LOCAL/REGION
2A — THE OBSERVER
Today in
History
SaTuRday, May 22, 2021
Fresh front on the Liberty Theatre
La Grande
to receive
grant for
planning
corridors
Today is Saturday, May 22, the
142nd day of 2021. There are 223
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY:
On May 22, 2017, a suicide
bomber set off an improvised ex-
plosive device that killed 22 people
at the end of an ariana Grande
concert in Manchester, England.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1915, the Lassen Peak volcano
in Northern California exploded,
devastating nearby areas but
causing no deaths.
In 1939, the foreign ministers
of Germany and Italy, Joachim von
Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano,
signed a “Pact of Steel” committing
the two countries to a military
alliance.
In 1960, an earthquake of
magnitude 9.5, the strongest ever
measured, struck southern Chile,
claiming some 1,655 lives.
In 1962, Continental airlines
Flight 11, en route from Chicago
to Kansas City, Missouri, crashed
after a bomb apparently brought
on board by a passenger exploded,
killing all 45 occupants of the
Boeing 707.
In 1964, President Lyndon B.
Johnson, speaking at the university
of Michigan, outlined the goals of
his “Great Society,” saying that it
“rests on abundance and liberty for
all” and “demands an end to poverty
and racial injustice.”
In 1967, a fire at the L’Innovation
department store in Brussels killed
322 people. Poet and playwright
Langston Hughes died in New york
at age 65.
In 1968, the nuclear-powered
submarine uSS Scorpion, with 99
men aboard, sank in the atlantic
Ocean. (The remains of the sub
were later found on the ocean floor
400 miles southwest of the azores.)
In 1969, the lunar module of
apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford
and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew
to within nine miles of the moon’s
surface in a dress rehearsal for the
first lunar landing.
In 1992, after a reign lasting
nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson
hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for
the final time. Jay Leno took over 3
nights later.
In 2011, a tornado devastated
Joplin, Missouri, with winds up to
250 mph, claiming at least 159 lives
and destroying about 8,000 homes
and businesses.
In 2018, Stacey abrams won
Georgia’s democratic gubernatorial
primary, making her the first wom-
an nominee for Georgia governor
from either major party. (abrams,
seeking to become the nation’s
first Black female governor, was de-
feated in November by Republican
Brian Kemp.)
BY DICK MASON
The Observer
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Dan Davenport (right) along with Dawson Gaertner and Jack Lind (not pictured) on Friday, May 21, 2021, put up the front-facing cover
to the Liberty Theatre in downtown. The awning had been bare sheet metal prior to the restoration. Ashley O’Toole, the board chair
for the Liberty Theatre Foundation, says the front-facing awning will include cast iron flowers just like it had in the theater’s heyday.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest has new ranger
The Observer
JOSEPH — The Wal-
lowa Mountains Office
of the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest has a
new district
ranger.
Brian
Anderson
steps into the
role begin-
Anderson ning late May,
according
to a press release from
the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest. Anderson
serves as a deputy area
ranger out of Stanley,
Idaho, on the Sawtooth
National Forest.
“The Wal-
lowa-Whitman is for-
tunate to have a highly
skilled leader joining our
leadership team,” Wal-
lowa-Whitman Supervisor
Tom Montoya said in the
announcement. “Brian
brings some great expe-
rience in working with
rural communities in Cen-
tral Idaho and understands
the impact that difficult
resource decisions can
have on local communities
and agency employees.”
A Forest Service
employee of more than
20 years, Anderson
has gained a broad pal-
ette of skills throughout
his career. He offers a
strong natural resources
background, an under-
standing of complex rec-
reation issues and fire
management experience,
according to the press
release. He has worked
closely with a variety of
stakeholders, including
partners, public, tribes
and other federal
agencies.
Anderson since 2017
has served as the Sawtooth
National Recreation Area
deputy area ranger on the
Sawtooth National Forest.
He is responsible for man-
News Briefs
Wallowa County to seek
drought declaration
ENTERPRISE — A res-
olution to declare Wallowa
County in a state of drought
is the sole agenda item for
an emergency session of
the Wallowa County Board
of Commissioners when it
meets at 3 p.m. Friday, May
21.
The declaration is actu-
ally a request for Gov. Kate
Brown to make a decla-
ration of drought for the
county, as she has done for
several other counties in the
state, Commissioner Todd
Nash said May 19.
Such a declaration will
make federal funding avail-
able primarily for agricul-
tural needs, Nash said. He
said it wouldn’t apply to any
municipal water shortage in
the county.
“We’re pretty well
set that way in Wallowa
County,” Nash said. “It gets
the process started,” he said
of the declaration request,
adding that he expects
to hear the governor’s
response soon.
The meeting will be
open to public comment
after the declaration resolu-
tion is passed.
Hurricane Creek half-
marathon is May 29
JOSEPH — Wallowa
County is urged to get
out and run or walk at a
half-marathon event that
will take place Saturday,
May 29, starting at Joseph
City Park, according to a
press release.
The Hurricane Creek
Half Marathon/5 Mile/5K
starts at 8 a.m. and heads
toward the Hurricane
Creek Trailhead. This is
for anyone from walkers to
advanced runners.
The whole mission of the
event is to encourage more
active lifestyles and the goal
is to get Wallowa County
out and running.
Union County sheriff’s
deputies spent
Wednesday, May 19, in
a scenario-based CPR/
first aid training, the
sheriff’s office reported
on its Facebook page.
In between training ses-
sions, deputies visited
the Life Flight air am-
bulance service at the
airport near La Grande
and received a refresher
course in setting up a
scene for Life Flight.
Deputies also learned
about the equipment
the emergency flight
crews use.
union County Sheriff’s Office/Contributed Photo
Joseph Charter students question Wyden
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Baker County proposes
lodging tax review
BAKER CITY — Two
of the three Baker County
commissioners want to hire
a consultant to coordinate
a comprehensive review
of how the county spends
nearly half a million dollars
in lodging taxes that guests
at motels and other estab-
lishments pay annually.
But that plan is con-
tingent on attorney Drew
Martin deeming it legally
sound for the county to
extend, for the fourth time
in the past 15 months, the
county’s contract with the
Baker County Chamber
of Commerce to operate
the visitor’s center using
lodging tax revenue.
Most recently, commis-
sioners extended that con-
tract, which is for about
$77,000 per year, through
Aug. 31, 2021.
Commission Chair Bill
Harvey abstained from
voting on the motion.
— EO Media Group
Anderson said in the press
release. “I look forward
to meeting stakeholders,
hearing their perspec-
tives, and working col-
laboratively to address a
wide variety of land man-
agement issues across the
Wallowa Valley and Eagle
Cap Districts and the Hells
Canyon National Recre-
ation Area.”
Anderson will move to
the Joseph area with his
spouse, Amanda, their two
daughters, Josephine and
Matilda, and their dog,
Mogul, the press release
stated. In his free time,
Anderson enjoys family
adventures or hitting the
ski slopes. His other hob-
bies include mountain
biking, river running,
fishing and camping.
More information about
the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest is avail-
able at www.fs.usda.gov/
wallowa-whitman.
Training to save lives
Whisky Fest announces
2021 show; musical acts
to be announced later
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest will be back in 2021,
but it will look signifi-
cantly different than past
events.
A year after event orga-
nizers were forced to
cancel the concert due to
COVID-19, Whisky Fest
announced it would come
back on July 10, albeit with
new headliners. Facing a
12,000-person capacity
limit at the Round-Up
Grounds, Whisky Fest
is postponing previ-
ously announced head-
liners Macklemore and
Eric Church to 2022 and
bringing in a new slate of
musicians.
Whisky Fest will
announce its new headliners
Friday, May 28.
aging a diverse landscape
and high-use recreation
area with numerous user
groups and complex land
management issues.
Anderson’s past assign-
ments in the Forest Ser-
vice include serving as
acting district ranger
on the Payette National
Forest, acting area ranger
on the Sawtooth National
Recreation Area and as a
wildland firefighter for the
Idaho City Hotshots on the
Boise National Forest.
Originally from Boise,
Anderson received a bach-
elor’s of science in envi-
ronmental science from
the University of Idaho
and a master’s of science
in hydrology from Boise
State University.
“I am extremely
excited to join the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National
Forest and become a
part of the local com-
munity with my family,”
LA GRANDE — La
Grande is a step closer to
gaining additional walking
and bicycling corridors.
The state has notified
the city of La Grande it will
receive a $134,595 grant to
fund the planning work for
corridor projects that would
make it possible for people
to walk and bicycle through
town with greater ease.
The grant will come
from the new Oregon
Community Paths Pro-
gram, which is dedicated
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.
The Oregon Trans-
portation Commission
voted May 13 to award the
$134,595 grant to the city of
La Grande after reviewing
its application.
“This is very exciting.
It will give us a chance to
work on identifying new
projects,” said La Grande
Public Works Director Kyle
Carpenter.
The city will look at
projects that would help
make it easier for walkers
and bikers to get from
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity to Gekeler Lane, a pop-
ular exercise route because
of its paved pathways and
sidewalks.
The city also might con-
sider making it safer for
La Grande School Dis-
trict students to walk or
bike through the university
campus while traveling to
and from La Grande Middle
School, La Grande High
School and Central Elemen-
tary School. Those routes
through Eastern’s campus
are not as safe as they could
be because of traffic. La
Grande students need a des-
ignated route, Carpenter
said, and such a route could
involve a paved pathway
through campus.
Carpenter said the city
will hire a civil engineering
firm that specializes in
community development
and planning to study the
city’s options and determine
how realistic they are.
“The study will look at
what we can do,” Carpenter
said.
The city has until the end
of 2022 to submit the grant-
funded plans to ODOT.
Once the city has a plan,
it also will be able to apply
for construction grants
from the Oregon Commu-
nity Paths program or other
sources.
JOSEPH — Views on
education, the current
unrest in the Middle East,
the U.S. Capitol attack and
taxes were all
among ques-
tions Joseph
Charter
School stu-
dents asked
U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden
Wyden during
a “Listening to the Future”
Zoom call Monday, May
17.
The afternoon vir-
tual meeting gave seventh
through 12th graders at
JCS an ask the Democratic
senator and chairman of
the Committee on Finance
anything they wanted.
One seventh-grade stu-
dent asked Wyden about
his thoughts on the Jan. 6
attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The senior senator from
Oregon called it “horren-
dous,” and said his first
thought on it was that the
attack was something one
would hear about hap-
pening in other countries,
but not America.
“This was, in my
opinion, domestic ter-
rorism, because domestic
terrorism is when you are
willing to resort to vio-
lence to obtain a political
objective,” he said. “In
our country, the Founding
Fathers said absolutely
peaceful protest, but vio-
lence is absolutely out.
That applies in Portland,
Oregon, that applies in
Washington, D.C., that
applies in rural communi-
ties. Violence, out.”
He was also asked about
education. He brought up
a bill he has proposed, the
Retirement Parity for Stu-
dent Loans Act (though
he didn’t state it by name)
that would give employers
an option to pay into their
employees’ retirement
plans an amount equal to a
percentage of that employ-
ee’s monthly student loan
payment.
When he was asked
why education seems
geared more toward col-
lege rather than trade
school, he said he is
working to change that.
“I am spending a lot of
time trying to reimagine
education,” he said. “A lot
of trade schools are a much
better fit for a lot of stu-
dents. They can see there
is a path to a job that pays
good wages. For a lot of
young people, you may
decide you want to pursue
a trade.”
He said part of that
would be aided by compa-
nies coming into schools
to discuss their trades.
Sophomore Maleah
Murray asked Wyden
where he stood in the
Israel/Palestine conflict,
which has heated up again
in recent weeks.
Wyden said in his
opinion, the best option is
a two-state solution.
“Right now we have got
to have a cease fire. The
Biden people should be
hip deep in the middle of
trying to tell people ,‘We
have to work together,’” he
said. “This is doing enor-
mous damage to everyone
in the region.”
He also was asked
about what employers
should do given the
challenges in hiring
employees — even with a
high number of job open-
ings — with the student
citing current unemploy-
ment benefit levels as part
of the reason people aren’t
going back to work.
Wyden said he intends
to soon introduce legisla-
tion that would have unem-
ployment benefits linked
to the unemployment rate,
which would bring the
amount of benefits down
as the rate decreased..
“I think the fair
approach for employers
and for workers is let’s
make future benefits tied
to real life unemployment
in our communities,” he
said. “That is the kind of
thing that I think is a win-
ning strategy.”
And when asked what
a citizen who is too young
to vote can do to be
heard, he said what was
happening Monday in the
students talking to their
senator was an example of
a step to take.