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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2021)
Inside HOME & GARDEN Inside Marching into Spring, 1B Riverfest to return, 2A Home & Garden guide March 2021 n Keeping your garden pest free without chemicals n Master gardener urges patience when it comes to spring planting Follow us on the web n Home maintenance a part of spring cleaning n Exterior lighting can add ambiance to a property THURSDAY • March 18, 2021 • $1.50 Good day to our valued subscriber Joanne Parsons of La Grande Oregon to boost vaccine eligibility Legislative logjam nears do-or-die day House bill intended to honor Oregon’s missing in action advances to Senate New rule almost doubles number of people who can get COVID-19 protection By GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — With a third of the session gone, the Oregon Legis- lature has 4,000 bills on its plate, with House Republicans using a parliamentary slowdown to delay legislation already running late because of COVID-19. About 90 committees meet this week and the House and Senate each scheduled fl oor sessions. A busy week, but also one that will push a big portion of the logjam into the legislative abyss. By GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — More than 1 million more people will be eligible for the COVID-19 vac- cines in the next two upcoming eligibility phases, state offi cials said Tuesday, March 16. The groups to be added on March 29 and May 1 will nearly double the INSIDE number Chart details of people who can get eligible a vaccine and for vac- when, Page 5A cination. Like most states, Oregon is already strug- gling with the gap between vaccine eligibility and availability. To date, there has only been enough vaccine available to inoculate less than half of the approximately 1.36 million Oregonians already eligible. There are an estimated 2.8 mil- lion adults in Oregon out of a population of just under 4.3 million. The numbers for the next eligibility groups have not been announced, but were provided by OHA in response to a query by EO Media Group. OHA Director Pat Allen is scheduled to testify on the status of the state’s vaccination program on Wednesday, March 17, before the House Subcommittee on COVID-19. The last change to the eligi- bility list was March 1, when everyone age 65 and older was approved to get vaccinated. On March 29, eligibility will be extended to an esti- mated 530,000 more people, according to OHA. The group includes those 45 and older with medical conditions that put them at higher risk of severe illness or death, preg- nant women 16 and older and homeless people. On May 1, an estimated 550,000 more people will be eligible. The minimum age for those with medical conditions will be extended to 16 and older. It also includes essential workers as defi ned by the Cen- ters for Disease Control and members of multi-generational households. See, Vaccines/Page 5A Friday is do-or-die deadline Alex Wittwer/The Observer Union County sheriff’s deputies Dustin Heath (left), Justin Hernandez (center) and Tony Humphries pose for a portrait Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in the newly renovated space at the sheriff’s offi ce in La Grande. The trio will be in charge of leading the revived reserve program. The logjam will get looser Friday, March 19, with the fi rst “witching hour,” the Legislature’s self-imposed deadlines for most bills to move or die. Most policy bills that are not scheduled for a work session by Friday go into the trash can for this year’s regular session. The deadline does not aff ect budget bills or those in “safe harbor” committees such as Rules or Ways and Means, which are exempt from the deadline. The size of the cull won’t be known until Monday, March 22, when the chief clerks of each chamber will have a list of surviving bills. More bills will fall away on April 13, the deadline for those work sessions, where committees amend and vote on bills. RESERVES RESTART Union County sheriff says programs could help with goal of adding deputies By ALEX WITTWER The Observer UNION COUNTY — The Union County Sheriff ’s Offi ce is reviving the deputy reserve program. Sheriff Cody Bowen, who started as a reserve offi cer in 2009, said the program is a crit- ical way for the sheriff ’s offi ce to get involved with the community — a hallmark of his campaign to bring transparency and openness to the law enforcement agency. “It’s an important way for people to give back to the com- munity,” Bowen said. “It’s a necessity for this department to be a part of this community, and we have to have reserves.” Bowen said he wasn’t sure why the previous administra- tion canceled the program, but he hopes reviving it will pro- vide open channels for the community to interact with the sheriff ’s offi ce — and provide a way for people interested in law enforcement to become Brakes vs. no breaks the program. He also said he’s looking to hire more full-time staff in the future. “This offi ce has been under- staff ed ever since its existence,” Monday, March 15, was “National Napping Day,” which felt appropriate for many law- makers and observers. House Republicans again required that each bill be read out loud in its entirety, as a way of tapping the brakes on the Democratic super- majority’s pace of approving their agenda. Normally, bills are read by title only unless there is an objection. The GOP has objected each fl oor session. See, Reserves/Page 5A See, Logjam/Page 5A Alex Wittwer/The Observer Union County sheriff’s deputy Patricia Kelly pauses for a portrait in the sheriff’s offi ce Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Kelly, along with deputy Kyle Witty, will lead the sheriff’s cadet program. offi cers in the future. Nearly all of the deputies in the sheriff ’s offi ce have at one time or another served in a reserve program. Bowen said he hopes to add about 10 reserve deputies to the offi ce through Wallowa coach resigns after official complaint David Howe faces allegations of urging Wallowa High athletes to participate in tournaments in Idaho By ELLEN MORRIS BISHOP Wallowa County Chieftain TIMELINE OF EVENTS WALLOWA — Wallowa High School Principal David Howe resigned his position as the school’s girls basketball coach Monday night, March 15, in the face of an offi cial complaint fi led by the school’s football team with the Wallowa superintendent of schools March 2. The outcome of the complaint is pending and still in review. Head football coach Matt Brockamp, Wallowa Superinten- dent of Schools Tammy Jones and Wallowa School Board Chairman Woody Wolfe all declined to com- ment or provide the Chieftain with the text of the March 2 com- plaint or a second complaint fi led with the school board on March 8. “My duties as principal and my duties as the girls basketball • March 2, Wallowa High School fi les an offi cial complaint against Wallowa High School Principal David Howe. • March 8, Wallowa School District Board of Directors receives second complaint. • Monday, March 15, Howe resigns his position as the school’s girls basketball coach. INDEX Business ....... 1B Classified ...... 4B Comics .......... 7B Crossword .... 4B coach seem to be in confl ict with each other and therefore I will be resigning my position as girls bas- ketball coach, eff ective immedi- ately,” Howe said in a prepared statement to the Wallowa School Board on Monday. Howe’s resignation was pre- cipitated by the complaint as well as allegations of encour- aging and supporting Wallowa High School athletes to partici- pate in high school tournaments in Idaho earlier this year. Under Oregon School Activities Asso- WEATHER Dear Abby .... 8B Horoscope .... 6B Letters ........... 4A Lottery........... 3A SATURDAY Obituaries ..... 3A Opinion ......... 4A Spiritual ........ 6A Sudoku ......... 7B VISITING RESUMES ciation rules, participation in out- of-state sports events requires stu- dent athletes to self-quarantine for two weeks after the out-of-state games. Brockamp had protested Howe’s action, out of concern that students who participated in the Idaho basketball games would not be able to play the fi rst and pos- sibly other games in Wallowa’s short, fi ve-game football season. “As a head coach, I made my concerns known to WHS about unsanctioned, out-of-state bas- ketball tournaments jeopar- Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Friday 38 LOW 51/31 Spotty showers Spotty showers dizing our opportunity to play an OSAA-sanctioned football season,” Brockamp stated at an emotion-charged school board meeting March 8. At that meeting he called for “a fundamental change in Wallowa High School.” The concerns about Idaho bas- ketball games are coupled with controversy over Wallowa High School’s failure to schedule a replacement game for the can- celed Elgin contest, which had been scheduled for March 6. “I was instructed to tell my football team, which has worked hard preparing for a month outside in the snow, that WHS would not schedule them another home game with another team,” Brockamp said at the March 8 meeting. See, Coach/Page 5A CONTACT US 541-963-3161 Issue 33 4 sections, 38 pages La Grande, Oregon Email story ideas to news@lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page 4A. Online at lagrandeobserver.com