LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, May 15, 2021
Today in Activist’s collection of books available to all
History Bill Whitaker’s books and journals now
Today is Saturday, May 15, the
135th day of 2021. There are 230
days left in the year.
available at Cook Memorial Library
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
On May 15, 1970, just after
midnight, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs
and James Earl Green, two Black
students at Jackson State College
in Mississippi, were killed as police
opened fire during student protests.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1602, English navigator
Bartholomew Gosnold and his ship,
the Concord, arrived at present-day
Cape Cod, which he’s credited with
naming.
In 1918, u.S. airmail began
service between Washington, d.C.,
Philadelphia and New york.
In 1954, the Fender Stratocaster
guitar, created by Leo Fender, was
officially released.
In 1967, the u.S. Supreme Court
ruled that juveniles accused of
crimes were entitled to the same
due process afforded adults.
In 1968, two days of tornado
outbreaks began in 10 Midwestern
and Southern states; twisters were
blamed for 72 deaths, including 45
in arkansas and 18 in Iowa.
In 1972, alabama Gov. George C.
Wallace was shot and left paralyzed
while campaigning for president
in Laurel, Maryland, by arthur H.
Bremer, who served 35 years for
attempted murder.
In 1975, u.S. forces invaded the
Cambodian island of Koh Tang and
captured the american merchant
ship Mayaguez, which had been
seized by the Khmer Rouge. (all 39
crew members had already been
released safely by Cambodia; some
40 u.S. servicemen were killed in
connection with the operation.)
In 1988, the Soviet union began
the process of withdrawing its
troops from afghanistan, more
than eight years after Soviet forces
entered the country.
In 2000, the u.S. Supreme Court
threw out a key provision of the
1994 Violence against Women act,
saying that rape victims could not
sue their attackers in federal court.
In 2015, a jury sentenced
dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the
2013 Boston Marathon bombing
that killed three and left more than
250 wounded.
Ten years ago: Mobilized by
calls on Facebook, thousands of
arab protesters marched on Israel’s
borders with Syria, Lebanon and
Gaza in an unprecedented wave of
demonstrations, sparking clashes
that left at least 15 dead.
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Wil-
liam “Bill” Whitaker spent
the bulk of his career
working toward social jus-
tice and campaigning for
universal health care in
Oregon and Idaho. He died
in September 2020, and
now the modest collection
of his health care books
and journals have a new
home at La Grande’s Cook
Memorial Library.
Whitaker began advo-
cating for health care as
a fundamental right after
people around him had
their lives cut short due to
a lack of access to health
care, according to a Health
Care for All Oregon news-
letter from October 2020.
He received a master’s of
social work from Atlanta
University and a doctorate
at the Brandeis University
Florence Heller School for
Advanced Social Welfare
in Massachusetts.
Whitaker and his wife,
Cheryl Simpson, came to
La Grande after he retired
from Boise State Uni-
versity in 2007. At Boise
State, Whitaker taught as
a professor of social work
and served on the universi-
ty’s faculty senate.
Following his time at
Boise State, Whitaker
continued his research
and social work with the
goal of bringing universal
health care to Oregon.
Over the years, he accumu-
lated a range of books and
journals.
Simpson donated the
works to the Union County
chapter of HCAO. Whitaker
and his wife guided the
expansion of HCAO and
served as board members
for the last decade.
“We’re strong believers
in community educa-
tion and opportunities for
people to learn more about
issues that impact their
lives,” Simpson said.
Chapter Chair Anna
Maria Dill, along with the
chapter’s members, decided
donating the collection to
Cook Memorial Library
would be an effective way
to carry on Whitaker’s
legacy and impact the La
Grande community in a
positive way.
“Cheryl gave us this
lovely collection and we
wanted to share it with
others and make it avail-
able to everyone who was
interested,” Dill said. “We
thought that housing it at
the library not only made
that possible, but it would
be something Bill would
have wanted.”
The assortment of books
provide access to resources
and databases related to
health care. Kip Roberson,
director of Cook Memo-
rial Library, worked with
Union County’s Health
Care for All Oregon
chapter to make Whitaker’s
collection available to the
public.
“I think it is the
library’s responsibility to
provide books that cover
all areas of health care sys-
tems and let the reader
decide what is best for
their situation in life,”
Roberson said. “(Whita-
ker’s) collection can help
move health care forward
in this state.”
This is not the first time
Whitaker’s books became
volumes in a library. Back
in 2007, Whitaker pre-
sented more than 500
books from his personal
collection to Eastern
The Observer, File
Bill Whitaker and Cheryl Simpson in this august 2016 photo advocate for voting rights outside their La Grande
home. Whitaker died in 2020, but his collection of health care books and professional journals now is available
to the public at Cook Memorial Library, La Grande.
dick Mason/The Observer, File
Bill Whitaker, a member of the union County Progressives, participates in
a rally in September 2019. Whitaker died in 2020.
Oregon University, La
Grande.
Whitaker’s contribu-
tions were also recog-
nized at the annual Oregon
Rural Action meeting on
April 17, according to
ORA Executive Director
Kristin Ostrom. The orga-
nization launched the Bill
Whitaker Arc of Social
Justice Community Orga-
nizing Training Series at
the meeting to honor his
legacy. ORA strives to pro-
mote sustainable agricul-
ture and economy as well
as social justice efforts.
The organization plans
to offer the training annu-
ally and recognizes Whita-
ker’s commitment to
inclusion and community
building. Whitaker him-
self generated the funding
for the training during his
80th birthday fundraiser
last year. His dedication
as a community organizer
led to his namesake on the
ORA’s training series.
Whitaker’s impact on
the La Grande community
goes beyond the publicly
accessible collection of
books now at Cook Memo-
rial Library.
“I think the collection is
a resource, (and) Bill lives
on as he has inspired other
people to take a stand for
social justice,” Simpson
said.
The inside cover of his
books are lined with a
bookplate that identifies
and honors the collection.
“I think Bill’s legacy is
giving people a voice and
giving them the power to
address problems,” Dill
said. “They can feel that
their voice and energy
can contribute to a larger
conversation and ulti-
mately create change in
this country.”
News Briefs
Merkley to hold remote Union
County town hall
The Observer, File
Grandview Cemetery in La Grande was awash in color at the 2019 annual
avenue of Flags ceremony during Memorial day Weekend. american Le-
gion Post 43 scaled back the event in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis
but this year is unfurling the event with at least 165 united States flags.
Avenue of Flags returns
for Memorial Day
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A
popular and long-running
Memorial Day tradition in
La Grande will be back in
full force this year.
The 38th annual Avenue
of Flags at Grandview
Cemetery, one scaled
back significantly in 2020
because of the COVID-19
pandemic, is set to return to
its unabridged level during
Memorial Day Weekend,
May 28-31.
The full return will be
possible because of falling
infection rates, said John
Craig, finance officer for
American Legion Post 43,
which puts on the Avenue
of Flags.
This year’s event, as in
pre-pandemic years, will
feature a ceremony starting
at 11 a.m. on Memorial
Day. Highlights will include
Roger Cochran, pastor of
Trinity Baptist Church,
delivering the keynote
address, and La Grande
High School’s A Cap-
pella Choir performing the
National Anthem.
Everyone attending will
have to follow social dis-
tancing rules and wear
masks.
A display of at least 165
United States flags on poles
along the road at Grand-
view Cemetery is another
part of the event set to come
back.
All are burial flags
donated by families of
American veterans. The
flags will be put up the
morning of May 29 and will
remain up until May 31 at
3 p.m.
Craig, Dave Matott,
commander of American
Legion Post 43, and Bob
Kennon, the second vice
president of American
Legion Post 43, are running
the Avenue of Flags pro-
gram this year.
At the abbreviated 2020
event there was no Memo-
rial Day ceremony and
flags were put up only
at the Veterans Circle at
Grandview Ceremony
because much tighter
social distancing rules
were in effect.
Portable lights at night
will illuminate the flags
like in past years. A fed-
eral resolution, which the
American Legion wrote and
Congress adopted, requires
illumination to identify
American flags on display
after dark, Craig said.
UNION COUNTY — Sen. Jeff
Merkley announced he will hold a
remote town hall for Union County
residents on Tuesday, May 18,
according to a press release.
Merkley will provide updates on
his work in Washington, D.C., and
take questions and suggestions from
participants who can
chime into the town hall
via computer, mobile
device or telephone, the
press release said.
“Hearing from Ore-
Merkley
gonians across the state
is critical to doing my
job. In these uncertain times, it’s
more important than ever to hear
directly from folks, but it’s also
important to respect the health and
safety of every member of our com-
munities while there is still a very
real risk of spreading COVID-19
through in-person gatherings,”
Merkley said. “The ideas and priori-
ties I hear about in town halls inform
the solutions that I fight to get into
federal law.”
The town hall will start at 4 p.m.
Attendees can join a Zoom chat
through computer, smartphone or
tablet, according to the press release.
They also can call in to the
meeting by dialing 669-254-5252.
The meeting identification for the call
is 160 459 6641#, the participant ID is
# and the passcode is 41675231#, the
press release said.
110 received vaccinations at recent
EOU clinic
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon
University on Thursday, May 13,
reported 110 people received their
COVID-19 vaccinations at the recent
clinic on campus.
The university partnered with the
Center for Human Development Inc.,
Union County’s public health agency,
to provide first and second doses of
the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at
the May 4 clinic at Quinn Coliseum.
University staff and students
ensured the practice gym provided
a clean, functional space with sev-
eral vaccination stations, as well as
areas for health screenings, patient
monitoring and scheduling follow-up
appointments, according to a press
release from EOU.
EOU has conducted testing for
coronavirus since fall term and pro-
vided free vaccinations on-site for
many students.
“The entire EOU community has
been so dedicated to keeping campus
Eastern Oregon university/Contributed Photo
an Eastern Oregon university student receives the Moderna COVId-19 Vaccine from COVId-19
Response Nurse Elizabeth Sieders at the on-campus vaccination clinic May 4, 2021. EOu con-
firmed 110 people received vaccinations at the clinic.
as safe as possible this past year and
focused on moving toward the goal
of a complete reopening,” said EOU’s
COVID-19 Response Nurse Eliz-
abeth Sieders in the press release.
“Holding on-campus vaccination
clinics was a natural next step toward
achieving this goal and to ensure all
students and staff had easy access to
free vaccines.”
Nearly 100 people are registered
to receive their booster shots at a
second on-campus clinic in June. The
CHD again will offer first and second
doses of the Moderna vaccine.
EOU is collecting feedback from
students and employees before
deciding whether to require vaccina-
tions on campus for fall term.
Boardman man faces charges of
disposing of body in Hermiston
case
HERMISTON — A Boardman
man is facing charges of disposing
of the body of a Hermiston man who
died of a gunshot wound outside
the city in 2020, according to Uma-
tilla County District Attorney Dan
Primus.
Hermiston police on May 7
arrested Kevin Ricardo Melendez,
26, with Rachel Cruz, 26, after
reports of trespassing. Both had war-
rants against them.
According to Primus, the charges
against Melendez, which a Uma-
tilla County Grand Jury handed up
April 29, are related to the shooting
death of Jordan Crandall, 28, who
was found dead next to an irrigation
ditch near Alpine Drive northeast of
Hermiston in March 2020. Cruz was
wanted on a separate matter, court
documents show.
Melendez is not suspected of
killing Crandall, Primus said, “but
the crimes that are alleged come as
a result of the same incident that
ultimately ended the life of Jordan
Crandall.”
The charges in the indictment
include robbery, attempted unlawful
use of a weapon, abuse of a corpse,
felony conspiracy to unlawfully
deliver a Schedule II controlled sub-
stance, misdemeanor menacing and
theft. Melendez also faces charges for
resisting arrest on May 7.
The abuse of a corpse charge is
“in this circumstance the dumping
of a body and disposing of a body,”
Primus said.
According to the indictment,
Melendez on March 18, 2020 —
the same day that Crandall’s body
was found — threatened Anthony
Andrade with a gun while attempting
to rob him. The charges also allege
Melendez intended to use the gun
against Stevie Martinez while deliv-
ering fentanyl.
Primus said local law enforce-
ment and the district attorney’s
office are “familiar” with Melendez
from previous cases, but declined
to provide specifics. Court docu-
ments show Melendez has faced a
variety of charges over the years,
including first-degree manslaughter
in 2011, though the charges in that
case were dismissed. Primus said he
doesn’t expect Melendez to face more
charges. He added his arrest is only a
part of the ongoing investigation into
Crandall’s death.
— EO Media Group