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FOREST, VOLUNTEERS COLLABORATE TO BUILD BRIDGE NEAR WALLOWA LAKE |
May 29, 2021
OUTDOORS & REC, 1B
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
More
money
needed
to avert
wildﬁ res
Contributed Photo
U.S. Air Force pilot Jim Bieker with his
daughters, Hannah, left, Ella, and wife,
Kate, gather at McChord Air Force Base
May 26, 2021, to mark his ﬁ nal ﬂ ight
with the Air Force. A Cove native, he
ﬂ ew over the Grande Ronde Valley
during the ﬂ ight.
Pilot
greets
parents
with
ﬂ yover
Sen. Jeff Merkley wants
$1 billion to make
forests less vulnerable
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
that because teachers have not
been able to meet with stu-
dents in-person as much as they
would in a normal school year,
they have not been able to cover
as much material. This means
they have had to focus more on
major curriculum concepts to
prepare students to be able to
succeed at their next grade level
in the 2021-22 school year.
McKinney said that through
the eﬀ orts of teachers, stu-
dents will eventually catch up
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S.
Sen. Jeﬀ Merkley said this week
that he will lobby the Biden
administration to spend at least
$1 billion more per year for log-
ging, prescribed burning and
other work designed to make
federal forests in Oregon and
elsewhere less vulnerable to
wildﬁ res during a future when
climate change is likely to
heighten that threat.
“Forests are the heart of Ore-
gon’s identity,” Merkley, a Dem-
ocrat, said during an online
press conference Thursday, May
27. “We have got to do a lot
to restore our forests, to make
much more substantial invest-
ments in forest management.”
Merkley said he hopes to push
his campaign for more aggres-
sive forest management from
his position as chairman of the
Senate Interior, Environment
and Related Agencies Subcom-
mittee, which he has held since
February 2021.
Merkley convened an appro-
priations hearing on May 26
where he advocated for the
federal government to boost
spending on forest management.
Vicki Christiansen, chief of
the U.S. Forest Service, the fed-
eral agency that manages much
of the public forests in North-
eastern Oregon, testiﬁ ed before
the subcommittee.
Merkley said one of his
chief goals is to double federal
spending, from $40 million to
$80 million, for “collaborative”
projects on national forests.
Those are projects that
Merkley said are designed
to bring together traditional
“rivals,” such as environmental
groups and timber industry rep-
resentatives, to work together
to promote solutions that both
support.
Merkley said that in the
See, Impact/Page 5A
See, Fires/Page 5A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
La Grande High School student Moss Morris works on a mug during an art class led by Rich McIlmoil on Thursday, May 27,
2021. While there is some concern, most local educators say the pandemic hasn’t had a major impact on the education
of their schools’ students.
Jim Bieker, who grew
up in Cove, winds down
Air Force career
Impacted learning?
Local educators do not think pandemic has had major impact on learning
By DICK MASON
By DICK MASON
The Observer
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Jim Bieker
was 6 years old when he boarded
a Cessna aircraft for a ﬂ ight
around the Grande Ronde Valley
about four decades ago with his
family.
The child’s life course may
have been set by the time the
plane landed.
“I had become fascinated with
ﬂ ight. I have been fascinated with
it ever since,” said Bieker, who
grew up in Cove.
Bieker’s aviation fascina-
tion spurred him to later begin a
22-year career with the U.S. Air
Force, one now winding down as
he will retire in July. He made his
last Air Force ﬂ ight Wednesday,
May 26, and his parents, Chuck
and Jeanette Bieker of La Grande,
will never forget it.
Their son, a lieutenant col-
onel, made a La Grande ﬂ y-
over in a C-17 Globemaster III
aircraft while on a four-hour
training ﬂ ight with a fellow Air
Force pilot. The ﬂ yover was at
6,000 feet and could be heard
throughout La Grande at about
noon May 26.
“It was a good chance to ﬂ y
over and say ‘hello,’” said Bieker,
UNION COUNTY — The
jury is still out, but there is
reason for optimism.
This is the belief a number
of local public school leaders
have with regard to the impact
the COVID-19 pandemic has
had on the education of their
students. The pandemic forced
the state to close schools in
March 2020 through the end
of the 2019-20 school year to
in-person instruction, allowing
them to teach classes only
online.
Since the start of the 2020-21
school year, the Cove, Elgin,
Imbler, North Powder and
Union school districts have
been oﬀ ering in-person instruc-
tion to all students each day for
much of the school year. The
La Grande School District has
had a harder time getting to
the point where it could oﬀ er
in-person instruction to all stu-
dents due to how state metrics
apply to larger school districts.
La Grande elementary stu-
dents have been receiving
in-person instruction for much
of the school year — but stu-
dents in grades seven to 12 had
to take all of their classes online
until early 2021, and it was not
See, Flyover/Page 5A
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
La Grande High School art teacher Rich McIlmoil assists a student with an art
exercise during class Thursday, May 27, 2021.
until early April that all of these
students were allowed to be on
campus every school day.
La Grande Middle School
Principal Kyle McKinney said
as more in-person instruction
has been provided, attendance
has increased at his school and
that the number of students
who are failing classes is down.
He believes this is indicative
of how much better in-person
instruction is for most stu-
dents compared to that provided
online.
The principal noted though
Farm to Table Loan Program makes local meat more accessible
By LISA BRITTON
Baker City Herald
LA GRANDE — When meat
prices rose in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Ken Olson
wanted to help local consumers pur-
chase products from local producers.
Olson is the chief executive
oﬃ cer of Old West Federal Credit
Union, which has branches across
Eastern Oregon, including John Day,
Baker City, La Grande, Prairie City,
Union, Pendleton, Hermiston and
Burns.
“He has a big heart for our com-
munities and rural areas,” Bob
Kavanaugh, vice president of busi-
ness development and member expe-
rience at Old West, said of Olson.
The USDA reports that, in 2020,
supply of meat products was aﬀ ected
by temporary closures of meat-
packing plants due to COVID-19.
The low supply in turn drove up
prices in the grocery store.
Kavanaugh said Olson challenged
an Old West team to brainstorm a
solution that would make local beef
more accessible — especially when
money is tight.
Baker City Herald, File
See, Beef/Page 5A
Old West Federal Credit Union’s Farm to Table Loan Program aims to make it easier
for residents to buy locally raised meat.
INDEX
Classified ...............3B
Comics ....................7B
Community...........2A
Crossword .............4B
Dear Abby .............8B
WEATHER
Health .....................2B
Horoscope .............4B
Lottery ....................2A
Record ....................3A
Obituaries ..............3A
TUESDAY
Opinion ..................4A
Sports ............. 7A, 8A
State ........................6A
Sudoku ...................7B
Weather .................8B
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
44 LOW
79/47
Partly cloudy
Partly sunny
VINTAGE CAR COLLECTOR GEARS UP FOR RIVERFEST
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Issue 62
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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