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THURSDAY • April 8, 2021
• $1.50
Good day to our valued subscribers Kirk & Mikki End of La Grande
Rock quarry application withdrawn
Quarry proponent
says team is
working on better
application
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
James Smejkal of Banks
withdrew his application
for a rock quarry off Robbs
Hill Road before Union
County commissioners
could vote on Wednesday
morning, April 7.
The Union County Plan-
ning Commission on March
22 voted to recommend
the county commissioners
reject Smejkal’s applica-
tion, citing the staff report
that found numerous defi -
ciencies in the 400-plus
pages of the document. The
county board had sched-
uled a public hearing to
consider the application
for the rock quarry about
a mile from Perry. The
quarry would have been at
least 250 acres.
But Bill Kloos, legal
counsel representing Sme-
jkal, formally withdrew
the application, according
to information from Union
County.
Commissioner Matt
Scarfo would not say how
he would have voted on the
application, and Commis-
sioner Donna Beverage said
she was uncertain if she
could address that.
The Observer was not
able to confi rm an answer
from Commissioner Paul
Anderes, chairman of the
county board, before dead-
line Wednesday.
Steve West of
La Grande, a member of
the application team for the
Robbs Hill Rock Quarry
project, said the with-
drawal is only temporary.
He said the team wants to
regroup and submit a better
application.
“This project is not
dead, and I want to thank
the incredible number of
people locally who support
the project,” West said in a
statement to The Observer.
West said one of his per-
sonal goals is to get out
fact-based information to
the public to off set what he
said is disinformation from
a small number of people
who oppose the project.
“They truly repre-
sent a small percentage of
the county’s population,
but they are loud and get
heard,” he said.
He said he believes a
detailed public informa-
tion campaign that outlines
the facts will change public
opinion and silence critics.
West said the rock quarry
project will be approved
in the near future if such
a public information cam-
paign is undertaken.
But the real work
would have to be a better
application.
County Planning
Director Scott Hartell for
the March 22 planning
commission hearing deliv-
ered a 17-page report that
went through the Smejkal
application and found it
lacking throughout, begin-
ning with proving a public
need for the rock quarry.
Oregon
to open
vaccine
eligibility
to all on
April 19
Road
paving
projects
planned
La Grande upgrades
Second Street,
ODOT improves
part of Interstate 84
Union County stays
at moderate risk but
death toll adds one
By GARY A. WARNER
By DICK MASON
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Observer
that line. The next day on the bus,
teammates pried the story from the
obviously distressed Munck and
persuaded her to tell an adult.
She did, but it would take six
months for DeYoe, who taught
freshman and sophomore English
at the school, to be put on adminis-
trative leave.
In the meantime, inappropriate
behavior continued. It would be
almost a year before DeYoe pled
guilty to harassment that included
sexual touching. DeYoe, 31, in the
plea deal, forfeited his teaching
license, terminated his housing
lease in Athena and agreed to have
no contact with minors who are not
SALEM — Facing a
“fourth wave” of COVID-
19, Oregon will drop eli-
gibility restrictions for
COVID-19 vaccinations
April 19, up to two weeks
earlier than planned.
The change comes as the
disease claimed another life
in Union County.
President Joe Biden
directed Tuesday morning,
April 6, that states should
open inoculation appoint-
ments to everyone age 16
and older.
Oregon previously
planned to drop all eligi-
bility restrictions by May 1,
with some counties possibly
off ering appointments as
early as April 26.
Gov. Kate Brown said
Oregon would drop limits
on April 19, but until then, it
would continue to prioritize
vaccinations for people with
underlying medical condi-
tions, essential workers and
communities underserved
during the pandemic.
“We are locked in a race
between vaccine distribu-
tion and the rapid spread
of COVID-19 variants,”
Brown said.
The move comes as
infections and hospitaliza-
tions have started to rise
after a long decline since
January.
The state has reported
more than 400 cases per
day in the past week and
has seen rising numbers
of hospitalizations, despite
having fully vaccinated
more than 784,000 of the
state’s estimated 2.8 million
adult residents.
An Oregon Health &
Science University forecast
released last week estimated
the current spike will lead
to an average of 1,000 cases
per day by next month.
Evidence of the virus
rebound also was found
in the latest infection risk
See, Bailey/Page 5A
See, Vaccines/Page 5A
UNION COUNTY —
Road paving crews will be
hard at work this spring and
summer in the La Grande
and Meacham areas.
Major road restoration
projects are set to be con-
ducted on Second Street in
La Grande and on Interstate
84 from Meacham east for
3.5 miles.
The Second Street work
will run from Spring Street
to Adams Avenue, a total
of 1,100 feet, according to
La Grade Public Works
Director Kyle Carpenter.
This stretch of Second
Street will be torn out and
replaced with new asphalt.
Carpenter said this por-
tion of the road has not
had major repair work for
decades and is badly in
need of an upgrade.
“It is in good condition
for its age, but it is time,”
he said.
The Second Street
project will involve more
than replacing roadway.
The city also will remove
and replace an old water
main as part of the project.
The 18-inch diameter
steel water pipe, an inte-
gral part of La Grande’s
water supply system, is old
See, Roads/Page 5A
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Retired Weston Middle School teacher John Bartron gives 17-year-old Bailey Munck some calming advice before the pair testifi ed remotely
for Senate Bill 649, known as Bailey’s Bill, which increases penalties for criminal sexual contact with an underage victim when the defendant
is the victim’s teacher. Munck and Bartron testifi ed from Pendleton on March 25, 2021.
Bailey’s Bill
Sen. Bill Hansell names bill after Athena teen abused by teacher
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
ATHENA — Bailey Munck
steeled herself.
In a few short minutes, the
17-year-old Weston-McEwen High
School student would testify to the
Senate judiciary committee of the
Oregon Legislature via video chat.
Munck fought her nerves as she
thought about the intensely per-
sonal information she was about
to share with total strangers.
The testimony on March 25
would be in support of “Bailey’s
Bill,” named after her. Sponsored
by Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena,
and Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Mil-
waukie, the proposed legisla-
tion would increase penalties for
criminal sexual contact with an
underage victim if the defendant
is the victim’s teacher. Currently,
a coach convicted of sexual abuse
(in the third degree) receives
harsher penalties than a teacher
who commits the exact same
crime.
When committee chairman
Sen. Floyd Prozanski in Salem
invited Munck to speak, she
unmuted the laptop and began.
“Good morning, Chairman
Prozanski and Vice-Chairman
(Kim) Thatcher and com-
mittee members,” she began.
“For the record, my name is
Bailey Munck and I’m a senior
at Weston-McEwen High School.
In November of 2019 after the
fi rst state volleyball playoff game,
I was sexually harassed by my
English teacher.”
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Seventeen-year-old Weston-McEwen senior Bailey Munck testifi es remotely for Senate Bill
649, known as Bailey’s Bill, which increases penalties for criminal sexual contact with an un-
derage victim when the defendant is the victim’s teacher. Munck testifed from Pendleton
on March 25, 2021.
Enduring a teacher’s
inappropriate behavior
Munck’s appearance at the
hearing came after some diffi cult
months. Now 17, she likely wishes
she could go back in time and give
her 16-year-old self some heart-
felt advice, preferably before her
teacher inched closer and closer
to student-teacher boundaries and
fi nally stepped over them on Nov.
2, 2019, the day Munck and the
other Weston-McEwen volleyball
players shut out Coquille 3-0 in a
fi rst-round state playoff match on a
road trip.
That night in their Roseburg
hotel, popular teacher and score-
keeper Andrew DeYoe crossed
INDEX
Business .................1B
Classified ...............3B
Comics ....................7B
Crossword .............5B
WEATHER
Dear Abby .............8B
Horoscope .............5B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..............3A
Opinion ..................4A
Spiritual .................6A
Sports .....................8A
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Issue 42
3 sections, 24 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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