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TUESDAY • March 9, 2021
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Daniel Fine of La Grande
Apartments
may have a
Head Start
classroom
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Eastern
Oregon University Head Start
program is getting the oppor-
tunity to expand its La Grande
presence.
The Portland fi rm Community
Development Partners is heading
up the work to develop Timber
Ridge Apartments, a lower-in-
come housing project, on 4.79
acres on East Q Avenue between
26th and 27th streets. Community
Development Partners has offered
EOU Head Start a classroom in its
community center at no cost.
Robert Kleng, director of EOU
Head Start, said he would not
dream of passing on the offer.
“It blew my socks off,” Kleng
said.
He said an Early Head Start
program will be operated at
Timber Ridge Apartments, if
operational funding is obtained,
when the housing project is com-
pleted in about two years. Kleng
said there is an excellent chance
EOU Head Start will receive the
state or federal grants it needs
because a structure will be in
place for the program. Kleng
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Snow devours a cabin in Tollgate on Monday, March 8, 2021. Snow levels in the Blue Mountains, and other sites around Eastern Oregon
increased to above-average levels in February.
Growing snowpack
Storms push NE Oregon snowpack to well above average
See, Classroom/Page 5A
Union
County
Fair looks
to return
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — February pulled off
a feat in its 28 days that most months can’t
manage in 30 or 31.
A barrage of blizzards during the shortest
month boosted the snowpack in the moun-
tains of Northeast Oregon from below
average to well above. At a few measuring
sites the snowpack doubled, or nearly so,
during February.
“Yes, those storms we saw from mid to
late February really boosted the snowpack,”
said Marilyn Lohmann with the National
Weather Service in Pendleton.
The Upper Grande Ronde Basin is at
140% of normal with the Lower Grande
Ronde near 120% of normal, and the
Wallowas stand at 124% of normal, she
reported. This is signifi cantly higher than at
the start of February when the basin snow-
pack was 91% of normal. February pre-
cipitation was 216% of average. Precipita-
tion since the beginning of the water year
(October 1 to March 1) has been 111% of
average
“In looking back over February, most
sites saw snow depth increases anywhere
from 15 to 40 inches with some locations
seeing near 50 inches of snow,” Lohmann
said.
Snow was 39 inches deep as of Monday,
March 8, at the Bowman Springs snotel —
snow telemetry — site in the Blue Moun-
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Union
County Fair may ride again this
summer.
The Union County Fair
Board has voted to bring back
the fair, which was canceled in
the summer of 2020 because of
COVID-19. Union County Fair
Manager Suz Brazeau Red Hawk
said the fair means so much to the
youth of this community, many of
whom show animals via FFA and
4-H, that the fair board decided to
restore the event.
Brazeau Red Hawk said it also
is important to go on with the fair
because it has an integral place in
the community.
“It is a tradition,” she said. “It
has been around almost 150 years.”
See, Fair/Page 5A
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Snow-draped pondersa pine trees near Sumpter on Feb. 27, 2021, show the evidence of
February’s snowfall. A recent survey just east of Anthony Lake measure 89 inches of snow
— almost twice the depth from January.
tains between La Grande and Pilot Rock,
according to data from the Nature Resource
Conservation Service. Moss Springs
northeast of Union had 83 inches of snow
Monday, and Mount Howard south of
Enterprise had 39 inches.
See, Snowpack/Page 5A
Brown orders teachers to return to classrooms
Most Union County schools providing in-person
teaching, La Grande seeks clarity on the order
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown said Friday,
March 5, she will issue an
executive order mandating that
all K-12 public schools provide
universal access to in-person
learning by the month’s end for
students up to fi fth grade and
by mid-April for older students.
The state’s coronavirus case
numbers have fallen sharply
in recent weeks. Oregon put
teachers ahead of older res-
idents in the line for the
INDEX
Classified ...... 2B
Comics .......... 5B
Crossword .... 2B
Dear Abby .... 6B
COVID-19 vaccine — a deci-
sion that angered many people
65 and older. As teachers get
vaccinated, Brown has been
under tremendous pressure
from parents and local elected
offi cials in many counties to
reopen schools.
All public schools in Union
County now are providing
in-person instruction with
the exception of Elgin High
School.
The Elgin School district
closed the high school March
4 because of COVID-19 cases.
WEATHER
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Lottery........... 3A
Northwest..... 6A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..... 3A
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Sports ........... 6A
Sudoku ......... 5B
QUARRY OUTCOME
The school now is offering
only distance education to its
junior and senior high school
students. The district plans
on keeping the school closed
to in-person instruction until
March 29, according Elgin
School District Superintendent
Dianne Greif.
La Grande School District
Superintendent George Men-
doza on Friday reported the
district is “seeking clarity as
to whether the executive action
allows our grades in hybrid
learning (grades 6-12) to return
all students to daily in-person
instruction, eliminating our
current A/B schedule.”
Existing rules — including
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
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45/27
Cold
Partly sunny
allowing one person per 35
square feet, class cohort sizes
and maintaining social dis-
tance — prohibit the district
from returning completely to
the in-person model in grades
6-12, according to Mendoza,
and the rules may change in
the coming weeks. He told par-
ents and community members
the district would provide more
information as it learns more.
Many teachers’ unions
nationally have balked at a
return to in-person learning,
putting them at odds with
Democratic governors like
Brown in some states.
See, Return/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 29
2 sections, 12 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com