Fall flavors without frying
#RenewLaGrande Platform.
• Publish full Council & Commission materials
online before public meetings
• Repeal red tape that impedes doing business
• Plow our roads
In Home & Living
Read more at www.alexfor.us/platform
Endorsed by Union County Republicans
Follow us on the web
TUESDAY • October 27, 2020
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Melvin Lawyer of North Powder
Sabrina Thompson/The Observer
Blue Mountain Humane Associa-
tion, La Grande, is in the process of
remodeling its adult cat room, offer-
ing more socialization and freedom
for the cats to roam.
Blue Mountain
Humane
Association
recovering
Sabrina Thompson/The Observer
Residents at 1108 I Ave., La Grande, are ready for Halloween night with their house decked out in pumpkins and spooky decorations
Monday morning, Oct. 26, 2020.
A COVID-19 Halloween
Adjusting to the pandemic means finding creative ways to celebrate
Rashelle Webb/ Contributed Photo
Elgin resident Rashelle Webb has her candy bowl all prepped for
handing out candy on Halloween. She said she plans to take her
daughter trick-or-treating and pass out candy as part of her Hal-
loween festivities.
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — Even though
the traditional Halloween events have
been canceled, residents of Union
County are fi nding alternative ways
to celebrate the spooky season while
staying safe from COVID-19.
The Oregon Health Authority said
trick-or-treating and trunk-or-treat
events pose a high risk of spreading
coronavirus. Trunk-or-treat is a pop-
ular take on traditional trick-or-
treating where instead of decorating
your house and passing out candy, the
community comes together with dec-
orated cars to hand out candy. OHA,
however, suggests lower-risk alterna-
tives, such as staying in and watching
a scary movie or going to a socially
distanced one-way, open-air haunted
maze.
Carrie Brogoitti, public health
administrator for the Center for
Human Development, La Grande,
See, Halloween/Page 5A
See, BMHA/Page 7A
The Observer
• La Grande Main Street
Downtown is holding its
annual Halloween cos-
tume contest online
and will provide more
details on its social media
platforms.
• Drive-thru trick-or-
treating: 4-6 p.m. at River-
side Park, La Grande.
• Subaru enthusiasts
trunk-or-treat: 4-7 p.m. at
Kehr Chiropractic, 1802
Fourth St., La Grande.
• Next Step Flooring’s
Halloween trick-or-treat:
5-7 p.m. in the parking
lot at Bearco Loop, La
Grande.
• “It” themed haunted
house and children’s
maze: 4-9 p.m. at 305 N.
17th St., Elgin.
By Sabrina Thompson
LA GRANDE — The Blue
Mountain Humane Association’s
former director John Brinlee left the
animal shelter in June 2019. More
than a year later, the president of the
association’s board of directors, Bev-
erly Beach, said the rescue center
is making progress cleaning up the
mess he left behind.
According to Beach, Brinlee left
the shelter in shambles, with trash
throughout the building, incomplete
fi nancial records and unpaid bills.
Financially the shelter is strug-
gling but moving in the right direc-
tion, Beach said, and record keeping
and bookkeeping now are consistent,
with every animal and every cent
accounted for.
However, because the associa-
tion cannot take volunteers or fund-
raise due to COVID-19, Beach said
money for repairs and refurbishment
is tight. She said it is even more tight
after having to pay the Internal Rev-
enue Service for payroll taxes that
were not paid in 2016. The shelter
hired an accounting fi rm in 2017.
By Sabrina Thompson
HALLOWEEN
EVENTS AND
ALTERNATIVES
ON OCT. 31
Shelter’s board president
blames former director for
leaving mess, not paying
taxes
REV Center research to help local economies
Data collection will better inform plans
for use in the Blue Mountains
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
and Ronald Bond
Wallowa County Chieftain
EASTERN OREGON
— Local economies will
receive a boost in data that
could benefi t them and pro-
vide vital information to the
U.S. Forest Service and its
effort to create a multi-use
plan for the national forests
in the Blue Mountains.
The Rural Engagement
and Vitality Center, a part-
nership between Eastern
Oregon University and Wal-
lowa Resources, is working
to collect data to better
understand the the eco-
nomic effects of the U.S.
Forest Service’s Blue Moun-
tains Forest Plan. The Blues
Intergovernmental Council,
INDEX
Classified ...... 4B
Comics .......... 7B
Crossword .... 4B
Dear Abby .... 8B
Home ............ 1B
Horoscope .... 4B
Letters ........... 4A
Lottery........... 2A
Nation ........... 9A
State .............. 8A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..... 3A
Opinion ......... 4A
Sudoku ......... 7B
Weather ........ 8B
World .......... 10A
a subcommittee of the
Eastern Oregon Counties
Association, is spearheading
the project.
The Forest Service and
Eastern Oregon Counties
Association are fi nalizing
the plans for collecting the
data.
Two Eastern Oregon
University economics pro-
fessors, Peter Maille and
Scott McConnell, are
leading the socioeconomics
portion of the research
with a rotating intern each
WEATHER
quarter. Nils Christof-
fersen, director of Wallowa
Resources, and REV Center
Program Manager Julie
Keniry are also helping in
these efforts for Wallowa
County.
“We came together to
create a plan specifi c to our
regions and local econo-
mies,” McConnell said.
One of the factors that
led to the REV formation
was an objection to the way
the Forest Service con-
ducted an economic anal-
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
25 LOW
60/31
Hazy
Mostly sunny
LA GRANDE MAYOR’S RACE
ysis of the redrawn forest
plan revision. The analysis
didn’t give a full scope of
the impact of locations not
on a main thoroughfare and
failed to take into account
specifi cs of local economies.
“The economic anal-
ysis was done down the
(Interstate) 84 corridor. If
that is where you are going
for your economic anal-
ysis you are missing a lot of
the economy. That is where
See, Data/Page 7A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 128
2 sections, 18 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com