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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER Daily Planner TODAY Today is Sunday, Nov. 22, the 327th day of 2020. There are 39 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On Nov. 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was shot to death during a mo- torcade in Dallas; Texas Gov. John B. Connally, riding in the same car as Kennedy, was seriously wounded; suspected gunman Lee Har- vey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president. ON THIS DATE: In 1935, a flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, California, carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met to discuss mea- sures for defeating Japan. In 1961, Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds was named Most Valuable Player of the National League. In 1965, the musical “Man of La Mancha” opened on Broadway. In 1967, the UN Security Council approved Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from territories it had captured the previous June, and implicitly called on adversaries to recognize Israel’s right to exist. In 1977, regular passenger service between New York and Europe on the super- sonic Concorde began. In 1980, death claimed film star Mae West at age 87. In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatch- er, having failed to win reelection of the Conserva- tive Party leadership on the first ballot, announced she would resign. In 2014, a 12-year-old Black boy, Tamir Rice, was killed by police outside a Cleveland recreation center while holding a pellet gun. A grand jury declined to indict either the patrolman who fired the fatal shot or a training officer. LOTTERY Megabucks: $4.6 million 10-12-19-23-28-35 Mega Millions: $176 million 8-13-35-46-68—16 x3 Powerball: $179 million 4-5-17-43-52—PB-5 x2 Win for Life: Nov. 18 15-19-63-65 Pick 4: Nov. 19 • 1 p.m.: 7–2-3-3; • 4 p.m.: 8-5-6-2; • 7 p.m.: 1-6-1-4; • 10 p.m.: 5–2–0-7 Pick 4: Nov. 18 • 1 p.m.: 6-9-8-4; • 4 p.m.: 7-0-2-3; • 7 p.m.: 4–5-9-4; • 10 p.m.: 1-3-4-9 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, please call 541-963-3161. Adding more protection from predators Wallowa County couple adds Kangal shepherd guard dogs to their pack By Bill Bradshaw Wallowa County Chieftain ALLEN CANYON — A local couple recently upped their animal defense with a pair of Kangal shepherd puppies to replace their aging rottweilers. “They’ll protect all the animals and your children,” said Jan Hileman, who with husband, Benny, lives along Allen Canyon Loop south- east of Wallowa. “That’s what they’re bred for.” The rare guard dogs are native to Turkey. Not so much herding dogs, they’re more to keep an eye on their territory — and those in it — and protect what’s there. “We’re griping about cows getting killed, and I think it’s time people find out there is something that can really help,” Jan Hileman said. The Hilemans have nine dogs total — five they reg- ularly let outside and four that are more indoor dogs. In addition to the two Kan- gals, they have two rott- weilers, a border collie, two chihuahuas, a Boston ter- rier “and a fuzzy dog” mutt, Benny said. Several are getting quite old, and their days are numbered. Some may see having such a large pack as a problem, but the Hilemans don’t. “All of our dogs stay here because we watch them all the time,” Jan said. “And they teach each other things.” “But somebody has to be the pack leader, and I’ve already done that with our dogs,” Benny added. He said they’ve both been working with the Kan- gals — two females that are about 5 months old. They’ll be advantageous to replace the older rottweilers, “once they get more grown up and trained better,” he said. “I have been trying to walk them around the fence line and teach them that that’s the end.” Benny said training is important, as the Kan- gals are more likely to stay home than his rottweilers. The Hilemans also said the girls — Callie and Zahara — have been relatively easy to train. “I put those dogs on a lead and Callie backed up on me a little, but Zahara tromped right along. I could’ve taken her to the show ring,” Benny said. “I stop; she sits down. Callie, I have to tell her to sit down. They’re really getting to learn.” Jan said the puppies do come with challenges. “They’re so stubborn,” she said. Kangals show a natural instinct to survey the sur- rounding area and watch for anything alarming. “It’s a natural instinct that they stay right here and protect their turf,” she said. “Callie was sit- ting here this morning just looking over the valley. They always, always know what’s going on around Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain Kangal shepherds Callie, left, and Zahara show affection to rottweiler Reco while their owners Jan, left, and Benny Hileman watch Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. The 5-month-old Kangals are guard dogs the Hilemans recently got to protect their Allen Canyon Loop home southeast of Wallowa. them. … They notice everything.” They respond well to affection, too. “You have to love them,” Jan said. “They’re like children, you have to keep their minds busy. I went out and got a bunch of big bones for them and that helps.” The Kangals’ ability as guard dogs is as much in their physique as in their intelligence. A male can grow to more than 170 pounds and, when on its hind legs, it can rest its fore- legs on the shoulders of a tall man. They also have the record for the strongest bite. By Dick Mason The Observer LA GRANDE — The immediate budget picture for the La Grande School District looks solid despite the recession Oregon is recovering from. La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza said Wednesday, Nov. 18, the district’s budget outlook for the current academic year is stable. “Our budget will not be reduced in any way, there will be no cuts, everything will remain intact,” Mendoza said at a school board meeting. One reason the dis- trict’s financial situation looks good is that expenses are down, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. School district budget director Chris Panike noted travel expenses are almost nonexistent. There is much less need for staff travel in part because of the pandemic, which has dramatically reduced the number of in-person meet- ings across the state. The La Grande School District also has the a strong cash carryover from the 2019-20 school year. This was made pos- sible in part by savings the school district enjoyed in the spring of this year on travel, busing and other expenses in the immediate months after the pandemic started, Panike said. Clouds may loom on the horizon though for the 2021-22 school year, when Mendoza said a state budget shortfall is pro- jected because of declining income tax revenue due to the recession caused by the pandemic. Such a shortfall could result in a reduced availability of state funding for schools. La Grande Rural Fire Protection District/Contributed Photo Firefighters with the La Grande Rural Fire Protection District fight a blaze engulfing a semitrailer Wednesday night, Nov. 18, 2020, on the eastbound side of Interstate 84 near the milepost 262 interchange with Highway 82. The fire district on its Facebook page reported it responded to the fire a little before 10 p.m. and the contents of the trailer were difficult to extinguish, requir- ing several hours of mop-up work. The emergency led to the closure of the eastbound lanes, prompting drivers to seek alternate routes. The Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon State Police and the Union County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene. Baker City trims manager list to two BAKER CITY — Baker City has trimmed the list of city manager candidates from three to two. City councilors decided during a special meeting Tuesday night, Nov. 17, to eliminate Scott McClure of Monmouth from contention to replace Fred Warner Jr., who is retiring at the end of the year. Councilors voted to have Mayor Loran Joseph negotiate Online sources say they have a bite force measured at 743 pounds per square inch. Their females won’t grow that large, but they should be large enough and strong enough to ward off any of the wolves, bears, cougars or coyotes the Hile- mans have seen on their wooded property. “We’ve had more than our share of wolves on this hill,” Benny said. There was the time when Jan finished showering, looked out of the bathroom window only to face a black bear inches away. “I don’t think he (Benny) even believed me,” Jan said. “No, I didn’t,” he admitted. Benny estimated it was an older, 250-300-pound bear that left its paw marks on the outside wall of the house. “We’ve had other ani- mals here. We just accept it,” Jan said. “I used to walk these mountains without any guns.… I knew of a former neighbor girl who was mauled by a bear.” Such encounters with predators are the main reason they got the Kangals. “There are more wolves now,” she said. “We just killed several coyotes. That, and our other dogs are get- ting older.” La Grande School District budget solid — for now Semitrailer fire closes interchange Baker City Herald SaTuRday, NOVEmBER 21, 2020 LOCAL/REGION with the two remaining candi- dates — Jonathan Cannon of Saluda, North Carolina, and Steve Ashworth of Alpine, Wyoming. Joseph said councilors rated one of the two higher, but they were “so close” the council would be comfort- able offering the job to either. He said he will try to reach a tentative contract agreement with the candidate who has an edge and present that to the council for its approval. If that is unsuccessful, Joseph said he would nego- tiate with the other candidate. He declined to identify the frontrunner. The council’s goal is to approve an employment con- tract with the new manager at its Dec. 8 meeting, but Joseph said he hopes to reach a pre- liminary agreement before then and to announce that publicly. On the plus side, Panike said funding in several of the state’s reserve funds is solid. Money from these could offset a loss of state revenue in the 2021-23 biennium. Falling enrollment also could hurt the school dis- trict financially. The dis- trict’s enrollment as of the Oct. 1 reporting date was down 134 students from a year ago. This could cost the school district $1.1 mil- lion because the district receives $8,600 per student from the state. Much of the enrollment decline has been in kinder- garten through third grade. Panike said this may be because more parents are homeschooling younger children or enrolling them in online programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has interrupted in-person education. Still, Panike said, the district anticipates many of these children returning to school after the pan- demic. That could create a bulge in primary grade enrollment, Mendoza said, and a need for more teachers and staff. News Briefs Seaside police chief accepts job in Enterprise ENTERPRISE — David Ham, chief of police in Seaside, has accepted an offer from the Enterprise City Council to become the new police chief here, according to a press release. Ham has more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, including six years as chief in Seaside. He accepted the position Friday, Nov. 13. The position of chief is becoming vacant after Joel Fish, the current chief, won the election to become Wallowa County Ham sheriff. He takes his new position in early January. There were several candidates for the chief position, the release stated. After discussing the conditional offer to Ham in executive session Monday, Nov. 9, the council returned to the reg- ular session to vote on making him an offer. This decision came after a three- part hiring process, which included an application scoring committee and interviews by a panel consisting of the council’s executive com- mittee, law enforcement personnel and multiple community leaders and partners. The Enterprise Police Committee then made a recommendation to the council, which finalized the decision. “The city of Enterprise is con- fident that Chief Ham’s experience and dedication to law enforcement will immensely benefit the Enter- prise Police Department and the city of Enterprise as a whole,” the release stated. Ham’s position in Seaside has him supervising a larger department than in Enterprise, where there are four officers working with the chief. The Seaside Police Department maintains a minimum of two patrol units on duty, 24 hours a day. The patrol division consists of three sergeants supervising 14 officers, according to its website. Blue Mountain Translator District adds new channel LA GRANDE — The Blue Moun- tain Translator District is broadcasting a new channel on local airwaves and in Portland. Executive Director Alex McHaddad said the project to get a channel on the air began in March. The channel broadcasts local government meet- ings, educational shows and entertain- ment and is open for local residents and businesses to put their own shows on the air. The district has been broadcasting meetings of the Elgin and La Grande city councils, Union County commis- sioners and La Grande School District online since April, and those are avail- able at www.bmtd.org. McHaddad said the project to broadcast these public meetings was due in part to the pan- demic, which prevents gatherings in person. “The spirit behind local govern- ment is the public has access to every- thing that is going on,” McHaddad said. “A lot of people here do have internet access and can stream it on Facebook, but not everyone does.” Many of the district’s users are in rural areas or can’t afford internet ser- vice. When McHaddad found the Sin- clair Broadcast Group had an open subchannel, he said the district part- nered with the company to broadcast their new station across the Willamette Valley and in Portland. Viewers can access the channel online at the district’s website or via a TV antenna. While other translator district channels have a service charge, the new channel is free. If you already have an antenna, you will need to rescan to access channel 16.4. — EO Media Group
