LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
Today in
History
Today is Tuesday, May 4, the
124th day of 2021. There are 241
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On May 4, 1961, the first group
of “Freedom Riders” left Wash-
ington, d.C. to challenge racial
segregation on interstate buses and
in bus terminals.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1626, dutch explorer Peter
Minuit landed on present-day
Manhattan Island.
In 1776, Rhode Island declared
its freedom from England, two
months before the declaration of
Independence was adopted.
In 1932, mobster al Capone,
convicted of income-tax evasion,
entered the federal penitentiary in
atlanta.
In 1942, the Battle of the Coral
Sea, the first naval clash fought en-
tirely with carrier aircraft, began in
the Pacific during World War II. (The
outcome was considered a tactical
victory for Japan, but ultimately a
strategic one for the allies.)
In 1945, during World War II,
German forces in the Netherlands,
denmark and northwest Germany
agreed to surrender.
In 1959, the first Grammy
awards ceremony was held at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel. domenico Mo-
dugno won Record of the year and
Song of the year for “Nel Blu dipinto
di Blu (Volare)”; Henry Mancini won
album of the year for “The Music
from Peter Gunn.”
In 1968, the Oroville dam in
Northern California was dedicated
by Gov. Ronald Reagan; the
770-foot-tall earth-filled structure, a
pet project of Reagan’s predecessor,
Pat Brown, remains the tallest
dam in the united States, but was
also the scene of a near disaster in
February 2017 when two spillways
collapsed, threatening for a time to
flood parts of three counties in the
Sierra Nevada foothills.
In 1970, Ohio National Guards-
men opened fire during an anti-war
protest at Kent State university,
killing four students and wounding
nine others.
In 1998, unabomber Theodore
Kaczynski was given four life
sentences plus 30 years by a federal
judge in Sacramento, California,
under a plea agreement that spared
him the death penalty.
In 2010, a Pakistani-born
u.S. citizen was charged with
terrorism and attempting to use a
weapon of mass destruction in the
botched Times Square bombing.
(Faisal Shahzad later pleaded
guilty to plotting to set off the
propane-and-gasoline bomb in an
SuV and was sentenced to life in
prison.)
Ten years ago: President Barack
Obama said he had decided not to
release death photos of Osama bin
Laden because their graphic nature
could incite violence and create
national security risks. Officials
told The associated Press that the
Navy SEaLs who’d stormed bin
Laden’s compound in Pakistan shot
and killed him after they saw him
appear to lunge for a weapon.
Five years ago: The last man
standing in donald Trump’s path
to the Republican presidential
nomination, Ohio Gov. John Kasich,
ended his campaign.
TuESday, May 4, 2021
Digital artists duo unleash ‘Mimesis’
Capstone work
from EOU seniors
on display at
Nightingale Gallery
until May 12
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Two digital artists,
Alexis Maki and Spencer
Marotto, recently unveiled
“Mimesis,” their capstone
projects at the Nightin-
gale Gallery in Loso Hall
at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity. The exhibit will run
until May 12 with limited
showing to the public.
Side by side, the art on
display on the walls stand
in opposition to each other
in style but not content.
Marotto’s work, which
resembles early home per-
sonal computers, is more
literary in its critiques
while Maki’s fantastical
landscapes marry together
terror and wonder.
“A lot of my work specif-
ically deals with response
to how we’ve currently
been living,” Marotto
said, “especially with the
pandemic.”
Marotto’s collages blend
alex Wittwer/The Observer
alex Wittwer/The Observer
artist Spencer Marotto poses for a portrait Tuesday, april 27, 2021, in front
of his digital art at the Nightingale Gallery in Loso Hall at Eastern Ore-
gon university, La Grande. The showing, called “Mimesis,” is the capstone
project for the senior, and runs until May 12.
artist alexis Maki poses for a portrait Tuesday, april 27, 2021, in front of her
digital art at the Nightingale Gallery in Loso Hall at Eastern Oregon uni-
versity, La Grande. The showing, called “Mimesis,” is the capstone project
for the senior and runs until May 12.
nostalgia with antiquity, the
digitally absurd and utili-
tarianism with fantastical
vaporwave aesthetics —
canvases of Windows 98
desktops splattered with
messages and Greek statues,
computer programs and
familiar software glitches.
“There’s a lot of seri-
ousness in my work, but
there’s a comedic part too,”
said Marotto, pointing out
a cascading popup window
emblazoned with a forlorn
message.
The statues aren’t
random. Marotto spent a
considerable amount of
time researching Greek his-
tory to build cohesive nar-
ratives within the pieces.
“If you asked me about
(Greek) mythology, I would
have told you I’d have
to look at the Wikipedia
page,” he said.
Images for the collages
are from online sources,
with many images coming
from the Smithsonian’s
online gallery.
Maki, who started her
art career as a painter,
deals more with concrete
elements of pollution and
beauty — two elements
she said can exist together.
Her favorite piece, “Urban
Mountain,” is a city-
I was able to find my way
around it.”
Maki credited her peers
and instructors for helping
her with the program’s
steep learning curve.
The end results of her
efforts are whimsical land-
scapes that express a paint-
er’s eye and originality
— from scenes of lone wan-
derers walking through
a desert thunderstorm to
smokestacks atop an ice-
berg adrift at sea.
For more about the
Nightingale Gallery and
“Mimesis,” visit www.eou.
edu/art/nightingale-
gallery/exhibitions.
La Grande looks to next
sidewalk improvement program
Union County has
links to NFL draft
The Observer
By DICK MASON
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande City Council
will consider establishing
another city-wide local
improvement district for
sidewalk repairs when it
meets Wednesday, May 5.
A local improvement
district, or LID, allows
property owners a way
to improve their property
and maintain sidewalks
within the right-of-way.
La Grande’s last city-wide
sidewalk improvement dis-
trict ended Dec. 31, 2020.
According to the memo
to the council from Public
Works Director Kyle Car-
penter, the city continues
to receive calls from prop-
erty owners about how they
can improve their side-
walks. Implementing “City
Wide Voluntary Sidewalk
Local Improvement Dis-
trict No. 21-066” allows a
method of financing this
work and offers property
owners a way to improve
their property and maintain
sidewalks.
City staff reviewed nine
areas within the sidewalk
program, which would
concentrate on two areas
in the southern portion of
town with E Avenue as
the northern border and
extending from Walnut
Street to the railroad tracks.
“We also will continue
to work with those property
owners who would like to
voluntarily make sidewalk
improvements or necessary
improvements received on a
complaint basis,” the memo
stated.
The meeting begins
Wednesday at 6 p.m. To
view the meeting, go to the
city’s website, www.cityo-
flagrande.org, and click on
“Watch a Council Meeting,”
or view the meeting on
Facebook at www.facebook.
com/EOAliveTV or on
Charter Communications
channel 180.
The public may submit
written comments or ques-
tions for the meeting by
5 p.m. Tuesday, May 4.
Email public comments
to City Manager Robert
Strope at rstrope@cityofla-
grande.org.
The council during the
meeting also will hold a
public hearing to accept the
assessment of the 2019 side-
walk repair program, which
had a total cost of $14,000,
according to a memo to the
council, and involved city
staff monitoring approx-
imately 1,200 square feet
of sidewalk repairs during
2019 and 2020, with many
property owners hiring
contractors or completing
repairs themselves.
The council in other
business will consider
appointing Rodney Sands
to the Parking, Traffic
Safety and Street Mainte-
nance Advisory Commis-
sion for the remainder of a
three-year term, expiring
Dec. 31, 2023.
Baker Bulldog football stadium needs $4 million for overhaul
By COREY KIRK
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — For
the first time since it opened
back in 1950, the Baker
Bulldog Memorial Stadium
could be in line for a major
renovation project.
But the Baker School
District athletic depart-
ment likely will need to
raise more than $4 million
through grants and private
donations to make the pro-
posed improvements at the
football stadium at Ninth
and E streets just west of
Baker High School.
“Obviously we are in
the very, very early stages,”
said Buell Gonzales Jr.,
the school district’s ath-
letic director. The three-
year project, which includes
rebuilding and replanting
the grass field, replacing
the roof on the grandstand,
installing a new press box
and rebuilding the concrete
walkways, stairs and ramps,
would cost an estimated
$4.3 million.
Gonzales, who made a
presentation to the school
board about the proposal on
April 15, acknowledged the
financial challenges.
“The district obviously
doesn’t have that kind of
money sitting around, so
that would be something
that the athletic depart-
ment and the district would
fundraise for,” he said.
“The money is going to be
the hardest piece to bring
to fruition, so we are just
going to have to do a lot of
work to get that in place.”
Mark Witty, school dis-
trict superintendent, echoed
scape with brilliant night
lights above a reflection of
a mountain, a motif that
speaks to how urbanization
comes at a cost to nature.
But the artist noted both
can be beautiful.
Maki’s pieces took
upward of 50 hours to
make, she said, owing to
her relatively new expe-
rience with the digital art
workflow. Before starting
this project, she was not
well versed with Photoshop.
“I struggled at first, but
I got it over time,” Maki
said. “I wouldn’t say I’m
an expert at Photoshop, but
over time, experimenting,
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Cracks have formed in the concrete stairs and in the grandstand at Baker
Bulldog Memorial Stadium, Baker City. a three-year-long renovation proj-
ect would replace the concrete and make other improvements.
Gonzales’ thoughts.
“We want to be a
partner,” Witty said. “We
recognize there’s a respon-
sibility to upgrade that sta-
dium. But as far as funding
we’re going to need some
serious help.”
Witty said the dis-
trict’s top priority within
its budget is improving its
schools. That’s the reason
the district is asking voters
in the May 18 election to
approve a $4 million prop-
erty tax bond measure that
would be added to a $4
million state grant, and $4
million in district capital
project dollars — to replace
heating, cooling and ven-
tilation systems at all
schools, replace the roof at
South Baker Intermediate,
build a cafeteria/kitchen
at Baker Middle School
and improve security at all
schools.
The stadium renovations,
by contrast, will depend on
fundraising, not on district
dollars, Witty said.
Stadium project history
The project started
about three years ago when
a group of district offi-
cials and others assessed
the stadium and came up
with a list of suggested
improvements.
Then, a year ago, Gon-
zales joined that group,
which reviewed the list of
renovations and crafted a
formal proposal.
A major need in the
71-year-old stadium is
improving access for people
with disabilities.
“That’s probably one of
the high priorities, the ADA
accessibility,” Gonzales
said.
After seven decades of
wear and tear from weather,
the stadium also has cracks
in its concrete, and its wood
siding needs to be replaced.
“The actual phys-
ical condition of the
facility itself needs to be
addressed,” Gonzales said.
Due to the extent of the
work, the architects divided
the project into three phases
over three years, potentially
starting in the summer of
2022 if money is available.
Although he concedes
the challenge fundraising
entails, Gonzales is confi-
dent he can show donors the
reasons for the upgrades.
“You have this gushing
wound, you just don’t want
to keep putting a Band-Aid
over it, at some point you
are going to (need) a long-
term fix,” Gonzales said.
In 2019 the school dis-
trict replaced the railing at
the bottom of the westside
grandstand and removed the
grassy embankment behind
the home team bench area.
Workers also installed
a new sound system. Ash
Grove Cement contrib-
uted $15,000 and the Baker
Quarterback Club gave
$5,000. The school district
paid the remaining $20,000
for the sound system.
Gonzales emphasized
the renovations will not
alter the stadium’s unique
character and appeal, with
the field in a bowl that sits
below the street level.
“It still maintains its
iconic bowl-shaped feature,
a gorgeous grass field, a
little bit wider, safer for our
student-athletes, multi-pur-
pose so it will get used
more often,” he said. “The
look of it will have a new
appeal to it, new bleachers,
new paint, the bathrooms
will be upgraded, wider
entrances, better signage.
It will give that facility a
much needed facelift but it
will still be Baker Bulldog
Memorial Stadium.”
The Observer
UNION COUNTY
— Teams in the National
Football League drafted
259 players from
Thursday through Sat-
urday, April 29 to May
1. The total included five
from the University of
Oregon and two from
Oregon State University
and none from Eastern
Oregon University.
But 64 years ago,
Eastern tied Oregon State
University for the highest
number of players the
league drafted from the
state.
Pro football teams
drafted two players
from Eastern and two
from OSU, according
to the website pro-foot-
ballreference.com. The
players from Eastern
were Jack Harmon, an
end, whom the Balti-
more Colts drafted in the
eighth round, and Bill
West, a back, whom the
Detroit Lions took in the
13th round. Harmon was
the 90th player taken,
and West was the 155th
player drafted.
Harmon and West
were members of the 1956
Eastern team that won
the old Oregon Collegiate
Conference title. While
the pros drafted the pair,
they never played in the
NFL.
Union County’s con-
nection to the NFL
draft does not end there,
though.
The Washington Foot-
ball Team in 1981 drafted
Tom Flick, who lived
in the Cove area while
growing up, in the fourth
round. Flick, who was a
star quarterback at the
University of Washington
in the late 1970s and
early 1980s, played in the
NFL for seven seasons.
Flick now is a moti-
vational speaker who
has made several
appearances in Union
County, including one
in the 1990s in Cove
in which he spoke of
living there as a child.
Flick, who later went to
high school Bellevue,
Washington, said he
searched for the house
his family lived in Cove
but couldn’t find it.
April warmer than
normal in La Grande
The Observer
PENDLETON — La
Grande’s temperatures
averaged warmer than
normal during the month
of April, according to
the National Weather
Service in Pendleton.
Preliminary data
indicated the average
temperature was 49.7
degrees, 3 degrees above
normal, reported the
monthly climate sum-
mary from the Weather
Service. High tempera-
tures averaged 66.4
degrees, which was 8.1
degrees above normal.
The highest was 84
degrees on April 30.
Low temperatures
averaged 33.1 degrees, 2
degrees below normal.
The lowest was 22
degrees on April 9. The
month had 12 days with
the low temperature
below 32 degrees.
Precipitation totaled
0.7 inches during April,
which was 0.88 inches
below normal. Mea-
surable precipitation
— at least a hundredth
of an inch — occurred
on three days with the
heaviest, 0.5 inches, on
April 26.
Precipitation this year
has reached 5.38 inches,
which is 0.43 inches
below normal, the NWS
reported. Since October,
the water year precipi-
tation at La Grande has
been 9.96 inches, 0.83
inches below normal.
The 30-year normal pre-
cipitation is 1.99 inches.
The outlook for May
from the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric
Administration’s Climate
Prediction Center calls
for near normal tempera-
tures and near normal
precipitation. Normal
highs for La Grande rise
from 63 degrees at the
start of May to 70 degrees
at the end of May.
Normal lows rise from 38
degrees to 46 degrees.
For more weather
and climate informa-
tion, visit weather.gov/
pendleton.
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