LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
Today is Tuesday, June 22, the
173rd day of 2021. There are 192
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
IN HISTORY:
On June 22, 1970, President
Richard Nixon signed an exten-
sion of the Voting Rights Act of
1965 that lowered the minimum
voting age to 18.
ON THIS DATE:
In 1611, English explorer
Henry Hudson, his son and
several other people were set
adrift in present-day Hudson
Bay by mutineers aboard the
Discovery.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte
abdicated for a second time as
Emperor of the French.
In 1937, Joe Louis began his
reign as world heavyweight
boxing champion by knocking
out Jim Braddock in the eighth
round of their fi ght in Chicago.
(A year later on this date, Louis
knocked out Max Schmeling in
the fi rst round of their rematch
at Yankee Stadium.)
In 1940, during World War II,
Adolf Hitler gained a stunning
victory as France was forced
to sign an armistice eight days
after German forces overran
Paris.
In 1944, President Franklin
D. Roosevelt signed the Ser-
vicemen’s Readjustment Act of
1944, more popularly known as
the “GI Bill of Rights.”
In 1945, the World War II
battle for Okinawa ended with
an Allied victory.
In 1969, singer-actor Judy
Garland died in London at
age 47.
In 1977, John N. Mitchell
became the fi rst former U.S.
Attorney General to go to
prison as he began serving
a sentence for his role in the
Watergate cover-up. (He was
released 19 months later.)
In 1981, Mark David
Chapman pleaded guilty to
killing rock star John Lennon.
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr was
deposed as president of Iran.
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme
Court, in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul,
unanimously ruled that “hate
crime” laws that banned cross
burning and similar expres-
sions of racial bias violated free-
speech rights.
Ten years ago: President
Barack Obama announced in
a White House address that he
would pull home 33,000 troops
from Afghanistan by the fol-
lowing summer. James “Whitey”
Bulger, the longtime fugitive
Boston crime boss and fi xture
on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list,
was arrested in Santa Monica,
California.
Five years ago: Rebellious
Democrats launched a 25-hour
round-the-clock sit-in on the
House fl oor to demand votes
on gun-control bills, forcing
exasperated Republicans to
recess while cutting off cam-
eras showing the protest.
Dennis Hastert arrived at a
Minnesota prison to serve his
15-month sentence in a hush-
money case involving revela-
tions that the former House
speaker had sexually abused
at least four boys when he
coached wrestling at an Illinois
high school.
One year ago: Mourners fi led
through Atlanta’s Ebenezer
Baptist Church for a public
viewing of Rayshard Brooks, a
Black man who’d been fatally
shot in the back by a white
police offi cer after a struggle.
President Donald Trump said
the United States had done “too
good a job” on testing for cases
of COVID-19 and that it had
more cases than other countries
because it did more testing.
LOTTERY
Friday, June 18, 2021
Megamillions
14-36-44-46-53
Megaball: 18
Megaplier: 2
Jackpot: $40 million
Lucky Lines
03-05-11-14-17-21-28-31
Jackpot: $65,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 0-3-1-8
4 p.m.: 8-6-5-8
7 p.m.: 9-8-5-9
10 p.m.: 9-8-6-7
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Powerball
04-22-35-38-39
Powerball: 20
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $52 million
Megabucks
11-15-16-21-44-46
Jackpot: $4.2 million
Lucky Lines
02-08-12-15-18-22-26-32
Jackpot: $67,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 3-0-3-6
4 p.m.: 2-6-6-3
7 p.m.: 1-6-7-4
10 p.m.: 3-7-6-2
Win for Life
01-13-36-46
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Lucky Lines
02-08-12-15-18-22-26-32
Estimated jackpot: $67,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 3-0-3-6
4 p.m.: 2-6-6-3
7 p.m.: 1-6-7-4
10 p.m.: 3-7-6-2
TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2021
A moving Father’s Day tribute
Cyclist rides
mountain bike for
eight hours as
tribute to late father
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — La
Grande cyclist Elijah
Romer saluted his late
father at the Mount Emily
Recreation Area on
Sunday, June 20.
Romer rode
his moun-
tain bike on
MERA’s trails
for eight hours
over a 12-hour
Romer
period as a
tribute to his
father, Larry Romer, who
died 18 years ago.
Romer, who has three
children, made his Father’s
Day rides with fellow
dads, children and others
at MERA. He started his
treks at 6:30 a.m. and did
not complete them until
about 6:30 p.m., covering
55 miles and climbing a
total of 10,000 feet. He
emerged from the rides
energized.
“I feel awesome, a
lot better than I thought
I would. At the end, I
almost wanted to continue.
I was in a zone,” said
Romer, who grew up in La
Grande and has a bache-
lor’s degree in sociology
and a master’s degree in
teaching from Eastern
Oregon University.
Eighteen years ago
By DICK MASON
The Observer
Dick Mason/The Observer
La Grande cyclist Elijah Romer, left, and Steve Pinther leave Mount Emily Recreation Area’s Owsley
Canyon trailhead on Sunday, June 21, 2021. Romer rode his mountain bike on MERA’s trails for eight
hours over a 12-hour period as a tribute to his father, Larry Romer, who died 18 years ago.
Romer was in no condi-
tion to do what he did on
Father’s Day. He was at a
low point in his life after
his father’s death. Romer
then saw something that
almost made him feel like
his father was speaking
to him — a mountain
bike his dad had left him.
Romer, then overweight,
gave serious thought
to taking up mountain
biking and then did after
receiving strong encour-
agement from his friend,
Whit Hartz, of La Grande.
“I decided I wanted to
take control of my own life
and leap onto the bike,” he
said.
Romer said the many
long rides that followed
helped him cope with the
loss of his father.
“It helped me with my
grieving. It put me on a
path toward healing,” he
said.
Romer lost 40 pounds
soon after becoming a
serious cyclist and later
became an elite amateur
national class cyclist.
The rides Romer led
at MERA were meant to
encourage people to make
their mental and physical
health a priority, just as he
did after seeing his father’s
mountain bike.
“A healthy you helps
make a healthy commu-
nity,” he said.
A community is fi lled
with people helping others,
Romer said, something
they cannot do unless they
have addressed their own
needs.
“In order to take care
of others, you must take
care of yourself fi rst.
Change starts with you,”
said Romer, who spoke not
only to people riding with
him, but also to those at the
MERA’s Owsley Canyon
trailhead.
The cyclist described
the challenge as epic in
nature. Romer said he
wasn’t sure if he was up to
it, but that it is important
for everyone to take on
such challenges because it
leads to self discovery.
“Once in a while it is
important to do something
you didn’t think possible.
When you push yourself to
your limit and beyond you
will fi nd someone hiding
within. That person is your
true self,” he said.
Cutting middleman the main difference between county, state running mental health
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — In
May, the Wallowa County
commissioners voted to
hand over the county’s
mental health authority
to the state level at the
Oregon Health Authority.
What does that
really mean for Wal-
lowa County? Very little,
according to Wallowa
Valley Center for Well-
ness Executive Director
Chantay Jett, saying it
essentially just eliminates
a middleman.
“That’s just it. Nothing
really changes. Hon-
estly, there is really no
changes,” she said. “It’s
positive. It takes out the
county, who has had a big
administrative burden (on)
them.
“The service delivery
doesn’t change. The rela-
tionship with Oregon
Health Authority doesn’t
change. And how we are
held to compliance stan-
dards does not change.”
In fact, Jett said what
the county’s basic ser-
vice in being a mental
health authority was to
be a “holding tank” for
funding to be sure the
center was in compliance.
Even the communica-
tion stream with the state
will not change.
“We are still reviewed
in the same way. It was
a pass-through of the
funds having the counties
be involved and having
the county serve as the
mental health authority,”
she explained. “Now it
just takes out that middle
person, and we are just
dealing now directly with
the state.”
Jett explained in an
email what happened
when a county transfers
control to the state.
“A county govern-
ment that chooses not to
operate or contract for a
community mental health
program (CMHP) is not
a local mental health
authority (LMHA). The
term LMHA becomes
moot, and OHA takes
responsibility for direct
oversight of the Commu-
nity Mental Health Pro-
gram,” Jett wrote. “In this
case, OHA is contracting
directly with Wallowa
Valley Center for Well-
ness, a private nonprofi t
to continue functioning
as the local Community
Mental Health Program.”
She cited Douglas,
Klamath and Curry coun-
ties as having made this
move in the past decade,
with positive results.
“I haven’t spoken with
them directly, (but) we sit
in a lot of state meetings
together,” Jett said, refer-
encing the other counties.
“I haven’t heard any nega-
tive comments from them
regarding contracting
from OHA. This has come
up in conversion, just not
direct conversation. It
seems to work fi ne.”
The center assists about
900 people in Wallowa
County annually, Jett said.
Lostine community gets its own fi re truck
Chieftain staff
LOSTINE CANYON
— A dozen residents of the
Lostine Canyon Firewise
Community met for an ori-
entation to its “new” fi re
truck Monday, June 14,
and learned about the truck
retired from a Washington
state fi re department.
Lostine Canyon resident
Gary Willis obtained the
truck from the Coulee City
Fire Department in Wash-
ington, that donated it to
the community. The truck
had reached the end of its
professional career but now
has a new life as Lostine
Canyon Firewise’s “Brush
1,” spokesman Ron Polk
said in a press release.
After receiving some
needed rehab work, Willis
drove Brush 1 to the Los-
Local
writer to
have fi lm
debut
Film airs June 23
as part of two-hour
program dedicated
to George Venn
‘The service delivery doesn’t change’
By RONALD BOND
LA GRANDE
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about
Firewise, contact the Wallowa
County Firewise Coordinator,
Lisa Mahon at wallowacoun-
tyfi rewise@gmail.com, or
937-418-3620.
Lostine Canyon Firewise Community/Contributed Photo
Gary Willis demonstrates how to use Brush 1 on Monday, June 14,
2021, when the Lostine Canyon Firewise Community welcomed
area residents to show its new fi re truck.
tine Canyon community
where it will be perma-
nently housed.
The 1988 Ford F-350
4X4, has only 31,000 miles
on it. Willis selected the
truck because it is easy to
operate, in great shape and
is the perfect equipment for
a quick response to a brush
fi re. The immediate avail-
ability of the truck will
allow residents to contain
a fi re for the 15 minutes
or so before the arrival of
Wallowa County’s multia-
gency wildland fi re emer-
gency responders.
Willis has more than
30 years in fi re-related
services, including fi ve
years as fi re chief in Hood
River. He and local res-
ident Jeremiah Marsh
walked residents through
an orientation that will
be repeated on a regular
basis by Marsh for inter-
ested residents to maintain
profi ciency.
NEWS BRIEF
Fire weather warning issued
across Eastern Oregon
LA GRANDE — The National
Weather Service in Pendleton has
issued a fi re weather warning for
the evening of Tuesday, June 22,
across several counties in Eastern
Oregon.
The areas that might be aff ected
are parts of Deschutes National
Forest, Fire Weather Zone 640 of
the Central Mountains of Oregon,
Southern Blue and Strawberry
Mountains, Central Blue Moun-
tains and the Wallowa District.
The NWS released the warning
due to high chances of lightning
across Central Oregon and the
Northeast Mountains, in addition
to recent hot temperatures.
“The main concern is that
there’s a possibility of light-
ning starting a fi re and the winds
pushing those fi res,” said Rob
Brooks, meteorologist with the
National Weather Service. “It’s
very dry and there is a chance of a
dusty fi restorm.”
Lightning activity in the area
is expected to reach a lightning
activity level between three and
four, which means scattered thun-
derstorms, moderate rain and
winds as high as 50 mph.
— The Observer
LA GRANDE —
George Venn, of La
Grande, is one of North-
east Oregon’s most promi-
nent literary fi gures.
The author is set to
make his
fi lm debut on
Wednesday,
June 23.
Portions
of the writer
Venn
and poet’s
life work will
be highlighted in a new
22-minute fi lm “George
Venn: The Literary Lion
of La Grande.”
The fi lm, produced by
Erik Schultz, of Portland,
will be shown as part of a
two-hour online program
dedicated to Venn and
put on by Literary Arts, a
Portland nonprofi t dedi-
cated to the arts.
The online program
will run from 7-9 p.m. It
will begin with a showing
of “The Literary Lion of
La Grande” and will be
followed by a question and
answer session with Venn
and Schultz.
“I am quite pleased to
be so honored,” Venn said,
noting that tribute is espe-
cially meaningful because
he has lived in the Grande
Ronde Valley for fi ve
decades.
The fi lm by Schultz
will explore Venn’s
upbringing, his environ-
mental work, his writing
process and legacy. Its
features will include Venn
reading his poems at
Catherine Creek, Morgan
Lake and High Valley.
Venn said Schultz
hopes to make a longer
version of the fi lm later if
funding can be raised for
it. Schultz is the founder
of Paper Flames, a fi lm
and photography com-
pany, and co-founder of
a live music series, The
Portland Sessions.
Venn earlier taught at
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity for at least 32 years
where he was a writer in
residence.
Since 1970, he has
written a number of
books, including “West
of Paradise” (1999), a
fi nalist for the Oregon
Book Award in 2000,
and “Marking the Magic
Circle” (1988), which won
the Silver Medal from Lit-
erary Arts.
He has edited more
than 16 works, including
the 2,000 page, six-
volume “Oregon Litera-
ture Series.”
As a poet, he has
been awarded the Push-
cart Prize and the Andres
Berger Prize from North-
west Writers, Inc.
His prose has been pub-
lished in at least 30 peri-
odicals and anthologized
in at least 16 collections.
Venn’s most recent
work involved the editing
of the book “Endless Pres-
sure, Endlessly Applied:
The Autobiography of an
Eco-Warrior’’ about Brock
Evans.
The book won the
national Book Excellence
Award for Autobiography
earlier this year.
The Book Excellence
Award is an international
competition.
HOW TO WATCH?
People can preregister to
see the free event online
at https://literary-arts.org/
event/george-venn-the-
literary-lion-of-la-grande-
fi lm-and-qa/