2A — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, NOVEmBER 7, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
Daily Ladd Canyon’s west entrance now has a third lane
Planner
TODAY
Today is Saturday, Nov. 7,
the 312th day of 2020. There
are 54 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY
On Nov. 7, 1967, Carl
Stokes was elected the first
Black mayor of a major city
— Cleveland, Ohio.
ON THIS DATE
In 1867, Nobel Prize-win-
ning scientist Marie Curie
was born in Warsaw.
In 1917, Russia’s Bolshe-
vik Revolution took place
as forces led by Vladimir
Ilyich Lenin overthrew the
provisional government of
Alexander Kerensky.
In 1944, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt won an un-
precedented fourth term in
office, defeating Republican
Thomas E. Dewey.
In 1962, Richard M. Nixon,
having lost California’s gu-
bernatorial race, held what
he called his “last press con-
ference,” telling reporters,
“You won’t have Nixon to
kick around anymore.”
In 1972, President Richard
Nixon was re-elected in a
landslide over Democrat
George McGovern.
In 1973, Congress
overrode President Richard
Nixon’s veto of the War Pow-
ers Act, which limits a chief
executive’s power to wage
war without congressional
approval.
In 1989, L. Douglas Wilder
won the governor’s race in
Virginia, becoming the first
elected Black governor in
U.S. history; David N. Din-
kins was elected New York
City’s first Black mayor.
In 2001, the Bush adminis-
tration targeted Osama bin
Laden’s multi-million-dollar
financial networks, closing
businesses in four states,
detaining U.S. suspects and
urging allies to help choke
off money supplies in 40
nations.
In 2009, in a victory for
President Barack Obama,
the Democratic-controlled
House narrowly passed,
220-215, landmark health
care legislation to expand
coverage to tens of millions
lacking it and place tough
new restrictions on the
insurance industry.
In 2013, shares of Twitter
went on sale to the public
for the first time; by the clos-
ing bell, the social network
was valued at $31 billion.
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Powerball: $137 million
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Win for Life: Nov. 4
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• 1 p.m.: 1-6-2-8; • 4 p.m.: 5-4-8-3;
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
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By Dick Mason
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
The process of entering
the west entrance of Ladd
Canyon on Interstate 84
just became easier and
safer for drivers.
A new 2-mile-long east-
bound lane starting at Ladd
Canyon’s west entrance
opened Friday, Nov. 6,
which will make it less dif-
ficult for motorists to cope
with heavy truck traffic.
“I think it will be an
incredible benefit,” said
Oregon Department of
Transportation spokes-
person Tom Strandberg.
The section of freeway
now consists of two new
concrete lanes and a third
with new asphalt. Cars
are able to drive in all
three lanes but trucks are
restricted to the two con-
crete lanes. It was installed
as part of the final phase of
ODOT’s $30 million Ladd
Canyon Freight Improve-
ment Project.
Ken Patterson, ODOT’s
Region 5 manager, said
the three-lane east setup
will boost safety, giving
car drivers a lane they can
use to pass slower moving
trucks and prevent them
from being stuck between
semis. Patterson said large
semis sometimes roll at
only 20 mph on the uphill
passage.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Vehicles roll through the Ladd Canyon work zone Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, on Interstate 84
south of La Grande. The Oregon Department of Transportation is finishing its improve-
ments along the stretch of Ladd Canyon, including a new concrete lane for passenger
vehicles.
The truck lanes are
made out of concrete
instead of asphalt because
it will hold up better under
the weight of heavier vehi-
cles, Patterson said. He
also noted concrete is less
susceptible than asphalt
to damage from vehicle
chains.
The expanded space
should reduce the number
of times ODOT has to
close I-84 through Ladd
Canyon for semis blocking
lanes after jackknifing.
Patterson said if a truck
crashes in the future on the
three-lane road, traffic will
be able to move around
it while crews clear the
wreck.
Ladd Canyon is the
fourth site on Interstate 84
in Northeast Oregon where
ODOT has installed a third
lane. The others are Fare-
well Bend, Spring Creek
and Cabbage Hill.
Patterson said road clo-
sures due to jackknifed
trucks have fallen signifi-
cantly at those three sites
since adding the third lanes
in the late 1990s.
“They have made a tre-
mendous difference,” he
said.
Reducing the number
of times Ladd Canyon is
closed will be a plus for
the local economy. Pat-
terson explained many
people commute between
La Grande and Baker City,
which means when Ladd
Canyon is closed they
cannot get to work.
Crews are finishing
up some work in Ladd
Canyon and lanes may be
closed for short periods
over the next week, said
ODOT’s Mike Remily,
manager of the Ladd
Canyon Freight Improve-
ment Project. Remily also
said lane closures will be
suspended when there is
snowfall. He explained
lane closures, which
include setting up traffic
cones, would interfere with
snow removal.
The Ladd Canyon
Freight Improvement
Project started in April
2019. Crews that year wid-
ened the shoulders of the
east- and westbound lanes
of Interstate 84 for 10 miles
between La Grande and
Ladd Canyon, removed a
bridge and installed a con-
crete box-like culvert large
enough to accommodate
semi trailers. Eliminating
the bridge was beneficial
because it tended to get icy,
Patterson said.
First-year work also
included changing the
course of Ladd Canyon’s
Brush Creek to make it
possible for the third lane
to be installed. Work on
the second phase of the
project started in April of
this year.
EOU football players donate time putting together activity kits
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity football team partnered
with the Greater Oregon
STEM Hub to put together
activity boxes for fourth-
grade students in Union,
Grant, Harney,
Wallowa, Baker, Umatilla
and Morrow counties, many
of whom are participating
in distance learning due to
the pandemic.
The Oregon Commu-
nity Foundation granted
GO STEM $19,950 to put
together kits for every
fourth-grade student in the
region. The EOU
student-athletes on Sat-
urday, Oct. 31, put together
2,000 kits focused on sci-
ence, technology, engi-
neering and mathematics.
“Our coach set up a
community service event,
and I saw I was scheduled
for 10 a.m.,” EOU football
player Dillon Holliday said.
“When I got there, things
were already moving pretty
fast. Within five minutes
I got to work. My job was
putting pamphlets in the
kits. Another guy was put-
ting in a snack, and another
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Eastern Oregon University football player Cade Reed helps build 2,000 STEM kits Satur-
day, Oct. 31, 2020, for a community service project. The kits contain one of three activities
exploring science, technology, engineering and mathematics and will be distributed to
fourth-grade students in Eastern Oregon.
put in more papers and
instructions. By the end of
our shift volunteering, we
got a couple hundred boxes
done with just our group.”
Student-athletes are
required to work commu-
nity service hours, and
according to EOU spokes-
person Vicky Hart, the
football team is known for
Bare trees announce coming of winter
being involved in service
activities.
“We hold ourself to a
high standard,” Holliday
said. “The community sup-
ports us a lot, so we should
be supporting the commu-
nity too.”
The boxes contain one
of three kits created by
Pitsco Education, a com-
Wallowa County backs humane
society, camping fee increase
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
Phil Wright/The Observer
The trees along the Fourth Street side of Cook Memorial Library in downtown La
Grande stand barren of leaves Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. The National Weather Service
has forecast chances of rain Saturday for La Grande, with that changing to a chance
of snow Sunday and another chance of snow Monday night.
pany that specializes in
engineering education
for kindergarten through
12th grade. Kits had a sail
car to learn about wind
energy, paper straws and
pipe cleaners for building
a straw structure or a para-
chute-making kit. GO
STEM Executive Director
David Melville said fourth
graders will receive the
kits because this grade has
been the most vulnerable
to falling behind through
online education.
“Most schools have wel-
comed students back up to
third grade, which means
these fourth-grade stu-
dents are still vulnerable to
missing STEM opportuni-
ties in a virtual classroom,”
Melville said.
The boxes also included
a granola bar and gold-
fish crackers as a snack,
because students who are
learning from home may
not have access to food as
much as they had in school,
according to Melville.
He said giving students
access to science, tech-
nology, engineering and
math projects and concepts
at an early age is important
because it can set a child
up for success. Because
COVID-19 and virtual
learning has limited some
STEM education, the kits
they have put together can
provide opportunities to
expand learning.
“This is something the
students can do at home and
with their families,” Mel-
ville said.
ENTERPRISE — Wal-
lowa County threw its sup-
port behind two issues,
Wednesday, Nov. 4, when
the county commissioners
agreed to issue letters
asking for clarification on
legal custody for the Wal-
lowa County Humane
Society and another sup-
porting proposed fee
increases at campgrounds.
Stuart Vencill, hus-
band of humane society
President Carol Vencill,
asked the commissioners
to send a letter that day to
the Oregon Department
of Agriculture. The dead-
line for submitting com-
ments on the issue was
Wednesday.
Vencill said the problem
comes from the Legisla-
ture’s new rules on enforce-
ment of rules governing
animal shelters and the
ODA’s repeated use of the
term “legal custody” of ani-
mals in the care of shelters.
The Legislature, in 2019,
changed the recordkeeping
requirements of “ani-
mal-rescue entities” from
counties to the ODA under
the state veterinarian.
“There are so many
vague areas there,” Vencill
said. “We get an enormous
amount of calls for lost and
found animals, especially
during the tourist season.”
The Wallowa County
Humane Society is a non-
profit but is not formally
licensed, Vencill said.
“It appears we’ll have to
become licensed,” he said.
Like many smaller, rural
counties, Wallowa County
has no animal shelter and
relies on volunteers to
foster animals until owners
can be found.
“We try to temporarily
provide care for them while
we find the owner,” Ven-
cill said.
He said he’s written to
state Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, about the issue,
and heard back from the
senator’s office Tuesday,
Nov. 3. Hansell said he’d
look into the ramifications
of the ODA’s new rules.
Vencill said he’s also
been keeping Commis-
sioner Todd Nash apprised
of the situation and Nash
had taken the lead on the
issue for the commission.
“I know you’re aware
that the county’s overrun
with feral cats. Every one
we can get spayed will cut
down on that problem,”
Vencill said. “We’re very
fortunate to have a gen-
erous community to sup-
port us and we appreciate
your input as well.”
The commissioners
voted to review Vencill’s
letter and send it to the
ODA.
The commissioners
also agreed to send a
letter to the U.S. Forest
Service in support of
proposed increases of
campground fees in
the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest.
Commissioner Susan
Roberts said the increase
would be negligible, from
about the current $5 a day
to about $7 a day.
“I suggested they were
asking too little,” she said.
The fee increase is
to help cover the cost of
upkeep of campsites.
In their letter, the com-
missioners wrote, “This
year, visitors crowded
Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest recre-
ation areas leaving wear
and tear, trash, van-
dalism and human waste
behind. We understand that
your agency has budget
challenges.”