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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2021)
Farms and COVID vaccine In Business & Ag, 1B Inside Grants benefi t two Joseph organizations, 2A Seeing ourselves in one another, 6A Follow us on the web THURSDAY • January 14, 2021 • $1.50 Reflecting on insurrection COVID-19 Pandemic modeling predicts hard times ahead Locals express their views on the violence in the nation’s Capitol By DICK MASON By KALEB LAY The Observer The Observer LA GRANDE — The deadly storming of the U.S Cap- itol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, has left people all along the political spectrum in La Grande feeling distressed and angry. “To see citizens fi ghting each other just broke my heart,” said Sharon Porter of La Grande, a retired educator. “I believe in the goodness of the world and this was not it.” Porter is one three people who shared their perspective on the incident after responding to a post on The Observer’s Face- book page. Porter, 70, has seen the maj- esty of the Capitol fi rsthand. “The building is a thing of beauty,” Porter said. “To see the building desecrated was too much for me. I was almost in Porter tears because of the pain of seeing this. This is our Capitol.” She also said she felt dismay that some of the people involved in the attack where carrying American fl ags. “The fl ag represents all Americans, not just those who are seditionists,” Porter said. The retired educator also was upset to see some of the rioters carrying Bibles. “They were not doing what Jesus would want us to do,” she said. Porter, who considers herself part of America’s mainstream, said she believes it is crucial everyone strive to keep an open mind regardless of where they stand in the world of partisan politics. “It is very important that we try to understand everyone’s opinion. This is critical,” Porter said. President Donald Trump is being blamed for the insurrec- tion primarily because during a rally he asked his supporters to go to the Capitol and protest the counting of electoral votes on the fl oor of the U.S. Senate. Lori Hoagland, 48, of La Grande, believes it is wrong to hold Trump’s speech respon- sible. She said she does not believe Trump said any- thing that should have incited violence. “I listened to every word (of Trump’s speech),” said Hoag- SALEM — After a brief lull in daily new cases of COVID-19 provided a momentary respite from the unrelenting march of the pandemic early in the new year, Oregonians now face a projected rise in infections and deaths over the coming months on an unprecedented scale. That’s according to the most recent modeling from the Oregon Health Authority, which predicted a return to exponen- tial spread, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evalua- tion, which anticipated Oregon’s COVID-19 death toll will more than triple by April 1, 2021. OHA modeling, released Jan. 7, estimated the rate of spread in Oregon was 1.29 as of Dec. 23, indicating that each positive case of COVID-19 spread to an average of 1.29 more people. For example, 100 cases would become 129 cases — 29 more — which would then become 166 cases — 37 more — which would then become 214 cases — 48 more — thus exponential spread. See, COVID-19/Page 5A Vaccination to expand to seniors COVID-19 vaccines also to be available to educators, child care workers starting Jan. 23 By KALEB LAY The Observer SALEM — Oregon will expand its COVID-19 vaccination efforts to include all Oregonians older than 65, K-12 educators and staff, and child care workers on Jan. 23, according to a press release from Gov. Kate Brown. The news comes as the U.S. federal government announced it would be releasing its entire reserve of vaccine doses for distribution. “While this is an unexpected change in course from the federal government, receiving more vac- cines is welcome news for states — and Oregon is ready to devote all resources necessary to ramp up distribution with our health See, Vaccines/Page 5A Good day to our valued subscribers Tom & Leslie Kenny of La Grande J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Hundreds of National Guard troops inside the Capitol Visitor’s Center prepare to reinforce security at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. The House of Representatives on Wednes- day passed an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump for his role in inciting an angry mob to storm the Capitol last week. land, an Independent and an ardent Trump supporter. Hoagland said Trump asked his supporters to march peace- fully to the Capitol. A homeschool teacher, Hoagland said she thinks the people respon- sible for the Jan. Hoagland 6 violence, which claimed fi ve lives, were individuals who oppose Trump. Hoagland said she believes they damaged the Cap- itol in hopes that Trump sup- porters would be blamed for it. She said Trump’s supporters are too patriotic to resort to the vio- lent steps the insurrectionists took. “We love our country. To take over the Capitol would be un-American,” she said. “We are Americans, we do not burn up a town and destroy and occupy.” Hoagland said she beleives the antagonists were fi nanced by wealthy members of corporate America who oppose Trump. “The past few days will go down in history as the time when half of our country cheered the use of corporate power to silence the other half of the country,” she said. Denise Elizabeth Stone of La Grande fi rst learned of the riot at the Capitol while working on her computer at home and listening to a television news report. “I was pretty horrifi ed by the violence, but I was not surprised because anger has been building up for a long time,” Stone said. She said this has been occur- House votes to impeach President Trump, again WASHINGTON — A majority of the U.S. House voted Wednesday, Jan. 13, to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, just a week after he encour- aged loyalists to “fi ght like hell” against election results and a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The House vote on an article of impeachment for incitement of insurrec- tion still was underway Wednesday, but the Demo- cratic-led House had secured enough votes to impeach Trump. Some Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach the president. ring for decades as people have become more partisan. Stone said many have developed the mindset that if individuals do not think like they do then they are the enemy. Stone, 67, com- pared the attack on the Capitol to the Watergate scandal, Stone which forced Pres- ident Richard Nixon to resign in 1974. She said she sup- ported Nixon and thought he should stay offi ce. She changed her mind later after the public learned the truth about what During debate before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Republicans and Democrats to “search their souls.” Trump is the fi rst American president to be impeached twice. The impeachment pro- ceedings came one week after a violent, pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol, sending lawmakers into hiding and revealing the fragility of the nation’s history of peaceful transfers of power. Five people died. Trump has taken no responsibility for the riot. — Associated Press Nixon had done. Watergate was terrible, she said, but it does not compare to what happened on Jan. 6. “This is so much worse than Watergate,” Stone said. She believes social media is largely responsible for today’s highly charged political atmo- sphere, noting it tends to bring out the worst in people, some who make rude and cutting remarks on it. “This encourages anger and divisiveness,” Stone said. She noted Trump, with the See, Reactions/Page 5A Black Lives Matt er billboard defaced By KALEB LAY The Observer LA GRANDE — A billboard in La Grande featuring a Black Lives Matter logo was defaced with white paint last weekend. The sign was erected after a crowdfunding effort in August 2020 raised $5,000. Maria Car- michael, who led that effort, said she’d expected the billboard to be vandalized sooner or later. “I’m disappointed, but I’m not at all surprised,” Carmichael said. “If anything, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner given all of the vitriol that was spewed in response to the sign going up in the fi rst place. There were INDEX Business ....... 1B Classified ...... 4B Comics .......... 7B Crossword .... 4B Maria Carmichael/Contributed Photo A billboard in support of the Black Lives Matter movement stands defaced on Jan. 11, 2021, on Interstate 84 in La Grande. The defaced vinyl has been removed and will be replaced in the coming weeks. threats to shoot it, to paintball it, to burn it down, and it wasn’t just a few people saying that.” WEATHER Dear Abby .... 8B Horoscope .... 4B Letters ........... 4A Lottery........... 3A SATURDAY Obituaries ..... 3A Opinion ......... 4A Spiritual ........ 6A Sudoku ......... 7B A tidal wave of social media engagement — much of it emo- tionally charged — also met Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Friday 27 LOW 40/30 Partly cloudy Showers around MENTAL ILLNESS CRISIS The Observer’s coverage of the then-incoming billboard. The Black Lives Matter sign was initially slated to be put up in a different location but was moved to the billboard along Interstate 84 because it was “less accessible” and would be more diffi cult to vandalize, Carmi- chael said. She indicated she would sup- port reporting the vandalism to law enforcement, but the decision ultimately fell to Meadow Advertising, the com- pany based in The Dalles that owns the billboard. See, BLM/Page 5A CONTACT US 541-963-3161 Issue 6 3 sections, 22 pages La Grande, Oregon Email story ideas to news@lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page 4A. Online at lagrandeobserver.com
