LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
Today is Saturday, Aug. 7, the
219th day of 2021. There are 146
days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
IN HISTORY
On August 7, 1998, terrorist
bombs at U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania killed 224
people, including 12 Americans.
ON THIS DATE
In 1782, Gen. George Wash-
ington created the Order of the
Purple Heart, a decoration to
recognize merit in enlisted men
and noncommissioned officers.
In 1942, U.S. and other allied
forces landed at Guadalcanal,
marking the start of the first
major allied offensive in the
Pacific during World War II. (Jap-
anese forces abandoned the
island the following February.)
In 1964, Congress passed the
Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving
President Lyndon B. Johnson
broad powers in dealing with
reported North Vietnamese
attacks on U.S. forces.
In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon
mission ended successfully as
its command module splashed
down in the Pacific Ocean.
In 1989, a plane carrying U.S.
Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas,
and 14 others disappeared over
Ethiopia. (The wreckage of the
plane was found six days later;
there were no survivors.)
In 1990, President George
H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops
and warplanes to Saudi Arabia
to guard the oil-rich desert
kingdom against a possible
invasion by Iraq.
In 2000, Vice President and
Democratic presidential can-
didate Al Gore selected Con-
necticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman
as his running mate; Lieberman
became the first Jewish candi-
date on a major party’s presi-
dential ticket.
In 2008, A U.S. military jury
at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
gave Osama bin Laden’s driver
a surprisingly light 5-1/2-year
sentence for aiding terrorism,
making him eligible for parole
in just five months. (The U.S.
later transferred Salim Hamdan
to his home country of Yemen,
which released him in January
2009.)
In 2010, Elena Kagan was
sworn in as the 112th justice
and fourth woman to serve on
the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2012, Jared Lee Loughner
agreed to spend the rest of his
life in prison, accepting that
he went on a deadly shooting
rampage at an Arizona political
gathering in 2011 and sparing
the victims a lengthy, possibly
traumatic death-penalty trial.
In 2015, Colorado theater
shooter James Holmes was
spared the death penalty in
favor of life in prison after a jury
in Centennial failed to agree on
whether he should be executed
for his attack on a movie pre-
miere that left 12 people dead.
Ten years ago: The Treasury
Department announced that
Secretary Timothy Geithner
had told President Barack
Obama he would remain on
the job, ending speculation he
would leave the administration.
Former Oregon Governor and
U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield, 89,
died in Portland.
Five years ago: An acci-
dent on a 17-story waterslide
at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in
Kansas City, Kansas, claimed
the life of a 10-year-old boy. Jim
Furyk became the first golfer to
shoot a 58 in PGA Tour history
during the Travelers Champi-
onship in Connecticut with a
12-under 58 in the final round.
At the Rio Games, U.S. swimmer
Katie Ledecky crushed her own
world record in the 400 free-
style with a time of 3:56.46.
One year ago: Thousands
of bikers poured into the small
South Dakota town of Sturgis
for the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle
Rally despite fears that it could
lead to a massive coronavirus
outbreak. Federal health offi-
cials later said the rally led to
dozens of coronavirus cases in
Minnesota; the Associated Press
found that at least 290 people
in 12 states tested positive for
the coronavirus after attending
the rally.
LOTTERY
Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021
Megabucks
1-9-15-19-31-43
Jackpot: $1.4 million
Lucky Lines
1-8-9-13-17-21-27-32
Estimated jackpot: $48,000
Powerball
5-21-32-36-58
Powerball: 14
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $226 million
Win for Life
18-51-57-72
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 3-8-6-8
4 p.m.: 1-6-4-9
7 p.m.: 1-1-5-5
10 p.m.: 0-1-0-7
Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021
Lucky Lines
2-8-9-14-18-23-25-30
Jackpot: $49,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 2-1-6-1
4 p.m.: 8-6-7-2
7 p.m.: 3-7-1-2
10 p.m.: 8-5-3-2
SaTuRday, auguST 7, 2021
Building gets new lease on life County
reopens
MERA
access
Former JCPenney
hosts community
exhibits in window
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — An
iconic La Grande building
is coming back to life.
The old JCPenney
building, 1309 Adams
Ave., which has been
closed since 2017, is now
a community exhibit site.
The La Grande Masonic
Lodge is giving nonprofit
community organiza-
tions the chance to put on
exhibits in the display win-
dows of the old building
for no charge.
“We want to give people
a chance to see things
which are a part of our
community which they
might not otherwise see,”
said Lou Gerber, master
of the La Grande Masonic
Lodge which built and
owns the old JCPenney
building.
The large structure,
now named the Masonic
Annex, housed La
Grande’s JCPenney store
from 1930 through 2017
when the store was closed
as part of a national down-
sizing by JCPenney’s
corporation.
The old store’s display
window site presently has
multiple exhibits including:
• A display by the Shri-
ners for the upcoming 69th
annual East-West Shrine
All Star football game in
Baker City which will be
played Saturday, Aug. 7.
Commissioners
vote to open
improved roads,
motocross track
By DICK MASON
The Observer
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Lou Gerber adjusts some of the military memorabilia on display at the front window of the old
JCPenney building in La Grande on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.
PLACING A DISPLAY
Anyone interested in having
their organization put up dis-
plays should call or text Lou
Gerber, 541-910-4394 or email
lougerber2@gmail.com. Busi-
nesses can also put up displays
but a fee will be charged.
The game is a benefit for
the Shriners Hospital for
Children in Portland.
• A local military
exhibit which includes
historic items from La
Grande’s National Guard
unit, the 3rd Battalion,
116th Cavalry. The collec-
tion includes old photos of
past local National Guard
leaders.
“If those photos were
not here, they would still
be at the National Guard
Armory where many
people would not see
them,” Gerber said.
• A display honoring
Leonard Morse, who at age
98 is the oldest member
of the La Grande Masonic
Lodge.
The old JCPenney
building remains closed
to the public, but later this
year community mem-
bers may again have an
opportunity to step inside.
Gerber said the venue
might host an open mic
event where people can
share stories about their
encounters with Bigfoot or
other tales they have heard.
Gerber said the stories will
be recorded.
Guided tours of
building may be conducted
before and after the Big-
foot event. The tours would
give people a chance to see
the structure’s many his-
toric features including its
old coal room. Coal has not
been stored in the building
for decades but the room’s
walls are still black from
housing the sedimentary
rock.
Gerber would be one
of the people leading the
building tours.
“I love showing it off. It
is part of La Grande’s his-
tory on main street,” he
said.
La Grande’s JCPenney
was originally based at 108
Depot St. where it operated
from 1914 to 1930.
The La Grande Masonic
Lodge has had the building
up for sale or lease after
JCPenney moved out.
Gerber said there is a pos-
sibility that the building
could be rented to multiple
businesses in the future.
“We are open to all
options,” he said.
Second Street reopens after construction project
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Second Street in La
Grande is now open after
being blocked off for nearly
four months. The span of
Second Street from Spring
Street to Adams Avenue
was completely repaved
with added sidewalks,
in addition to a replaced
water main as part of the
project.
The renovations extend
just over 1,000 feet and
include brand-new side-
walks, crosswalks and
repaved street surfaces.
The project began in early
April and stretched into
August after minor chal-
lenges with material short-
ages pushed back the finish
date.
“We had hoped to
pave weeks earlier,” said
La Grande Public Works
Unlike the mate-
rials for the road work,
the city was able to pro-
cure most of the parts for
the water main before the
project began. Material
shortages have affected
most construction efforts
during the COVID-19 pan-
demic, making it difficult
to predict timeframes for
projects.
“That was the biggest
challenge,” Carpenter
alex Wittwer/The Observer, File said. “That and we wanted
Brian Chamberlain with La Grande Public Works levels gravel to get all the concrete
poured by a backhoe along Second Street on June 3, 2021. The city done before we paved the
finished construction work and opened the street for general use road.”
in early August.
Carpenter noted that
the extreme temperatures
Second Street was installed in June and July raised
Director Kyle Carpenter.
over 60 years ago, so the
“It took longer than
some concerns with heavy
expected just because those repaving allowed the city a machinery driving on
well-timed opportunity to
materials had to come in.”
freshly paved roads. This
dig out the old system and
According to Car-
led the construction crews
penter, the water main
replace it.
to focusing on the side-
walks first and laying the
project finished on time
“That went really well
new pavement for the road
and with no setbacks. The
and finished right on
at the end of the project.
previous water main on
schedule,” he said.
NEWS BRIEFS
Thunderstorms bring
heavy rainfall to region
LA GRANDE — Thunderstorms
caused heavy rains to hit portions
of Union and Baker counties on
Thursday, Aug. 5.
Areas receiving a deluge of rain-
fall in Union County included Fly
Creek along the Grande Ronde River
in south Union County which picked
up half an inch of precipitation,
according to the National Weather
Service in Pendleton.
Further south, Baker County’s
Elkhorn Ridge area, which is west of
Baker City, received an even higher
amount at 1.1 inches.
La Grande was hit by a heavy
thunderstorm around 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. which brought intense rain.
The amount of rain La Grande
received is not officially known
though since the National Weather
Service receives its precipita-
tion readings for La Grande at the
La Grande/Union County Air-
port which received no significant
rainfall.
The thunderstorms which struck
Northeast Oregon on Aug. 5 were
caused in part by a lack of the
smoke and haze from wildfires that
had been present for much of the
past month. The absence of smoke
and haze from the valley allowed
the sun to shine through, sparking
the thunderstorms, according to
Matt Callihan, a meteorologist with
the National Weather Service in
Pendleton.
He said instability in the atmo-
LA GRANDE —
All-terrain vehicles are
again rolling at the Mount
Emily Recreation Area.
ATVs are reappearing
at MERA after the Union
County Board of Com-
missioners voted on
Wednesday, Aug. 4, to open
its improved roads and its
motocross track imme-
diately to motor vehicles.
MERA had been closed
since July 21 because of
high fire danger due to
drought and hot weather.
The roads opened
are Road 201, known
as Mainline; Road 202-
Mount Emily Road; Road
203-Highline Road and
Road 208-Easy Out Road.
These are all rough dirt and
gravel roads with no flam-
mable vegetation. Everyone
taking a vehicle on these
roads must have an ATV
permit. Only people with
four-wheel drive vehi-
cles with high road clear-
ance should use these roads
because they are so rough,
said Sean Chambers, Union
County’s parks coordinator.
Anyone driving on these
roads must carry water and
a shovel because of Oregon
Department of Forestry fire
rules.
The motocross trail now
open again is near Fox Hill
Road and is for motorcy-
cles. All motorcycles using
this trail also must carry a
shovel and have water close
by, Chambers said.
The Aug. 4 action by
the commissioners was the
second move toward fully
reopening MERA after the
July vote that completely
closed it. MERA was
reopened for nonmotorized
activities on July 28.
Significant fire restric-
tions are still in place at
MERA where no camping
or smoking is allowed.
The continuing
reopening of MERA
reflects the increasing mois-
ture the Grande Ronde
Valley has received in
recent weeks and cooler
temperatures. It also reflects
a recent increase in avail-
able wildfire fighting equip-
ment, according to Donna
Beverage, a Union County
commissioner.
Beverage said that a
number of firefighting vehi-
cles belonging to Union
County fire departments
had been out of the county
fighting fires but have since
returned.
Commissioners oppose
Rivers Democracy Act
alex Wittwer/The Observer
Lightning strikes the Blue Mountains as a crop harvester collects grass seed near Alicel on
Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021.
sphere and moisture made the region
ripe for thunderstorms.
“It needed a trigger and sunlight
was that trigger,” he said.
Lightning causes several
fires in Northeast Oregon
WALLOWA — Lightning caused
at least three fires in Wallowa
County Thursday, Aug. 5, and the
Oregon Department of Forestry said
“numerous smoke reports” have been
fielded across the county.
The biggest fire currently burning
is the Wise Fire, which has burned
about 75 acres and is near Smith
Mountain Road. It was reported at
about 1:50 p.m. Aug. 5. According to
the ODF, helicopters, single-engine
air tankers and heavy air tankers, are
being used to fight the fire.
Additionally, the Wallowa County
Sheriff’s Office has issued a Level
2 “Get Set” evacuation notice for
Smith Mountain Road.
Another small fire, the Saw Dust
Pile Fire, burned 4 acres about 8
miles northwest of Wallowa, but that
fire has been contained by crews. A
5-acre fire in the Maxville area has
also been reported, though fire crews
and a bulldozer on the scene have
stopped the spread of that fire.
Other small fires have been
reported and responded to, the ODF
said.
— EO Media Group
The Union County
Board of Commissioners
passed a resolution Aug.
4 opposing the Rivers
Democracy Act, which
Congress is considering.
The legislation would
apply Wild and Scenic
River designations to nearly
4,700 miles of Oregon
rivers, streams, creeks,
gulches and unnamed trib-
utaries. The total would
include more than 135 miles
in Union County along 26
stretches of rivers, streams
and creeks.
The legislation would
apply half-mile buffer
restrictions to waterways
designated as Wild and
Scenic. This would impact,
according to the county’s
resolution, economic devel-
opment, public access,
water resource manage-
ment, forest and vegeta-
tion management, ranching
and grazing, mining and
activities in Oregon on an
estimated 3 million acres
of public land in Oregon,
including 86,400 acres in
Union County.