2A — THE OBSERVER
Today in
History
Today is Thursday, Feb.
18, the 49th day of 2021.
There are 316 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On Feb. 18, 1970, the
“Chicago Seven” defen-
dants were found not guilty
of conspiring to incite riots
at the 1968 Democratic
national convention; five
were convicted of violating
the Anti-Riot Act of 1968
(those convictions were
later reversed).
ON THIS DATE:
In 1564, artist Michelange-
lo died in Rome.
In 1930, photographic
evidence of Pluto (now des-
ignated a “dwarf planet”)
was discovered by Clyde W.
Tombaugh at Lowell Obser-
vatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
In 1943, Madame Chiang
Kai-shek, wife of the Chinese
leader, addressed members
of the Senate and then the
House, becoming the first
Chinese national to address
both houses of the U.S.
Congress.
In 1960, the eighth Winter
Olympic Games were
formally opened in Squaw
Valley, California, by Vice
President Richard M. Nixon.
In 1972, the California
Supreme Court struck down
the state’s death penalty.
In 1983, 13 people were
shot to death at a gambling
club in Seattle’s Chinatown
in what became known as
the Wah Mee Massacre.
Two men were convicted of
the killings and are serving
life sentences; a third was
found guilty of robbery and
assault.
In 1988, Anthony M.
Kennedy was sworn in as an
associate justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court.
In 2001, auto racing star
Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a
crash at the Daytona 500; he
was 49.
In 2003, an arson attack
involving two South Ko-
rean subway trains in the
city of Daegu claimed 198
lives.
Five years ago: In what
was seen as a criticism of
Republican presidential can-
didate Donald Trump, Pope
Francis said that a person
who advocated building
walls was “not Christian”;
Trump quickly retorted it
was “disgraceful” to ques-
tion a person’s faith.
Food bank looks to move to PGG building
By DICK MASON
The Observer
ISLAND CITY — A
major bank is set to open in
Island City later this year.
The Northeast Oregon
Regional Food Bank plans
to move this summer into
the former Pendleton Grain
Growers building in Island
City. The change will give
the food bank eight times
the storage space it now has
at the Union County Senior
Center. The food bank now
has 1,092 square feet of
space but will have 8,800
square feet at the old PGG
building.
“This is very, very
exciting,” said Audrey
Smith, manager of the
regional food bank.
The additional space
will allow the food bank to
maintain a stronger reserve
for the pantries it serves in
Union, Wallowa, Baker and
Grant counties, and will put
the food bank in a position
to better address emergen-
Dick Mason/The Observer
Snow covers the ground Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, outside the former Pendleton Grain
Growers building, 10209 N. McAlister Road, Island City. The Northeast Oregon Regional
Food Bank plans to renovate the building and move into it this year.
cies such as those caused by
natural disasters.
Community Connec-
tion of Northeast Oregon,
which operates the North-
east Oregon Regional Food
Bank, bought the PGG
building at 10209 N. McAl-
ister Road. The structure
and site need renovation
IC council endorses new
law enforcement contract
By DICK MASON
The Observer
ISLAND CITY — The
Island City City Council
gave a thumbs-up Monday,
Feb. 15, to a new contract
with the Union County
Sheriff’s Office.
The contract is similar
to the one now in place.
Before the pact can take
effect July 1, the Union
County Board of Com-
missioners must give its
approval.
The contract calls for
Island City to continue
receiving 80 hours a month
of law enforcement ser-
vice from the Union County
Sheriff’s Office. The con-
tract, like the present
one, would automatically
increase 1.5% each year on
July 1 to allow for cost-of-
living pay increases and
will remain in
place indefi-
nitely unless
one party pulls
out or a change
is negotiated.
Bowen
The big
difference
between the
new contact
and the current
one is the city
or the sheriff’s
Comfort
office must
give a 120-day
notice for any changes to
the deal. The current con-
tract requires a one-year
notice before parties can
negotiate changes or either
side can pull out of the
contract.
Island City Mayor David
Comfort said the 120-day
notice would give both par-
ties greater flexibility.
The proposal also calls
for the same individual
from the Union County
Sheriff’s Office to pro-
vide reports about the past
month’s law enforcement
activities, at the city council
regular monthly council
meetings, in six-month
rotations.
“This would help conti-
nuity,” Comfort said.
This is the first con-
tract Island City and the
sheriff’s office are negoti-
ating with Cody Bowen as
sheriff. Voters elected him
in November 2020, and he
participated in the nego-
tiations. Comfort said he
was impressed with Bow-
en’s input during bargaining
sessions.
“He brought a lot of
energy to the negotiations,”
Comfort said.
The Observer
The Observer, File
An Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative lineman secures
ropes and pulleys during a rescue training session in July
2016. The utility announced plans to resume normal col-
lection action on delinquent accounts March 17, 2021.
their accounts up to date.”
Wirfs added OTEC owes
responsibility to the entire
membership because it is
member owned.
“That is why we are
resuming normal collec-
tion activities,” he stated, “to
avoid any potential negative
monetary impact on all our
members.”
Over the last year,
OTEC’s member service
representatives have con-
tinued to contact members
to help them stay current
with their bills by offering
guidance for financial assis-
work before it can reopen as
a food bank. The project will
begin after the fundraising
drive for it is complete.
The remodeling work
tance, local resources, and
flexible payment options. In
the lead-up to the resump-
tion of normal collection
activity, OTEC has con-
tacted or has attempted to
contact every member with
a delinquent account.
If you have not been in
contact with a member ser-
vice representative, con-
tact OTEC as a soon as pos-
sible. There is time to make
arrangements, set up a pay-
ment plan or seek finan-
cial assistance to help with
your account. OTEC also is
helping members find other
assistance resources, such as
food, housing or clothing.
“We know many our
members are still impacted
by the pandemic,” Wirfs
said. “We urge those who
are struggling to pay their
bills to call us and we will
work with you on many dif-
ferent payment plan options
to avoid disconnecting
power.”
OTEC Member Services
is available at 541-523-3616
or visit www.otec.coop
for more information.
will cost $300,000-
$400,000, a portion of
which a grant might pay.
The goal is to complete
the renovation by July,
Smith said. The food bank
must be out of its storage
building at the Union
County Senior Center by
July 31 due to an order
by the Federal Transit
Administration.
The FTA issued its order
because the food bank’s
present site was originally
built to serve as a site for
the operation of a public
transportation operation,
Smith said. The North-
east Oregon Public Transit,
which Community Con-
nection also operates, could
later use the site.
The food bank’s move
to Island City will have
no impact on the services
it offers to the public at
the Union County Senior
Center. All services
there now will continue
at its present site.
Baker City woman charged
with theft from senior
By CHRIS COLLINS
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY —
Police arrested a Baker
City woman on charges
that she stole more
than $60,000 from a
98-year-old woman who
is a memory care patient
at Settler’s Park.
Baker City police Lt.
Ty Duby said officers
on Thursday, Feb. 11,
arrested Dalene Davis,
61, on a secret indictment
charging her with six
counts each of first-de-
gree aggravated theft and
first-degree criminal mis-
treatment involving Lydia
Chancy. Police took Davis
to the Baker County Jail,
which processed and
released her because of
COVID-19 restrictions,
Duby stated in a press
release.
He said the inves-
tigation of the crimes
began in June 2019. The
state has accused Davis
of taking money from
Chancy after befriending
her and gaining access to
her financial accounts.
The Oregon
Department of Justice
Elder Abuse Division
and the Baker Branch
of Adult Protective
Services assisted
with the investigation.
Enterprise offers police
chief job to deputy
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
OTEC resumes normal collection activity March 17
BAKER CITY —
Oregon Trail Electric Coop-
erative will resume normal
collection activity, including
disconnections and late
fees for unpaid utilities, on
Wednesday, March 17.
The Eastern Oregon
power provider temporarily
suspended disconnections
and late fees on March 17,
2020, due to financial hard-
ships placed on members
due to COVID-19.
“We feel that it’s time
to begin normal collection
activities in order to be
good stewards of our mem-
bers’ financial resources
and keep the cooperative
operationally and finan-
cially resilient.” said Eric
Wirfs, OTEC’s director of
member services. “It was
a difficult decision for us,
but we continue to see the
number of unpaid accounts
climb. The amount owed
from these accounts would
be enough to possibly
necessitate a rate increase
if we do not shift measures
to help members bring
THuRSday, FEBRuaRy 18, 2021
LOCAL/REGION
ENTERPRISE — The
Enterprise City Council
during a special meeting
Monday, Feb. 15, offered
Wallowa County sheriff’s
deputy Kevin McQuead
the position of Enterprise
police chief, according to
a press release.
He is the
husband of
the city’s
adminis-
trator, Lacey
McQuead,
McQuead who is not
a member
of the police committee
that led the hiring pro-
cess. Kevin McQuead will
replace Joel Fish, who
resigned in January after
winning election as Wal-
lowa County sheriff.
According to the press
release, the police com-
mittee reviewed city pol-
icies pertaining to the
employment of relatives
and any reporting of
misconduct.
“As a result of the
policy review, the city
council does not feel any
nepotism or conflict of
interest has occurred with
this hiring process or will
occur as the city of Enter-
prise policies are fol-
lowed,” the release stated.
Anyone hired as police
chief will report directly
to the council.
The committee inter-
viewed two candidates
and decided to make
a conditional offer of
employment to McQuead.
The deputy has served
with the Wallowa County
Sheriff’s Office since
February 2008, when he
resigned as an Enterprise
police officer to take the
position, according to
Wallowa County Chief-
tain files.
In other matters at
Monday’s special meeting,
the council:
• Approved an event
permit for the Circle 100
Club “Drive-By” fund-
raiser March 18 for the
Wallowa Valley Health
Care Foundation.
• Increased the amount
for the new sports com-
plex by the baseball fields
to $124,050 to reflect the
cost.
• Approved moving
money from the city’s
contingency fund to help
cover the cost of the
engineer to prepare
new improvement
standards for the city.
USDA honors Enterprise native for innovation in finding aid for farmers
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — A
long-time Enterprise-area
resident who moved on to
do good has done just that,
earning his second Secre-
tary’s Award for his work
with the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture by
helping farmers get federal
assistance because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Marc McFetridge,
son of Larry and Davise
McFetridge who farm east
of Enterprise, has been
working for the USDA for
15 years. He now works for
the USDA’s Agricultural
Marketing Service in Wash-
ington, D.C.
McFetridge said this
year’s award, presented Jan.
12, was for his
work helping
secure about
$23.6 billion
in payments
to farmers
McFetridge nationwide.
He won the
award in 2018 for stream-
lining the USDA’s ability to
purchase surplus foods for
distribution to food banks.
He said that effort also
earned him the Presiden-
tial Honors Award — a dis-
tinction about eight people
received out of roughly 330
Secretary’s Award winners
from all departments of the
federal government.
McFetridge said this
year’s award, presented Jan.
12, was for his work helping
secure about $23.6 billion in
payments to farmers nation-
wide through two payment
periods. The awards are not
just handed out in a random
fashion, he said.
“About six to seven
awards (based on the stra-
tegic goals for each admin-
istrator) are given out at the
administrator’s level; there
are 18 different adminis-
trators within the USDA,
meaning roughly 126
administrator awards are
given out each year,” he
said. “From there, those
winners are moved up to
the undersecretary level,
based on the same criteria
of the undersecretary’s stra-
tegic goals, about six to
seven awards given out at
the undersecretary level
and there are seven under-
secretaries in the USDA,
meaning out of the 126
administrator awards, 49
are awarded the Undersec-
retary’s Award. From there,
the secretary picks seven
projects based on the win-
ners from the undersecre-
tary level to win the Secre-
tary Award.”
McFetridge’s award was
presented in the name of
former Agriculture Secre-
tary Sonny Perdue.
McFetridge was born
and raised on his parents’
fourth-generation cattle and
hay ranch near Enterprise.
His sister and her husband,
Larissa and Ed Barnhart, are
partners in the ranch today.
After graduating from
Enterprise High School
in 1996, McFetridge took
a somewhat circuitous
route to working for the
government.
“My path to the USDA
is a bit crazy,” he said Feb.
2 in a telephone interview
from Washington.
He first got a bachelor’s
degree from Oregon State
University in agriculture
business management in
2001, and then worked at
the Food Innovation Center
in Portland for a year. The
center is an OSU experi-
ment station. He obtained
his master’s degree in agri-
cultural and resource eco-
nomics in 2004 and the
next year accepted a job
for AC Nielsen in Paramus,
New Jersey, working on
pricing analysis for Nabisco
products. He stayed
there for a year and then
accepted a job with the
USDA as a marketing spe-
cialist for the Marketing
Orders and Agreement
Division. In July 2006, he
moved to the Washington,
D.C., area. He stayed with
the division for three years
before accepting a job as an
economist for the Promo-
tion and Economics Divi-
sion, where he’s been for 12
years.
In his position, he han-
dles millions of federal dol-
lars for various programs.
“One of my main duties
is to assist the USDA pro-
curement division providing
pricing analysis for fresh
fruits and vegetables that
go into the National School
Lunch program,” he said.