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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER Daily Planner TODAY Today is Saturday, Oct. 10, the 284th day of 2020. There are 82 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On Oct. 10, 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Maryland. ON THIS DATE In 1917, legendary jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gb- demah, after the official was refused seating in a Howard Johnson’s restaurant near Dover, Delaware. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy, responding to the Thalidomide birth defects crisis, signed an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requiring pharmaceutical companies to prove that their products were safe and effective prior to marketing. In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office. In 1985, U.S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. Actor-director Orson Welles died in Los Angeles at age 70; actor Yul Brynner died in New York at age 65. In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Land- mines and its coordinator, Jody Williams, were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2001, U.S. jets pound- ed the Afghan capital of Kabul. President George W. Bush unveiled a list of 22 most-wanted terrorists, including Osama bin Laden In 2004, Christopher Reeve, the “Superman” of celluloid who became a quadriplegic after a May 1995 horse riding accident, died in Mount Kisco, New York, at age 52. In 2014, Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Pakistani girl, and Kailash Satyarthi, a 60-year-old Indian man, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives for the right of children to receive an edu- cation and to live free from abuse. LOTTERY Megabucks: $2.8 million 8-11-27-31-37-42 Mega Millions: $50 million 15-16-18-39-59—17 x3 Powerball: $52 million 6-24-30-53-56—PB-19 x2 Win for Life: Oct. 7 6-33-58-63 Pick 4: Oct. 8 • 1 p.m.: 7-8-8-3 • 4 p.m.: 4-2-8-5 • 7 p.m.: 3-9-1-9; • 10 p.m.: 3-7-4-4 Pick 4: Oct. 7 • 1 p.m.: 2-5-3-8; • 4 p.m.: 3-4-7-6 • 7 p.m.: 2-8-1-4; • 10 p.m.: 4-9-5-5 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, please call 541-963-3161. CORRECTION An edit in Corrine Dutto’s Oct. 6 letter to the editor led to an error in stating how long she has served on the La Grande City Council. Dutto has served three years. Haunted house going up in Elgin Warning — there will be clowns Sabrina Thompson The Observer ELGIN — Megan Jarrell and Carmen Brown’s home may be the spookiest house in Elgin on Halloween. The engaged couple are constructing a themed haunted house through their shed and backyard at 35 N. 17th St. The theme is based on the popular Stephen King novel and movie “IT” and features, of course, killer clowns. Jarrell said her love for Halloween made her want to construct the haunted trail through her home, and with the help of friends and family it is becoming a reality. “Halloween is my favorite holiday,” Jarrell said. “After the Maridell Center closed and ended their haunted house walk- through, we thought why not put something on here for people to come through.” An annual haunted house event in La Grande was held at the Maridell Sabrina Thompson/The Observer Carmen Brown works Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, on the haunted house she and Megan Jar- rell are building in their backyard in Elgin for Halloween. Center, but the family center shut down at the end of May. Jarrell and Brown, who are in the early stages of construction, said the dona- tions of wood pallets and having volunteers to help build are a big help. “The nice thing about the donations is they don’t have to look nice and per- fect,” Jarrell said. “The set- ting of this experience is in less than pleasant places like sewers, so garbage can work perfectly.” The haunted walk will start at the side gate to the house, wind through the large shed on the property and through the backyard. Elgin School District deems classes safe after staff tests positive for COVID-19 Sabrina Thompson The Observer ELGIN — An Elgin School District staff member tested positive for COVID-19. District Superintendent Dianne Greif announced the finding Wednesday night, Oct. 7, on the dis- trict’s Facebook page. “We had a staff member who was notified of exposure while away from school on personal business,” Greif said. “As soon as he was notified, he quarantined at home.” The district reported the exposure to the school health nurse and the Center for Human Devel- opment, La Grande, which oversees public health for the county. “The CHD contact asked us to quarantine his family also, which was done,” Greif said, adding that contacts have been identified and notified, quarantined and tested where necessary. The schools doors will remain open and stu- dents will continue with in-person instruction. “We followed all con- tact tracing logs, looked at exposure in the district, which was none in most areas because of the quar- antine at home,” Greif said. “The process of uti- lizing the contact tracing logs and making the deter- mination that students and staff were OK to con- tinue in class was coordi- nated between myself, our school nurse and CHD.” Carrie Brogoitti, the public health adminis- Sabrina Thompson/The Observer Students at Stella Mayfield Elementary School, Elgin, spend time on the playground Thursday afternoon, Oct. 8, 2020. Elgin School District Superintendent Dianne Greif on Wednesday announced a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. trator for the Center for Human Development, said they followed the process outlined by the state education and health department. “When we have cases in schools we look at the situation and coordi- nate with them individu- ally,” Brogoitti said. “Ulti- mately, though, it is up to the school and the Oregon Department of Educa- tion to close the schools. We have been in regular communication with the schools, like providing them with regular updates on COVID-19 activity as it relates to the school metrics, providing sup- port on implementing the ODE and (Oregon Health Authority) guidance, and answering specific ques- tions about the virus and situations that come up in their schools.” Before the start of classes in the fall, every district in Oregon had to submit “Ready Schools, Safe Learners” plans to reopen schools and show what actions they would take to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and how they would respond to a positive case. Elgin’s plans included notifying local health authorities if a student or staff member tested pos- itive, quarantining the person who tested positive and implementing con- tact tracing of students and staff for any potential close contacts. “I feel confident that we did follow our blue- print and have, to the best of our ability, assured a safe environment for our students and staff,” Greif said. Greif and Brogoitti said the investigation into the positive case and contact tracing continues. “We want to stop the spread to the greatest extent possible so kids can stay in school,” Bro- goitti said. “Everything is going the way we expected it to go.” Sheriff’s office to provide service in Union Town and county agree on deal for law enforcement By Dick Mason PAYING FOR A DEPUTY • Funding to cover Union’s resident deputy for four years will come from a $125,000 Community Oriented Policing fed- eral grant the Union County Sheriff’s Office received and a total of $201,080 from the city of Union. Union will pay this amount in increments of $50,295 for salary and benefits each year of the contract. The Observer UNION — Law enforcement for the city of Union received a note- worthy boost Wednesday, Sept. 7. The Union County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a contract between the city of Union and the Union County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement service. The agreement will pro- vide a deputy who will work 120 hours a month in Union and spend a much smaller amount of time in other portions of the county. The contract took effect immediately. This means Union has steady law SaTuRday, OcTOBER 10, 2020 LOCAL/REGION enforcement service from the sheriff’s office for the first time in four years. Ever since the city did not renew its contract with the sheriff’s office, it has received only emergency service from the sheriff’s office and periodic patrols. Funding to cover the position for four years will come from a $125,000 Community Oriented Policing federal grant the sheriff’s office received and a total of $201,080 from the city of Union. Union will pay this amount in incre- ments of $50,295 for salary and benefits each year of the contract. The deputy working in Union also lives there, and once on duty, the deputy will have an office in the town. The deputy will come on duty later this year after finishing his enforcement training, said Doug Wig- gins, Union’s city admin- istrator. Until then, other deputies with the sheriff’s office will provide Union with law enforcement services. Union County Com- missioner Donna Beverage said she is pleased with the agreement. “I am excited that the city of Union and the sher- iff’s office have been able to work together to bring enhanced law enforcement service to Union,” Bev- erage said. Union Mayor Leonard Flint said having a deputy in the city will be a plus because it will mean residents will become familiar with the indi- vidual. This will make them feel comfortable approaching the deputy to express a concern about something they saw or heard about. The mayor said the deputy will develop a better idea of what to be on the lookout for and what to be less concerned about by being based in Union. “It will be more like a neighborhood police ser- vice,” the mayor said. “There will be more per- sonal contact than if a deputy comes in and out.” Jarrell said she chose the theme of “IT” and killer clowns because they are one of her favorite types of scary movies to watch. “Ever since I was a kid, scary stuff has been my thing,” Jarrell said. “I like fear because it is raw and unfiltered emotion.” While the backyard will be full of frights, Jar- rell said one of her friends is going to be building a smaller maze for younger children to walk through that is not as scary. And candy will be available for everyone regardless if they go through the haunted house or children’s maze. Jarrell and Brown said their reasons for doing the maze have little to do with the coronavirus pan- demic. However, the pan- demic has been part of the discussion on how to con- struct and run the haunted house. The Oregon Health Authority said haunted houses are in the moderate risk category, provided there is social distancing and mask wearing. Jar- rell said they plan on stag- gering people entering the haunted house to help pro- vide the distance and will be offering hand sanitizer at the entrance or exit. “Nobody will be touching anyone or any- thing,” she said. The couple said if the event is a success, they would consider continuing the tradition next year with a different theme. News Briefs Democrat candidates hold virtual forum PENDLETON — Nolan Bylenga, Democrat candi- date for Oregon House Dis- trict 58, will host a virtual candidates’ forum via Zoom and Facebook on Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 6-7 p.m. Bylenga, Alex Spenser, a candidate for the Oregon 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives, and Carina Miller, a candidate for Ore- gon’s state Senate Dis- trict 30, each will give a brief introduction and then answer a series of questions. Spenser and Miller also are Democrats. Viewers can submit ques- tions to Bylenga4HD58@ gmail.com or type them into the Facebook comment sec- tion of the event. The forum may be viewed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ events/348169409733942/, or via Zoom with meeting ID 889 5922 9655, pass- code 940696. For more information, email Bylen- ga4HD58@gmail.com. New Pendleton law allows some forms of outside sleeping on public property PENDLETON — Starting Nov. 6, the city of Pendleton will allow resi- dents and visitors to sleep outside on city-owned property, provided it’s not in a park, parking lot, alley or sidewalk and is within a designated time period from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. At a Tuesday, Oct. 6 meeting, the Pendleton City Council passed a city law that attempts to create restrictions to homeless camping on public prop- erty, while complying with recent federal court deci- sions that made it illegal to punish people for public sleeping unless there is an alternative option. Timber projects close Bird Track Springs Campground The U.S. Forest Ser- vice has closed Bird Track Springs Campground off of Highway 244 for a resto- ration/timber project. The Forest Service closed the site in the Wal- lowa-Whitman National Forest on Sept. 30, according to a notice on the webpage for the forest, and it will remain closed until further notice. Spool Cart Campground off Forest Service Road 51 is an alternative site, according to the Forest Service. Contact the La Grande Ranger District at 541-962- 8537 or 541-963-7186 for more information. Maximum rent increase established for 2021 SALEM — The Depart- ment of Administrative Ser- vices set the maximum rent increase at 9.2% for 2021, preventing landlords from increasing rent any higher than the percent allowed. In 2020 the maximum allowed was 9.9%. Local property manager Ashley O’Toole said the John J. Howard & Associ- ates’ office will not change rent very much, as most rental increases occur when tenants move in and out. Ranch-N-Home, La Grande, follows that same practice, office manager Mandy Kassien said. Century 21 property manager Rosa Goodman said the decision to increase rent and the amount to increase it is ultimately up to the property owner. If owners aren’t able to make ends meet or are charging below the rental’s market value, they may decide to increase rent during the lease, Goodman said. But, she said, the pan- demic affects these decisions. “Right now, a lot of prop- erty owners are holding off on increasing due to COVID,” Goodman said. “Many owners would rather stay below market rent value than try to find renters during COVID.” State forestry lifts public use restrictions LA GRANDE — The Oregon Department of For- estry announced is is lifting its restrictions on the pub- lic’s use in forests in the Northeast Oregon District effective Saturday, Oct. 10, at 12:01 a.m. Mitch Williams, La Grande wildland fire Super- visor, said in the release while more seasonable weather conditions have arrived, a threat of fire danger remains. Forest users can have campfires with landowner permission, however they must be fully extinguished before leaving the site unattended. Logging and other indus- trial operations must meet requirements for fire preven- tion, including having fire tools, adequate water supply and lookouts on lands under the protection of the Oregon Department of Forestry. The Northeast Oregon District encompasses lands in Union, Baker, Uma- tilla and Wallowa counties as well as parts of Grant, Morrow and Malheur counties. — EO Media Group
