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Weekend
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SATURDAY– MONDAY • April 3, 2021
Gun storage
bill heads
for vote at
Legislature
Students return to
classrooms April 12
By PHIL WRIGHT
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Students in the La
Grande School District are heading back to
in-person learning every day of the week.
Days will remain short through the school
year, however, and students enrolled at La
Grande Virtual Learning Academy can con-
tinue with online learning.
School district Superintendent George
Mendoza announced in a virtual town hall
meeting Thursday night, April 1, the move
back to more regular classes starts Monday,
April 12.
“K-12 is all in, we’re going, every day, for
the rest of the school year,” he said.
That also means there is no school Friday,
April 9. Mendoza explained staff need the
time to prepare for the infl ux of students
and to organize lesson plans, as well as to
reconfi gure classrooms and bring in furni-
ture. Also, he said, the school needs to deal
with the logistics of providing meals to more
students.
Getting to this point, Mendoza said,
started March 19, when Gov. Kate Brown
announced an update to the Ready Schools,
Safe Learners guidance that lowered the phys-
ical distancing rule for students in schools
from 6 feet to 3 feet and removed the 35
square feet per person requirement for coun-
ties that meet Oregon’s COVID-19 moderate
risk levels. Mendoza said this was not a man-
date from the state to increase the number of
students in schools, but instead will now be a
local decision.
“What that did for our school district is it
increased the opportunity or propensity for us
to have students back, every day, all in, K-12,”
he said.
Union County also remains in the mod-
erate risk level, which gives the La Grande
School District a green light to allow its stu-
dents in its buildings at the same time. But
Mendoza also showed how COVID-19 has
been aff ecting students and staff .
The district has 2,188 students, Mendoza
said during his presentation, and since the
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
See, Bill/Page 5A
Good day to our valued subscriber Ruth Uhrig of Elgin
LG schools: ‘All in’
House to decide whether
stricter requirements
are necessary to keep
children safe
SALEM — Another gun regu-
lation bill is headed for a legisla-
tive debate and vote, this time in
the Oregon House.
House Bill 2510, approved
Tuesday, March 30, by the House
Health Care Committee, would
require the storage of fi rearms
with trigger or cable locks, in
a locked container or in a gun
room.
An off ense would be a Class
C violation, which carries a
maximum fi ne of $500, unless
someone under age 18 obtains
access, in which case it is a
Class A violation with a max-
imum fi ne of $2,000. No jail
time is imposed for violations.
The committee vote was 6-4.
All Democrats voted for it, and
all Republicans against it.
On March 25, the Oregon
Senate voted 16-7 to approve a
bill making state buildings —
including the Oregon Capitol —
off -limits to fi rearms carried by
concealed handgun licensees.
Senate Bill 554, which went to
the House, leaves it up to local
governments to decide that ques-
tion for their own buildings.
Oregon is among the states
with no laws regulating gun
storage, according to the
pro-regulation Giff ords Law
Center. Laws in California
and Washington apply to some
aspects of storage.
When the House Health
Care Committee heard the gun
storage bill March 11, nearly 400
pieces of testimony were sub-
mitted for and against House Bill
2510. Some people submitted
more than one.
“We cannot gun-proof chil-
dren,” Dr. Benjamin Hoff man,
pediatrician at Doernbecher
Children’s Hospital at Oregon
Health & Science University,
testifi ed. “We must child-proof
guns.”
Between 1999 and 2019, he
said, Oregon averaged 3.5 deaths
by fi rearms per 100,000 people,
compared with the national
average of 2.3 per 100,000.
For youths under 19 during the
period, he said Oregon averaged
6.3 deaths per 100,000, com-
pared with the national average
of 5 per 100,000.
“Gun violence is one of the
leading causes of death for
• $1.50
See, Return/Page 5A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
A student with La Grande Middle School boards a school bus in the afternoon following class on Friday, April 2, 2021.
School district Superintendent George Mendoza announced middle and high school students return to in-person
learning each day of the week starting April 12 based on local data and guidance from health offi cials.
“K-12 is all in, we’re going, every day, for
the rest of the school year.”
— Superintendent George Mendoza, on La Grande students returning to in-person classes
Community blood drives have big impact
Local drives
produced 338 units
in March, with
180 units in 2 days
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A year
ago health offi cials feared the
COVID-19 pandemic could
trigger a blood shortage.
The concern was legitimate
because opportunities for con-
ducting blood drives were dwin-
dling. The American Red Cross
found that putting on blood
drives at schools and businesses
no longer was a viable option
because students were taking
classes virtually and many
employees were working at
home, greatly reducing the poten-
tial donor base.
This left the Red Cross with
only its community drives as a
blood donation source. People
coming to these blood drives
have increased, allowing the Red
Cross’ blood pipeline to remain
strong.
“Our community blood drives
have been amazing,” said Jacob
Dick Mason/The Observer
American Red Cross phlebotomists Jeff ery Zillman, left, and Robert Vincent talk with
blood donor Lou Gerber on March 31, 2021, during the blood drive at The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in La Grande.
Reines, who lives in Caldwell,
Idaho, and is an account manager
for the Red Cross’ Idaho-Mon-
tana district, which includes
Union County and other portions
of Northeast Oregon.
The blood drives Reines is
referring to include the Red
Cross-operated La Grande Com-
munity Blood Drive, which con-
ducted a draw on Tuesday, March
30, and Wednesday, March 31.
INDEX
Classified ...............2B
Comics ....................5B
Crossword .............2B
Dear Abby .............6B
WEATHER
Horoscope .............3B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
Obituaries ..............3A
TUESDAY
Opinion ..................4A
Outdoors ...............1B
State ........................6A
Sudoku ...................5B
SOUP SUPPER
The drive collected 180 units of
blood, putting it on pace to have
its most successful year in at
least two decades. To date, the
La Grande Community Blood
Drive, coordinated by Sheldon
and Linda Strand, has drawn
338 units after a pair of two-day
draws at The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1802
Gekeler Lane.
Reines said strong collections
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
44 LOW
58/31
Mostly cloudy
Cooler
in Northeast Oregon are helping
the entire Idaho-Montana district
to be strong in terms of its blood
supply. Donations in La Grande
have been so successful, Reines
said, that its drives now are often
two days instead of one.
Regulars coming to these
blood drives include Lou Gerber
and his wife, Robin, of La
Grande, who again donated this
week. Lou Gerber made the 30th
blood donation of his life and
Robin made her 31st.
“It is really important to do
something to help others. It does
not cost anything and it is easy,”
Robin Gerber said.
She is now about one unit
away from reaching the 4 gallon
donation mark for her lifetime
and her husband is about two
units away. A unit of blood is
about a pint.
The Gerbers have been
coming together to community
blood drives for years. Robin
noted in the 1990s, the married
couple would have lunch dates
at blood drives, enjoying midday
meals while donating blood.
The Gerbers were among
about 180 people who gave blood
in La Grande this week. All of
See, Drives/Page 5A
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Issue 40
2 sections, 12 pages
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