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ADDING A BIT OF FLASH TO A FLY CAN TEMPT TROUT |
May 8, 2021
OUTDOORS & REC, 1B
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
LG may
begin
plans for
corridors
Wells
saluted
for work
in Union
schools
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — People
who walk and bicycle in south
La Grande may have a new
reason to celebrate several
years from now.
The city of La Grande has
applied for a $134,595 grant
from the state that would fund
the planning work needed
before starting on corridor
projects that would make it
possible for people to walk and
bike safely and with ease.
The grant would come from
the new Oregon Community
Paths Program, which is ded-
icated to helping build off -
road walking and biking paths
that connect communities
and destinations. House Bill
2017, known as Keep Oregon
Moving, funds the Oregon
Department of Transportation
program.
A total of $11.3 million is
available via OCP in 2021. The
Oregon Transportation Com-
mission on Thursday, May 13,
will review the applications it
received and make recommen-
dations regarding which proj-
ects the state should fund.
La Grande Public Works
Director Kyle Carpenter said
the Oregon Department of
Transportation’s recommenda-
tion likely will determine if La
Grande receives the grant.
Should La Grande get the
planning grant, the city would
look at projects that would
help make it easier for walkers
and bikers to get from Eastern
Oregon University to Gekeler
Lane, a popular exercise route
because of its paved pathways
and sidewalks.
Carpenter noted people on
EOU’s campus have to use
12th or Sixth streets to reach
Gekeler Lane. Building an
asphalt pathway from G Street
through Eastern’s campus to
Gekeler Lane, for example,
would make this much easier
and safer.
Another option the city
might consider would be
making it safer for La Grande
School District students
who live east of the univer-
sity to walk or bike through
its campus while traveling to
and from La Grande Middle
School, La Grande High
School and Central Elementary
School.
Presently, the routes chil-
dren walk and bike on through
Eastern’s campus are not as
safe as they could be because
By DICK MASON
The Observer
See, Artist/Page 5A
See, Wells/Page 5A
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Jon Hanley, who has made a career as a political cartoonist, is creating several murals in Halfway, as well as making a cartoon-style
map of the area from Hells Canyon to Sparta.
MAKING HIS MARK
Artist working on murals in Halfway grew up in La Grande
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
HALFWAY — Jon Hanley is
a temporary resident of Halfway,
but he’s leaving a permanent
mark.
Hanley is wrapping up a
mural at the Old Pine Market
that depicts the history of horses
in Pine Valley.
“He’s doing a beautiful job.
I love coming in and seeing
the new progress,” said Laurie
Bryan, an owner of the market.
Hanley paints after hours,
adding a colorful touch to a pre-
viously blank wall above the pro-
duce area.
“I’ve had murals on my
mind,” Bryan said. “I knew Jon
was a fabulous mural painter,
and he showed up in town.”
His work space is a challenge
— a ledge about 3 feet deep and
3 feet high, so he has to kneel or
lay on his side to paint.
“I take a lot of breaks,”
Hanley said.
Hanley drew 10 diff erent
scenes that incorporate the local
scenery and various uses of
horses, from providing trans-
portation for Native Americans
to logging, agriculture, mining,
rodeo and more.
Jon Hanley/Contributed Photo
One panel of Jon Hanley’s mural at Old Pine Market in Halfway depicts how horses
have been used in agriculture in the Pine Valley of eastern Baker County.
“We could have incorporated
40 more horse scenes,” he said.
The mural is about 30 feet
long, with each era blending into
the next.
“I wanted to do something
that tells a story and how inte-
gral horses were to daily life,” he
said. “I’ve never done anything
quite like it. I hope people love it
as much as I loved doing it.”
His second mural at the
market will be in the entryway
and depict how the building and
town looked in 1906.
Decades as a cartoonist
Dam controversy continues
Simpson, NW lawmakers clash over dam
conversations with Oregon’s Brown
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
See, Paths/Page 5A
Hanley lives in Pocatello,
Idaho, but grew up in La Grande.
That was where, at age 15,
he began his journey as a polit-
ical cartoonist. He fi rst drew
UNION — Union School Dis-
trict Superintendent Carter Wells
starts each day expecting to be
surprised.
Still, none of his wildest
expectations could have prepared
him for the surprise he received
on Monday, May 3.
Wells received the Doug Flatt
Memorial Leadership Award.
“I was extremely shocked,”
Wells said, also noting nobody
dropped the faintest of hints about
possibly receiving the award.
The Mid Columbia Bus Com-
pany and InterMountain Educa-
tion Service District sponsor the
award. Flatt was the chief execu-
tive offi cer of Mid Columbia who
died in a plane crash in 2003. The
purpose of the Doug Flatt Lead-
ership Award is to recognize a
school administrator in a district
Mid Columbia serves who exem-
plifi es the same qualities Flatt was
well known for.
IMESD Superintendent Mark
Mulvihill presented the award to
Wells at the annual Union County
Crystal Apple Excellence in Edu-
cation ceremony at La Grande
Middle School. Mulvihill had
high praise for Wells.
He said under Wells, Union’s
superintendent since 2013, the
school district has had signifi -
cant improvement in test scores,
staff retention and graduation
rates. Mulvihill said Wells’ sig-
nature achievement was the role
he played in voters passing an $8
million bond package in 2019 to
upgrade the school district’s aging
facilities.
The award puts Wells in select
company. Each year only one
administrator in the school dis-
tricts and community schools the
InterMountain Education Service
District contracts with in Union,
Umatilla, Baker and Morrow
counties receives the Doug Flatt
Leadership Award. The four
SALEM — Idaho Con-
gressman Mike Simpson and rep-
resentatives of Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown spoke for months about
removing dams on the Snake
River, sparking criticism from
other members of Congress from
the region.
“I don’t know how many
times I have to say that I have not
written legislation,” Simpson said
in a press release. “What is avail-
able to the public is what cur-
rently exists.”
Lawmakers in Oregon and
Washington accused Simpson and
Brown, who supports removal
of the dams, of a lack of trans-
parency. They say it’s part of
an eff ort to push Simpson’s
$33.5 billion plan to remove the
INDEX
Classified ...............2B
Comics ....................5B
Crossword .............3B
Dear Abby .............6B
dams, in the name of preserving
salmon and benefi ting agricul-
ture, through Congress without
regional support.
Brown did not respond to
requests for comment.
A 397-page document con-
taining conversations between
Simpson’s offi ce and Brown’s
offi ce was released in response to
a public records request from the
Center for Biological Diversity, an
environmental group.
“It’s clear this proposal is not
just a starting point, but rather
a radical and fully-baked plan
he is actively seeking to put into
law,” Reps. Dan Newhouse and
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, of
Washington, and Cliff Bentz, of
Oregon, said in a press release.
They asked why Simpson
appears to be building his plan
WEATHER
Horoscope .............3B
Letters ....................4A
Lottery ....................3A
Obituaries ..............3A
TUESDAY
Opinion ..................4A
Outdoors ...............1B
Sports .....................8A
State ........................7A
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Contributed Photo
Ice Harbor Dam on the Lower Snake River holds back Lake Sacajawea, a source of irriga-
tion water for 47,000 acres of farmland. Some Republican members of Congress from the
Northwest are accusing a GOP Idaho lawmaker of conducting secret negotiations with
the Democratic governor of Oregon over a controversial proposal to breach four dams
on the Snake River to save endangered salmon runs.
behind closed doors and sup-
porting Brown’s perspective,
instead of the governor of his
state, Idaho’s Brad Little.
“Not only does this have
harmful impacts on our regional
dialogue, but it also raises ques-
tions about the viability of the
‘Four Governors’ agreement
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SHAKESPEARE IN THE SUMMER
signed last year which was pur-
portedly intended to formalize
a collaborative platform to
work together to address these
important issues in the North-
west,” they stated.
Simpson asked how he could
See, Dams/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 53
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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observer.com.
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on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com