LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, JunE 10, 2021
TODAY
Library
director set
to depart
Today is Thursday, June 10,
the 161st day of 2021. There are
204 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
IN HISTORY:
On June 10, 1963, President
John F. Kennedy signed into
law the Equal Pay Act of 1963,
aimed at eliminating wage dis-
parities based on gender.
Kip Roberson leaving
Cook Memorial Library
for position in Wyoming
ON THIS DATE:
In 1692, the first execution
resulting from the Salem witch
trials in Massachusetts took
place as Bridget Bishop was
hanged.
In 1922, singer-actor Judy
Garland was born Frances
Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids,
Minnesota.
In 1935, Alcoholics Anony-
mous was founded in Akron,
Ohio, by Dr. Robert Holbrook
Smith and William Griffith
Wilson.
In 1942, during World War
II, German forces massacred
173 male residents of Lidice,
Czechoslovakia, in retaliation
for the killing of Nazi official
Reinhard Heydrich.
In 1944, German forces
massacred 642 residents
of the French village of
Oradour-sur-Glane.
In 1967, six days of war in the
Mideast involving Israel, Syria,
Egypt, Jordan and Iraq ended
as Israel and Syria accepted
a United Nations-mediated
cease-fire.
In 1971, President Richard M.
Nixon lifted a two-decades-old
trade embargo on China.
In 1977, James Earl Ray, the
convicted assassin of civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr.,
escaped from Brushy Mountain
State Prison in Tennessee with
six others; he was recaptured
June 13.
In 1978, Affirmed, ridden by
Steve Cauthen, won the 110th
Belmont Stakes to claim horse
racing’s 11th Triple Crown.
In 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee
Dugard of South Lake Tahoe,
California, was abducted by
Phillip and Nancy Garrido;
Jaycee was held by the couple
for 18 years before she was
found by authorities.
In 2004, singer-musician Ray
Charles died in Beverly Hills, Cal-
ifornia, at age 73.
In 2013, jury selection began
in Sanford, Florida, in the trial of
neighborhood watch volunteer
George Zimmerman, charged
with second-degree murder in
the fatal shooting of 17-year-old
Trayvon Martin. (Zimmerman
was acquitted.)
Today’s Birthdays: Actor
Alexandra Stewart is 82. Singer
Shirley Alston Reeves (The
Shirelles) is 80. Actor Jurgen
Prochnow is 80. Media com-
mentator Jeff Greenfield is 78.
Actor Frankie Faison is 72. Foot-
ball Hall of Famer Dan Fouts is
70. Country singer-songwriter
Thom Schuyler is 69. Former
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is
68. Actor Andrew Stevens is 66.
Singer Barrington Henderson
is 65. Rock musician Kim Deal
is 60. Singer Maxi Priest is 60.
Actor Gina Gershon is 59. Actor
Jeanne Tripplehorn is 58. Rock
musician Jimmy Chamberlin is
57. Actor Ben Daniels is 57. Actor
Kate Flannery is 57. Model-actor
Elizabeth Hurley is 56. Rock
musician Joey Santiago is 56.
Actor Doug McKeon is 55. Rock
musician Emma Anderson is 54.
Country musician Brian Hofeldt
(The Derailers) is 54. Rapper The
D.O.C. is 53. Rock singer Mike
Doughty is 51. R&B singer Faith
Evans is 48. Actor Hugh Dancy
is 46. R&B singer Lemisha Grin-
stead (702) is 43. Actor DJ Qualls
is 43. Actor Shane West is 43.
Country singer Lee Brice is 42.
Singer Hoku is 40. Actor Leelee
Sobieski is 39. Olympic gold
medal figure skater Tara Lip-
inski is 39. Americana musician
Bridget Kearney (Lake Street
Drive) is 36. Actor Titus Makin
is 32. Actor Tristin Mays is 31.
Sasha Obama is 20. Actor Eden
McCoy is 18.
LOTTERY
Monday, June 7, 2021
Megabucks
22-25-32-34-40-41
Estimated jackpot: $3.8 million
Lucky Lines
04-07-10-15-18-22-25-29
Estimated jackpot: $54,000
Win for Life
39-42-51-65
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 8-0-5-5
4 p.m.: 4-7-3-7
7 p.m.: 2-9-3-4
10 p.m.: 0-4-8-0
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Mega Millions
09-22-39-41-54
Mega Ball: 19
Megaplier: 3
Estimated jackpot: $20 million
Lucky Lines
02-08-10-14-18-21-26-31
Estimated jackpot: $55,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 1-4-6-3
4 p.m.: 1-2-9-0
7 p.m.: 3-3-4-8
10 p.m.: 9-7-9-6
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Christine Courtright waters potted plants at the Union County Fairgrounds on Monday, June 7, 2021. Courtright has been volun-
teering at the fairgrounds for nearly 50 years, and now the La Grande Lions Club are stepping up to take over her role as floral
caretaker for the fairgrounds.
Lending a helping hand
Lions Club steps up to
assist Union County
Fairgrounds with flowers
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Union
County Fair has changed signifi-
cantly in the past four decades but
one thing which has remained con-
stant is the presence and inspiration
of Christine Courtright.
Courtright has been a volunteer
for the fair for 47 years and today
remains as dedicated as ever to it.
Health issues, however, are making
it harder for her to work as much as
she previously has.
Enter the La Grande Lions Club,
which is extending a hand to Court-
right. Members of the Lions Club
are taking over much of the planting
and care of the many dozens of
flowers at the Union County Fair-
grounds. This is work Court-
right had done single handedly
for decades, labor the Lions Club
started taking over Monday, June 7
with a planting day.
“We are taking this on as a
community service project,” said
Brent Lewis, one of six La Grande
Lions Club members who worked
Monday, July 7, at the fairgrounds.
Courtright is more than delighted
for the Lions Club’s work.
“I can’t see the fairgrounds
without flowers,” she said.
The flowers planted June 7 were
donated by Imbler High School’s
FFA chapter, which is led by advisor
J.D. Cant, an agricultural sciences
teacher at the school. The flowers,
primarily petunias, are ones that
were not sold at the chapter’s annual
plant sale.
Courtright oversaw the work
day at the fairgrounds, one of her
favorite places.
“I enjoy spending time here. It
is kind of a soothing place,” she said.
Courtright’s nearly incomparable
volunteer work at the fairgrounds
and in the community has not gone
unnoticed. She is a two-time winner
of the Chamber of Commerce
Woman of the Year award. She was
honored for her work with the Union
County Fair, leadership of 4-H clubs
and involvement in the First United
Methodist Church and Grande
Ronde Hospital.
A decade ago the fair’s textile
office building was named in her
honor. Such honors have recog-
nized Courtright not only as a vol-
unteer but also a leader of the Union
County Fair.
Courtright served in the dual
position of fair president and man-
ager for about 25 years from the
mid 1970s to the late 1990s. After
the positions were split, she con-
tinued working as the fair manager.
In 2003, she resigned that post and
took a position on the Union County
Fair’s advisory board, one she still
holds.
Lewis said Courtright has a lot
of wisdom to share about the fair-
grounds and that members of the
La Grande Lions Club will be con-
sulting her frequently for advice in
the future about planting and caring
for the flowers.
The Lions Club’s gardening
handiwork will be available for
all to see when the Union County
Fair opens on Aug. 4 for a four-day
run. The fair was cancelled in 2020
because of the COVID-19 pandemic
but is set to be conducted again this
year because of declining infection
rates.
Rep. Bentz wants a nonpartisan
examination of Jan. 6 insurrection
creation of an independent com-
mission on the Jan. 6 insurrection
ISLAND CITY — Second Con- when it passed HR 3233. Bentz
gressional District Rep. Cliff Bentz said an independent investigation
ardently believes that a commis-
is crucial to determining what hap-
sion should be appointed to investi- pened that day, when a violent mob
gate the deadly insurrection
of Donald Trump supporters
against Congress on Jan. 6.
smashed into the U.S. Cap-
itol to try and overturn Pres-
“I do not want it covered
ident Joe Biden’s victory in
up,” Bentz said on Monday,
the November 2020 election.
June 7, during a visit to
Modeled after the inves-
Island City.
tigation
into the Sept. 11,
He said the magnitude
Bentz
2001, attacks, the legislation
of the horrific nature of
would have established an inde-
the event cannot be overlooked.
pendent, 10-member commission
Bentz said he wants to know why
that would make recommendations
so many law enforcement officers
by the end of the year for securing
were hurt and why steps were not
the Capitol and preventing another
taken to give them more protec-
tion. He also wants to know why
insurrection.
the National Guard was not called
The bill passed the House 252-
immediately to assist in quelling
175. Bentz was one of 35 Repub-
licans voting with Democrats in
the riot.
The House voted May 19 for the support of the commission. A total
By DICK MASON
The Observer
of 175 Republicans voted against
the bill.
The Senate voted 54-35 for
the bill but the legislation failed
because it did not get the 60 votes
needed to block a filibuster by the
Republicans.
Bentz said he supported the leg-
islation because the commission
would have five Democrats and
five Republicans.
“It would have taken a balanced
look at what happened, it would
not have been partisan,” he said.
Bentz, who is in his first term,
noted that in January there was a
similar bill in Congress that also
would have created a nonpartisan
commission to look into the insur-
rection and that he also was in
favor of it. Bentz, according to his
office, voted twice in support of the
bill which never made it out of the
House of Representatives.
NEWS BRIEFS
ODF begins fire season in
Northeast Oregon District
LA GRANDE — A drier than
normal spring and stretches of
warmer than normal weather has
prompted Oregon Department of
Forestry to begin fire season on
private forest lands in Northeast
Oregon.
Fire season began at 12:01 a.m.,
Wednesday, June 9, for forest and
range lands protected by ODF’s
Northeast Oregon District.
“We’ve been seeing fire con-
ditions and behavior that is more
indicative of mid to late July
recently,” Joe Hessel, ODF North-
east Oregon forester, said. “The
fuel moisture of our dead fuels is
already at a point where they will
readily burn, and it won’t be long
before our grasses have cured.
By declaring fire season, we can
put measures in place to prevent
human-caused fires. We’re already
seeing fires caused by lightning, so
we need to use the tools we have to
minimize other ignition sources.”
The fire season declaration
places fire prevention restrictions
on landowners and public. Addi-
tionally, fire prevention regulations
on industrial logging and forest
management activities are also in
place.
Lands affected include pri-
vate, state, county, municipal, and
tribal lands in Union, Baker, Wal-
lowa and Umatilla counties along
with small portions of Malheur,
Morrow and Grant counties within
the Northeast Oregon Forest Pro-
tection District. This area encom-
passes approximately 2 million
protected acres.
No one injured in early
morning fire
LA GRANDE — Nobody was
injured in an early morning garage
fire in west La Grande Tuesday,
June 8.
The fire, reported at 5:20 a.m.,
broke out in the attic of a garage
connected to a home in which
four people were in. The occu-
pants escaped after a pass-
erby knocked on the door of the
home and warned them about the
fire, according to Emmitt Corn-
ford, chief of the La Grande Fire
Department.
“Whoever it was did the right
thing, that is for sure,” Cornford
said.
There were no smoke detec-
tors in the garage and the ones in
the home had not gone off yet. The
garage suffered extensive damage
and the home sustained smoke
damage. In addition a room adja-
cent to the garage suffered water
damage, Cornford said.
The blaze was difficult to extin-
guish at first because it was in the
garage’s attic which made it diffi-
cult for firefighters to reach.
“It was a bit stubborn,” Corn-
ford said.
Firefighters used a positive pres-
sure fan to help keep the blaze from
entering the house, Cornford said.
The cause of the fire remains
under investigation.
A total of 15 firefighters from
the La Grande and the La Grande
Rural fire departments responded
to the blaze. Three engines and a
ladder truck were sent to the fire.
A crew from Oregon Trail Elec-
tric Cooperative arrived shortly
after the fire was reported and
turned off the home’s power.
— EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — It was an
opportunity that Kip Roberson
couldn’t pass up — a chance to take
the position of director of library ser-
vices at the Teton County Library in
Jackson, Wyoming.
Roberson moved to La Grande
from his previous position in Seattle
at the MidCity West
Regional Library,
where he missed out on
an opportunity to take
the job in Teton County
years back. Now, the
library director is
Roberson landing his dream job.
That’s not to say
Roberson won’t miss his time at
Cook Memorial Library, where he
helped La Grande’s library move
forward in numerous ways. Rob-
erson has served as library director
in La Grande since October 2019
and his last day is set for Friday,
June 25.
“In all honesty, I’ve never worked
with a better group of employees,”
Roberson said.
Roberson grew up in a small rural
town in Indiana and has worked
in smaller communities for most
of his career. The transition to the
Teton County Library will involve a
bigger staff and larger community of
library patrons.
During his time at Cook Memo-
rial Library, the most obvious chal-
lenge was the COVID-19 pan-
demic. The library was forced to
close in-person services from mid-
March of 2020 until Labor Day in
September.
“The staff was willing to try
out things,” Roberson said. “Some
worked and some didn’t, but we
got a lot of comments from patrons
thanking us for our safety mea-
sures and communication with the
community.”
At the beginning of the pan-
demic, the library allowed patrons
to reserve books that could be
picked up in a sanitized package at
the front doors. Library staff also
ran a pop-up library outside in the
summer of 2020 and even delivered
books and materials.
Roberson credits the challenges
presented by COVID-19 for making
him stronger as a library director
moving forward in his career.
As for nonpandemic-related
changes, Roberson led the library to
more forward-thinking updates. The
library now utilizes outdoor storage
lockers to hold materials for patrons
that are unable to make it to the
library during operating hours.
In addition, the story walk at Riv-
erside Park in collaboration with the
parks and recreation department is
one of Roberson’s proudest accom-
plishments. The program encourages
families to get together and exercise
while also reading together.
“He’s really pushed things other
than books, which nobody else
has really done a lot of,” said Ryan
McGinnis, a collections and tech-
nical services employee.
McGinnis, a library employee for
more than 20 years, said Roberson
has been more forward thinking
toward social media and online pres-
ence compared to previous library
directors.
Cook Memorial completely
revamped its website to be more user
friendly and also updated its logo
scheme. One of Roberson’s biggest
impacts on the library will be mod-
ernizing the systems to be effective
past his time as director.
However, Roberson believes
that his biggest accomplishment is
something that will actually take
place after he departs for the Teton
County Library. Cook Memorial’s
budget going forward will enable
the library to hire two new part-time
employees, a large enough staff to
reopen on Saturdays.
“The staff will have a lot of pres-
sure taken off,” he said. “They would
often have to cancel a program if
someone was sick, so having more
bodies is a great thing toward better
service for our patrons.”
Roberson also said that working
in a small community like La
Grande has been a rewarding expe-
rience because of the interactions
and relationships with community
members.
“It’s really nice knowing there’s a
lot of community support here,” he
said.
Cook Memorial Library will look
to fill the position of library director
as Roberson departs for Wyoming in
the coming month.