LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, apRil 3, 2021
Today in Police chase ends with arrest of wanted man
History
Today is Saturday april 3, the
93rd day of 2021. There are 272
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On april 3, 1968, civil rights
leader Martin luther King Jr.
delivered what turned out to be his
final speech, telling a rally of striking
sanitation workers in Memphis,
Tennessee, that “i’ve been to the
mountaintop” and “seen the prom-
ised land. i may not get there with
you. But i want you to know tonight
that we, as a people, will get to the
promised land!” (about 20 hours
later, King was felled by an assassin’s
bullet at the lorraine Motel.)
ON THIS DATE:
in 1860, the legendary pony Ex-
press began carrying mail between
St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramen-
to, California. (The delivery system
lasted only 18 months before
giving way to the transcontinental
telegraph.)
in 1865, union forces occupied
the Confederate capital of Rich-
mond, Virginia.
in 1882, outlaw Jesse James was
shot to death in St. Joseph, Missouri,
by Robert Ford, a member of James’
gang.
in 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was
electrocuted in Trenton, New Jersey,
for the kidnap-murder of Charles
lindbergh Jr.
in 1944, the u.S. Supreme Court,
in Smith v. allwright, struck down
a democratic party of Texas rule
that allowed only white voters to
participate in democratic primaries.
in 1946, lt. Gen. Masaharu Hom-
ma, the Japanese commander held
responsible for the Bataan death
March, was executed by firing
squad outside Manila.
in 1948, president Harry S.
Truman signed the Marshall plan,
designed to help European allies
rebuild after World War ii and resist
communism.
in 1973, the first handheld por-
table telephone was demonstrated
for reporters on a New york City
street corner as Motorola executive
Martin Cooper called Joel S. Engel
of Bell labs.
in 1996, unabomber Theodore
Kaczynski was arrested at his
remote Montana cabin.
in 2005, a day after the death
of pope John paul ii, the body of
the pontiff lay in state. Millions
prayed and wept at services across
the globe, as the Vatican prepared
for the ritual-filled funeral and
conclave that would choose a
successor.
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Union County Sheriff’s
Office trapped a local man
Wednesday afternoon,
March 31, on a narrow road
while he was trying to flee
during a car chase.
Cody Trace Hamlin, 30,
of La Grande, now is in the
Union County Correctional
Facility, La Grande, on
multiple charges.
The pursuit began a little
after 4 p.m. Wednesday,
after a deputy spotted
Hamlin, who had warrants
for his arrest, and tried
to stop the BWM he was
driving for traffic violations
along Adams Avenue in La
Grande, according to the
sheriff’s office.
The car failed to yield
to the deputy’s lights and
sirens, and the chase was
on, reaching more than 50
mph down Second Street.
Upon reaching the fair-
grounds, Hamlin drove up
alex Wittwer/The Observer
union County sheriff’s deputy dale Flowers guides Cody Hamlin into the back of a police vehicle following his ar-
rest Wednesday, March 31, 2021, on Robbs Hill Road near la Grande. Hamlin led deputies on a car chase through
a residential neighborhood in la Grande before his capture.
Fox Hill Road and ran out
of escape routes, as much
of the area remained cov-
PENDLETON — The
Umatilla National Forest is
implementing two projects
this year thanks to funding
from the Great American
Outdoors Act.
The USDA Forest Ser-
vice recently announced
the investment of up to
$40 million for 29 proj-
ects on national forests in
Oregon and Washington to
fund Great American Out-
doors Act projects that will
address critical deferred
maintenance and improve
transportation and recre-
ation infrastructure. The
two projects on the Uma-
tilla National Forest will
enhance safety and visitor
access.
The Burnt Cabin Trail
Bridge Replacement on the
Walla Walla Ranger Dis-
trict is 6 miles up the South
Fork Walla Walla trail at the
junction of the Burnt Cabin
The sheriff’s office
reported that deputies con-
tinued the pursuit down
New assistant principals
coming to LMS, Central
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande School District
is set to add a pair of new
assistant principals.
The school district
has announced Chelsea
Hurliman, now vice prin-
cipal at Baker High School,
will become the next assis-
tant principal at La Grande
Middle School and Jennifer
Melendez, dean of students
at Elmhurst Elementary
School in Tacoma, Wash-
ington, will be the next
assistant principal at Cen-
tral Elementary School.
Hurliman will suc-
ceed Chris Wagner at the
middle school. Wagner will
become the school’s new
principal July 1 after Kyle
McKinney, who has worked
there as principal the past
14 years, retires.
Melendez will succeed
Monica West at Central.
West was earlier named
Central’s next principal.
West will succeed Suzy
Mayes who is retiring.
Mayes has been Central’s
principal since the fall of
2014.
Melendez was a elemen-
tary instructional coach, an
English language develop-
ment teacher and coach and
a summer program admin-
istrator before taking her
current position.
La Grande School
District Superintendent
George Mendoza in a press
release welcomed both
Hurliman and Melendez
to the district.
Umatilla National Forest plans projects
through Great American Outdoors Act
The Observer
ered in snow, leaving the
only option to continue on
Robbs Hill Road.
the road where Sheriff
Cody Bowen and other
deputies set up. The sher-
iff’s office intercepted the
BMW head-on while
La Grande police were
ready to place spike traps
at exits to prevent the
vehicle from reentering the
community, deputies at the
scene said.
The vehicle finally came
to a stop in the road and
law enforcement detained
Hamlin and a passenger.
The sheriff’s office
booked Hamlin in the
county jail on warrants
and for felony fleeing,
reckless driving, reck-
less endangerment and
possession of heroin and
methamphetamine.
State court records show
Hamlin has several con-
victions in Union County,
including in 2016 for fleeing
and reckless driving and in
2018 for the manufacture,
possession and delivery of
methamphetamine.
Trail No. 3226. The bridge
was built 25 years ago with
native log stringers that
have deteriorated.
Due to safety con-
cerns with the structure’s
stability, the Forest Ser-
vice closed access across
the bridge in 2017. The
flooding in 2020 also dam-
aged the bridge and led
to its removal. The Great
American Outdoors Act
funding will provide for the
replacement of the bridge,
restoring access to this pop-
ular trail.
The second project is
the Blue Mountain Scenic
Byway Chip Seal on the
North Fork John Day
Ranger District. This is to
repair 33.6 miles of existing
road on a popular 145-mile
route that travels from near
Arlington to Granite. This
road also is a major portal
to both the Umatilla and
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forests, offering numerous
opportunities for scenic
views and recreation. The
deferred maintenance on
this portion of the road will
reduce risk to public safety
and extend the life of this
scenic route for 10-20 years.
This funding is part of
a $285 million investment
on national forests through
the newly created National
Parks and Public Land
Legacy Restoration Fund,
which the Great American
Outdoors Act established in
2020. The funds will allow
the Forest Service to imple-
ment more than 500 infra-
structure improvement proj-
ects nationwide.
For more information on
these projects in the Pacific
Northwest region, visit the
regional GAOA website.
Additional information
about the Umatilla National
Forest is available at www.
fs.usda.gov/umatilla.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Stacy Green, director of the Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation, talks with a donor while members of the
foundation board wait with gifts of flowers and cupcakes Thursday, March 18, 2021, during the foundation’s
Circle 100 fundraiser.
Group seeks to raise money
for cardiovascular monitors
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE —
The Wallowa Valley
Health Care Foundation’s
Circle 100 fundraiser
on Thursday, March 18,
brought in nearly $10,000.
The money will go toward
new wireless cardiovas-
cular monitors for Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital,
foundation Director Stacy
Green said the following
day.
She said the new moni-
tors are a marked improve-
ment over the current
models.
“In the old days, you
had to be hooked up to
heavy equipment in a hos-
pital bed,” Green said.
“Now you’re not glued
to a bed and you’re free
to roam. There are more
bells and whistles to look
at heart and respiratory
functions.”
She said the goal of
this year’s fundraiser is
$20,000, which would
enable the foundation
to purchase two mon-
itors. Although only
halfway there, she said she
expected more donations to
come during the next three
to four weeks.
“We’re closing in on
$10,000,” Green said.
“People are continuing to
give, so $20,000 is not out
of reach.”
Donors are asked to
give checks of $100 and
receive a membership in
the foundation. The Wal-
lowa Memorial Hospital
Auxiliary was the largest
single donor, giving $2,000
as the group has done the
past several years.
The youngest donor
was 9-year-old Kallie
Michaelson, who col-
lected cans to recycle and
made and sold “friendship
bracelets” to raise $50. Her
mother, Jessie Michaelson,
matched Kallie’s donation
with another $50, Green
said.
She said the foundation
received 60 checks in the
mail and another 35 indi-
viduals came to the drive-
thru fundraiser held in
downtown Enterprise. The
drive-thru fundraiser was
a departure from the foun-
dation’s usual in-person,
annual meeting at the hos-
pital given the restric-
tions from the COVID-19
pandemic.
The decade-old founda-
tion has raised money each
year for the hospital to pur-
chase a wide variety of
equipment. Last year, the
foundation raised $17,500
for a new and improved
baby incubator.
“We appreciate all the
women who came by and
the couple of men whose
wives could not make it
and dropped off checks,”
Green said.
Survey shows rural-urban divide in Oregon over remote working
49 questions asked how COVID-19 could
permanently change workplaces in Oregon
By SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
BEND — Residents of
rural areas think working
from home is temporary
and as soon as the threat
of the pandemic ends,
everyone will return to the
office.
What’s more likely to
occur is increased flex
time, where work is split
between the office and
home, said Dan McCa-
rthy, High Lakes Health
Care regional administrator.
Post-pandemic, McCa-
rthy said, the company that
employs about 350 people
throughout Central Oregon
will still have remote
workers.
“We found that a hybrid
approach that balances
work from home with office
hours is something that will
be here to stay,” McCa-
rthy said. “I believe there
is something lost when
working virtually 100% of
the time.”
Working from home
misses checking in with
each other, developing a
sense of community and
the dynamic interaction of
problem-solving, he said.
Virtual platforms just don’t
cut it.
McCarthy’s views mirror
about 601 people who were
surveyed March 5-10 as
part of the Oregon Values
and Voices project, a non-
partisan charitable organi-
zation that partnered with
Pamplin Media Group,
EO Media Group, which
owns The Bulletin and The
Observer, and the Oregon
Values and Beliefs Center.
The survey con-
Oregon Values and Beliefs Center
The Oregon Values and Beliefs Center is committed to the highest level of public
opinion research. To obtain that, the non-profit is building the largest online
research panel of Oregonians in history to ensure that all voices are represented
in discussions of public policy in a valid and statistically reliable way.
Selected panelists earn points for their participation, which can be redeemed for
cash or donated to a charity. To learn more, visit oregonvbc.org.
sisted of 49 questions
sent to a random sample
about changes caused by
COVID-19 that will become
permanent in Oregon. This
is the second such survey
orchestrated by the group
on the effects of COVID-19.
In one question, 47%
of the people who live in
rural Oregon say they felt
working from home was
only temporary, com-
pared to 37% in the Willa-
mette Valley and tri-county
area around Portland who
said it’s temporary. Since
workers in urban and sub-
urban communities are
more likely affected by con-
gestion, their commute
times are longer, making
working from home more
attractive, said Adam
Davis, Oregon Values and
Beliefs Center co-founder.
“As a result of the coro-
navirus and how it has
affected life at home and
employment, a strong
majority of Oregonians feel
more of us in the future
will work from home,”
Davis said. “This feeling
is shared across all popula-
tion subgroups with many
feeling the change will be
permanent.”
Cheri Rosenberg, Pend-
leton Chamber of Com-
merce CEO, said the small-
town feel has created a tight
bond between employee
and employer. The popula-
tion of Pendleton, according
to U.S. Census Bureau’s
most current estimates, is
16,733.
“Because we tend to
have a more personal rela-
tionship between our
employers and employees,
it’s a conversation we are
able to have,” Rosenberg
said in an email. “For those
who are able and prefer
to work from home, those
steps are being taken. For
those who are ready to get
back into the office, those
steps are being taken there
as well.
“We’re able to have the
best of both worlds due
to the ability to be very
open and candid with one
another.”
In the survey, 33% of
those ages 45-64 said the
ability to work from home
was temporary, compared
to 53% in the same age
group that thought working
from home was permanent.
And 64% of those who
earned more than $100,000
a year said they believed
working from home would
become permanent, com-
pared to 28%, earning the
same amount, who said it
would be temporary.
The survey’s margin of
error, for the full sample,
ranges from 2.4% to 4%
depending on how the
response category percent-
ages are split for any given
question, according to the
survey authors.
Katy Brooks, Bend
Chamber of Commerce
CEO, said she’s seen the
data play out during this
past year.
But Bend is a city with a
high percentage of remote
workers given that Bend
has a low inventory of office
space and employees appear
to like the flexibility of
working from home.