Monarchs struggling
Inside
In Outdoors & Rec
Bird viewing fest returns, 2A
No more lawmaker logjam, 6A
Weekend
Edition
SATURDAY– MONDAY • April 17, 2021 • $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Barbara Wales of La Grande
Education
LG School
Board
makes grad
request
North Powder schools
return to distance ed, as
Union County records
24th death from
COVID-19
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande School Board is asking
Gov. Kate Brown to make a deci-
sion that would have a dramatic
eﬀ ect on high school graduation
ceremonies across the state.
The board in a letter on
Wednesday, April 14, is asking
Brown to give the La Grande
School District and others in
Oregon the ability to consider
their own COVID-19 risks and
safety protocols for graduations.
La Grande School Board member
Merle Comfort said having that
greater level of freedom would
allow school districts, such as La
Grande, to have students attend
graduation ceremonies with
family members present.
The request comes the same
week North Powder schools
returned to distance education
due to a COVID-19 exposure and
Union County had another death
from the virus.
Robin Maille, chair of the La
Grande School Board, read the
letter to the board at the April 14
meeting.
“We are fast approaching grad-
uation for the class of 2021,”
Maille read. “Unfortunately, the
ﬁ nal experience these students
will have in high school will be
guided by our local county risk
level. If risk levels remain mod-
erate, high or extreme, the class of
2021 may never be together this
ﬁ nal year of their public-school
education. This is an incredibly
sad situation.”
Therefore, the letter continues,
the school board asked Brown
to “consider making a special
exemption of guidance for gradu-
ation events or move the guidance
to advisory.”
Doing so, according to the
letter, would allow school districts
to consider their own COVID-19
risks and safety protocols for
commencement ceremonies.
Maille said the class of 20121
deserves to be able to get together
for graduation, especially after
what it has been through due to
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Kim Hutchison, president of the local post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, presents new national and Marine Corps ﬂ ags to World War II and Korean War veteran Lee Cutler
on the front porch of Cutler’s home in Joseph on his 96th birthday on Thursday, April 8, 2021. The U.S. ﬂ ag is one that ﬂ ew over the U.S. Capitol. The presentations were to
honor his service and his birthday.
‘I was lucky’
World War II veteran missed the worst of the action
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — To honor his military service
and his 96th birthday, one of Wallowa Coun-
ty’s last World War II and Korean War vet-
erans, Lee Cutler, was presented Thursday,
April 8, with a U.S. ﬂ ag that had ﬂ own over
the U.S. Capitol and with a new Marine Corps
ﬂ ag.
Cutler has ﬂ own one of each from a pole
outside his Joseph home for years.
Glenn Smith, a community health care
worker from Winding Waters, said Cutler
“displays his ﬂ ag proudly,” but they’re getting
worn so they were being replaced.
Kim Hutchison, president of the Eagle Cap
Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, made
the presentation of the ﬂ ags April 8. The
national ﬂ ag was obtained by U.S. Rep. Cliﬀ
Bentz, R-Oregon, to honor Cutler’s service
and his birthday.
A couple dozen or more people joined
Hutchison during the presentation, including
fellow veterans, Wallowa County Commis-
sioner Susan Roberts, Joseph Mayor Belinda
Buswell and members of the Joseph Fire
Department in a ﬁ re truck with lights ﬂ ashing.
Hutchison said Smith prompted the honor.
“The driving force behind this is one of
See, Cutler/Page 5A
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
World War II and Korean War veteran Lee Cutler stands on his front porch in Joseph on his 96th birthday, Thurs-
day, April 8, 2021, after receiving a U.S. ﬂ ag that had ﬂ own over the U.S. Capitol and a new Marine Corps ﬂ ag
honoring his service and his birthday.
See, Request/Page 5A
Public pools will be open more this summer
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Swimmers
in Union and Baker counties
will have more opportunities to
make a splash this summer than
they did a year ago when the
COVID-19 pandemic was near
its height.
At least three pools in the
two counties are set to be open
from June through August.
They are Veterans’ Memorial
Pool in La Grande, the Elgin
Community Center’s pool and
Baker County’s YMCA pool
at its Sam-O-Swim Center in
Baker City.
INDEX
Classified ...............2B
Comics ....................5B
Crossword .............3B
Dear Abby .............6B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
Obituaries ..............3A
Opinion ..................4A
TUESDAY
Outdoors ...............1B
State ........................6A
Sudoku ...................5B
Weather .................6B
The Elgin pool is reopening
after being closed all last
summer. The Sam-O-Swim
Center pool was closed last
summer until August, and Vet-
erans’ Memorial Pool was open
for signiﬁ cant portions of the
summer.
The Elgin pool is set to
reopen in early June, and the
community is happy, said
Bryan Jungling, the city of
Elgin’s parks and recreation
director.
“Lots of people are excited.
I just got oﬀ the phone with a
See, Pools/Page 5A
WEATHER
LIBRARY MEMBERSHIPS
The Observer, File
Judi Harsin, left, and Juanita Weissenﬂ uh swim in the Veterans’ Memorial Pool, La
Grande, in this photo from 2016. The city closed the pool in 2020 due to the pandemic,
but Veterans’ Memorial and the pool at the Elgin Community Center are opening this
summer with COVID-19 restrictions in place.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
37 LOW
74/38
Clear
Mostly sunny
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 44
2 sections, 12 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com