2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
COVID-19 not stopping LG tree planters
By Dick Mason
TODAY
The Observer
Today is Thursday, Oct. 8,
the 282nd day of 2020. There
are 84 days left in the year.
LA GRANDE — The
COVID-19 pandemic will
not prevent La Grande tree
enthusiasts from reaching
the century mark this
year, thanks to members
of the city’s Community
Landscape and Forestry
Commission.
The city has an annual
goal of planting 100 trees
a year, primarily along
streets. Community tree
planting days in April and
October helped the city
reach the goal with ease in
previous years. But restric-
tions on large group gath-
erings because of the pan-
demic have nixed the events
this year, said Teresa Gus-
tafson, the city’s urban
forester.
Enter members of the
Community Landscape
and Forestry Commission,
many of who are stepping
forward on weekends to
plant trees in town in lieu of
the usual planting events.
They were at it again on
Saturday, Oct. 3, planting a
total of 11 trees, including
spring snow crabapple, oak,
maple and amur maackia.
The crew planted spring
snow crabapple trees in
areas with power lines
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Oct. 8, 1871, the Great
Chicago Fire erupted; fires
also broke out in Peshtigo,
Wisconsin, and in several
communities in Michigan.
ON THIS DATE
In 1890, American aviation
hero Eddie Rickenbacker
was born in Columbus,
Ohio.
In 1934, Bruno Haupt-
mann was indicted by a
grand jury in New Jersey
for murder in the death
of the kidnapped son of
Charles and Anne Morrow
Lindbergh.
In 1945, President Harry
S. Truman told a press
conference in Tiptonville,
Tennessee, that the secret
scientific knowledge behind
the atomic bomb would be
shared only with Britain and
Canada.
In 1981, at the White
House, President Ronald
Reagan greeted former
Presidents Jimmy Carter,
Gerald Ford and Richard
Nixon, who were preparing
to travel to Egypt for the
funeral of Anwar Sadat.
In 1985, the hijackers of
the Italian cruise ship Achille
Lauro killed American
passenger Leon Klinghoffer,
who was in a wheelchair,
and threw his body over-
board.
In 1997, Scientists reported
the Mars Pathfinder had
yielded what could be the
strongest evidence yet that
Mars might once have been
hospitable to life.
In 1998, the House
triggered an open-ended im-
peachment inquiry against
President Bill Clinton in a
momentous 258-176 vote; 31
Democrats joined majority
Republicans in opening the
way for nationally televised
impeachment hearings.
In 2002, A federal judge
approved President George
W. Bush’s request to reopen
West Coast ports, ending
a 10-day labor lockout that
was costing the U.S. econ-
omy an estimated $1 to $2
billion a day.
In 2005, a magnitude 7.6
earthquake flattened villages
on the Pakistan-India border,
killing an estimated 86,000
people.
In 2014, Thomas Eric
Duncan, a Liberian man
who was the first person
diagnosed with Ebola in the
United States, died at Texas
Health Presbyterian Hospital
Dallas 10 days after being
admitted.
In 2017, Harvey Weinstein
was fired from The Weinstein
Company amid allegations
that he was responsible for
decades of sexual harass-
ment. Vice President Mike
Pence left the 49ers-Colts
game in Indianapolis after
about a dozen San Francisco
players took a knee during
the national anthem.
In 2018, New Orleans
Saints quarterback Drew
Brees became the NFL’s all-
time leader in yards passing
during a 43-19 win over
Washington.
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Win for Life: Oct. 5
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
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Dick Mason/The Observer
Toni Smith and Ben Brown, members of the La Grande Community Landscape and For-
estry Commission, plant a tree Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, along Third Street near Jefferson
Avenue. Commission members and community volunteers have been working week-
ends to plants dozens of trees.
overhead. This is because
these trees will not grow
to heights where they will
reach power lines.
Commission members
Ben Brown, Toni Smith and
Lia Spiegel were among
those who planted trees Sat-
urday. Commission mem-
bers Robert Henderson and
Dave Cocke assisted earlier
with planting and will con-
tinue to help.
Community members
Mara Kalat, Dan Felley and
Ruby Hoffman came out to
help as well. All are rela-
tives or close friends of the
commissioners.
Planting will continue
on Saturday, Oct. 10, with
17 more trees. To date, the
volunteers have set 50 trees
into the ground and plans
Imbler, Cove voters face
choices in mayoral election
Two candidates
face off in each
city for the
Nov. 3 election
Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
Residents of Imbler and
Cove will have two may-
oral candidates to choose
from on their ballot for the
Nov. 3 general election.
Imbler voters can choose
incumbent Rick Vicek
or Jason Berglund Sr., a
former council member,
while Cove residents can
vote for either Councilor
Nathiel Conrad or new-
comer Sherry L. Haeger.
Rick Vicek
Vicek has served as
mayor of Imbler for a few
months, since the previous
mayor, Mike McLean,
moved away. As a city
councilor, Vicek stepped
into the role for the
remainder of the term and
is now looking to keep the
position.
“I am really interested
in the small-town atmo-
sphere. I have a love for
the smaller communi-
ties,” Vicek said. “I want
to be involved in this com-
munity and be a solution
to what the town’s needs
are.”
He said he sees water
sewage as one of the
town’s biggest issues. He
said he would continue
addressing that topic as
mayor.
“We are a quiet town
with not a lot of growth,
but (have) basic infra-
structural needs,” Vicek
said. “I have no big agenda
to change anything.”
Berglund served on the
Imbler City Council for
eight years after moving
to the town in 2011.
“It is such a great
community,” Berglund
said. “I know most of the
people around here, and
we are a community who
takes care of each other.
The whole atmosphere is
pretty fantastic.”
Similar to Vicek, Ber-
glund doesn’t think the
city requires much change.
“We have some
updating to do, but as a
community, Imbler needs
to stay the way it is,” he
said. “We are not a big
city. We don’t need to be
run like one.”
Berglund works as a
ranch hand in Imbler but
has experience working
the Oregon Youth
Authority, which operates
juvenile corrections.
“OYA is a state job,
with plenty of politics
around it, and working as
a ranch hand is doing what
almost everyone does
around here,” Berglund
said. “That and my pre-
vious time on the council
has prepared me for this.”
on mediation and negoti-
ation. After working for
two of the largest tech-
nology companies in the
world, Haeger moved to
Cove in 2017 following
cancer, which she beat.
She has since served as
treasurer for the reelec-
tion campaign of Union
County Commissioner
Donna Beverage, for the
Union County Chamber
of Commerce and for
the Cove Community
Association.
“I have the potential
to make a difference in
Cove’s economic perfor-
mance and offer enhanced
visibility, opportunity to
exercise leadership, make
strategic choices and
drive action through local
authorities and their part-
ners,” Haeger said. “I am
extremely familiar with
ordinances, rules and reg-
ulations of running gov-
ernment entities as this
was a core requirement in
my previous career.”
She also promised
to make certain there is
clarity about issues con-
cerning daily life in Cove
and ensuring “all voices
concerned with those
issues have a platform
for discussion.... I want
to hear the concerns and
understand the ‘why’ of
any given situation.”
Sherry Haeger
Nathiel Conrad
Haeger said her work
experience makes her fit
for the role of mayor of
Cove.
She said she is a retired
executive manager in
supply chain engineering
and logistics for Apple and
Google, with an emphasis
When contacted by
The Observer, Conrad
was unavailable to
answer questions. As
a day care owner, she
said she was too busy to
respond to a final request
for answers Wednesday
morning, Oct. 7.
Jason Berglund Sr.
Pendleton School District reports COVID-19 case
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A
staff member at Sunridge
Middle School, Pend-
leton, has tested positive
for COVID-19, Pendleton
School District Superin-
tendent Chris Fritsch said
in an Tuesday, Oct. 6,
interview.
The day before, Fritsch
emailed employees to
inform them of the devel-
opment, adding that
Umatilla County Public
Health contact tracing
determined six Sunridge
employees had extended
exposure to the staff
member.
As a result, the
exposed staff mem-
bers will quarantine at
THuRSday, OcTOBER 8, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
home for the 14 days
following exposure.
Fritsch said none of the
exposed employees are
displaying systems or
will be required to take
COVID-19 tests.
Fritsch said no students
at the district’s day care
program were exposed to
the staff member and the
program will continue to
operate as usual.
The district had
intended to begin limited,
small-group education
in-person starting on Oct.
7, but that is now delayed
indefinitely while the dis-
trict consults with the
public health department.
Along with most
other schools in Oregon,
Pendleton School Dis-
trict has started out
the year with distance
learning. Although
teachers are doing their
lessons online, the dis-
trict requires most staff
to perform their duties in
the empty school while
still observing social
distancing guidelines
amongst each other.
“This is a good time to
remember that you should
have a face covering on
when entering and exiting
the building as well as
when you are moving
within the building or in
a room when others are
present, maintain at least
a 6 (feet) distance from
others and wash your
hands frequently,” Fritsch
wrote to staff in the Oct.
6 email.
The positive case in
Pendleton schools comes
as the state is mulling
relaxing its standards
to resume in-person
teaching this school year.
Oregon Health
Authority Director Pat-
rick Allen told media
on Oct. 6 that the state
may do away with the
requirement that Oregon
needs test positivity
rate below 5% statewide
before allowing more full
reopenings. But OHA
would likely keep the
countywide requirements
in place, a bar Umatilla
County hasn’t met yet.
are in place for another 100.
Stu Spence, director
of the city of La Grande’s
Parks and Recreation
department, credited the
Landscape and Forestry
Commission in keeping the
planting program going.
“It has been a huge help,”
Spence said.
Gustafson, who
directs the plantings, also
applauded the commis-
sioner members and com-
munity volunteers who are
helping.
“They are doing a won-
derful job,” she said.
Still, Gustafson said she
looks forward to getting the
regular annual planting day
going again because she
likes having as many people
involved as possible.
“Hopefully we will be
able to get our communi-
ty-wide planting started
again after the pandemic is
over,” she said.
The commissioners and
volunteers assisting them
wear striking green vests
displaying the words “Grow
La Grande” on the back.
The city purchased 60 of
the vests earlier this year
with a grant from Oregon
Community Trees, which
the city was eligible to
apply for because it has
Tree City USA status. Vol-
unteers working on urban
forestry projects in La
Grande wear the vests.
“They make us look offi-
cial,” Gustafson said. “It is
a nice way for volunteers to
get recognition.”
La Grande has been
awarded Tree City USA
status in each of the past
30 years.
News Briefs
Wallowa County
voters have plenty
of choices
ENTERPRISE — Joseph
and Enterprise have con-
tested races for seats on
their city councils.
Joseph Mayor Teresa
Sajonia is facing a chal-
lenge in Belinda Miller
Buswell. Also in Joseph,
three council seats are up
for election.
Councilors Kirsten Rohla
and Matt Soots see reelec-
tion, and Stephen Bartlow
is running for a vacant
seat. The council plans to
appoint a replacement for
Richard Pointer, who died
this past summer, according
to City Administrator Larry
Braden.
In Enterprise, Ashley
R. Sullivan is running for
mayor. Stacey Karvoski
vacated the post in May
when she moved outside the
city limits. Councilor Jenni
Word, who has been serving
as mayor pro-tem since
Karvoski’s resignation, will
return to her position No. 1
council seat.
Rob Taylor and Rick
Freeman are vying to
replace Chris Pritchard for
council seat No. 6. Pritchard
chose to not run for reelec-
tion. Jeff Yanke is running
for council seat No. 5 to
replace Larry Christman,
who also chose not to run.
Brandon S. Miller, who
was appointed in August to
replace the departing Micah
Agnew, will run for the No.
4 council seat.
Lostine Mayor Dusty
Tippet also seeks reelection,
as does Spencer Shelton,
who is running for council
seat No. 4. Mitchell Shelton
earlier this vacated the seat.
No candidate filed for
council seat No. 3, held by
Hubbell April. However,
April was working out of
town when the deadline
passed and plans to seek
appointment to the position,
according to county Clerk
Sandy Lathrop.
In Wallowa, Mayor Gary
Hulse and councilors Scott
McCrae and Christian Niece
all running for reelection.
Perhaps the most
high-profile race took
place in May, when Enter-
prise Police Chief Joel Fish
won a three-way race for
Wallowa County sheriff.
The deadline to file as a
write-in to oppose him is
later in October. If no one
files, he will appear on the
November ballot unop-
posed. As a result, the
Enterprise City Council has
put off the hiring process to
replace Fish.
County Commissioners
Todd Nash and Susan Rob-
erts won reelection unop-
posed in May.
Ballot measures around
the county include a $4 mil-
lion school bond levy to
obtain a matching grant
from the state for the Enter-
prise School District to
improve the Enterprise
School. Joseph is asking city
residents to approve a 3%
tax on marijuana sold in the
city. No other citywide mea-
sures are on the ballot.
The only countywide
ballot measure is to require
the county commissioners
to discuss the interests in
relocating the Oregon/
Idaho border to make Wal-
lowa County a part of Idaho.
Similar measures are on
countywide ballots in sev-
eral other counties, though
the grassroots effort pro-
moting them failed to get
the measures on ballots in
most counties.
Baker City Council
talking with
manager hopefuls
BAKER CITY — The
Baker City Council inter-
viewed two candidates
for the city manager’s job
Monday evening, Oct. 5, and
councilors will interview
three others Tuesday.
Both evenings of Zoom
interviews were slated to
happen during executive
sessions, which are closed to
the public.
Oregon’s public meet-
ings law allows city coun-
cils and other elected boards
to consider certain topics
during executive sessions,
including, as in this case,
the employment of a public
officer.
Councilors can’t make
any decisions during execu-
tive sessions, however.
Fred Warner Jr., who has
been city manager since
May 2016, plans to retire at
the end of the year.
A total of 14 people
applied for the job. On
Sept. 17 a selection com-
mittee consisting of Mayor
Loran Joseph and councilors
Lynette Perry and Jason
Spriet trimmed the list of
candidates to six.
One of those candidates
withdrew Monday morning,
leaving five, said Robin
Nudd, the city’s human
resource manager.
In an email to the Baker
City Herald, Nudd wrote
that councilors plan to
announce the names of the
finalists during the Council’s
regular meeting Tuesday,
Oct. 13.
“My hope is that we will
have three candidates to
invite to our community and
we will hold meet and greets
with the press, community
leaders, current council and
the newly elected council
members,” Nudd wrote.
— EO Media Group