FROM PAGE ONE
THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021
ART
Spence, who expressed
confi dence in the project.
“Once the artist is selected
and the design is accepted,
we’ll write some grants.”
Providers of public
art grants, Spence said,
want to see a project’s
plans before a request for
funding. The call for pro-
posals is the fi rst step in
seeking grants.
This is diff erent from
how the city, for example,
budgets for road repairs.
the arts economy and
artists.”
Dolge also referred to
the nonprofi t Americans
for the Arts’ 2017 study
“Arts & Economic Pros-
perity 5,” an economic
analysis of the arts and
culture. According to the
study, nonprofi t arts and
cultural organizations in
Northeast Oregon spent
about $652,000 while
audiences spent almost
$557,000 taking in arts and
culture.
The total economic
impact of arts and culture
in the region produced 39
full-time jobs.
The study shows a pop-
ulation for the region of
almost 49,000, which
would about equal the
combined populations of
Union, Wallowa and Baker
counties at the time.
Several buildings in
and around downtown dis-
play murals, and there are a
couple of public sculptures
on display downtown.
The most recent is from
2015. La Grande Main
Street Downtown headed
up the project and selected
Summerville artist Judd
Koehn for an installation
of bronze hats on the north
side of the 1200 block of
Adams Avenue.
And the large bronze
reproduction of “Cast Iron
Mary” has been standing
just shy of 99 years at the
entrance to Max Square
across from Cook Memo-
rial Library.
The Women’s Christian
Temperance Union in 1904
erected the original “Cast
Iron Mary,” according
to information on the
city’s Parks & Recreation
website.
“Her purpose was two-
fold: fi rst to provide good,
clean drinking water for
people, horses and dogs;
and, secondly, to entice
the menfolk away from the
numerous taverns found
in La Grande at the time,”
according to the city.
But George Noble,
a local bootlegger, was
fl eeing from police the
night of April 22, 1922,
and lost control of his auto-
mobile and crashed into the
fountain.
While Noble escaped
unhurt, the city reported,
the crash totaled both
his automobile and “Cast
Iron Mary.”
it gets “a green light” from
federal offi cials.
The halt in using
Johnson & Johnson vac-
cines will not change
plans to open up vaccine
eligibility to everyone age
16 and older on Monday.
Availability has lagged
eligibility throughout
the vaccination priority
phases and the same is
expected to occur next
week.
“People will have to wait
a little longer” to get vacci-
nated, Cieslak said.
Oregon offi cials had
already been bracing for
a steep drop in available
doses of the vaccine due to
a botched batch of 15 mil-
lion doses that had to be
destroyed at a Baltimore
facility.
Oregon received over
60,000 doses last week,
but the breakdown in
the supply chain due to
the mishap in Baltimore
reduced the fl ow to 8,000
this week and down to
2,000 next week.
OHA reported Tuesday
that 928,874 Oregon res-
idents have been com-
pletely inoculated, mostly
with the two-shot Mod-
erna and Pfi zer vaccines.
Another 539,753 people
have received their fi rst
dose of a two-shot vaccine.
The second shots are given
three to four weeks after
the fi rst.
OHA has estimated
that up to 3.2 million Ore-
gonians are 16 and older,
the age group currently
approved as safe to vac-
cinate. Several research
eff orts into a vaccine for
children are underway, but
none has been given federal
approval.
Asked if the pause
would fuel vaccine hesi-
tancy among Oregonians,
Cieslak said that those pre-
disposed to not be vacci-
nated will likely latch on to
the issue.
“There are some people
who are going to decline
vaccination regardless,” he
said. “If they were thinking
vaccinations were harmful
anyway, this will give them
additional fuel.”
But the pause was actu-
ally a way to show the
public that serious reac-
tions, no matter how tiny a
percentage, will be inves-
tigated. He expects the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine
to be back in use relatively
soon. Whatever vaccine is
available, he encouraged
residents to sign up.
The vaccines are “eff ec-
tive on a disease that has
killed a lot of people,” he
said.
Gov. Kate Brown was
inoculated with the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine March
6 to show the state’s confi -
dence in the vaccine. She
has reported no side eff ects.
The vaccine was also given
to several lawmakers and
staff during an April 7
clinic in Salem.
COVID-19 has infected
31.2 million people in the
United States and caused
over 562,000 deaths,
according to the Johns
Hopkins Coronavirus
Resource Center.
Oregon has had one of
the lowest infection and
death rates in the country,
with OHA reporting
171,398 positive cases
through Tuesday, and 2,446
deaths.
Infections have been
on the rise again over the
past few weeks after a long
decline following the peak
levels of January.
Most of the deaths
throughout the pandemic
have been in adults 70 and
older. About 75 percent of
that population in Oregon
has now been vaccinated.
The high immunization
level of those most vulner-
able to severe illness and
death from COVID-19 has
slowed hospitalizations and
Continued from Page 1A
ative design that speaks to
the cultural identity of La
Grande and honors its heri-
tage through a cohesive use
of materials and visual lan-
guage. The artwork should
refl ect the theme, ‘Hon-
oring the Past, Celebrating
the Present; Embracing the
Future.’”
Stu Spence, director of
La Grande Parks & Rec-
reation, explained the arts
commission for several
years has held what it calls
“creative conversations”
with members of the art
community in Northeast
Oregon, except for in 2020,
due to the pandemic.
“One of the ideas that
came out of that was for a
public art display in down-
town,” he said.
The arts commission
made the project its top
priority in 2019 and put
together a small committee
to determine how to bring
this to fruition and where
the art display should be
placed.
The committee selected
the concrete bulkhead
at the entrance to Cook
Memorial Library at the
corner of Fourth Street and
Adams Avenue. The bulk-
head measures 41 inches
tall, 17 inches wide and
36 feet long. Installing the
piece there, Spence said,
would make it easy to view
and highlight the library’s
entrance.
The proposal is open
to all residents of Union,
Baker, Wallowa and Uma-
tilla counties who are 18
and older, and individuals
or teams of artists can par-
ticipate, but the commis-
sion is giving preference to
those with previous large-
scale project experience
and/or a connection to La
Grande.
PAUSE
Continued from Page 1A
during an afternoon press
call.
The CDC said the six
women were aged 18 to 48.
They became ill from one
to three weeks after their
vaccination. The cause
appeared to be a rare blood
clot disorder.
The state has given
about 82,000 Johnson &
Johnson shots, a tiny frac-
tion of the 2.3 million vac-
cine doses administered
since December. OHA said
about 212,000 doses are
on hand in 225 locations
around the state and can be
kept in regular refrigera-
tion units for later use when
federal offi cials lift the
advisory.
Cieslak said severe
symptoms include pain in
the legs — which could
indicate a blood clot —
severe headache and
abdominal pain. Anyone
experiencing the symp-
toms should contact their
doctor or local public health
agency. Information is also
available by calling 211.
There have been no
reports of any similar
severe side eff ects to the
Moderna and Pfi zer two-
shot vaccines.
Federal health offi -
cials will begin meeting
Wednesday to look at the
data on the severe cases
and see if there is a direct
connection between the
vaccine and the illnesses.
Dr. Janet Woodcock,
acting commissioner of the
Food and Drug Adminis-
tration, said Tuesday during
a press conference in Wash-
ington D.C. that a review of
the vaccine would likely be
“a matter of days.”
Cieslak said the state
would resume using the
one-shot vaccine as soon as
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
The large bronze reproduction of “Cast Iron Mary” stands at the en-
trance to Max Square across from Cook Memorial Library in downtown
La Grande, where the city is looking to install a new sculpture in the
summer of 2022.
He also said that “the
city does not plan on using
any general fund dollars
for this project.”
While some cities
silo funds for public art,
Spence said the arts com-
mission will be seeking
grants to cover the cost
of the project, which also
includes paying the artist.
“The idea is to get a
design, and then use that
to get grant funding,” said
“I feel that public art improves
a community image, belonging
and identity while simultaneously
supporting the arts economy and
artists.”
— Darcy Dolge, executive Director Art Center East
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The project is looking
to install the art in the
summer of 2022.
Darcy Dolge, the exec-
utive director of the non-
profi t Art Center East in La
Grande said she was well
aware of the call for artists
for the project.
“I feel that public art
improves a community
image, belonging and
identity,” she said, “while
simultaneously supporting
HANSELL
Continued from Page 1A
Legislature has done — and
I don’t, I’m not supporting
the bill, I voted no and I’ll
vote no every time — they
have a chance to raise the
signatures and do it.”
Hansell isn’t the only
Republican facing recall
threats from showing up
on March 25.
Senate Minority
Leader Fred Girod, who
has held the Senate seat
since 2008, is facing similar
eff orts, though recall peti-
tions against state legisla-
tors and Gov. Kate Brown
in the past few years have
fallen short.
Hansell said that Girod
facing a recall eff ort
seems like “friendly
fi re” and described it as
“shortsighted.”
“You want to take out
somebody that votes the
way you want 99% of the
time but on one bill?” he
said, describing Girod as a
MKT-P0108
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
La Grande School District is set to receive signifi cant funding due to the
American Rescue Plan, the latest COVID-19 relief package from the federal
government.
RESCUE
Continued from Page 1A
line. The money will come
from the Elementary and
Secondary School Emer-
gency Relief fund within
the act.
The La Grande School
District is set to receive
about $5 million in stim-
ulus funding, and the
remaining smaller eight
school districts in Union
and Wallowa counties will
receive smaller amounts.
The following is the esti-
mated school district break-
down: Cove $389,000;
Elgin $564,000; Enterprise
$698,000; Imbler $211,000;
Joseph $442,000; North
Powder $561,000; Union
$469,000; and Wallowa
$720,000.
La Grande School Dis-
trict Business Director
Chris Panike said the La
Grande School District will
be able to use its ARPA
funding to continue opera-
tions while determining the
impact of the pandemic.
He explained the dis-
trict’s enrollment has fallen
by 140 students since the
pandemic hit in March
2020. The reasons, in part,
could be that more students
are in homeschool and that
others have enrolled in
online education outside the
district.
“We don’t know if these
students are coming back,”
Panike said.
Panike said in the
interim the school dis-
trict does not want to make
budget reductions because
it would not be in a position
to absorb the enrollment
increase. He said the $5
million the school district
will receive will prevent it
from being in such a pre-
carious position.
“We will be able to con-
tinue operating until we
sort out the impact,” Panike
said.
Declining enrollment
has a big eff ect on the bud-
gets of school districts
because the state funding
they receive is based on the
number of students in the
district.
Cove School Superinten-
dent Earl Pettit said his dis-
trict may spend its ARPA
funding on remodeling
work to create offi ce space
for professionals providing
one bill out of the whole
legislative process is very
shortsighted. It makes no
sense whatsoever to me.”
In addition, Hansell
said that, with the Legisla-
ture moving ahead to make
“There is just too much at stake to not
show up.”
— State Sen. Bill Hansell
“great leader.”
Hansell added the focus
of the opposition should be
placed on the bill writers
and promoters, rather than
Republicans who oppose it.
“The battle is not over
yet,” he said. “For us to
recall somebody because
they chose to stay and fi ght
rather than run and hide on
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plans and redraw 2020
political districts, it is espe-
cially important that Repub-
licans show up.
The Oregon Supreme
Court on Friday, April 9,
ruled unanimously that the
Oregon Legislature would
have the right to redraw
boundaries for the state’s 90
House and Senate seats.
metal health, counseling
and nursing services to stu-
dents. The need of such ser-
vices has increased because
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pettit said the funding
will not put school districts
in a position to add addi-
tional staff because it will
be provided just once, not
annually. The Cove super-
intendent said he does not
want his district to add a
position or program for
which there is not sustain-
able funding.
Pettit said the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan funding
is putting school districts in
an unfamiliar position. He
explained that normally dis-
tricts request funding for
specifi c needs. This time,
though, school districts
are receiving money they
did not request or had bud-
geted for and now must fi nd
the best way to spend the
money.
Mark Mulvihill, super-
intendent of the InterMoun-
tain Education Service
District, said the ARPA
funding will help school
districts get their students
caught up socially and emo-
tionally after enduring the
COVID-19 pandemic in
their homes taking classes
online.
He said the educa-
tion service district will
use a portion of its ARPA
funding to off er fi fth-
quarter summer programs
for students, including out-
door school and parks and
recreation activities, to get
them back to interacting in
person with classmates and
educators.
Mulvihill said he does
not want to see students
receive in-person instruc-
tion, as many are now
beginning to, only to next
experience a summer with
no activities with peers.
“They would be abruptly
stopping after starting,”
Mulvihill said.
To prevent this, he said
he wants to use ARPA
dollars to help schools
off er a gentler “glide path
slope” for students through
which they will get accus-
tomed again to in-person
learning. The IMESD will
off er academic programs
and a credit recovery pro-
gram for high school stu-
dents who have fallen
behind in the credits they
need to graduate.
“If we don’t show up and
that committee continues
to meet, lines are going to
be drawn without any input
from people from” places
like rural Oregon, he said.
“There is just too much at
stake to not show up.”
Hansell described the
walkout tactic as a “valu-
able tool in the tool belt”
to be used sparingly. He
said if the tactic is abused,
“you run the risk of being
further in the minority”
because moderate voters in
both parties “don’t feel this
is a tactic that should be
done.”
“It’s more of your far
right, if you will,” Hansell
said of people who largely
support walkouts. “I sus-
pect if the Democrats were
in the minority, it would be
more of the far left.”