LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
Today is Saturday, June 19, the
170th day of 2021. There are 195
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
IN HISTORY:
On June 19, 1865, Union
troops arrived in Galveston,
Texas, with news that the Civil
War was over, and that all
remaining slaves in Texas were
free — an event celebrated to
this day as “Juneteenth.”
ON THIS DATE:
In 1775, George Washington
was commissioned by the
Continental Congress as com-
mander in chief of the Conti-
nental Army.
In 1911, Pennsylvania
became the first state to estab-
lish a motion picture censor-
ship board.
In 1917, during World War
I, King George V ordered the
British royal family to dispense
with German titles and sur-
names; the family took the
name “Windsor.”
In 1944, during World War II,
the two-day Battle of the Phil-
ippine Sea began, resulting in a
decisive victory for the Ameri-
cans over the Japanese.
In 1945, millions of New
Yorkers turned out to cheer
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower,
who was honored with a
parade.
In 1953, Julius Rosenberg,
35, and his wife, Ethel, 37, con-
victed of conspiring to pass U.S.
atomic secrets to the Soviet
Union, were executed at Sing
Sing Prison in Ossining, New
York.
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 was approved by the
U.S. Senate, 73-27, after sur-
viving a lengthy filibuster.
In 1975, former Chicago orga-
nized crime boss Sam Giancana
was shot to death in the base-
ment of his home in Oak Park,
Illinois; the killing has never
been solved.
In 1987, the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down a Louisiana
law requiring any public school
teaching the theory of evolu-
tion to teach creation science
as well.
In 2009, Texas billionaire R.
Allen Stanford was indicted
and jailed on charges his inter-
national banking empire was
really just a Ponzi scheme built
on lies, bluster and bribery.
(Stanford was sentenced to
110 years in prison after being
convicted of bilking investors
in a $7.2 billion scheme that
involved the sale of fraudulent
certificates of deposits.)
In 2013, actor James Gan-
dolfini, 51, died while vaca-
tioning in Rome.
In 2014, Rep. Kevin McCa-
rthy of California won elec-
tion as House majority leader
as Republicans shuffled their
leadership in the wake of Rep.
Eric Cantor’s primary defeat in
Virginia.
Five years ago: LeBron
James and his relentless Cava-
liers pulled off an improbable
NBA Finals comeback to give
the city of Cleveland its first
title since 1964 as they became
the first team to rally from a
3-1 finals deficit by beating the
defending champion Golden
State Warriors 93-89. Anton
Yelchin, a rising actor best
known for playing Chekov
in the new “Star Trek” films,
was killed by his own car as it
rolled down his driveway in Los
Angeles; he was 27.
One year ago: Americans
marked Juneteenth, a holiday
commemorating the eman-
cipation of enslaved African
Americans, with new urgency
and protests demanding
racial justice. Demonstrators
across the country defaced
and toppled statues and busts
of former U.S. presidents, a
Spanish missionary and Con-
federate figures. The mayor
of Louisville, Kentucky, said
Brett Hankison, one of the
three police officers involved
in the fatal shooting of Bre-
onna Taylor, would be fired. A
day before President Donald
Trump’s indoor rally in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, the state reported
its second-biggest daily
increase in its coronavirus case
load.
LOTTERY
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Megabucks
13-23-26-31-46-48
Jackpot: $4.2 million
Lucky Lines
03-08-11-16-18-24-25-29
Estimated jackpot: $63,000
Powerball
19-29-34-44-50
Powerball: 25
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $52 million
Win for Life
27-52-58-75
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 4-9-0-2
4 p.m.: 5-2-8-5
7 p.m.: 0-4-3-8
10 p.m.: 2-5-2-8
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Lucky Lines
01-07-10-15-20-22-25-31
Jackpot: $64,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 5-1-7-3
4 p.m.: 2-8-3-0
7 p.m.: 8-5-1-7
10 p.m.: 4-9-5-0
SaTuRday, JunE 19, 2021
History center coming into focus Drought
could
impact
anglers
Wallowa group’s
vision for new
home nears fruition
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — The
Wallowa History Center’s
vision for its new home is
moving closer to reality.
Board President David
Weaver said last week the
center will have its site
plan and exhibit plan for
the four-building home of
the center at 1st and Mad-
ison streets in Wallowa
by next month, and at that
point, they can move to
the next step of restoring
the old Forest Service
buildings and converting
them into a history hub.
“By July 1, we’ll have
all those products, and
then we’ll start chipping
away at moving forward
with that bigger plan,”
Weaver said. “It’s a long-
term process. We’ll start
looking at which pieces
we want to tackle, and
start the capital fund-
raising. We’re four to five
years out. So we’ll start
doing some of the identi-
fied restoration work.”
The center began
leasing the property —
which includes four build-
ings — from the city about
three or four years ago,
Weaver said. Previously,
it had been deeded to the
Forest Service.
Conditions could
mean changes to
fish management
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
There are some items in place in what will be the research library for the Wallowa History Center.
“This was the Bear-
Sled Ranger District,” he
said.
Among the features of
the center’s home once
it is complete will be a
research library for indi-
viduals to dig — both
online and through print
resources — through his-
tory of the city. There also
will be an interpretive
center.
For now, though, get-
ting some of the basics
taken care of on-site is the
focus.
“The stages that we have
been in now, we sort of
have the collection moved
in there and set up shop for
that, and did the electrical
work, and the plumbing
work, installation (and a)
new exterior window,”
Weaver said of the building
that previously served
as the ranger’s office and
will be where the research
library is.
Weaver said the hope
is that when the center is
complete, it will be a loca-
tion that doesn’t take away
from the Wallowa County
Museum, but that makes
photos, artifacts and more
accessible.
“Our plan is basically
to have a timeline around
Wallowa history in this
building centered around
natural resources,” he said.
“It won’t be a museum,
because we already have
a good museum, and it’s
great up there.”
Mary Ann Burrows,
the center’s director, in
addition to having a loca-
tion for history memo-
rabilia, wants to see the
buildings restored to what
they once were.
“The house is in really
bad shape,” she said. “It
is going to take multiple
years to complete the
project because there is so
much work that needs to
be done. It’s an addition to
our area for people that are
interested in history.”
Highway road repairs start in Union County
By CARLOS FUENTES
The Observer
UNION COUNTY
— The Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
is starting several paving
projects on sections of
OR-82, OR-204 and
OR-237 in June.
On June 16, workers
started patching pave-
ment on Wallowa Lake
Highway (OR-82) between
mileposts 45 and 49.5.
Construction crews will
be active through June
19, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Drivers can expect delays
up to 20 minutes.
Starting June 21, crews
will be paving the Weston-
Elgin/Tollgate Highway
(OR-204) between mile-
posts 40.25 and 20.8.
Workers will be paving
Mondays through Fridays,
7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an
estimated completion date
in early September, 2021.
Drivers can expect up to
20 minute delays.
According to ODOT
spokesperson Tom Strand-
berg, the work along
Highway 204 will take
several months because
of flood damage in 2020.
Between late July and
early August, Morning
Creek Sno-Park, Wood-
land Sno-Park and Andies
Prairie Sno-Park will be
closed due to chip sealing
operations.
Work on the La
Grande-Baker Highway
(OR-237) will start on
Tuesday, June 22, between
mileposts 23 and 20,
three miles southwest
of Union. ODOT engi-
neer Mike Remily said
they will be resurfacing
the road on Tuesday and
Wednesday from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m. and expect to
finish Wednesday evening.
Delays are estimated to be
as high as 20 minutes.
“Please slow down,
pay extra attention as
crews repair and resur-
face damaged pavement
to extend the life of the
roadway,” ODOT said in a
press release. “The result
will be safer, smoother
highways for all trav-
elers. ODOT and our con-
tractor thank everyone
for their patience and
understanding.”
Strandberg encourages
drivers to stay extra cau-
tious and to use Tripcheck.
com to find any construc-
tion delays on their route.
“There’s a lot of con-
struction going on in
Eastern Oregon right now,
so if you see an orange vest
or cones, slow down and
pay attention,” he said.
NEWS BRIEFS
Volunteers needed for
annual bike ride
LA GRANDE — La Grande
Parks and Recreation is looking for
volunteers and participants for the
Grande Tour Annual Bike Ride on
June 26-27.
The 134-mile ride will begin on
Saturday, June 26, at 7:30 a.m. at
Riverside Park. From there, cyclists
will follow the Scenic Bikeway
route through La Grande, Union,
North Powder and end at Geis-
er-Pollman Park in Baker City. On
Sunday, bicyclists will ride through
Union and Cove before returning to
La Grande.
In previous years, the event has
brought in up to 20 riders, and orga-
nizer Jessie Wilson said she hopes
to get as many participants as pos-
sible. Registration is $65 and avail-
able on the La Grande Parks and
Recreation website until June 20.
Along the route, volunteers at
designated stations will provide
riders with snacks, drinks and some
shade to rest. The parks and rec
department is looking for organiza-
tions to sponsor and set up six sta-
tions. Each group is asked to pro-
vide their own snacks and drinks.
“This is an opportunity for all of
those who are sponsoring a pit stop
to support our local outdoor events
while providing information about
their organization or program,”
Wilson said in a press release. “It is
also an excellent opportunity for a
service project for anyone looking
for those opportunities.”
To sponsor a booth, volunteers
can contact Wilson at 541-962-0514.
OTEC conducting power
pole inspections, testing
throughout summer
BAKER CITY — Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative is gearing up to
begin its annual pole-testing program
throughout the cooperative’s service
territory, including Union County.
ENTERPRISE —
Drought conditions
throughout Oregon,
including in Wallowa
County, could have an
impact on anglers this
season — especially if rain
doesn’t come during the
early stages of summer and
temperatures stay warm.
That was part of the
message in an update
shared recently by Kyle
Bratcher, the acting district
fish biologist in the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife’s Enterprise office.
“Currently most of the
state is under drought status
and we’re expecting low
flows throughout much
of the summer,” Bratcher
said in an email. “We’re
now warning of potential
changes in fish management
to mitigate for warm condi-
tions and to protect vulner-
able fish populations.”
Bratcher said in most
Wallowa County rivers,
flows have been lower and
pretty moderate.
“It looks like we’re going
to hit base flows earlier than
we normally do,” he said. “I
think we’re going to be base
flows by late June to early
July.”
In 2020, he said, the base
flow wasn’t reached until
almost August.
“That means the fish is
spending like six weeks in
hotter temperatures (last
year) as opposed to 8-10
weeks,” which could be the
potential this year if tem-
peratures rise, he said.
Base flow, he said, is
“basically the lowest flow
you see.” At that point,
snowmelt from the moun-
tains has ceased and a river
is no longer rising.
The biologist said that
warming water tempera-
tures have a major impact
on fish, especially if they
are in hot water for too
long.
“Really what happens
(is) hot water holds less
oxygen,” he said. “Fish
will tend to move into fast-
er-flowing areas. They are
burning more energy to
stay in (these faster and
more) oxygenated areas. It
makes their immune sys-
tems a little more vul-
nerable, and they’ll get
attacked by parasites. At
certain times, they’ll stop
feeding altogether.”
Hot water could lead
to actions
Greg Folkins Photography/Contributed Photo
Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative is gearing up to begin its annual pole-testing program
throughout the cooperative’s service territory, including Union County.
Osmose Utility Services, a con-
tracted service with the cooperative,
will begin inspecting and testing
utility poles for strength and potential
rot, determining and treating ailing
poles. Testing, which is mandated by
the Public Utility Commission, will
begin the week of Monday, June 21,
in Grant and Harney counties, then
will move to Baker and Union coun-
ties over the next few months.
“Testing requires digging around
our power poles and this means that
in some instances Osmose employees
will be working in OTEC mem-
ber-owners’ yards and maybe even
driving 4-wheelers across open fields
testing each power pole.” said Jay
Tanzey, OTEC superintendent of the
Baker District.
Tansey said both OTEC and
Osmose will both do their best to
make contact with each property
owner prior to work being started.
“If a rancher is out in the fields or
a family isn’t home for one reason or
another, we are just wanting to give a
heads up that they will be working in
the area,” he said.
OTEC’s power pole-testing pro-
gram calls for each pole to be
inspected and treated on a 10-year
cycle. Approximately 10% of the
system is inspected each year to
identify any poles that need to be
replaced and to extend the lives of
those poles that remain in service.
OTEC maintains more than 44,000
poles, so around 4,400 poles will be
tested this summer.
“This inspection helps to safely
maintain reliability and keeps costs
down for our members,” Tanzey said.
— The Observer
If the drought condi-
tions do worsen, there are
a number of steps ODFW
can take at the state or local
level when it comes to fish
management.
Bratcher said that
changes haven’t been
implemented in Wallowa
County since 2015, which
was a very low water year.
That summer, anglers were
required to stop fishing
by 2 p.m. daily. The move
would likely be the first
restriction implemented this
summer if necessary.
According to the ODFW
website, some of the other
options include bag limit
removal, early release of
fish, relocation of fish or
trout stocking changes.
Actions like removing
the bag limit would only be
implemented if there was
an increased likelihood of
fish dying in the water. He
said, though, there is likely
just one location that could
happen in Wallowa County.
“The bag limit lifting is
typically in places where
we stock fish. It could
occur at Kinney Lake. If
we know those fish are
going to die up there, (we’ll
do that),” he said.