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THURSDAY • February 25, 2021 • $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Lonnie Lester of La Grande
Union
County
risk falls to
moderate
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — Friday,
Feb. 26, Union County restaurants
can open their doors to dine-in
service once again.
Following a correction to a
faulty COVID-19 report that mis-
takenly placed three cases in
Union County, the Oregon Health
Authority decreased the county’s
risk level to “moderate.”
Kody Guentert, owner and
operator of Brother Bear Cafe in
downtown La Grande, said he’s
jazzed for the drop.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’ve
been waiting a long time for it to
happen — all the businesses I’ve
talked to have.”
It is not only the fi nancial sta-
bility that excites Guentert but
the prospect of having customers
and regulars return to the cafe for
food, drinks and good times.
“There’s always going to be
the fear with rules and regulations
See, Risk/Page 5A
Chief Joseph
Days Rodeo
saddles up
for 2021
By ELLEN MORRIS BISHOP
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Save the dates!
The 75th Chief Joseph Days rodeo
is a sure thing for the last full
week in July 2021.
At its Monday, Feb. 8 meeting,
the Chief Joseph Days board
of directors made a unanimous
decision to hold the rodeo this
summer Tuesday, July 27 through
Sunday, Aug. 1. They are making
detailed plans for the
event that include the
bucking horse stam-
pede on Tuesday,
junior parade on
Friday, and the grand
parade on Saturday.
Jones
The evening Thunder
Room gathering will
go on. And, of course, all the
bucking horses, bull riders, team
ropers and other events that make
rodeo an integral part of Western
culture will happen in the Harley
Tucker Memorial Rodeo Grounds.
“The board wanted to be sure
there was no room for doubt,”
CJD Rodeo Board President Terry
See, Rodeo/Page 2A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
A contractor with Kirby Nagelhout Construction inspects a panel Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the McKenzie Theatre at Loso Hall. The building
on the Eastern Oregon University campus is undergoing a $5.5 million renovation.
New look for Loso Hall
Bonds paid for the $5.5 million renovation that began in July 2020
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University’s Loso Hall
has been closed to the public
since mid-March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
When the university later
reopens the 31-year-old building,
community residents will fi nd a
renovated structure with tech-
nology adding a touch of the-
ater magic — and a place where
people with mobility issues will
enjoy new freedom.
Both will show the evidence of
$5.5 million of renovation work
to the performing arts building,
which began in July 2020 and is
nearing its fi nal act.
“Most of the work will be
completed by April,” said Jon
Fowler, project superintendent
for Kirby Nagelhout Construc-
tion, the general contractor for the
Loso Hall remodeling, which is
funded by the sale of state bonds.
Many of the renovations
focus on boosting accessibility
to Loso Hall’s two theaters —
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Jon Fowler, project superintendent for the Loso Hall renovations,
stands Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the catwalks above McKenzie The-
atre. The Eastern Oregon University building is undergoing major
renovations.
McKenzie and Schwarz.
McKenzie Theatre will have
an elevator the physically chal-
lenged can take to the upper level
of its fi rst tier of seating. This will
give people who normally only
get to see performances at stage
level a chance to view produc-
tions from a higher perspective,
Fowler said.
Those with mobility issues
will be able to watch perfor-
mances at one of six sites that
accommodate wheelchairs and
their companions. Creating space
for viewing sites within the the-
ater’s regular seating area was a
heavyweight task.
“We had to remove 40,000
pounds of concrete,” Fowler said.
Another McKenzie accessi-
bility addition involved the instal-
lation of wide pathways leading
to the stage at the two fi rst-fl oor
side entrances. The wider paths
make it easier for people with
mobility issues to get to the stage.
At Schwarz Theatre, accessi-
bility also is getting a dramatic
boost, where the stage now is
level with the fl oor. Previously
the seating area was sloped and
above the stage.
Renovation work in Schwarz
also includes the addition of a
motorized turntable stage that
can rotate to alter sets during
performances.
“It will make it possible to
change scenes quickly,” said EOU
theater professor Mike Heather.
The turntable can allow actors
See, Loso/Page 5A
Patchwork of pandemic rules creates ethical issues
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon vaccinates
teachers before seniors.
California punishes hospitals
for vaccinating teachers.
Washington vaccinates all
seniors — and warns older Ore-
gonians against trying to sneak
north for an early shot.
Governors around the country
have issued edicts during the
COVID-19 crisis that often con-
fl ict with neighboring states, cre-
ating a national patchwork of
does and don’ts.
“States are all over the
place,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan,
director of New York Univer-
sity Langone’s Division of Med-
ical Ethics. “It’s rarely clear why
restrictions are expanded or
removed. Criteria are modifi ed
without explanation.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is
the greatest public health crisis
INDEX
Business ....... 1B
Classified ...... 4B
Comics .......... 7B
Crossword .... 4B
Dear Abby .... 8B
in a century, made all the more
diffi cult by strict adherence to a
geographical fi ction: The United
States is 50 distinct states.
Hawaii is an island in the
middle of the Pacifi c. All other
states are connected by land
mass, with demarcations of
boundaries sometimes a river or
mountain range, but often just
a 19th-century surveyor’s line.
The problem is the virus doesn’t
factor in whether the human it
is infecting lives on the Idaho or
Oregon side of the Snake River.
The result has been 50 states
fi ghting COVID-19 in 50 dif-
ferent ways. Masks or no masks.
Open for business or shut for
safety. Lockdown or liberty.
The states’ fragmented war
on COVID-19 has resulted in a
resounding defeat. No corner of
the planet has been ravaged like
the United States. The nation
makes up 4% of the world popu-
WEATHER
Horoscope .... 4B
Letters ........... 4A
Lottery........... 3A
Obituaries ..... 3A
Opinion ......... 4A
SATURDAY
Spiritual ........ 6A
Sports ........... 8A
State .............. 7A
Sudoku ......... 7B
Weather ........ 8B
lation, but has accounted for 20%
of the nearly 2.5 million killed
in the pandemic, according to
the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus
Resource Center and the U.S.
Census Bureau.
The political equivalent of
herding cats has continued with
the arrival of two vaccines that
could snuff out the virus. The
Pfi zer and Moderna vaccines
require two shots, given about a
month apart.
States have been allocated a
portion of the available vaccine
equal to their percentage of the
national population.
For Oregon, that comes out to
about 1.3%.
With the initial shipments,
state health agencies were sent a
long list of recommendations on
how to parcel out the shots. But
in the end, the fi nal priority list
for the scarce vaccine was up to
each of the 50 governors.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
32 LOW
35/27
Snow, 1-2”
Windy
MEET POLICE DOG MOLLY
Ethicists call these “lifeboat”
decisions — who, when and why
someone could be chosen to live
or die. An inoculation against a
potentially deadly virus fi ts the
bill.
Gov. Kate Brown promised
Oregon would distribute the shots
with equity.
The decisions are necessary,
but the fragmentation of eval-
uating a comparative value of
human lives through 50 different
prisms, was going to be problem-
atic from the start.
Governors and health offi cials
are human beings who bring their
own beliefs to decisions. Any
choice will attach a social value
to people or groups.
The start was the easiest part
from an ethical standpoint.
The fi rst shots were sent to
protect doctors, nurses, and other
See, Rules/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 24
3 sections, 24 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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