2A — THE OBSERVER
Today in
History
Today is Saturday, Feb.
13, the 44th day of 2021.
There are 321 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On Feb. 13, 2016, Justice
Antonin Scalia, the influen-
tial conservative and most
provocative member of the
U.S. Supreme Court, was
found dead at a private res-
idence in the Big Bend area
of West Texas; he was 79.
During a Republican presi-
dential debate that evening
in South Carolina, the candi-
dates, with the exception of
Jeb Bush, insisted that Pres-
ident Barack Obama should
let his successor nominate
Scalia’s replacement.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1633, Italian astrono-
mer Galileo Galilei arrived
in Rome for trial before
the Inquisition, accused of
defending Copernican the-
ory that the Earth revolved
around the sun instead of
the other way around. In
1861, Abraham Lincoln was
officially declared winner
of the 1860 presidential
election as electors cast their
ballots.
In 1965, during the Viet-
nam War, President Lyndon
B. Johnson authorized
an extended bombing
campaign against the North
Vietnamese.
In 2000, Charles Schulz’s
final “Peanuts” strip ran in
Sunday newspapers, the
day after the cartoonist died
in his sleep at his California
home at age 77.
SaTuRday, FEBRuaRy 13, 2021
LOCAL
Spreading the love on Valentine’s Day
Local businesses
deliver spirit of
Valentine’s Day in
spite of pandemic
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A
wholly unique Valentine’s
day celebration is on the
horizon for La Grande as
businesses and restaurants
remain closed to in-person
dining. So no speed dating
or murder mystery din-
ners at Le Bebe Cakes
Bakery Coffee House — a
venue with a reputation for
its intriguing and colorful
events during the holidays.
“We’ve been hit really
hard this year, no events.”
said Spring Roberts, the
owner of the bakery. “Usu-
ally we would do a dinner
concert — other times of
the year a murder mys-
tery. We’ve had decorating
classes. This year, we’re
offering free delivery.”
On this pandemic Val-
entine’s Day, the bakery
cafe is offering drink spe-
cials and deliveries of their
confectionaries to resi-
dents of La Grande for free
— including to the newly
reopened schools wishing
to celebrate the holiday.
“Most of the schools are
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Chef Merlyn Baker prepares takeout dinners Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, at The Landing Ho-
tel and Dining in La Grande. The establishment is offering a stay-date-style take-home
dinner for Valentine’s Day.
not allowing at-home stuff,
and kids aren’t bringing
cards to each other. They
don’t want them spreading
germs,” Roberts said. “So
some of them are getting us
to deliver on their behalf to
the schools.”
“Normally we’re a bit
busier around Valentine’s
Day ... doing (events) like
speed dating,” said Ashton
Gilbert, an employee who
has been with Le Bebe
Cakes for four years.
“Usually we’d be offering
dinners, catered for two
people and they can sit
down and they can have a
nice little dinner and we
do everything for them.
We’re just doing the boxes
this year — we’re doing
good with those, so we
can’t really complain, but I
feel like if we were able to
do seating it would be a bit
easier.”
The Landing Hotel and
Dining is hosting a stay-
date-style take-home dinner
prepared by chef Merlyn
Baker, which includes
stuffed oven-roasted halibut
or filet mignon, along with
options to include salad and
dessert, with a rose vase
from La Grande florist Fitz-
gerald Flowers. Dinners
also are available a la carte
style, sans rose.
“Because it’s a stay-at-
home event,” Baker said,
“people are exploring a lot
of options.”
Side A Brewing in
downtown La Grande is
offering a chocolate cake
with house-made raspberry
sauce as well as a can of its
raspberry mousse pastry ale
and two 10-ounce glasses.
Hines Meat Co. in La
Grande has come up with
meat bouquets and steak
and lobster dinners for
patrons wishing to support
local businesses during the
pandemic.
Available to everyone,
the Tayde McAndie Band
is playing a free livestream
concert Sunday, Feb. 14,
at 6:30 p.m. The Landing
Hotel and Dining, Lush
Boutique Salon and other
local businesses are spon-
soring the concert, which
will be streamed live
via EO Alive, the Tayde
McAndie Band YouTube
Channel and the Brent
Clapp YouTube Channel.
Restaurants and busi-
nesses looking to resume
in-person dining will have
to wait until Union County
downgrades from “extreme
risk” to “high risk.” Port-
land’s metropolitan area
resumed regular dining
operations Friday, Feb. 12.
Union County, along with
14 other counties, remains
in the extreme risk category
until its COVID-19 infec-
tion rates stay below 200
cases per 100,000 residents.
“As soon as we get the
green light,” Gilbert said,
“we’ll be ready for it.”
Union School District seeks
seismic grants for upgrades
By DICK MASON
The Observer
The Observer, File
The Blue Springs Crossing Apartments in Island City in October 2017 received the Na-
tional Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials’ Award of Excellence. The
developers are building a similar complex in east La Grande, which would be complet-
ed in 2022. The city of La Grande is hosting a virtual public meeting Wednesday, Feb.
17, 2021, to discuss ways to address a lack of housing in the community.
Public input sought on
La Grande’s housing strategy
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
The La Grande Plan-
ning Division is hosting
a virtual public meeting
Wednesday, Feb. 17, at
6 p.m. to gather input on
how the city should best
respond to the communi-
ty’s housing needs.
The city in 2019 com-
pleted a housing study,
the “Housing Needs Anal-
ysis,” that forecasted La
Grande’s housing needs
over the next 20 years
for low-, middle- and
upper-income housing
for rental and home
ownership.
According to a press
release from Michael J.
Boquist, La Grande’s
community development
director, the purpose of
this public meeting is to
invite residents to engage
in discussions and share
ideas on the possible
actions the city could
take to create opportu-
nities for more housing
development in the
community.
This is a state-funded
effort and the city has
hired a consultant to
facilitate the public
meeting. The consultants
and city staff will begin
the meeting with a pre-
sentation and initial rec-
ommendations, which the
city will ask the public to
comment on.
Some of the ideas to
create housing opportuni-
ties may include changing
the zoning of some areas,
creating financial incen-
tives to encourage new
construction, and estab-
lishing public-private
partnerships with housing
developers, the release
stated.
The meeting will be
online via Zoom. More
information and a link
to the Zoom meeting
is available on the La
Grande Planning Division
website, planning.cityo-
flagrande.org.
The meeting also will
be available for viewing
on Facebook Live at
www.facebook.com/
LaGrandeCityManager.
UNION — The possi-
bility is as daunting as it is
undeniable.
The Oregon Office of
Emergency Management
reports on its website there
is a 37% chance a major
earthquake of at least a 7.1
magnitude will strike the
state in the next 50 years,
the impact of which would
be felt throughout the
Pacific Northwest.
In the event of such
an earthquake, the Union
School District wants to be
prepared.
It has applied for a total
of $4.4 million in grants
from the state for seismic
upgrades. One grant would
be for $2.5 million for work
at Union High School’s
gym, and another would
be for $1.9 million for
upgrades at Union Elemen-
tary School’s S.E. Miller
building, which children in
kindergarten through third
grade attend.
Should the school district
receive the grant for the
gym, upgrade efforts would
start in the fall of 2021
and likely be completed by
early winter of 2022, said
Cassie Hibbert, project
manager for the Wenaha
Group, a construction man-
agement and consulting
firm that helped the Union
School District apply for
the seismic grants. Hibbert
said a timetable for possible
seismic grant-funded work
at the S.E. Miller building
will be developed later.
The Wenaha Group is
The Observer, File
The Union High School gym will receive major seismic
upgrades if the Union School District is successful with
a $2.5 million grant application to the state. The district
also seeks a $1.9 million grant for seismic upgrades to its
S.E. Miller building. The improvements could allow the
public to seek shelter at both buildings in the event of a
major earthquake.
the construction manage-
ment provider for the school
district’s bond-funded ren-
ovation project, which
includes major improve-
ments to the Union High
School gym. Hibbert said
if the district receives the
seismic grant for the gym,
it would have no impact
on the schedule for the
bond-funded work, which
is being funded by $4 mil-
lion from a 2019 bond and
a $4 million state matching
grant.
Union School District
Superintendent Carter
Wells said the seismic work
at the UHS gym and the
S.E. Miller building would
include major reinforce-
ment of walls so they would
be better able to withstand
the force of an earthquake.
This would mean the two
buildings would be avail-
able to provide shelter and
emergency services to the
community.
The grants, which the
Union School District
applied for in December,
are available from the
Seismic Rehabilitation
Grant Program through
Business Oregon, the state’s
business department. The
program provides seismic
grants to public schools,
community colleges, edu-
cation service districts
and emergency service
facilities.
The La Grande, Imbler
and North Powder school
districts are among those
that have received and used
seismic grants from the
state in the past five years.
Grande Ronde hospital offers medication disposal with kiosk
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Grande
Ronde Hospital announced it
has made disposal of expired
or unwanted medicine more
convenient.
As of Feb. 1, anyone may dis-
pose of their prescription or
over-the-counter medications by
depositing them in the bright blue,
secured MED-Project medication
drop-off kiosk near the first-floor
elevator in the lobby of Grande
Ronde Hospital, La Grande,
according to a press release from
the hospital. All medications col-
lected are disposed of securely
and responsibly.
Using the kiosk is as simple as
using a post office drop box —
use the handle to open the door of
the kiosk, drop your medication
inside the box and close the lever.
The MED-Project kiosk allows
for proper disposal of unwanted or
expired medications in a way that
is secure, confidential and con-
Abby Stonebreaker/Grande Ronde Hospital
Wendy Roberts, Grande Ronde
Hospital community benefit of-
ficer, uses the MED-Project kiosk
in the hospital lobby to dispose
of unwanted medications. The
hospital announced the kiosk has
been available since Feb. 1, 2021,
along with a second kiosk at Red
Cross Drug Store in La Grande.
venient. Proper disposal removes
unnecessary medications from
the home, decreasing the risk of
misuse or abuse and prevents
dangerous disposal practices.
It also provides an alternative
so that people don’t flush med-
ications down the toilet, which
causes contaminants to infiltrate
groundwater.
Wendy Roberts, community
benefit officer, and Brian Harris,
pharmacy manager, played inte-
gral roles in establishing the kiosk
at Grande Ronde Hospital.
“We’ve been working toward
this day for the past year and a
half,” Harris said in the press
release. “We approached sev-
eral other agencies early on, all
of which required annual fees to
provide this service to the com-
munity. About six months ago,
MED-Project approached us with
a convenient, zero-cost solution. It
was a no-brainer.”
“This kiosk fills a need in the
community as identified under
the Behavior Health Well-Being
goal in our FY2020-FY2022
Community Benefit Plan,” Rob-
erts said. “We are so pleased to
offer a MED-Project kiosk, and
hope to see a positive impact
from the added availability of
proper medication disposal
in a way that is safe, secure,
confidential, convenient and
free-of-cost.”
Anyone interested in disposing
of unwanted or expired prescrip-
tion or over-the-counter med-
icines should follow these dis-
posal instructions as provided by
MED-Project:
• Check the medicine’s pack-
aging. If there are specific dis-
posal instructions on the label,
package or insert, please follow
those instructions.
• Remove all personally identi-
fiable information on medication
labels or packaging.
• Keep medicines in their orig-
inal container or a sealed bag
when dropping them off in the
kiosk.
With the exception of those
in the following list, medications
in any dosage form still in their
original container or sealed bag
may be disposed of in the MED-
Project kiosk. Items that are not
accepted are herbal remedies,
vitamins, supplements, cosmetics
and other personal care products,
batteries, mercury-containing
thermometers, medical devices,
sharps and illicit drugs.
When bringing medications
to the hospital for disposal, be
aware that any person entering
the building must complete the
COVID-19 screening process per
hospital policy.
An additional MED-Project
kiosk also was installed Feb. 1 at
Red Cross Drug Store in down-
town La Grande. For more infor-
mation about the MED-Project,
visit med-project.org.