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THURSDAY EDITION
County may
add law
enforcement
offi cers
Proposed 2021-22
budget calls for
additions to Union
County Sheriff’s Office
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Union
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce may add
fi ve full-time law enforcement
positions in 2021-22.
Union County’s budget com-
mittee is considering recom-
mending a proposed 2021-22 total
budget of $50.01 million for adop-
tion, one which does not call for
personnel cuts or program reduc-
tions and adds four corrections
offi cers and one reentry offi cer.
The corrections offi cers would
work at the Union County Jail,
which is understaff ed, according
to Union County Sheriff Cody
Bowen. The addition of the four
offi cers would allow the jail to
have three full-time corrections
offi cers on duty at all times. Pres-
ently, the jail has two offi cers on
duty for each shift, said Shelley
Burgess, the administrative/
budget offi cer for Union County.
Presently, not all of the
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Geneva Williams places a sketch of Jesus on the wall along with Bibles, ledgers, memorials and other historical records of the former Union United Church
on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. The building is now the home of the Catherine Creek Community Center. The memorial site opens May 30 and aims to honor the
history of the former congregation.
Preserving memories
See, Budget/Page 5A
Group creates memorial to honor Union Methodist Church’s long history
By DICK MASON
Oregon is
operating in
new reality
The Observer
UNION — The former Methodist
Church building complex in Union is
beginning a new chapter in its 106-year
history.
The north Main Street complex,
now named the Catherine Creek Com-
munity Center, is no longer linked to
the Methodist Church after being pur-
chased by the Friends of the Historic
Union Community Hall, which bought
it from the Oregon-Idaho Annual Con-
ference of the United Methodist Church
in February.
The complex’s more than 100-year
link to the Methodist Church will never
be forgotten, however. The Friends of
the Historic Union Community Hall are
making sure of it.
The group is creating a memo-
rial site in the back wall of the former
Methodist Church chapel honoring
individuals and families who have been
a part of the church’s long history in
Union.
“We all think this is very
important,” said Carolyn Young, a vol-
unteer with Friends of the Historic
Union Community Hall.
Young, of La Grande, was among
about half a dozen volunteers who met
in the old church Tuesday, May 25,
to sort through its archives and select
items for the memorial display.
Vaccinations, not cases,
are now key for counties
to lower risk level
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Medford area
has less than half the number of
COVID-19 cases than the Bend
area.
But restaurants in Deschutes
County can have twice as many
customers as Jackson County’s
in their dining rooms starting
Thursday, May 27.
The virus is spreading at twice
the rate in Portland than in La
Grande.
But last call will be about
a half hour before lights out at
11 p.m. in Union County bars,
while down at the Moda Center
in Multnomah County, people
can be packed together without
masks at an NBA playoff game.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
LaVon Hall places a fi gurine of Mary on a memorial wall in the former Union United Methodist Church
on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. Hall, along with Etta Ruberg, Mary Dodds, Geneva Williams, Carolyn Young
and Linda McReynolds, spent the afternoon sorting through record books and antiques from the
church. The group, which is composed of remaining members of the former congregation, wanted to
ensure that the community center would have a way to show its history for visitors.
Their work is also saluting the com-
plete history of the Methodist Church
in Union, which dates back to the 1860s
when its members met in local homes.
The church’s first building was con-
structed in 1873 and still exists today
after being restored at central Main
Street.
Later, the north Main Street
building, constructed in 1904, served
See, Union/Page 5A
Commissioners declare drought emergency
See, Risk/Page 5A
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — A state of
drought was declared in Wal-
lowa County during an emer-
gency session of the Wallowa
County Board of Commis-
sioners Friday, May 21 — ironi-
cally, on one of the rainiest days
of the year so far.
“Yeah, we’re declaring
drought on the rainiest day of
the year,” Commissioner Todd
Nash said.
The emergency session was
held to get the process started
toward making U.S. Department
of Agriculture funding avail-
INDEX
Business .................1B
Classified ...............2B
Comics ....................5B
Community...........2A
Crossword .............2B
able primarily to agriculture and
ag-related businesses.
“The reason for this emer-
gency meeting is to meet the
time frame for submittal of our
drought declaration to the state
so they can move it forward to
the water department, which
is the reason we’re having an
emergency session rather than
doing it in regular session,”
Commissioner Susan Roberts
said.
The next regularly scheduled
commissioners’ meeting is not
until June 2.
See, Drought/Page 5A
WEATHER
Dear Abby .............6B
Horoscope .............2B
Lottery ....................2A
Obituaries ..............3A
Opinion ..................4A
SATURDAY
Spiritual .................6A
Sports ............. 7A, 8A
State ........................9A
Sudoku ...................7B
Weather .................6B
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
A pivot line irrigates alfalfa hay in the Wallowa Valley on May 24, 2021. The Wal-
lowa County Board of Commissioners declared a state of drought May 21 during
an emergency session.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
43 LOW
63/36
Partly cloudy
Cooler
EOU STANDOUT CONTINUES CAREER IN UTAH
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 61
3 sections, 24 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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