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Public safety
Good day to our valued subscriber Dick Southard of Union
The show goes on
Police in
Eastern Oregon
partner up for
K-9 training
Pandemic not
stopping Elgin Opera
House production
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
PENDLETON — Under blue
skies amid brisk wind, a cadre of
K-9 handlers and trainers met Sat-
urday, March 20, in Pendleton.
The purpose — train the working
dogs that serve Eastern Oregon’s
police and sheriff ’s offi ces.
Police resources for training in
rural Oregon are limited, so inter-
departmental training is a crucial
way to pool assets and provide
opportunities that resemble real-
life situations the K-9 units could
run into while working calls.
“There’s good knowledge
sharing that occurs with diff erent
departments, and how things
they have seen in the past add to
the experience,” said Noah Rob-
bins, master trainer and owner
of Howling Creek in Hockinson,
Washington. “It’s a good opportu-
nity to learn from others.”
The training compound, just
north of the Pendleton Police
Department, hosts a small ware-
house, a derelict bus and a fi ring
range. Here, the dogs can train in
several tactical situations, such as
tracking, apprehension, evidence
fi nding and with real gunfi re.
“We have a lot of room here,”
Robbins said. “From the dog’s
perspective, the more weird
(expletive) you can do with them,
the better.”
See, Training/Page 5A
By DICK MASON
The Observer
ELGIN — Putting on a musical during the
COVID-19 pandemic is a tricky and pains-
taking process.
Terry Hale, executive artistic director
for the Elgin Opera House, knows this fi rst-
hand. Hale is directing a fi lm version of Dis-
ney’s popular “High School Musical Jr.” with
a 70-member cast, the vast majority of whom
are high school students.
“It is one of the most challenging things I
have ever done,” Hale said.
It is also something he believes he had to
do because of how youths have had to stay
home so much during the pandemic.
“We wanted to get them out from behind
their screens,” said Hale of the production,
which Friends of the Opera House is putting
on.
People will be able to purchase tickets to
watch “High School Musical Jr.” online. The
fi lm will be designed to replicate the experi-
ence of watching a theater production at the
Elgin Opera House.
One of the trickiest parts of the fi lming
process involves conforming to social dis-
tancing rules. Six groups of actors are having
their scenes recorded at the Elgin Opera
House over about a two-month period. The
video recordings will then be spliced together,
so in many instances cast members will
appear to be performing on stage together
even though they were never in the same
place at the same time.
“It really is a puzzle,” Hale said.
“High School Musical Jr.” — the movie
version came out in 2006 — is an upbeat and
witty look at students dealing with issues of
love, friends and family at fi ctitious East High
School.
“I wanted to have something fun and light
after the rough year we have had because of
COVID-19 and the political turmoil,” Hale
said
The cast for the production consists of
Oregon
eases school
safety
guidelines
See, Musical/Page 5A
Schools now can cut
social distance
between students
from 6 feet to 3 feet
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Director Terry Hale looks back through the empty audience seats Friday, March 19, 2021, while cast members warm
up on stage for a rehearsal of the Elgin Opera House’s upcoming production of “High School Musical Jr.” The opera
house is fi lming the performance in segments, as opposed to performing live, due to the pandemic.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Hunter Adams performs the role of Troy Bolton, the main character of “High School Musical Jr.,” on Friday, March
19, 2021. The performance at the Elgin Opera House was recorded through two cameras while Terry Hale directed.
New fire station fulfills big needs
$1 million project
provides ample
space for large
equipment, training
By TERESA CARSON
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon relaxes
school safety guidelines
— again
In yet another about-face,
the state announced Monday,
March 22, it would drastically
reduce the amount of spacing
required for students going back
to school, to align with new
See, Guidelines/Page 5A
By PHIL WRIGHT
The Observer
NORTH POWDER — The
North Powder Rural Fire Protec-
tion District welcomed the fi rst
day of spring, Saturday, March
20, with an open house of its new
fi re station. Dozens of people
attended the event — which
included free hamburgers, sodas
and deserts — and liked what
they saw.
“This is nice” became a
common refrain.
The new two-story building
stands on 2 acres at 710 E St.,
North Powder, about 600 yards
from the previous station’s site.
Among the most eye-catching
elements inside are barnwood
wainscoting that adds a rustic
touch to the decor and the large
sliding door between the big
apparatus bay and the confer-
ence room. There also is a sec-
ond-fl oor overlooking the bay
that provides recreation space.
INDEX
Classified ...............3B
Comics ....................7B
Crossword .............3B
Dear Abby .............8B
Home ......................1B
Phil Wright/The Observer
Locals socialize Saturday, March 20, 2021, at the open house of the North Powder Rural
Fire Protection District’s new station. The former facility could not house the district’s
big equipment. That is no longer a problem.
“We literally did not have room
in the old structure.”
— Casey Martin, North Powder assistant fi re chief
Fire Chief Colby Thompson
and Assistant Chief Casey
Martin were stoked about the
new digs. The project to build
this fi re station began in 2017,
WEATHER
Horoscope .............4B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
Nation.....................7A
State ........................6A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..............3A
Opinion ..................4A
Sports .....................8A
Sudoku ...................7B
Weather .................8B
they said, out of sheer necessity.
“We literally did not have
room in the old structure,”
Martin said.
Holding meetings and train-
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
25 LOW
49/33
Cold
Afternoon rain
FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS
ings was a challenge, Martin
said, because the quarters
were so cramped. And as The
Observer reported in January
2018, the vehicles inside the old
building left little room for fi re-
fi ghters to hustle and get into
protective gear.
The former building also was
too small to house the depart-
ment’s big equipment, including
its bulldozer and 5,000-gallon
tank water truck. That and other
equipment remained outside. The
crew had to drain the tank each
winter, Martin said, to protect
hoses and pumps, and having the
heavy equipment outside meant
they could have been targets for
vandalism.
While that never material-
ized, he said, it was a constant
concern.
But the new building pro-
vides 11,500 square feet of
space, Thompson said, about
four times as much as the
former, and has wide bay doors
to accommodate the big equip-
ment. The dozer and water
truck both were on display
inside the new station.
“That tank truck right now
is full,” Martin pointed out. “So
See, Station/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 35
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com