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THURSDAY EDITION
Tamping down COVID-19
Three vie for
one position
on Imbler
School Board
EOU partners up for
vaccination clinic
By DICK MASON
The Observer
IMBLER — The race for
Position 3 on the Imbler School
Board has a distinction — it has
the largest candidate fi eld of
any school board race in Union
County.
Three candidates are vying
for the seat, one of only four con-
tested school board races in the
county.
Those running are Joseph
“Joe” Fisher Jr., a building offi -
cial; Tim Phelps, a sales and mar-
keting director; and Bud Whit-
comb, the owner and operator of a
custom body and paint shop. Dan
McDonald, the incumbent, did not
fi le for reelection.
Fisher, who lives in Summer-
ville, fi led for Position 3 to reach
out to his community.
“I want to do what is best
for the kids in our school dis-
trict,” said Fisher, who works for
the city of La Grande’s building
department.
Fisher and his wife, Wendi, are
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity hosted a COVID-19 vaccination clinic
Tuesday, May 4, that drew almost 100 stu-
dents, faculty and staff to the La Grande
campus to receive their fi rst dose of the Mod-
erna vaccine.
The eff ort comes as vaccination rates
around the country climb while cases county-
wide continue to remain low. COVID-19
infection rates have fallen to just under 72
cases per 100,000 residents, according to the
Oregon Health Authority, marking a steady
decline since the county reopened businesses
in late February of this year.
The clinic at Quinn Coliseum’s practice
gym was a partnership between the univer-
sity and the Center for Human Development.
Many of the attendees said they learned about
the clinic through an EOU email.
“I just want to get back to a sense of nor-
malcy, like everybody does,” said Sammi
Spriet, a sophomore at the university who
received her vaccine at Tuesday’s clinic.
Among the attendees at the pop-up clinic
was Monty the Mountaineer, the mascot for
EOU, in full garb with an oversized face
mask. Monty has been making appearances at
several vaccination clinics throughout the past
week to help drive up awareness and social
media presence.
Supply of the vaccines in the county
remains steady, CHD offi cials said. Their
supply is kept to a seven-day maximum
of around 1,000 doses in accordance with
Oregon Health Authority directives and is
replenished as residents show up to receive
their doses.
“In general, our vaccine supply in the state
has caught up with demand at this point,” said
Carrie Brogoitti, public health administrator
for CHD. “We’ve been getting adequate vac-
cines to cover the appointments that are made.
If people want the vaccine, they should be
able to get it.”
The story is similar across the state —
demand for the vaccine has stabilized and the
logistical challenge of making sure enough
doses remain on hand has eased.
“We have not been needing to receive
large supplies (of vaccine) like we were in the
See, Imbler/Page 5A
Turning back
hands of time
Union County Museum
opens Sunday, May 9,
with new display of
old clocks
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION — The Union County
Museum, a place where exhibits
are seemingly frozen in time,
is gaining a display that may
melt the hearts of vintage clock
lovers.
It is Merle’s Time and Chime,
a display of old timepieces the
public can see for the fi rst time
on Sunday, May 9, when the
Union County Museum opens
for its spring and summer
season.
The display will have about
30 clocks, the oldest of which
are a wooden wheel clock made
in 1760 and a shelf clock pro-
duced in 1820, said Merle Miller
of La Grande who donated most
of the clocks for the display.
“Clocks will last a long time
if they are taken care of,” said
Miller, a certifi ed master watch-
maker who owned a La Grande
clock repair shop, Merle’s Time
See, Museum/Page 5A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Robert Fox, a graduate student at Eastern Oregon University, prepares to receive his fi rst dose of the COVID-19
vaccine at a clinic Tuesday, May 4, 2021, in the Quinn practice gym on campus.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Trevor Anger sanitizes chairs in the Quinn practice gym at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, on Tuesday, May
4, 2021. The university, in partnership with the Center for Human Development, hosted a vaccination clinic for staff ,
students and faculty to receive their fi rst dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We’ve been getting adequate vaccines to cover the
appointments that are made. If people want the vaccine, they
should be able to get it.”
— Carrie Brogoitti, local public health administrator
See, Clinic/Page 5A
Little homes in the valley offer shelter, hope
La Grande home
builder looks to help
local housing shortage
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A local
home builder is off ering a small
solution to a countywide housing
problem — tiny homes.
Megan Fehrenbacher, owner
of Mega Tiny Homes in La
Grande, has been building tiny
homes for just over two years,
starting out with a small cottage
she built after a friend’s retreat
burned down in Tollgate.
Fehrenbacher said the busi-
ness has an important role in not
only building aff ordable homes
for the community, but as a form
of rehabilitation. She said she had
grown frustrated with substance
abuse treatment centers, which
she saw as a retreat that did not
prepare its graduates for life after
therapy.
“I wanted to start a work
rehab, where they don’t just go to
rehab and talk about themselves,”
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Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Megan Fehrenbacher poses for a portrait on Friday, April 30, 2021, in front of one of her
tiny homes in her La Grande warehouse. Fehrenbacher’s company has been building
homes in La Grande for the last two years, among a surge of interest in tiny houses.
Fehrenbacher said.
The inspiration comes from
her son, who she said struggled
with substance abuse disorders
in the past. Now, she’s helping to
build futures.
WEATHER
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SATURDAY
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State ........................7A
LA GRANDE CORRIDOR PLANS
“My son went through 18
rehabs,” said Fehrenbacher,
noting the most benefi cial to her
son’s health were work rehabs,
where he would spend time
on farms or recycling centers
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
43 LOW
56/38
Partly cloudy
Cloudy and
cooler
working and building up his mar-
ketable skills.
“All of the other rehabs, he
would get out and nobody wanted
him,” Fehrenbacher said. “I said
to myself, I can do this better.”
She built her fi rst tiny home
with the assistance of Stacey
Bowman, who now works for
Mega Tiny Homes.
“I learned a lot,” Fehrenbacher
said.
Navigating through the codes
and requirements of home-
building, such as proper elec-
trical work, was a challenge for
the fl edgeling homebuilder. Still,
orders began coming in.
Her fi rst order was for 60
houses. However, the order was
a sham, with the buyer fronting
the money for only fi ve houses.
Fehrenbacher was wary and able
to keep her business from going
into excess debt.
Tiny houses, which have
experienced a huge increase in
support over the past decade,
have attracted young home-
owners and elderly alike. The
See, Houses/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 52
3 sections, 24 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com