in the city charter. Among the six candi- dates who are elected Nov. 3, the top three, in terms of votes received, will serve 4-year terms. The three others will serve 2-year terms. The newly elected councilors will begin their terms in early January. Baker City Council members receive $10 per meeting, to a maximum of $150 per year. Voters in the May 2020 primary rejected a measure to remove council pay from the city charter. Grandmother raises funds for ailing grandson LEXINGTON — Kelly Boyer doesn’t see her grandson much these days. COVID keeps the Lex- ington woman away. It’s a frustrating reality, especially since this spring 5-year-old Evan Kates suf- fered a brain aneurysm and several strokes that left him fi ghting for his life. The brain bleed resulted from a congenital abnor- mality called arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain. The knot of vessels impedes normal blood fl ow. The abnormality is rare in children. People with AVM sometimes go their entire lives without a rup- ture. The average age of diagnosis is 31 and the risk of hemorrhage for untreated AVM is between 2% and 4% yearly. Evan lives with his par- ents, Jon and Brooke Kates, and his older brother, Cole, 9, in Boise, Idaho. Brooke, a former nurse, real estate agent and 1999 Heppner High School graduate, knew something was awry, and took her son to the hos- pital on March 3, according to Boyer. The little boy, who Boyer described as “bright and very active,” had suffered a brain hemorrhage that trig- gered a fl urry of strokes and other complications. Evan spent three weeks in a medically induced coma. On March 28, he began to wake up slowly. He and his family traveled to Salt Lake City where Evan began the process of rehabilita- tion and therapy. Boyer said the several-month program involved six hours of rehab, four days a week, as the boy worked to regain his ability to walk and talk. The trauma of Evan’s medical troubles was heightened because of COVID. Brooke was the only family member allowed to visit him. Jon, a surgical equipment repre- sentative, was laid off. Boyer and her hus- band John, a local crop duster, struggled to come up with how to help. The couple often supports com- munity members in need by participating in local fundraisers. Because of the virus, the usual fund- raising methods aren’t practical. “We normally have din- ners, but we can’t because of COVID,” Boyer said. “We can’t set out money jars in town either.” So she set up an account at the Bank of Eastern Oregon. Boyer said her daughter doesn’t know about the fundraising efforts. “I’m going to surprise her,” she said. Donations can be made at any Bank of Eastern Oregon branch. The account is in the name of Kelly Boyer for Evan. — EO Media Group
