INSIDE
NEW OWNER BRINGS REBRAND TO AC POWERSPORTS |
June 17, 2021
BUSINESS & AG LIFE, 1B
$1.50
THURSDAY EDITION
New facility opens a host of opportunities
Community Connection of Northeast Oregon moving into larger food distribution center in Island City
By DICK MASON
The Observer
ISLAND CITY — An
expanded food distribution center
is set to open soon in Island City,
one which will help Community
Connection of Northeast Oregon
provide an added boost to families
and individuals who have fallen
on hard times.
The Northeast Oregon
Regional Food Bank’s new food
distribution center is set to open
by early August at 10213 N.
McAlister Lane, said Margaret
Davidson, executive director
of Community Connection of
Northeast Oregon, which oper-
ates the food bank. The new dis-
tribution center will have 8,500
square feet, almost eight times
the 1,100 square feet the regional
food bank’s distribution center has
at its La Grande site at the Union
County Senior Center.
“This is wonderful. The com-
munity is really pulling together
to help us,” Davidson said.
The total cost of the project is
$1.04 million, which includes the
purchase price of the building for-
merly owned by Pendleton Grain
Growers. The funding has been
provided by about eight grants,
Community Connection and
donations from individuals and
businesses.
Community Connection has
received $150,000 in donations
from individuals and businesses,
$65,000 more than Davidson’s ini-
tial goal.
“People have been so gen-
erous,” she said.
The larger distribution center
will allow the regional food bank
to maintain a stronger reserve for
the pantries it provides food for
in Union, Wallowa, Baker and
Grant counties. It will also put the
food bank in a position to better
address emergencies such as those
which could be caused by natural
disasters and extended power out-
ages, Davidson said.
The new distribution center
will have more refrigeration
“It will give us more
options. We will
be able to provide
a wider variety of
healthier foods.”
Margaret Davidson, executive
director of Community Connection of
Northeast Oregon, which operates the
food bank
See, Food Bank/Page 5A
Bill aims
to increase
access to
college aid
SB 5528 would boost
funding for
programming,
operations for higher ed
By MEERAH POWELL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Roughly 11,000
more students would have access
to a state fi nancial aid program
in the next two years thanks
to increased state funding in a
higher education budget bill con-
tinuing to make its way through
the Oregon Legislature.
The Legislature’s Joint Ways
and Means Subcommittee on
Education voted Monday, June 14,
to send Senate Bill 5528 to the full
Joint Ways and Means Committee
with a “do pass” recommendation.
If passed, the bill would
increase funding for program-
ming and operations at Oregon’s
public universities and community
colleges over current levels. The
bill also allocates more money to
the Oregon Opportunity Grant,
a state-funded grant program for
low-income students.
“The budget doesn’t give us a
big bonus, it continues our current
services,” said Tim Seydel, vice
president for university advance-
ment at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity. “For EOU, it means we were
able to hold tuition fl at for the
upcoming year.”
According to the Higher Edu-
cation Coordinating Commission,
from 2009 to 2019, more than 2
million applications for fi nancial
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Jacob Gau poses for a photo inside the newly renovated McKenzie Amphitheater in Loso Hall at Eastern Oregon University on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Gau
had worked construction over the past year at the auditorium and theatre, and now plans to perform in the same hall he helped build.
Full-circle experience
Eastern Oregon University student sets the stage for renovations at Loso Hall
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Jacob Gau has
helped lay the foundations for the music
and theater programs at Eastern Oregon
University, both literally and fi guratively.
Gau, a senior at EOU, is a music stu-
dent with a background in construction
work who assisted in the renovations to
Loso Hall over the past year. This coming
school year, he will be performing on the
very stage he helped build.
“Though I may be done here after next
See, Bill/Page 5A
year, students for years after me are going
to enjoy this and use this area to be per-
formative and creative,” Gau said. “That’s
really awesome.”
Gau plays trumpet, participates in the
EOU chamber choir and is a member of
the 45th Parallel ensemble. Raised by a
lifelong electrician, Gau’s background
in construction led him to combine two
of his skills as the Loso Hall renovations
began in July 2020. The student joined on
the job during winter break of the 2020
school year.
EOU Project Manager David Moore
worked with Kirby Nagelhout Con-
struction and Waterleaf Architecture
throughout the design process and con-
struction. The hall itself opened in 1990
and has been operating on the same
sound equipment since its original con-
struction. Construction to the hall added
to an already tumultuous year for the
music and theater departments during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s always challenges associ-
ated with doing construction in a building
See, Gau/Page 5A
LA GRANDE CITY COUNCIL
Council votes to send fl oodplain map to FEMA
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande City Council
considered updates to the
city’s fl oodplain map at its
special session on Monday,
June 14, and voted to send
the map to the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency for the next steps in
the revision process.
Following a number of
concerns from the public
and discourse between
council members, Mayor
Steve Clements and four
council members voted yes,
while Councilman Gary
Lillard voted no.
Community Develop-
ment Director Mike Boquist
and Public Works Director
Kyle Carpenter spoke
during the special session
regarding the fl oodplain
map revisions and answered
questions from the public.
The biggest item of
INDEX
Business & Ag.......1B
Classified ...............4B
Comics ....................7B
Crossword .............4B
Dear Abby .............8B
public concern was the new
fl oodplain map’s impact
on the fl ood insurance rate
maps, which lenders and
insurance companies use to
determine whether or not
homeowners require fl ood
insurance.
Boquist and Car-
penter explained in detail
the methods used by La
Grande-based Anderson
Perry & Associates to
create the fl oodplain map
over the preliminary pro-
WEATHER
Horoscope .............4B
Local........................2A
Lottery ....................2A
Records ..................3A
Obituaries ..............3A
SATURDAY
Opinion ..................4A
Spiritual Life..........6A
Sports .....................7A
State ........................8A
Sudoku ...................7B
TRAM’S NEXT 50 YEARS
cess of creating the data.
The civil engineering fi rm
used LiDAR technology to
acquire elevation data over
large areas through the use
of lasers shot from aircraft.
Anderson Perry’s map
consists of roughly four
proposed zones based on
diff erent types of potential
fl ooding. The AH Zone is
a new addition to the pre-
vious fl oodplain maps, with
its purpose being to track
potential low spots where
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
51 LOW
89/57
Clear
Sunny and warm
nonrunning water settles.
The new zones address
areas of potential ponding
and are primarily located
throughout the areas above
Gekeler Lane and scat-
tered in the neighborhoods
around Eastern Oregon
University. The city has not
updated its fl oodplain maps
since the mid-1970s.
Several La Grande cit-
izens voiced concern with
See, Council/Page 5A
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 70
3 sections, 24 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com