LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
Today in
History
Today is Thursday, april 15, the
105th day of 2021. There are 260
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On april 15, 1947, Jackie Rob-
inson, baseball’s first Black major
league player, made his official
debut with the Brooklyn dodgers
on opening day at Ebbets Field.
(The dodgers defeated the Boston
Braves, 5-3.)
ON THIS DATE:
in 1452, artist and inventor
leonardo da Vinci was born in or
near the Tuscan town of Vinci.
in 1850, the city of San Francisco
was incorporated.
in 1865, president abraham
lincoln died nine hours after being
shot the night before by John
Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in
Washington; andrew Johnson
became the nation’s 17th president.
in 1912, the British luxury liner
RMS Titanic foundered in the North
atlantic off Newfoundland after
hitting an iceberg; 1,514 people
died, while less than half as many
survived.
in 1945, during World War ii,
British and Canadian troops liber-
ated the Nazi concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen. .
in 1989, students in Beijing
launched a series of pro-democracy
protests; the demonstrations culmi-
nated in a government crackdown
at Tiananmen Square.
in 1990, film star Greta Garbo
died in New york at age 84.
in 1998, pol pot, the notorious
leader of the Khmer Rouge, died at
age 72, evading prosecution for the
deaths of two million Cambodians.
in 2009, whipped up by conser-
vative commentators and bloggers,
protesters staged “tea parties”
around the country to tap into the
angst stirred up by a bad economy,
government spending and bailouts.
in 2013, two bombs made from
pressure cookers exploded at the
Boston Marathon finish line, killing
three people and injuring more
than 260. Suspected bomber Ta-
merlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout
with police; his brother, dzhokhar
Tsarnaev, was tried, convicted and
sentenced to death.
in 2019, fire swept across the
top of the Notre dame Cathedral
as the paris landmark underwent
renovations; the blaze collapsed
the cathedral’s spire and spread to
one of its ltowers, but fire officials
said the church’s structure had
been saved.
THuRSday, apRil 15, 2021
Morgan Lake road may become safer
By DICK MASOIN
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Morgan Lake Road soon
may be safer to travel.
The Union County
Board of Commissioners
voted Monday, April 12,
to apply for a $99,847
matching grant from the
state the county needs
before it can receive about
$1.2 million from the
state’s All Roads Safety
Transportation program
for a Morgan Lake Road
improvement project, which
calls for widening the steep
gravel road and installing
guardrails.
The project may not
go forward unless the
state receives the required
matching grant by 2022,
according to Union County
Commissioner Paul
Anderes. Should the grant
come through by then,
project construction could
start in 2023.
The match funding grant
Union County is requesting
would come from a portion
of the $2.6 billion Oregon
will receive from the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan Act,
dick Mason/The Observer, File
Two vehicles pass Feb. 11, 2020, on the narrow Morgan lake Road near la Grande. union County in 2021 is
seeking a state grant to help provide funding for a $1.3 million project to widen the road and install guardrails.
which Congress passed in
early March for COVID-19
pandemic relief, according
Courtney Warner Crowell,
coordinator for Gov. Kate
Brown’s Regional Solutions
Program. This program’s
advisory committee is cre-
ating a priority list of pro-
grams that could receive
funds from a share of the
American Rescue Plan Act.
Crowell, in a letter to
the Union County Board of
Commissioners, asked that
requests be only for projects
ready to start soon after
matches for funding are
provided. The Morgan Lake
project fits the bill.
“It is shovel ready,”
Anderes said.
The Union County
Board of Commissioners
also voted to apply for a
$453,561 matching grant
via the Regional Solutions
Program for the reconstruc-
tion of River Road, which
runs for 5 miles west of
Interstate 84 near North
Powder to the Anthony
Lakes Highway, which
extends to the Anthony
Lakes Mountain Resort.
The Federal Lands Access
Highway Project in addition
to the matching grant would
fund the $4.4 million recon-
struction project.
The condition of River
Road is declining, and
restoring the road would
help boost tourism, said
Union County Commis-
sioner Donna Beverage.
Like the Morgan Lake
project, work on River Road
could start not long after the
county receives a matching
grant.
“There would be a short
turnaround,” she said.
Match funding from
Union County for the River
Road project is due by Sep-
tember. Should the county
receive the funds, resto-
ration work could start by
2022, Anderes said.
Idaho lawmakers hear pitch to absorb three-fourths of Oregon
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho
lawmakers appeared
intrigued but skeptical on
Monday, April 12, when
pitched a plan to lop off
about three-fourths of
Oregon and add it to Idaho
to create what would
become the nation’s third-
largest state geographically.
Representatives of a
group called Move Oregon’s
Border For a Greater Idaho
outlined their plan to a
joint meeting of Idaho law-
makers from the House and
Senate on Monday.
The Idaho Legislature
would have to approve the
plan that would expand Ida-
ho’s southwestern border
to the Pacific Ocean. The
Oregon Legislature and the
U.S. Congress would also
have to sign off.
Supporters of the idea
said rural Oregon voters are
dominated by liberal urban
areas such as Portland, and
would rather join conserva-
tive Idaho. Portland would
remain with Oregon.
“There’s a longtime cul-
tural divide as big as the
Grand Canyon between
northwest Oregon and rural
Oregon, and it’s getting
larger,” Mike McCarter,
La Grande Parks & Rec
seeks input on local parks
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — If you ever
wanted to ride a zip-line across
Morgan Lake, now is the time to
ask.
La Grande Parks & Recreation
Department is asking residents for
input on local parks in a survey
to help guide the department in
developing a master plan for the
coming years.
“The end goal is to prioritize
activities for the parks department
for the next five years,” said Stu
Spence, La Grande’s parks & rec
director. “It’s much better to have
a plan and a strategy.”
The “Master Plan” survey will
run for a few months, culminating
in the fall when officials say they
expect to finish drafting the plan.
The survey garnered more than
250 submissions in its inaugural
week. Spence said he hopes to see
close to 1,000 survey responses
come in.
By spring 2022, the depart-
ment wants to start implementing
ideas from the survey.
Funds would hit specific tar-
gets pulled from the plan — from
adding amenities such as bath-
rooms to Morgan Lake or devel-
oping group activities and sports
— based on survey responses
about where residents’ priorities
lie.
The parks department isn’t off
the hook for developing its own
ideas and improvements. It will
be working toward adding sug-
gestions to the mix, but the survey
adds a layer of democracy to the
parks department outside of Zoom
meetings.
“It’s a process where every-
body should be providing input,”
Spence said.
The survey is online at the La
Grande Parks & Recreation web-
site, www.lagrandeparks.org,
or through a link on the depart-
ment’s Facebook page.
The survey consists of multiple
choice questions regarding pref-
erences and takes around 10 min-
utes to complete.
president of Move Oregon’s
Border for a Greater Idaho,
told Idaho lawmakers.
If everything falls in line
with Oregon, supporters
envision also adding adja-
cent portions of south-
eastern Washington and
northern California to
Idaho. Backers said resi-
dents in those areas also
yearn for less govern-
ment oversight and long to
become part of a red state
insulated from the liberal
influence of large urban
centers that tend to vote
Democratic.
“Values of faith, family,
independence. That’s what
Joining the ranks
we’re about,” said Mark
Simmons, an eastern
Oregon rancher and former
speaker of the Oregon
House of Representatives.
“We don’t need the state
breathing down our necks
all the time, microman-
aging our lives and trying
to push us into a foreign
way of living.”
President Joe Biden
easily won Washington,
Oregon and California in
November, while Presi-
dent Donald Trump car-
ried Idaho with 64%. The
Idaho House and Senate
each have supermajorities
of Republicans.
The group’s strategy has
been to get advisory votes
in Oregon counties likely
to make the switch. But
last November the group
had mixed success with
two counties opting to join
Idaho but two wanting to
stay a part of Oregon. Sup-
porters blamed the setback
on the coronavirus pan-
demic and an inability to
get their message out. Five
more Oregon counties are
expected to vote on the
matter in May.
The county votes carry
no weight, but are intended
to sway lawmakers to ulti-
mately approve the plan.
Get ready for the North
Powder Halibut Feed
By DICK MASON
The Observer
la Grande police department/Contributed Photo
The la Grande police department on Saturday,
april 10, 2021, announced on its Facebook page
that Cody Kirby graduated april 2 from the basic
police course at the Oregon public Safety acade-
my in Salem and now is a certified police officer
with the city of la Grande. The basic course runs
for 16 week (640 hours) and helps new offices
develop basic skills in the disciplines needed for
performing patrol work.
NORTH POWDER
— About 100 tickets still
remain for the annual North
Powder Halibut Feed, which
will run 3-7 p.m. Saturday,
April 17.
A total of 150 tickets per
each hour-long session will
be sold for the drive-thru
dinner. Ticket holders will
pick up their halibut meal
during their time slot. The
tickets are $25 each for a
meal that includes halibut,
baked potato, french bread,
coleslaw and a dessert.
To reserve tickets, call
the North Powder School
District at 541-898-2244,
ext. 8821. When calling,
be ready to say how many
tickets you want and the
time slot you want to pick
up the meal. Tickets, after
a reservation call is made,
can be picked at Powder
Valley High School. When
The Observer/File
The powder Valley High School
Badgers volleyball team celebrates
winning the 2012 state title. The
annual halibut feed supporting
the school’s girls basketball and
volleyball teams is a drive-thru din-
ner Saturday, april 17, 2021.
people purchase tickets,
they will be provided with
pick-up instructions.
Proceeds from the hal-
ibut feed will go to sup-
port Powder Valley High
School’s girls volleyball and
basketball teams.
Baker County search and rescue team helps family stuck in snow
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER COUNTY
— Three members of the
Baker County Sheriff’s
Office’s search and rescue
team brought to safety a
Beaverton couple and their
son early Monday, April 12,
after their car became stuck
in the snow Sunday after-
noon on an unplowed Forest
Service road in eastern
Baker County.
No one was hurt in
the incident, said Ashley
McClay, public informa-
tion officer for the sheriff’s
office.
The Baker County 911
Dispatch Office received
a call about 2:26 a.m.
Monday from Jason
Brunson, 52, McClay said.
Brunson told a dis-
patcher that his 2016 Ford
Fusion sedan was stuck
in snow along the Wal-
lowa Mountain Loop Road,
also known as Forest Road
39, about 8.9 miles north
of Highway 86. Road 39
Baker County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo
a Beaverton family’s car got stuck in snow along Forest Road 39 in east-
ern Baker County Sunday afternoon, april 11, 2021. Baker County Sheriff’s
Office search and rescue members, summoned by a cellphone call early
Monday, rescued the family of three. None was injured.
branches off Highway 86
about 9 miles northeast of
Halfway.
Brunson was accompa-
nied by his wife, Jennifer,
49, and their 7-year-old son,
George, McClay said.
The three search and
rescue team members trav-
eled to the site in two side-
by-side all-terrain vehicles,
equipped with tires rather
than tracks. They arrived at
5:38 a.m. and brought the
Beaverton family back to
the highway.
McClay said Sgt. Eric
Colton helped the Brun-
sons arrange to have their
car towed. It apparently sus-
tained damage when they
were trying to free it from
the snow, McClay said.
McClay said the
Brunson family was trying
to reach the Hells Canyon
Overlook. The turnoff to
that site, which is along a
side road, is about 10 miles
farther along Road 39 from
where the car became stuck.
Brunson said the car
got mired in snow between
4 and 5 p.m. Sunday. The
family tried through the
evening to extricate the car,
he said, without success.
Around 2 a.m. Monday he
walked about a quarter mile
to a point where he had cell
service to call 911.
McClay said the car had
a nearly full tank of gas,
and the family apparently
was able to run the engine
to operate the heater and
warm the interior.
There are no weather
stations within 15 miles or
so of the site, but a station
at Salt Creek Summit, about
16 miles northeast, recorded
a low temperature of 20
degrees Monday. The Baker
City Airport tied a record
low of 16 degrees Monday
morning.
In early March the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National
Forest, prompted by mul-
tiple search and rescue
calls this past winter along
Road 39 in both Baker and
Wallowa counties, issued
a press release reminding
drivers that the road is a
snowmobile route during
winter. The Forest Ser-
vice placed barriers along
the road to discourage pas-
senger vehicles. According
to the press release, the
Forest Service planned to
move the barriers farther up
the road this spring as the
snow receded.
Baker County Sheriff
Travis Ash said Forest
Service officials notified
him recently that the bar-
riers would be removed.
A sign remains warning
the road is not maintained
during winter, but Ash said
he believes the sign is too
small to be effective.
He said the Brunsons
told search and rescue
members they didn’t see the
warning sign.
Road 39, which con-
tinues north into Wallowa
County, usually doesn’t
fully open to vehicles until
May or early June.
One problem with Road
39 and several other forest
roads that are popular with
snowmobilers, Ash said,
is that the snow machines
compact the snow into a
firm but thin surface that
can hold the weight of a car.
Until it doesn’t.
“You can do fine on that
compact snow until you
break through,” Ash said.
“Then you’re stuck.”
He said people who
aren’t familiar with snow-
mobile routes don’t rec-
ognize that a road hasn’t
been maintained for
wheeled vehicles.