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TUESDAY EDITION
April 27, 2021
Housing futures
Integrated
care facility
nears
completion
By ELLEN MORRIS BISHOP
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — A single
medical facility that integrates
physical, mental, behavioral and
dental health care has long been
a dream of both Winding Waters
Community Health Center and the
Wallowa Valley Center for Well-
ness. That dream will come true
when the new Hearts for Health
Integrated Care Center opens
Sept. 10, in Enterprise.
The $7.4 million, 18,932
square-foot facility has been
taking shape on Medical Parkway
since construction began last year.
Now, the interior walls and elec-
trical and communications wiring
are nearing completion, and fl oors
and ceilings are mostly in place.
It’s ready for the interior and exte-
rior fi nishing followed by instal-
lation of equipment. The center
will host a ribbon cutting in
September.
Although some construction
fi nishing work is ongoing, HHICC
is off ering public tours on May
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
See, Facility/Page 5A
A shopping cart sits alone on the sidewalk Monday, April 26, 2021, at the empty lot along East Q Avenue between 26th and 27th streets, La Grande, the site of the forthcoming
Timber Ridge Apartments, a low-income, 104-unit housing complex.
Oregon
gets sixth
congressional
district
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon will add
a sixth congressional seat in the
2022 election, the U.S. Census
announced Monday, April 26.
Where it will go is to
be determined. Monday’s
announcement is the apportion-
ment of the 435 House seats to
the states. Based on population
changes in the past 10 years,
states can gain or lose seats.
Oregon is one of the winners,
receiving its fi rst new congres-
sional seat in 40 years.
Among the losers is Cali-
fornia, which will have to give
up one of its 53 seats in Congress
— the fi rst time in its history it
hasn’t gained seats or stayed the
same.
Six other states will get new
seats. Texas gets two seats. Col-
orado, Florida, Montana and
North Carolina each received
one new seat.
New York, Illinois, Michigan,
Timber Ridge Apartments to be subject of research project
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The con-
struction of Timber Ridge Apart-
ments, a proposed $23.7 mil-
lion, 104-unit housing complex
for low-income residents, might
begin in less than three months.
Construction will likely start
in early July after fi nalizing all
the fi nancing for the develop-
ment, said Dan Steff ey of Com-
munity Development Partners,
the Portland fi rm developing
the project, which the Northeast
Oregon Housing Authority likely
will own. The La Grande apart-
ment complex, to be built on East
Q Avenue between 26th and 27th
streets, will take between 12 and
18 months to complete.
The apartments will help
address a housing shortage in La
Grande, Steff ey said.
“There has been a lot of
excitement about it,” he said. “We
have received a very positive
response.”
The La Grande Planning
Department has approved the
site plan for the project, which
includes the layout for the
parking lot, drainages and land-
scaping, said city Community
Development Director Mike
Boquist. Now the city building
department is reviewing the
Timber Ridge plans.
Boquist said because the cost
He explained it does not appear
that any portions of the plan will
not conform to city codes, which
would require the planning com-
mission to grant an exception.
“It does not appear that an
exception or variance will be
“We want to create a culture, which
will help people realize their own
strengths by working together.”
— Dan Steff ey, of Community Development Partners, the
fi rm developing the project
of construction and materials has
gone up signifi cantly since the
Timber Ridge plans were fi rst
created, changes are in the works
to lower costs. He said the city’s
building department is making
sure the changes are meeting
city codes and performing other
checks.
Boquist said it is unlikely the
La Grande Planning Commission
will have to approve any por-
tion of the Timber Ridge plan.
required at this point,” Boquist
said.
Steff ey and Engage, a con-
sulting group, are developing a
Community for All Ages model
for Timber Ridge. That plan also
is to be in place at new low-in-
come housing complexes in St.
Helens, Gresham and Oregon
City, which Community Develop-
ment Partners is helping create.
The Community for All Ages
model is a positive reaction to
communities where there is a
wide range of ages, he said. This
has led to increased social isola-
tion, especially for communities
with many seniors. Isolation and
the corresponding lack of human
interaction, he added, takes a
noteworthy physical toll on peo-
ple’s health.
Steff ey said he would like to
create an environment at Timber
Ridge Apartments in which
senior isolation would be limited
because younger people would be
reaching out to older people, not
only out of concern but because
seniors have much to off er.
“We want to create a culture,
which will help people realize
their own strengths by working
together,” Steff ey said.
He said Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University and Portland
State University plan to do a
research project involving Timber
Ridge and the other apartment
complexes using the Community
for All Ages Model to determine
how eff ective they are at drawing
generations together.
See, Complex/Page 5A
Iconic moment: Wienermobile visits last Blockbuster
See, District/Page 5A
By KYLE SPURR
The Bulletin
BEND — Two cultural icons
converged in Bend on Saturday,
April 24, when the Oscar Mayer
Wienermobile parked in front
of the last Blockbuster video
rental store on Earth.
The Wienermobile, the
rolling orange and yellow
symbol of Oscar Mayer hot
dogs, pulled into the Block-
buster parking lot off Third
Street to a crowd of about two
dozen people taking pictures
and singing, “I wish I were an
Oscar Mayer Wiener.”
Some people were busy
picking out movies inside the
Blockbuster and were startled
when the 27-foot-long hot dog
INDEX
Classified ...............4B
Comics ....................7B
Crossword .............4B
Dear Abby .............8B
on wheels parked outside.
“I saw it pull up through
the window, and I just started
yelling and ran to the window,”
said Esty Pittman, who was
visiting from Salt Lake City
with her boyfriend, Jacob
VanOteghem.
Pittman, 31, and VanOte-
ghem, 30, stopped on April 24
to visit the Blockbuster and had
no idea the Wienermobile was
scheduled to visit.
It was a fl ashback to child-
hood for Pittman, who remem-
bers singing the Oscar Mayer
song in the grocery store with
her mother and looking for the
Wienermobile on road trips
See, Icons/Page 5A
WEATHER
Home ......................1B
Horoscope .............4B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..............3A
Opinion ..................4A
Sports .....................6A
Sudoku ...................7B
UNION COUNTY WEED LEVY
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Jason Loesche takes a picture with his family Saturday, April 24, 2021, while stopping to
look at the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in Bend.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
39 LOW
71/43
Patchy clouds
Partly sunny
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Issue 48
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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