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THURSDAY
•
November 12, 2020 • $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Mona Williams of Joseph
Election
system
warnings
get review
New secretary of state
to examine outdated
system, other issues
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
Social distancing rules and
plastic dividers will be in place,
everyone will be required to
wear masks and extensive san-
itizing work will be done. In
addition, all guests and volun-
teers will be screened regu-
larly, a process that will include
temperature checks. Any
guests who appear to be ill will
be provided with alternative
accommodations.
“Nobody will be turned
away,” Smith said.
People attending will have
the opportunity not only to see
the expanded space and facilities
at the shelter but also get infor-
mation on how they can receive
training to serve as volunteers
there. Smith said there is a great
need for volunteers at the shelter
and all help is welcome and will
make a signifi cant impact.
“If someone volunteers to
work just one or two times a
month, it will make a big differ-
ence,” Smith said.
Information about volun-
teering also is available on the
Union County Warming Sta-
tion’s Facebook page. The exact
hours the warming station will
operate have not yet been deter-
mined, but Smith said the over-
night shelter likely will open
SALEM — Oregon Secretary
of State-elect Shemia Fagan, a
Democrat, said she will examine
the “critical warnings” that the
state’s former elections director
voiced before he was fi red last
week by the incumbent secretary
of state.
In a blunt memo
to Fagan and her
Republican chal-
lenger on the eve
of the 2020 elec-
tion, Oregon Elec-
tions Director Ste-
Fagan
phen Trout said some
of the state’s elec-
tion systems are run-
ning on an operating
system that Microsoft
stopped supporting
last January, pointed
Trout
out an absence of
multifactor authenti-
cation to access those
election systems and
raised other issues.
He said the cur-
rent state of tech-
Clarno
nology and lack of
support in the agency
made his job impossible.
“Oregon’s former Elections
Director, Steve Trout raised crit-
ical warnings that concern me as
Oregon’s next Secretary of State,”
Fagan tweeted late Tuesday, Nov.
10. “I spoke with Mr. Trout per-
sonally this week and we plan
to speak later this week and go
through his memo together, line
by line.”
Trout also said the secretary of
state’s offi ce used federal funds
inappropriately and may need to
be returned after an audit. It is
unclear who would do an audit if
it comes to that with no confl ict
of interest, since the secretary of
state’s offi ce runs the audits divi-
sion, besides being in charge of
elections.
Andrea Chiapella, a spokes-
woman for current Secretary
of State Bev Clarno, a Repub-
lican, has denied there was any
wrongdoing.
Rob Bovett, the lawyer and
lobbyist for the Oregon Associ-
ation of County Clerks, wrote
to Fagan on Nov. 9 on behalf of
the group, directing her attention
to Trout’s letter. Bovett said the
clerks are “very concerned” about
the Oregon Centralized Voter
See, Warming/Page 5A
See, Review/Page 5A
Dick Mason/The Observer
Jill Boyd, right, and Audrey Smith move a mattress Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, at the Union County Warming Station, La Grande. Smith is chair
of the warming station’s board, and Boyd is a member of its board. After a year-long hiatus, the shelter board hopes to be open soon in its
new location on Third Street.
Time
to
warm
up
Union County Warming Station prepares for opening
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Union
County Warming Station, after
a one-year hiatus, is set to open
soon in its new home on Third
Street in La Grande.
The shelter’s board com-
pleted all renovations needed to
bring the warming station, now
in Suite B of a business building
at 2008 Third Street, up to code,
said Audrey Smith, chair of the
board.
“We may be able to open as
early as Nov. 15,” Smith said.
The community will get a
chance to see the warming sta-
tion’s new home, prior to the
start of its operation, at an open
house Friday, Nov. 13, from
4:30-6:30 p.m.
Before the warming station
can open its doors to those in
need of a warm place to sleep,
the city of La Grande needs to
grant an occupancy permit and
the La Grande Fire Department
must determine what the facil-
ity’s capacity will be. Smith
estimates this will be about 20
guests as long as the COVID-19
pandemic continues and believes
the capacity will rise after it
ends.
Smith said the warming sta-
tion again will fi ll an important
humanitarian need.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Audrey Smith, right, and Jill Boyd carry items Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020,
into the Union County Warming Station, La Grande. Smith is chair of
the shelter’s board, and Boyd is a member of the board.
“Nobody should have to sleep
outside in the winter,” she said.
Smith said homeless people
she has spoken to all say
spending nights outside is
stressful.
“They have told me they get
terrible sleep. They are always
worried about the police asking
them questions or being robbed,”
she said.
The result is homeless people
often are perpetually tired, pre-
venting them from being able
to work on turning their lives
around.
“It is hard to work on goals
when you can’t sleep and are
constantly just trying to sur-
vive,” Smith said.
Those attending the Friday
open house can learn about the
many steps to protect guests
and staff from COVID-19.
K-3 La Grande students to return to distance learning
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — La Grande
School District kindergarten
through third-grade students will
return to comprehensive distance
learning Monday, Nov. 16.
Superintendent George Men-
doza delivered the news at a vir-
tual town hall Tuesday night,
Nov. 10, about the impact of
rising COVID-19 rates in Union
County on his district.
Mendoza said the two-week
pause that Gov. Kate Brown is
asking Union County and eight
other counties to make because of
rising COVID-19 rates does not
address schools, but Union Coun-
ty’s increasing numbers of pos-
itive cases of COVID-19 never-
theless will have a major impact
on the La Grande School Dis-
trict. Mendoza explained that the
rising rates will force the district
to again go into full Comprehen-
sive Distance Learning mode.
This means all students will
again have to attend their classes
virtually. The change will affect
INDEX
Business ....... 1B
Classified ...... 2B
Comics .......... 5B
Crossword .... 2B
WEATHER
Dear Abby .... 6B
Horoscope .... 2B
Letters ........... 4A
Lottery........... 2A
SATURDAY
Obituaries ..... 3A
Opinion ......... 4A
Sports ........... 7A
State .............. 8A
younger students, those in kin-
dergarten through third grade,
since they are the only ones
receiving all of their instruc-
tion onsite. Students in grades
four through 12 still use the CDL
model.
The district’s K-3 students
have been receiving instruction
on site since Oct. 5 after starting
the school year with distance
learning. They will switch back
to CDL beginning Monday, Nov.
16. Mendoza said the teachers
the rest of this week will be
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
34 LOW
41/34
Showers around
Rain and drizzle
BUILDING A HOUSE FROM SCRATCH
helping their students prepare to
again receive CDL instruction,
including making sure they have
the proper equipment.
The switch back to CDL for
K-3 students is necessary under
the state’s latest COVID-19 met-
rics for schools, released Oct. 30.
Mendoza said switching the
district back to full CDL is a dis-
couraging move.
“I don’t feel that I am beating
COVID-19. I feel that COVID-19
See, Distance/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 135
3 sections, 22 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com