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Good day to our valued subscriber Stephen Stanhope of Summerville
Union
County seeks
local control
for managing
COVID-19
County board sends
letter to governor
advocating for local
oversight
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE —The Union
County Board of Commissioners
took action Wednesday, March 17,
guaranteed to create a buzz at the
Oregon Capitol.
The commissioners approved
a letter to Gov. Kate Brown and
two other state offi cials asking the
state to give counties the reins for
managing their response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“We think the pandemic
should be managed on the local
level,” Union County Commis-
sioner Paul Anderes told The
Observer on Thursday, March 18.
The letter is one of two advo-
cating for local control. All three
Union County commissioners
signed the letter addressed to the
governor, to Pat Allen, director
of the Oregon Health Authority,
and to Andrew Phelps, director of
Oregon Emergency Management.
Anderes said county com-
missioners throughout Eastern
Oregon are stepping forward to
sign a second letter with the same
text also bound for Brown, Allen
and Phelps.
“We are getting buy-in from
folks across the region,” Anderes
said.
Union County Commissioner
Matt Scarfo said he and others
want to see a situation similar
to the one school districts have.
Brown earlier this year granted
school districts the authority to
manage the COVID-19 pandemic
on their own while being allowed
to regard direction from her as
advisory.
Scarfo said local control would
work best for counties because
people on the ground know where
COVID-19 outbreaks are coming
from.
“All the state sees are num-
bers,” Scarfo said.
He noted a state offi cial he
talked to recently regarding
fi ve new Union County cases in
early March did not realize they
all came from the Elgin School
District, which addressed the
issue by closing its high school
to in-person instruction. Scarfo
said in the eyes of the state, such
an increase could have given the
state reason to clamp down on the
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Kirk Shira (left) visits his mother, June Shira, at Bullock’s Country Care, La Grande, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Kirk Shira, who lives in Baker City, says he’s overjoyed
to fi nally be able to visit his mother in her room again. COVID-19 restrictions have prevented in-person visits at local assisted care facilities until recently.
Greeting visitors again
Drop in COVID-19
risk level reopens
assisted care facilities
to friends, family
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Kirk Shira has been
making regular 45-mile drives from his
home in Baker City to La Grande for
the past 12 months, only to fi nish, until
recently, just a foot short of where he des-
perately wanted to be each time.
Shira was coming to La Grande to
see his mother, June Shira, at Bullock’s
Country Care, an assisted living home.
Kirk Shira has not been able to go inside,
though, because of state COVID-19
restrictions. He would do the next best
thing — stand next to one of the windows
in his mom’s room.
“We would talk to each other on cell-
phones,” Kirk Shira said.
The window the two saw each other
through seemed like several feet for Kirk
Shira, who desperately wanted to hug his
mom.
Shira fi nally had his chance last week
See, Visits/Page 5A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
June Shira pauses on the bed of her room at Bullock’s Country Care, La Grande, on Wednesday, March 17,
2021. Shira, a Catholic, was unable to receive Holy Communion since the start of the pandemic — a ritual she
sorely missed.
“There were tears of joy. I could not be
any happier. I was overwhelmed.”
— Kirk Shira, on getting to visit with his mother in person
Honoring the victims of COVID-19
See, Letter/Page 5A
Disease took the life of
Bret Bridges, Wallowa
County 911 dispatcher
and reserve deputy
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — The ashes of
a Wallowa County 911 dis-
patcher and reserve deputy
were delivered by police escort
to his parents’ Joseph home
Friday, March 12, and a spe-
cial “last call” over the coun-
ty’s 911 system was issued
for Bret Bridges.
The 47-year-old Bridges died
March 2 at Portland’s Legacy
Emanuel Medical Center after
testing positive for COVID-19
on Jan. 25. He reportedly had
underlying issues, according to
a press release from the Oregon
Health Authority.
The “last call” was to be
issued at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
“It’s a very honorable thing
to do in the 911 world,” said
Brenda Micka, administrative
services director for Wallowa
County. “We’ve lost one of our
own. It’s nice to do that, to do
the ‘last call’ on the radio.”
On Friday, Sheriff Joel Fish
See, Honor/Page 5A
INDEX
Classified ...............4B
Comics ....................7B
Crossword .............4B
Dear Abby .............8B
WEATHER
Horoscope .............4B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
Obituaries ..............3A
TUESDAY
Opinion ..................4A
Outdoors ...............1B
Sports .....................7A
State ........................6A
NEW FIRE HOUSE
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County Sheriff Joel Fish, right foreground, watches as deputy Jeff Baty hands
a bag containing the ashes of late 911 dispatcher and Reserve Deputy Bret Bridges
to Bridges’ parents, Dolores and David Bridges, at their Joseph home Friday, March
12, 2021. Fish and Baty escorted the ashes home from Portland, where Bridges died
March 2 of COVID-19.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
33 LOW
46/33
Mostly cloudy
A p.m. shower
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 34
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com