INSIDE
TEMPTING WALLOWA RIVER REDSIDES WITH FLIES |
August 7, 2021
OUTDOORS & REC, B1
WEEKEND EDITION
PGG HQ
building
sold at
auction
$1.50
COVID-19 SURGES IN UNION COUNTY
Braseth Properties
buys building for
$1.8 million
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
former headquarters of
Pendleton Grain Growers is
offi cially off the market.
More than fi ve years
after members of the grain
cooperative voted to dis-
solve the organization,
PGG agreed to sell its
42,000-square-foot building
to the La Grande-based
Braseth Properties for
$1.8 million, according to
Umatilla County property
records. The new owners
posted a sign at the building
advertising for open com-
mercial driver and sales
positions, but they did not
return a request for com-
ment as of press time.
Braseth Properties does
business as Eastern Oregon
Rentals & Storage, a per-
sonal storage company with
facilities in La Grande and
Island City. But the Braseth
family has its fi ngers in sev-
eral pots in the La Grande
area.
The Braseth family also
owns the similarly named
Eastern Oregon Rentals &
Sales, a heavy equipment
rental company with loca-
tions in La Grande, Pend-
leton and Baker City. The
Braseths bought Eastern
Oregon Rentals & Sales in
1989, four years after they
acquired Mountain West
Moving & Storage, another
La Grande business.
Once a steadfast pres-
ence through Eastern
Oregon, PGG methodically
sold its assets after the dis-
solution vote in 2015. In the
years that followed, PGG
sold its energy division,
upcountry elevators and
terminals to other compa-
nies. The co-op’s Umatilla
County retailers all were
sold into private hands and
repurposed.
But PGG’s Pendleton
properties took a little
longer to move. The former
PGG Energy building was
sold in 2020 to Hines Meat
Co., a La Grande butchery
that now uses the facility as
See, PGG/Page A5
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Nancy Davila, immunization coordinator for the Center for Human Development, sets up privacy screens on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, for the weekly vaccination clinic at
the center in La Grande. Union County vaccination rates have dropped considerably in recent weeks, with the adult inoculation rate stalling at 48%, while COVID-19
cases continue to rise.
Trending up
Union County sees 800%
increase in COVID-19
over the last three weeks
By CARLOS FUENTES
The Observer
LA GRANDE — For the last
several months, the 25 beds at
Grande Ronde Hospital have
been plenty for the county’s low
COVID-19 rates. But with rates
rising in recent weeks, the hos-
pital has been stretching its
resources thin.
As the county’s only hos-
pital, Grande Ronde has taken
on the responsibility of bringing
COVID-19 patients from other
smaller hospitals in Eastern
Oregon, such as Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital.
And with Union County —
along with the rest of the state
— facing an increase in cases,
the hospital is seeing a spike in
COVID-19 patients.
“We know the delta variant
is highly contagious and more
effi cient in transmissions. We
are experiencing that reality
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
fi rst hand and it has led to an
increase in hospitalized patients,
which will in turn aff ect hospital
bed availability,” Mardi Ford,
director of communications and
marketing at Grande Ronde Hos-
pital, said in an email.
In the last three weeks, Union
County saw an 800% increase in
positive cases, from 11 cases on
the week of July 12 to 101 cases
the week of July 26, according
to Ford.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity’s COVID-19 weekly work-
place outbreak report on Aug. 4
showed Grande Ronde Hospital
had 12 total COVID-19 cases
between July 15 and July 27.
“While we are understand-
ably disappointed in the news, it
is important to be reminded how
quickly these cases have esca-
lated over the past month,” Ford
said.
See, Trending/Page A5
Demonstrators hold “Make masks optional” signs outside Central Elemen-
tary School ahead of the school board meeting Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.
Demonstrators
decry mask rules
By DICK MASON
and DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Central
Elementary School’s gymna-
sium was fi lled with tension
Wednesday night, Aug. 4.
The gym was the site of
a La Grande School Board
meeting packed by a group of
concerned residents voicing
their objections against Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown’s July 29
directive mandating that all
students wear masks in Oregon
schools this fall because of
increasing COVID-19 rates.
Robin Maille, chair of the
La Grande School Board, like
everyone on the board, listened
intently to the input.
“It was important that they
be able to express their points
of view,” she said.
The heart of the tense
meeting was a 45-minute
public forum, where all but
one of about 15 speakers spoke
out in opposition to the mask
See, Masks/Page A5
Gravel cycling takes people on the roads less traveled
Dirty Freehub
provides routes
online
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
— An online nonprofi t
group that promotes gravel
bicycle routes is taking
advantage of the many
miles of gravel roads in
Wallowa County, as well as
the history and beauty of
the county by establishing
routes for gravel cycling.
The Bend-based Dirty
Freehub maps out routes it
shares with cyclists. The
group has a guide to more
than 8,000 miles of gravel
bike routes across Oregon,
Washington, California,
Arizona and Tasmania.
So far, the group has
mapped four fi ve-star routes
in the county, according to
INDEX
Classified ...............B2
Comics ....................B5
Crossword .............B2
Dear Abby .............B6
Executive Director Linda
English.
“One will go through
Zumwalt (Prairie) Pre-
serve,” English said in a
press release. “We will have
one that starts in Enter-
prise and uses Hurricane
Ridge, another that starts
in Imnaha and another that
uses logging/forest roads
up toward Hells Canyon
Lookout.”
Linda English/Dirty Freehub
See, Cycling/Page A5
Gravel cyclists traverse a route between Enterprise and Joseph re-
cently. From left, are Kevin English, Chris Kutach and Kelly Kutach.
WEATHER
Horoscope .............B3
Lottery ....................A2
Obituaries ..............A3
Opinion ..................A4
TUESDAY
Outdoors & Rec ...B1
Records ..................A3
Sports .....................A7
State ........................A8
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
58 LOW
71/48
Partly cloudy
Partly sunny
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Issue 92
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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