The Observer., October 29, 2020, Page 10, Image 10

2A — THE OBSERVER
DAILY
PLANNER
TODAY
Today is Thursday, Oct. 29,
the 303rd day of 2020. There
are 63 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On Oct. 29, 1929, “Black
Tuesday” descended
upon the New York Stock
Exchange. Prices collapsed
amid panic selling and
thousands of investors were
wiped out as America’s
“Great Depression” began.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1940, a blindfolded
Secretary of War Henry
L. Stimson drew the fi rst
number — 158 — from a
glass bowl in America’s fi rst
peacetime military draft.
In 1987, President Ronald
Reagan announced his
choice of Douglas H. Gins-
burg, a nomination that fell
apart over revelations of
Ginsburg’s previous mari-
juana use.
In 1994, gunman Francis-
co Martin Duran fi red more
than two dozen shots from
a semiautomatic rifl e at the
White House. (Duran was
later convicted of trying to
assassinate President Bill
Clinton and was sentenced
to 40 years in prison.)
In 1998, Sen. John Glenn,
at age 77, roared back into
space aboard the shuttle
Discovery, retracing the trail
he’d blazed for America’s
astronauts 36 years earlier.
In 2004, four days before
Election Day in the U.S.,
Osama bin Laden, in a vid-
eotaped statement, admitted
that he’d ordered the Sep-
tember 11 attacks and told
Americans “the best way to
avoid another Manhattan”
was to stop threatening
Muslims’ security.
In 2012, Superstorm San-
dy slammed ashore in New
Jersey and slowly marched
inland, devastating coastal
communities and causing
widespread power outages;
the storm and its aftermath
were blamed for at least 182
deaths in the U.S.
In 2017, all but 10 mem-
bers of the Houston Texans
took a knee during the
national anthem, reacting to
a remark from team owner
Bob McNair to other NFL
owners that “we can’t have
the inmates running the
prison.”
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $3.7 million
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Mega Millions: $109 million
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Powerball: $102 million
18-20-27-45-65—PB-6 x2
Win for Life: Oct. 26
16-19-64-68
Pick 4: Oct. 27
• 1 p.m.: 0-4-2-2; • 4 p.m.: 7-6-2-1;
• 7 p.m.: 1-4-2-7; • 10 p.m.: 7-3-8-2
Pick 4: Oct. 26
• 1 p.m.: 2-9-9-8; • 4 p.m.: 9-9-1-4;
• 7 p.m.: 5-8-1-8; • 10 p.m.: 7-0-2-1
DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer,
please call 541-963-3161.
CORRECTION
The Oct. 27, 2020,
article, “Blue Mountain
Humane Association
recovering,” incorrectly
stated former director
John Brinlee’s depar-
ture. Brinlee resigned in
January 2020.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
Ghosts, ghouls and ‘Alice in Wonderland’
By Ronald Bond
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Hal-
loween is when Misty
McNall of Enterprise really
expresses her creative side.
“For an artist, a canvas
is pretty wide open when it
comes to Halloween,” she
said.
For more than two
decades, that canvas has
been her home at 500 S.
Depot St., which annually
gets turned into an eye-pop-
ping display both ghouls
and goblins likely are to
enjoy.
McNall said she fi rst
decorated her home 21
years ago after getting
some decorations when her
daughter got her fi rst Hal-
loween costume.
“I found these cute
little pumpkin lights when
she got her fi rst pumpkin
(outfi t),” she said. “I started
adding on from there.”
As the years went on,
the decorating at her home
— both inside and out —
became more extravagant.
Now, it fi lls her entire front
yard, and lately has carried
with it a theme.
Her setup this year is
inspired by “Alice in Won-
derland,” and contains
everything from a fl oating
Alice, to a rabbit hole in the
sidewalk that cuts through
her yard, the Mad Hatter at
a tea party and more.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Misty McNall declined to say who was in the coffi n Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, at her McNall
Slaughter House Wonderland she made at her Depot Street home in Enterprise. She is
employing an “Alice in Wonderland” theme with a ghoulish twist for Halloween.
“Last year it was clowns,
and I hate clowns, but it
was a lot of fun,” she said.
“I think next year is going
to be ‘Beetlejuice’ — I
don’t know. I found a lot of
fun in the themes.”
McNall also is
resourceful. She makes
most of her own decora-
tions, and often will fi nd
ways to reuse an item over
and over.
“I save a lot of money.
I recycle and reuse on just
about everything,” she said.
“A lot of my dummies are
made out of plastic jugs and
branches.”
Decorating in recent
years also became a way to
channel her creative energy
to remember her dad, who
died in 2014.
“I’ve always been one
who goes all-out anyway
— my kids’ birthdays, I
make the pinatas and cakes
anyways,” she said. “Put-
ting all that (into it), and
fi nding that in Halloween,
I get really happy when I’m
decorating.”
She added of her dad
that “he loved my creative
side.”
McNall, who described
herself as a “little kid in a
candy store” when she is
out decorating, also enjoys
getting in costume and
integrating herself into the
display.
“The funnest part is
standing there like you
are part of the decorations
and then scaring (trick-or-
treaters),” said McNall, who
will dress up as the Queen
of Hearts this year.
Halloween is the day she
invests the most time dec-
orating for, saying she usu-
ally tries to be done setting
up by mid-October, though
she at times is working on
details days later. She noted
in a Sunday, Oct. 25 inter-
view that she was still dec-
orating earlier in the day.
“The cobweb is the
fi nal touches,” she said.
“It’s what kind of ties it all
together and gives it the
creep factor.”
She also decorates for
Christmas, and while not
as extravagant, it also is a
day she does get into for
decorating.
“I like Christmas, but
Christmas is different and
elegant and pretty,” she
said. “I don’t get to have the
crazy fun I do with Hal-
loween. We do this new
thing with Christmas with
a funny theme.”
For McNall, part of the
enjoyment is the reactions
from passers-by and get-
ting others involved, which
she said recently she’s been
able to do.
“When people go by and
they stop to enjoy the deco-
rations, it’s a good feeling,”
she said. “We used to be
the only people that deco-
rated in the county. Finally
other people started deco-
rating. I think it’s fun for
the kids. They have a lot
of fun coming through my
yard.”
Voter turnout reaches more than 51% in Union County
Cook Memorial Library
at 2006 Fourth St., La
Grande, is the newest
ballot drop-off site in
town.
The box is open 24/7
and is ADA accessible.
The box will close at
8 p.m. on election night,
Nov. 3, 2020.
Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — With
less than a week until
election night, more than
half of the registered
voters in Union County
have turned in their
ballots.
Voters have dropped
off 9,884 ballots as of
Tuesday Oct. 27, a 51.9%
voter turnout, according
to Union County Clerk
Robin Church. In the 2016
General Election, 4,669
voters returned ballots
with fi ve days left before
election night. Church
said 79% of Union County
Kip Roberson/Contributed Photo
voters participated in the
2016 election.
Union County voters
also have a new place to
drop off ballots.
Cook Memorial
Library, 2006 Fourth St.,
La Grande, now has an
offi cial ballot drop-off
box. The box will be open
until 8 p.m. on election
night, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Cook Memorial
Library Director Kip Rob-
erson said the library is
the city’s newest ballot
drop-off site. Voters also
can drop ballots at the
Union County Clerk’s
Offi ce at 1001 Fourth St.,
La Grande.
“This election, we’re all
voting in an environment
where some politicians,
especially at the federal
level, are trying to raise
doubts about the security
of voting by mail and the
ability of the post offi ce
to deliver mail-in ballots
on time,” Roberson said.
“So many libraries across
the country are using their
unimpeachable reputa-
tions to offer stability as
ballot drop-off sites.”
He said libraries as
ballot drop-off sites
has been common-
place across Oregon for
years, and when he real-
ized La Grande City Hall
was no longer a drop-off
site, leaving just one in
the town, he convinced
Church the library was
the perfect location for
another drop box.
Nine new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Union County
By Kaleb Lay
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Oregon Health Authority
reported nine new cases
of coronavirus infec-
tion in Union County
on Wednesday, Oct. 28,
refl ecting a recent surge
across the United States and
the world.
“COVID-19 is in our
community,” said Union
County Public Health
Administrator Carrie Bro-
goitti in a press release.
“We’re seeing it turn up in
a lot of different places, so
I think it’s a really good
reminder for people that
the preventative measures
that we’re asking them to
take are really critical right
now.”
Union County’s total
virus count now stands at
477 cases and two deaths
since the outbreak began.
George Thompson,
community coordination
director for the Center
for Human Develop-
ment, noted the number of
people under observation
for the virus through con-
tact tracing is now “into the
triple-digits.”
The spike in cases is in
line with statewide trends.
Oregon reported a total of
424 new cases Wednesday,
including seven deaths.
That case total is an
increase from 391 the pre-
vious day.
Nearby Baker County
also recorded an increase in
cases, registering eight the
same day.
Brogoitti stressed the
importance of staying vig-
ilant in taking measures
against infection.
“The face coverings
aren’t going to protect you
100%,” Brogoitti said, “so
that’s why we ask you to do
Two Haines Elementary School
students test positive for COVID-19
District’s case count
remains at two as of
Monday, Oct. 26
By Chris Collins
Baker City Herald
HAINES — Two students
at Haines Elementary School
recently tested positive for
COVID-19.
The two were among a
group of students who showed
symptoms of possible illness
during a routine daily screening
before they entered the school
on Thursday, Oct. 22, Baker
School District Superinten-
dent Mark Witty said Monday
morning.
Each day staff members take
students’ temperatures, make a
visual check of their well-being
and ask questions about their
health.
“We identifi ed kids with high
temperatures, isolated them and
sent them home,” Witty said.
He would not say how many
students were sent home.
Two of those students tested
positive.
Witty did not know how
many of the students who
were sent home were tested for
COVID-19.
Haines School has 114 stu-
dents in kindergarten through
sixth grade, along with 12
preschoolers.
Witty said there are no plans
at this point to close Haines
Elementary. District admin-
istrators and Baker County
Health Department offi -
cials would make the decision
together, he said.
“We would do that if the sit-
uation called for it,” he said.
In a press release Sunday,
Witty said the district is
working closely with the Baker
County Health Department to
notify families and staff.
Students who are tested and
are not infected with the virus
can return to school after their
fever subsides for 24 hours
without medication, he said.
The health department has
contacted students and staff
who were in close proximity
with the students who tested
positive. Close proximity is
defi ned as being within 6 feet of
the person who has tested pos-
itive for a total of 15 minutes
over a 24-hour period.
Those who were required
to quarantine were notifi ed on
Sunday afternoon, Witty said.
District staff deep cleaned
spaces in all affected class-
rooms and buses Sunday, Witty
said.
As of Monday, the two pos-
itive tests at Haines were the
only ones from the school dis-
trict, which resumed in-person
classes for students from pre-
school through sixth grade on
Oct. 14.
A limited number of students
who were on a bus with the two
Haines students who tested pos-
itive also have been quaran-
tined, Witty said.
Students who are quaran-
tined will be able to continue
their studies at home through
the school district’s comprehen-
sive distance learning system.
all the other things along
with (them). The distancing
and the face covering — if
you put those two things
together and have people
stay home if they’re sick, it
really helps decrease your
risk.”
CHD also reported
in the release it is lim-
iting testing to those
identifi ed through con-
tact tracing, but testing is
available elsewhere in the
community.
The Oregon Health
Authority urged people to
avoid using face shields in
place of masks, saying the
plastic barriers are ineffec-
tive at stopping the trans-
mission of aerosols.
“Now we’re thinking
(the virus) can also be aero-
solized, which is more like
a spray paint can or hair-
spray,” Brogoitti said. “The
particles are smaller, they
can disperse wider, they
can stay in the air longer
and travel further … they
can really get around a face
shield.”
Health offi cials also are
urging people to rethink
their Halloween plans
and to avoid door-to-door
trick-or-treating.
NEWS BRIEFS
Drug Take Back Day hauls
in almost 100 pounds of typo in the contest for Position
2 on the city council. But Union
drugs
County Clerk Robin Church said
LA GRANDE — Offi cers with
the La Grande Police Depart-
ment and members of the Union
County Safe Communities Coali-
tion at Safeway in La Grande on
Saturday, Oct. 24, collected 98
pounds of unwanted and expired
medications as part of the annual
fall Drug Take Back Day.
“Theft of prescription drugs
is a problem in La Grande,” La
Grande Police Chief Gary Bell
said in a press release from the
department. “An event like the
one that took place on Saturday
is a good preventative measure of
drug abuse.”
The event is over but people
can turn in their unwanted med-
ications at any time at the 24/7
drop box in the lobby of the police
station at 1109 K Ave., La Grande.
Through 2020 the city has col-
lected 300 pounds of prescrip-
tions, with time still to beat 2019’s
total of 301 pounds.
The next Drug Take Back Day
will be held in April 2021.
Typo does not affect La
Grande election
LA GRANDE — La Grande
voters received a ballots with a
it’s not an issue.
The race is for a four-year
term on the council. But the typo
reduced that to just two years.
Church said she contacted City
Manager Robert Strope and the
candidates running for the seat,
incumbent Nicole Howard and
challenger Denise Wheeler, all
agreed there was no need to send
out new ballots.
Church said the election will
be for a four-year term no matter
the typo.
City extends emergency
declaration for COVID-19
LA GRANDE — La Grande
City Manager Robert Strope
extended the city’s declaration of
emergency Wednesday morning,
Oct. 28.
The state of emergency will
extend through Jan. 2, 2021.
The state of emergency allows
the city manager to take actions
necessary to protect health,
safety and welfare of the city of
La Grande. The move coincides
with Gov. Kate Brown’s extension
Tuesday of the state of emergency
for Oregon.
— EO Media Group