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La Grande elections
Boosting
business
still goal
of mayor
Steve Clements
seeks fourth term as
La Grande mayor
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Mayor
Steve Clements wants to continue
guiding La Grande as it takes
on the challenges posed by the
COVID-19 crisis.
This is one of the
major reasons he is
running for a fourth
consecutive two-year
term as mayor.
“I’m concerned
Clements and want to keep
helping while we are
still dealing with COVID-19,”
Clements said.
The mayor said if businesses
continue to struggle due to the
pandemic, he wants to help the
city continue to reach out to them.
Photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
Darwin Hodges, the cow boss for CRC Cattle, unloads his horse at the Dixie Ranch just outside Ukiah on Friday, Sept. 25. Hodges
was among those who identifi ed a mutilated cow at the Dixie Ranch on Sept. 12.
‘It’s got to stop’
See, Clements/Page 5A
Umatilla County rancher reports finding mutilated cow
Mayoral
candidate
wants to boost
transparency
By Alex Castle
EO Media Group
UKIAH — Fee Stubblefi eld was doing
the rounds on Sept. 12, checking on his
cattle near Dixie Ranch Road outside of
Ukiah when he saw something sitting in
the thicket.
He approached, peering closer as his
eyes made out the body of a dead cow
lying on its side in the dirt.
“At the moment I didn’t think anything
of it,” Stubblefi eld said. “But then when
I looked closer, you know, it didn’t look
right.”
The skin around the cow’s mouth was
sliced away, and its tongue, glands and sex
organs had been cleanly removed. A piece
of the cow’s ear was cut off and placed on
its neck.
“It’s a very unusual cut,” Stubblefi eld
said. “There was no blood.”
He found no footprints or tracks as evi-
dence of someone traveling through the
area. Stubblefi eld fi rst thought it might be
the work of wolves, so he called authori-
ties to get some answers.
According to Stubblefi eld, the Oregon
State Police responded to the scene on
Sept. 12 and confi rmed it as a mutilation
kill.
“We got lucky because we found the
cow within a couple days of when it had
been killed, so it really yielded some good
Alex McHaddad
would form citizen
advisory groups
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Alex
McHaddad wants to bridge
divides, remove barriers and
increase transparency to bring out
the best in La Grande.
McHaddad is run-
ning again incumbent
Steve Clements for
mayor of La Grande.
McHaddad said if
he wins, he aims to
McHaddad get more community
members involved in communi-
cating with the city via an advi-
sory capacity to achieve a portion
of his goal.
The mayoral candidate said he
See, McHaddad/Page 5A
Photo contributed by Fee Stubblefi eld
Photos posted to Fee Stubblefi eld’s Face-
book page on Saturday, Sept. 12, show
the mutilated cow he found near Dixie
Ranch Road outside of Ukiah earlier that
day.
photos and hopefully some good evi-
dence,” he said. “What’s more disturbing
is now that we’ve identifi ed this as a muti-
lation kill, we’ve actually discovered we
had two other ones.”
Stubblefi eld raises cattle as part of a
small ranching operation between Pend-
leton and Ukiah. He said these other two
potential mutilations occurred within the
last six months. One was a cow of his own
that was found in an “extremely remote
location unconnected to this site,” while
the other fi nding belonged to another
rancher. That cow was found on Stubble-
fi eld’s property.
Neither were found as timely as the
one discovered on Sept. 12, he said, but
the Oregon State Police were informed of
them and an investigation is underway.
The scene Stubblefi eld stumbled onto
shares disturbing similarities with thou-
sands of other cattle and livestock in the
Western United States that have been
mutilated and left with little to no evi-
dence of a suspect or motive.
In each instance, cattle are usually
found with their tongues and genitals care-
fully removed without signs of a struggle.
In the 1970s, hundreds of these reports
spurred a FBI inquiry into the phenom-
enon that was largely unsuccessful, which
the agency chalked up to a lack of juris-
diction where the cattle were found.
In July and August of 2019, the report
of fi ve bulls mutilated on the Silvies
Valley Ranch in Harney County grabbed
headlines across Oregon, and another
See, Cattle/Page 5A
Grande Ronde Symphony to broadcast Oct. 3
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Violinist
Viet Block was eager to per-
form again for the Grande Ronde
Symphony Orchestra, even if
COVID-19 restrictions pre-
vented playing in front of a live
audience.
“It is a special experience to
be able to share one’s expression
and art with another, and that has
fueled and driven me most my
life,” Block said. “It feels good
to be of service to others, plus I
love the challenge of learning a
new repertoire for new people
each concert.”
INDEX
Classified ...... 4B
Comics .......... 7B
Crossword .... 4B
Dear Abby .... 8B
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
• The Grande Ronde Symphony begins is 2020-21 season with “A Night In
with the Symphony,” a virtual performance Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at
7 p.m. on the Facebook pages of EOAlive and the symphony.
With in-person concerts not
allowed for performers or audi-
ences, the symphony’s chamber
series has turned to a new con-
cert format — prerecording
the performances and then
streaming them as “A Night In
with the Symphony” on EOAl-
ive’s Facebook page and the
symphony’s Facebook page
Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at
WEATHER
Home ............ 1B
Horoscope .... 4B
Letters ........... 4A
Lottery........... 2A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..... 3A
Opinion ......... 4A
Sports ........... 7A
State .............. 6A
7 p.m. The orchestra’s kickoff
for its 2020-21 season comes
interspersed with commentary
from symphony president Alice
Trindle and music director Zach
Banks.
“After such a long hiatus,
having an opportunity to per-
form again has been massively
rewarding,” Banks said. “When
music performance has been
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
40 LOW
79/41
Clear and moonlit
Mostly sunny
ISLAND CITY MAYORAL RACE
such an important part of your
life for so long, it becomes a
form of communication that
effectively contributes to your
overall well-being. It becomes
an avenue for you to effectively
express yourself and, more
important, those performance
experiences connect you with
your audience and community
in a memorable and meaningful
way.”
Performing arts organiza-
tions have opted for virtual per-
formances since COVID-19
restrictions limited events and
See, Symphony/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 116
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