2A — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, MaRcH 4, 2021
LOCAL/REGION
Daily Bi-Mart manager retires after 43 years State police
nab two
Planner Jeff Thomas created legacy
TODAY
Today is Thursday, March 4, the
63rd day of 2021. There are 302
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
IN HISTORY:
On March 4, 1933, Franklin D.
Roosevelt took office as America’s
32nd president.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1789, the Constitution of the
United States went into effect as
the first Federal Congress met in
New York. (The lawmakers then
adjourned for lack of a quorum.)
In 1797, John Adams was
inaugurated the second president
of the United States.
In 1863, the Idaho Territory was
created.
In 1865, President Abraham
Lincoln was inaugurated for a sec-
ond term of office; with the end
of the Civil War in sight, Lincoln
declared: “With malice toward
none, with charity for all.”
In 1964, Teamsters president
James Hoffa and three co-de-
fendants were found guilty by
a federal court in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, of jury tampering.
In 1974, the first issue of People
magazine, then called People
Weekly, was published by Time-
Life Inc.; on the cover was actor
Mia Farrow.
In 1981, a jury in Salt Lake City
convicted Joseph Paul Franklin,
an avowed racist and serial killer,
of violating the civil rights of
two Black men, Ted Fields and
David Martin, who’d been shot
to death. (Franklin received two
life sentences for this crime; he
was executed in 2013 for the 1977
murder of a Jewish man, Gerald
Gordon.)
In 1987, President Ronald Rea-
gan addressed the nation on the
Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging
that his overtures to Iran had “de-
teriorated” into an arms-for-hos-
tages deal.
In 1994, in New York, four
extremists were convicted of the
1993 World Trade Center bombing
that killed six people and injured
more than a thousand. Actor-co-
median John Candy died in
Durango, Mexico, at age 43.
In 1998, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that sexual harass-
ment at work can be illegal even
when the offender and victim are
of the same gender.
In 2015, the Justice Department
cleared Darren Wilson, a white
former Ferguson, Missouri, police
officer, in the fatal shooting of Mi-
chael Brown, a Black 18-year-old,
but also issued a scathing report
calling for sweeping changes in
city law enforcement practices.
In 2018, former Russian spy
Sergei Skripal and his daughter
were found unconscious on a
bench in the southwestern English
city of Salisbury; both survived
what British authorities said was
a murder attempt using a nerve
agent.
Ten years ago: Libyan leader
Moammar Gadhafi’s regime
struck back at its opponents with
a powerful attack on Zawiya, the
closest opposition-held city to
Tripoli, and a barrage of tear gas
and live ammunition to smother
new protests in the capital. NASA
launched its Glory satellite from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California on what was supposed
to have been a three-year mission
to analyze how airborne particles
affect Earth’s climate; however, the
rocket carrying Glory plummeted
into the southern Pacific several
minutes after liftoff.
Five years ago: The U.S. Su-
preme Court blocked enforcement
of a Louisiana clinic regulation
law placing new restrictions on
abortion. Bud Collins, the tennis
historian and American voice
of the sport in print and on TV
for decades, died in Brookline,
Massachusetts, at age 86. Pat
Conroy, author of “The Great
Santini” and “The Prince of Tides,”
died in Beaufort, South Carolina,
at age 70.
drivers in
one day
on I-84
of wit, warmth in local store
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Jeff Thomas
knew the broken alarm system meant
a sleepless night lay ahead of him.
Thomas, then the manager of La
Grande’s Bi-Mart, just arrived at his
store on a Sunday afternoon in Feb-
ruary about six years ago after being
notified its alarm system was mal-
functioning. The problems were too
severe to repair that day.
So Thomas spent the night and
much of the morning at the unoccu-
pied store monitoring the alarm to
make sure it did not cause any prob-
lems. To break up the tedium he even
watched a DVD.
It was one of about half a dozen
times Thomas had to stay at his store
overnight for a range of reasons. He
never slept any of those nights and
doubted he could have if he tried.
“There is too much noise,” he said.
“There are a lot of sounds in a big
building like that.”
Thomas’ overnight stays at Bi-Mart
exhausted him but now look like mere
speed bumps in a fulfilling career,
which ended Saturday, Feb. 27, with
his retirement. Thomas stepped down
after a 43-year career with the Bi-Mart
Corporation.
“It has been a great company to
work for. There are so many wonderful
people I have met,” Thomas said.
Thomas had no idea he would
someday be a manager when he took
a position as a hardware clerk at Med-
ford’s Bi-Mart in 1978 when he was
only 18. He worked there 18 years
before starting his administrative
career, taking a position as a second
assistant at Gresham’s store. A year
later, the company transferred Thomas
to the La Grande store, where he was
promoted to first assistant. He became
manager of the store here in 2002.
Thomas became a familiar face
to customers, a manager who spent
relatively little time in his upstairs
office, preferring to be on the main
floor with customers and employees.
His friendly, upbeat nature and
quick wit made it easy for him to
connect. This was evident three days
before his retirement when Thomas
saw a man in the checkout line with
The Observer
Dick Mason/The Observer
Jeff Thomas (center), manager of the La Grande Bi-Mart, talks to employees
Gaylene Royal (left) and Mike Perry on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, on the last day
of his career. Thomas was the manager of the La Grande store the past 19
years and was with the company a total of 43 years. Royal and Perry retired
the same day. Royal worked 27 years for Bi-Mart and Perry for 17.
bags of rock salt in his car.
“Are you going to use those as
sandbags?” Thomas asked with a big
grin, which the customer returned.
Thomas always looked for open-
ings, such as the rock salt provided, to
connect.
“They break the ice with people,”
he said.
Thomas enjoyed meeting cus-
tomers almost as much as helping
his employees with everything from
stocking products to taking inventory
and cleaning.
“He liked working in the trenches
with us,” said Tim Mustoe of Umatilla
County, who worked under Thomas
at La Grande’s Bi-Mart for about five
years.
Sporting goods clerk Mike Perry,
who worked 17 years for Thomas, said
it was a delight to work for him.
“If you can’t work with Jeff, you
can’t work for anyone. He is the best,”
said Perry, who also retired Feb. 27.
La Grande Bi-Mart employee
Linda Stuplich said Thomas’ store
has an unusually supportive atmo-
sphere, which he played a big role in
perpetuating.
“This is truly a family. If someone
is down we pull together to help
them,” Stuplich said.
Mustoe said Thomas not only
knows how to connect with people but
also is an adept problem solver.
“If a customer had an issue he
knew how to make things right,”
Mustoe said.
Thomas enjoyed his career but he
admitted that much of the stress of
managing a store made it hard to sleep
at times. Speaking Tuesday, he said he
is sleeping much better now without
the worry of getting calls about store
emergencies.
“I don’t have to sleep with my cell-
phone next to my head anymore,” he
said.
The COVID-19 pandemic added to
Thomas’ stress level during his final
year but did not prevent La Grande’s
Bi-Mart from faring well. He said
sales were strong at his store and the
company’s stores in general. People
have spent more time at home during
the pandemic, where they are focusing
on activities such as renovation work
and gardening, all of which Bi-Mart
carries many supplies for.
“We had a banner year,” Thomas
said.
Thomas owes not only his career
but his family to Bi-Mart. He met his
wife, Janine, at Medford’s Bi-Mart
where she was an employee. Today,
the couple are the parents of four sons,
three who live in La Grande, and have
four grandchildren.
Jeff Thomas said he and Janine
have no plans to leave La Grande
because of their family ties and their
many friends here.
“We will stay here forever,” he said.
Union County school board posts lack candidates
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — Activity on
the Union County School Board elec-
tion front is far from sizzling.
Five of the many Union County
school board positions up for elec-
tion have no candidates and to date
there are no contested races. The filing
deadline for the May 18 election is
5 p.m. Thursday, March 18.
Following is a breakdown of the
positions up for election and candi-
dates who have filed.
Cove School Board
Positions 1, 3 and 4 are up for elec-
tion and a total of two candidates have
filed to run.
Nobody has filed for Position 1,
whose incumbent is Andy Lindsey.
Incumbent John Frisch, who works
in the agriculture production field, has
filed for Position 3, and incumbent
Jamie Dickenson, a clinic manager, is
running for reelection to Position 4.
Elgin School Board
Positions 3 and 5 are up for election
and nobody has filed.
The incumbent for Position 3
is Charles Anderson. Position 3 is
open to candidates living within the
Elgin School District but outside the
Elgin city limits.
The incumbent for Position 5, an
at-large berth, is Lara Moore.
Imbler School Board
Positions 3, 4 and 5 are up for elec-
tion. Candidates have filed for all three.
Bud Whitcomb, the owner and
operator of a custom body and paint
shop, has filed for Position 3. Dan
McDonald, the incumbent, has
announced he will not run for reelec-
tion, according to Imbler School Dis-
trict Deputy Clerk Teressa Dewey.
Incumbent Pam Glenn is the lone
candidate to file for Position 4.
Lavar Bowles, who works in the
construction management field, has
filed for Position 5. Wade Bingaman,
the incumbent, has announced he will
not run for reelection, Dewey said.
La Grande School Board
Positions 1, 2, 4 and 5 are all up for
election and candidates have filed for
each berth.
Position 1 incumbent Danelle Lind-
sey-Wilson, the owner of a hair salon,
is running for reelection. Position 1
is open to candidates living in Zone
1, which encompasses all of the area
within the La Grande School Dis-
trict north of Highway 30 and west
of Highway 82 and outside the La
Grande city limits.
Jake Hanson, the owner and oper-
ator of an auto salvage company
has filed for Position 2. The incum-
bent, Michelle Perry, has not filed for
reelection. Position 2 is open to candi-
dates living in Zone 2, which encom-
passes all of the area within the school
district south of Highway 30 and south
and southeast of Highway 82 and out-
side the La Grande city limits.
Incumbent Randy Shaw, an auto
body technician, has filed to run for
reelection to Position 4. The position
is in Zone 3, which includes residents
living within the La Grande city limits.
Incumbent Bruce Kevan, a retired
educator, has filed for Position 5,
which also is a Zone 3 berth.
North Powder School Board
Positions 1 and 2 are up for election
and nobody has filed for them. Drew
Martin is the Position 1 incumbent,
and Danyell Nesser is the Position 2
incumbent.
Union School Board
Positions 1, 2 and 3 are open, and
incumbents have filed for all three.
Mark Wing, who is retired, is run-
ning for Position 1; Jocelyn Jones, a
retired educator, has filed for Position 2;
and Deb Baker has filed for Position 3.
LA GRANDE —
Oregon State Police
reported its officers in
separate traffic incidents
Friday, Feb. 26, on Inter-
state 84 near La Grande
hauled in more than 10
pounds of marijuana prod-
ucts and put one suspect in
jail.
The first stop occurred at
about 1:36 p.m. when OSP
Sgt. Marcus McDowell
stopped a black Chevrolet
Trailblazer for traffic viola-
tions on the eastbound side
of the freeway in Union
County about 20 miles
east of La Grande, state
police reported. McDowell
found the driver, Dusty
Lance Crowell, 40, of Falls
City, had a warrant for his
arrest out of Polk County
for failure to appear on a
charge of driving under the
influence of intoxicants.
State police reported
Crowell consented to allow
McDowell to search the
Trailblazer. That search
resulted in finding 10
pounds of marijuana, 1
pound of marijuana extract
and a .45-caliber handgun.
State police took Crowell
and his passenger, a
30-year-old man, to the La
Grande Police Department
for questioning. After the
interview, police warned
the passenger for importing/
exporting marijuana, but
Crowell ended up with a
citation in lieu of arrest for
having a concealed weapon,
possession and distribution
of marijuana and possession
of the marijuana extract,
and he received a date to
appear in court via phone.
The second stop involved
a Maryland man who
attempted to get away from
police.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
was trying to get vehi-
cles on Interstate 84 near
milepost 261 moving east-
bound again following a
closure of the freeway,
according to Oregon State
Police. An ODOT worker
at about 9:40 p.m. reported
approaching a black pas-
senger vehicle, according to
OSP, and the occupant told
the worker to stay back or
die, then took off.
State trooper Charles
Rohlf found the black
Toyota S4 and pulled it over
near milepost 261. But as
he exited his police car, the
Toyota fled again.
The vehicle made it to
the bottom of the off ramp
before an OSP sergeant
used his vehicle to block
the road, and Rohlf pulled
up and blocked it from the
back.
The pair of staters drew
their guns, according to
OSP, and took the driver,
Bradley Michael Burden,
26, of Middleton, Mary-
land, into custody and
booked him into the
Union County Correc-
tional Facility, La Grande,
for harassment and felony
fleeing.
Vaccinations — 978 and counting — mark turning point for Umatilla tribes
By BRYCE DOLE
and ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
MISSION — The Con-
federated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation vaccinated nearly
1,000 people at a two-day
clinic last week at Wild-
horse Resort & Casino near
Pendleton.
Tuesday, Feb. 23 and
Wednesday, Feb. 24, Yel-
lowhawk Tribal Health
Center teamed up with the
Oregon National Guard
to vaccinate 932 people.
Another 46 people were
vaccinated using leftover
doses after the event to push
the total to 978.
Once health care
workers administer the
second dose of the Pfizer
vaccine later this month,
everyone who lives, works
or is enrolled with the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion that wants the vaccine
will have received it.
The event marked the
first time the Tribes opened
their vaccine supply to
non-Indians who live on the
reservation or work for a
tribal entity. A breakdown
showed that 85% of those
vaccinated were non-Amer-
ican Indians.
One of the factors
enabling the CTUIR to take
this vaccine moonshot was
ordering vaccines through
the Indian Health Service, a
division of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Health and Human
Services. Although the sov-
ereignty of Oregon’s nine
East Oregonian
Specialist Stephanie Gonzalez, right, of the Oregon National
Guard, administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19
vaccine to Natasha Makin during a vaccination event at Wild-
horse Resort & Casino in Mission on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.
federally recognized tribes
means they can tailor their
own vaccine programs, the
CTUIR was one of only
two tribes that opted for
the Indian Health Service
over the Oregon Health
Authority.
When the CTUIR
received a nearly 1,000-
dose shipment, Yellow-
hawk CEO Lisa Guzman
realized the Tribes would
need to plan something
larger than the weekly
clinics they had been run-
ning. The Tribes sent out
postcards to non-tribal res-
idents throughout the res-
ervation, continuing to
network even as the Wild-
horse event started to vac-
cinate as many people with
connections to the reserva-
tion as possible.
Chuck Sams, the interim
executive director of the
CTUIR, and other tribal
officials said they believe
the can fully reopen their
government and tribal
enterprises by April, given
the vaccination rates. Sams
credited the plans they had
in place that blunted the
impact of the virus.
As of Monday, March 1,
only one tribal member has
died from COVID-19, and
despite the virus modifying
how they operated, Wild-
horse and other tribal enter-
prises have turned a profit
during the pandemic.
For the Oregon National
Guard, this is the first time
they assisted a tribal vac-
cination event and their
first vaccination opera-
tion in Umatilla County,
according to Maj. Heather
Bashor, a public affairs
officer with the Oregon
National Guard.