2A — THE OBSERVER
TuESday, JanuaRy 12, 2021
LOCAL/REGION
Today in New SRO on La Grande School District beat
History Justin Hernandez
TODAY
Today is Tuesday, Jan. 12,
the 12th day of 2021. There
are 353 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On Jan. 12, 2000, in a 5-4
decision, the U.S. Supreme
Court, in Illinois v. Wardlow,
gave police broad authority
to stop and question people
who run at the sight of an
officer.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1773, the first public
museum in America was
organized in Charleston,
South Carolina.
In 1828, the United
States and Mexico signed a
Treaty of Limits defining the
boundary between the two
countries to be the same as
the one established by an
1819 treaty between the U.S.
and Spain.
In 1910, at a White House
dinner hosted by Presi-
dent William Howard Taft,
Baroness Rosen, wife of
the Russian ambassador,
caused a stir by requesting
and smoking a cigarette — it
was, apparently, the first
time a woman had smoked
openly during a public
function in the executive
mansion.
In 1915, the U.S. House
of Representatives rejected,
204-174, a proposed consti-
tutional amendment to give
women nationwide the right
to vote.
In 1948, the U.S. Supreme
Court unanimously ruled
that state law schools could
not discriminate against
applicants on the basis of
race.
In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr.
founded Motown Records in
Detroit.
In 1969, the New York Jets
of the American Football
League upset the Balti-
more Colts of the National
Football League 16-7 in
Super Bowl III, played at the
Orange Bowl in Miami.
In 1971, the groundbreak-
ing situation comedy “All in
the Family” premiered on
CBS television.
In 1976, mystery writer
Dame Agatha Christie died
in Wallingford, England, at
age 85.
In 1995, Qubilah Shabazz,
the daughter of Malcolm X,
was arrested in Minneapolis
on charges she’d tried to hire
a hitman to kill Nation of
Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
(the charges were later
dropped in a settlement with
the government).
In 2006, Mehmet Ali
Agca, the Turkish gunman
who shot Pope John Paul
II in 1981, was released
from an Istanbul prison
after serving more than 25
years in Italy and Turkey for
the plot against the pontiff
and the slaying of a Turkish
journalist.
In 2010, Haiti was struck
by a magnitude-7 earth-
quake; the Haitian govern-
ment said 316,000 people
were killed, while a report
prepared for the U.S. Agen-
cy for International Develop-
ment suggested the death
toll may have been between
46,000 and 85,000.
Ten years ago: President
Barack Obama visited
Tucson, Arizona, the scene
of a shooting rampage that
wounded Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords and killed six
others; he urged Americans
to refrain from partisan
bickering and to embrace
the idealistic vision of de-
mocracy held by 9-year-old
Christina Taylor Green, the
youngest of the victims.
takes over role
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
A Union County sher-
iff’s deputy who previ-
ously was a star Eastern
Oregon University football
player soon will be helping
young people tackle life’s
challenges.
Justin Hernandez is the
La Grande School District’s
new school resource officer
helping to maintain school
district security and mentor
students.
Hernandez launched the
latest chapter in his career
Monday, Jan. 11, when
he introduced himself to
students in kindergarten
through sixth grade as
they returned to in-person
education following the
Christmas break.
“I’m very excited about
being able to work with
kids,” said Hernandez, who
has been with the Union
County Sheriff’s Office for
five and a half years and is
a 2015 Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity graduate who played
football for the Mountain-
eers in 2013 and 2014.
Hernandez is succeeding
Cody Bowen as the SRO.
Bowen held the position for
six years before stepping
down in late December to
serve as Union County’s
new sheriff. Bowen won the
election Nov. 3, 2020.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Justin Hernandez, right, the La Grande School District’s new school resource officer, talks
with Judy Lucius on Jan. 11, 2021. Lucius is a paraprofessional at Greenwood Elementary
School whose duties include working as a crossing guard.
Bowen said he was
hoping Hernandez would
apply for the open school
resource officer job because
of his ability to connect
with young people. Bowen
said Hernandez is an excel-
lent example for youth.
“He is a role model. He
always does what is right
when no one is looking,”
Bowen said.
Hernandez was a star
receiver at EOU with 79
receptions, 1,215 receiving
yards and 12 touchdowns in
two seasons, according to
eousports.com.
Off the field during his
senior year, Hernandez
started serving as a reserve
deputy. A native of Lapwai,
Idaho, Hernandez said a
career in law enforcement
long interested him in part
because his father, a retired
Marine, was a lieutenant in
the Nez Perce Tribal Police
Department in his home-
town. Today, Hernandez
is following in his father’s
footsteps even more closely.
His dad was an SRO at his
high school in Lapwai.
Hernandez, after serving
as a reserve deputy, a volun-
teer position and receiving
training at the Oregon
Police Academy, worked
in the Union County Jail
for six months. He then
worked the Elgin patrol beat
for two years and then two
years as a narcotics officer.
The deputy said one of his
objectives as SRO is for stu-
dents to see law enforce-
ment officers as people. He
will be following the lead of
Bowen, well known in the
local schools for his person-
able nature.
“I want to continue
Cody’s mission of human-
izing the badge,” Her-
nandez said.
He said he hopes to
make connections with stu-
dents and build relation-
ships based on trust.
“I don’t want them to run
from me,” Hernandez said.
“I want them to run to me.”
A sense of humility
likely will help him in this
regard.
“Just because I have
a badge and a gun does
not make me superior to
anyone,” said Hernandez,
who also wants to establish
community partnerships.
Bowen said Hernandez
has a head start on estab-
lishing connections with
students in the La Grande
School District because
he attended school dis-
trict activities before the
COVID-19 pandemic hit,
including sporting events.
“He is invested in the
community,” Bowen said.
Hernandez said people
such as Tim Camp, EOU’s
football coach since 2008,
instilled this attitude in
him. Camp requires his
players to be involved in
public service projects. Her-
nandez credits Camp with
teaching him that “commu-
nity is everything.”
Bowen said the ties he
made as a school resource
officer made it difficult to
step away from the job.
“It was very hard. For
the last six years I have
poured my heart and soul
into it,” Bowen said.
But he said he takes
solace knowing Hernandez
is at the helm.
“I know that the schools
are going to be in good
hands,” Bowen said.
Briefs
Historic cabin open for rental
Anthony Lake
Guard Station
usually serves as
Nordic ski center
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
ANTHONY LAKE
— The COVID-19 pan-
demic has made it possible
for some people to spend
a couple of nights this
winter in a snowbound log
cabin high in the Elkhorn
Mountains.
But if you wait long you
might miss your chance.
Reservations for the his-
toric Anthony Lake Guard
Station, built in the 1930s
by a Civilian Conservation
Corps on the north shore
of Anthony Lake, became
available Jan. 1 on the web-
site for Anthony Lakes
Mountain Resort.
Within a couple of days,
the two-story cabin had
been reserved for almost
every weekend through the
ski season, which ends in
early April. The guard sta-
tion opens for renting on
Wednesday, Jan. 13, (that
night and the next were both
available for reservations as
of Thursday, Jan. 7).
The guard station rents
for $350 per night, with a
two-night minimum.
Chelsea Judy/Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort
The historic Anthony Lake Guard Station is open for over-
night rentals this winter.
“People are always
looking for a place to stay
up here,” said Chelsea Judy,
marketing director for the
ski area about 35 miles
northwest of Baker City.
The resort doesn’t have
overnight lodging except
for a pair of yurts.
And reservations for
those structures are quickly
snapped up, Judy said.
As of Thursday, one of
the yurts had been reserved
for all but two days — Jan.
26 and 27 — and the other
was claimed on every day
but the final day of the
season, April 4.
The guard station nor-
mally is open for over-
night stays only during the
spring, summer and fall.
During the ski season,
the structure usually serves
as the Nordic center for
Anthony Lakes, with cross-
country ski and snow-
shoe rentals, trail passes
to groomed routes, lesson
registrations, coffee and a
warm fireplace to sit beside.
But not during the pan-
demic. The issue, Judy said,
is size.
The guard station,
though it can accommodate
eight people for overnight
stays, has the typical tidy
dimensions of a log cabin.
That, combined with its
single entrance, makes the
cabin unsuitable as a Nordic
center while the ski area
follows social distancing
guidelines, she said.
Morrow County homicide suspect found
dead in jail
PENDLETON — Staff at the Umatilla County Jail in
Pendleton on Saturday, Jan. 9, found homicide suspect
David Lee Bowles dead in his cell.
Bowles, 43, was in the jail on charges of first-de-
gree manslaughter and felon in possession of a weapon.
Oregon State Police previously reported he turned him-
self in to the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 7,
after the office named him as a “person of interest” in
the shooting death of his wife, Marlen Bowles, in Hep-
pner on Dec. 15.
According to a press release from the sheriff’s office,
in the early morning hours of Saturday, jail staff were
making rounds when they discovered Bowles dead in
his bed.
“At this time, there is no apparent evidence of foul
play,” the release stated. The sheriff’s office is investi-
gating the cause of death.
Hansell to serve on five committees for
2021 legislative session
SALEM — Veteran Eastern Oregon Republican leg-
islator Bill Hansell received five committee assignments
for the Oregon Senate for the upcoming 2021 Legisla-
ture, according to a Thursday, Jan. 7, press release.
Hansell, entering his ninth year as a state senator,
will serve as vice-chair of labor and business, as well
as on the redistricting committee, the joint committee
on ways and means, the public safety subcommittee
and the transportation and economic development
subcommittee.
“I’m excited about my committee assignments and
honored to get to work on behalf of the voters of North-
east Oregon,” Hansell. “With COVID-19 recovery
and budget cuts there are a lot of challenges ahead of
Oregon, but I look forward to meeting those challenges
head-on.”
Hansell represents Senate District 29, which com-
prises all of Gilliam, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla,
Union and Wallowa counties, as well as parts of Wasco
County. The 2021 Oregon Legislature begins its session
on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
— EO Media Group
More COVID-19 vaccine arriving in Wallowa County, but availability limited
County hits 92
COVID-19 cases after
highest one-day
total in two months
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — More and
more doses of the COVID-19
vaccine are arriving in Wallowa
County. But the opportunity to get
inoculated is not available to the
general public yet.
That was a point of emphasis
for Wallowa Memorial Hospital
Communications Director Brooke
Pace in an interview with the
Chieftain Friday, Jan. 8, noting
she received numerous calls from
residents on when they will be
able to get vaccinated.
“We just want to stress that this
isn’t open to the general public
yet,” Pace said.
The Oregon Health Authority
dictates the rollout of the vac-
cine — in particular, who is eli-
gible to get it. The state is in the
first part of Phase 1A of vaccina-
Brooke Pace/Wallowa Memorial Hospital
Ruthie Mann, infection control of-
ficer at Wallowa Memorial Hospi-
tal, Enterprise, holds a case of the
Moderna vaccine Monday, Dec.
21, 2020. The county has received
500 doses of the vaccine as of Fri-
day, Jan. 8, 2021.
tion, meaning health care workers,
residents and staff at long-term
care facilities and first responders
receive the vaccine first.
“This is a state rule. This is not
a county rule,” Pace said. “We are
just following the rules. We have
a lot of people who are upset they
don’t qualify yet. We’re not just
cherry picking, we’re following
the state guidelines. We’ll con-
tinue to do so as we receive more
doses.”
The simple answer for why the
general public cannot yet get the
vaccine is supply and demand.
“The No. 1 reason for that is
because demand far outweighs
supply at this point in time,”
Pace said. “Every state has a vac-
cine sequencing plan in effect to
address those who are the highest
risk and the most vulnerable to
make sure those people are the
first to receive the supply. Not
everyone agrees with that assess-
ment, but that is what has been
put forth by the Oregon Health
Authority.”
Health care workers are at the
top of the list because of their
likelihood to be in proximity to
someone with COVID-19, fol-
lowed then by those living and
working in a long-term care
facility.
As of Friday morning, Pace
said there have been 160 doses of
the vaccine administered in Wal-
lowa County to those in Phase 1A.
The county just received another
shipment of 100 doses, raising the
total dose count distributed to the
county to 500.
Until this week, part of what
Wallowa County had was to be
held to use as second doses —
given 28 days later — to complete
the inoculation process. Pace said,
though, the county has received
guidance it could now use those
as first doses, opening the door for
further movement through Phase
1A.
“That number (of vaccinations
given) will go up significantly
beginning next week now that we
have clearance to be able to vacci-
nate people who fall into group 3
and 4 in the Phase 1A,” Pace said.
That, Pace said, led to rush to
schedule shots for those on the
lower tier of Phase 1A. She added
the hope is for all Phase 1A initial
vaccinations to be given within
the next two weeks.
Second-dose administration is
set to begin Jan. 19. The county
does have some autonomy on
when it can move from one phase
to the next, but who is in the next
phase is not yet set by the state.
OHA in a press release Thursday
said the state’s Vaccine Advisory
Committee will “co-create a vac-
cine sequencing plan focused on
health equity to ensure the state’s
vaccine distribution plan meets
the needs of populations who are
most at-risk and hardest hit by the
pandemic.”
OHA said the next group to be
made eligible for vaccination will
be educators in pre-K through
12th grade.
How many doses are on-hand
also plays a role in how the county
moves through phases. As for
when vaccines possibly could be
available to the general public?
“We have absolutely no
idea or indication at this time,
because it relies on a multitude
of factors,” Pace said. “It relies
on the federal supply that is allo-
cated to the state and then the
supply that is allocated to Wal-
lowa County. We haven’t seen
manufacturing projections to
even forecast what might be
coming down the pipeline and
in what time frame.”