FROM PAGE ONE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021
TRIBUTE
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had dug out and had hoped
to pick up.
Arnott, 70, says KP led
a healthy life. He ate little
red meat, plenty of vegeta-
bles, never drank alcohol,
smoked or used drugs and
exercised often.
“He did everything right.
His idea of a good time was
to ride a motorcycle up to
Pikes Peak,” Arnott said.
Such rides put the skills
of motorcyclists to the test,
for 14,115-foot Pikes Peak
in Colorado is fi lled with
hairpin curves and stretches
of narrow road with no
guardrails.
The good health that
helped KP ascend Pikes
Peak did not prevent
COVID-19 from bringing
him to his knees.
“He was as weak as
a kitten. Going from his
living room to the kitchen
was an accomplishment,”
Arnott said.
KP got COVID-19
just before vaccines for it
became available to the
public. He called Arnott not
long after his diagnosis.
“The fi rst thing he told
me was ‘The vaccine came
too late for me,’” Arnott
said.
Unforgettable attitude
KP appeared to be
recovering in late 2020 until
he was found unconscious
in his home. Doctors soon
determined that there was
a malignant tumor on his
brain. KP was told that with
brain cancer people often
live about a year, news that
he was buoyed by.
“I get a year! Some folks
I’ve known have strokes or
heart attacks and just keel
over. I’m really lucky,” he
told Arnott, in a quote that
appears in the piece Arnott
wrote for the OHA blog.
Arnott said that for
KP to put a positive spin
on news that would dev-
astate others was not
uncharacteristic.
“It was typical KP,”
Arnott said.
Unfortunately, KP
was denied the year he
expected. He died in April
of 2021 not long after his
cancer diagnosis.
“I talked to him on the
phone on a Tuesday evening
and by Thursday he had
THE OBSERVER — A5
ONLINE
To read Jim Arnott’s contri-
bution to the Oregon Health
Authority blog post, go to
https://bit.ly/3AuIjOW.
died,” Arnott said.
Arnott believes COVID-
19, not the brain tumor,
robbed his friend of the
remaining year he thought
he had. Arnott noted that
KP was on a ventilator at
the end of his life, which
he believes indicates that
COVID was the cause of
his death. Many who die of
COVID-19 do so because
of the pneumonia it often
causes.
Later Arnott learned
that two other good friends
he had known for decades,
individuals he identifi es as
John and Maz, also died
of COVID-19. John died
in March of 2020 and Maz
in October of 2020. He
described John and Maz,
a couple who lived in Ari-
zona, as touchstones of his
life history.
Arnott, who previously
was an aerospace engineer
who worked on NASA, the
Department of Defense and
commercial defense proj-
ects, moved to Union 27
years ago with his wife and
three children.
He hopes that sharing his
story about the friends he
has lost to COVID-19 will
encourage more people,
especially those in North-
eastern Oregon, to get
vaccinated.
He believes people have
a responsibility to get vac-
cinated, not just for them-
selves but those they care
about.
“Do everything you can
to make it so your friends
and loved ones don’t have
to write stuff like what I
did here,” Arnott said in his
piece for the blog.
Arnott is mystifi ed
why many are not getting
immunized for COVID-19
when vaccinations for it
are readily available and
free. He added that the side
eff ects of the vaccines are
typically minimal.
Arnott, who received
the two-shot Moderna vac-
cine, said with the fi rst
one he had a sore shoulder
for several days and after
the second a shoulder was
again sore.
“I have had a lot worse
reactions when I got my fl u
shot,” he said.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Children bounce on a bungee jumping ride at the Union County Fair on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. The fair, which lacked a carnival this year due
to Cascade Amusements closing down, drew in nearly 14,000 fairgoers this year.
FAIR
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for the past fi ve years,
Gover-Shaw said. The
total is particularly note-
worthy considering there
was no carnival at the fair
because Cascade Amuse-
ments, a longtime provider
of rides and games at the
Union County Fair, went
out of business. Cascade
Amusements had provided
rides at the fair for at least
a decade.
Gover-Shaw said she
hopes to get another car-
nival company to come
in next year but she said
it will be diffi cult. She
said the number of com-
panies providing carni-
vals is declining and those
now operating have few
openings.
The fair manager said
she plans to try to get
the carnival rides back,
though, since they are
so popular with older
children.
Gover-Shaw said the
expanded infl atables play
station the fair had to help
make up for the loss of the
carnival was very popular
among younger children,
and many parents and
grandparents told her the
attraction was a hit with
children.
“They said they abso-
lutely loved it,” she said.
The fair’s entertain-
ment lineup also helped
make up for the loss of
carnival rides. It included
many local groups and
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Kids wait in line to get in Zorb balls at the Union County Fair on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.
performers in addition
to the Wasteland Kings
and several from outside
the region, including Too
Slim and the Tail Drag-
gers of Spokane, Wash-
ington. Gover-Shaw credits
their presence to the work
of Scott Arnson, the fair’s
entertainment director.
Arnson, who is paid
by the fair to work on its
sound system, volunteers
his time to work as the
entertainment coordinator.
B2H
PARK
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While studies completed
after the project’s approval
provided new information
about population counts
and the eff ects of transmis-
sion lines, the judge said
they’re “not signifi cant or
seriously diff erent” enough
to warrant a supplementary
analysis.
“The new information
about the declining popula-
tion of greater sage grouse
is not signifi cantly new or
diff erent circumstances
from what is discussed in
the FEIS,” Simon said.
Likewise, news articles
about the fi nancial feasi-
bility of burying transmis-
sion lines do not trigger
the need for a supplemen-
tary environmental analysis
because they don’t “rise
to the level of signifi cant
information,” as would sci-
entifi c studies, he said.
The judge dismissed
claims that BLM relied on
improper data about sage
grouse numbers and that it
was impermissibly vague
and confusing in examining
the risk of “extirpation” to
a local population of the
species.
“Although not a model of
clarity, the discussion is not
indecipherable,” he said.
The agency wasn’t
from city workers and vol-
unteers to the installation
team at Northwest Sports
Turf Solution.
Nationwide material
shortages have impacted
construction projects
across the country during
the pandemic, but the only
major setback for this
project has been a delay in
delivering the turf. Seeing
as the project primarily
involves removing dirt and
placing rock donated from
local companies, Spence
does not expect any major
hurdles between now
and the completion of the
work.
“The shortages are
making the turf come
later. Normally it would be
a much quicker timeline,”
he said. “But, we’re really
only waiting on the turf.”
EO Media Group, File
A crew works on a transmission line tower outside Boardman. A fed-
eral judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the govern-
ment’s right-of-way for the Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission
line across public land.
“arbitrary and capricious”
in analyzing the indirect
eff ects on “leks,” where
sage grouse congregate
during mating season,
within 3 miles of the trans-
mission line, rather than
using a longer distance,
Simon said.
The judge found that
BLM’s steps for miti-
gating the adverse impacts
to the species were suffi -
cient because “there can be
no construction without a
detailed plan.”
“This is not a case in
which the action will com-
mence before it can be
determined whether miti-
gation will be eff ective,” he
said.
The judge said BLM
“worked closely” with the
Idaho Power utility com-
pany on the project and
relied on “suffi cient evi-
dence” to decide against
burying the line near an
interpretive center for the
Oregon Trail.
The agency wasn’t
required to update the FEIS
regarding the environ-
mental eff ects of alternative
routes for the transmission
line that it ultimately didn’t
choose, he said.
While the BLM wrongly
failed to “consider grazing
in the cumulative eff ects
analysis” of the project,
that “error was harmless”
because it wouldn’t have
altered the agency’s conclu-
sions, the judge said.
Volunteer impact
While the project relies
on funding from multiple
sources, those involved
adamantly credit the
community’s volunteers
for contributing to the
renovations.
“It really is a La
Grande community
project,” La Grande High
School baseball coach
Many other features
that helped bolster the fair
included horse riding and
a bungee jumping station,
food vendors and FFA and
4-H competition.
Gover-Shaw said it was
critical to have a fair this
year after the 2020 fair was
canceled, except for the
FFA-4-H auction, due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was important for
people to see that the
Union County Fair is alive
Parker McKinley said.
“We’re so fortunate to
have a community that
supports each other and
makes it possible to do
things like this.”
RD Mac is donating
the rock for the prep
work underneath the
turf and contributing
trucks and resources for
the job, while Brian Bell
is heading the excava-
tion process. Rob Lane of
Lane Farms donated the
dirt to fi ll the outfi eld of
Trice Community Field
and Hampton Paving is
leveling the rock and sur-
facing prior to the turf
installation.
“It’s huge because we
couldn’t do it without
them,” Spence said.
“We’re saving tens of
thousands of dollars in
equipment and labor
costs.”
Future opportunities
The renovated fi elds
will provide La Grande
with one of the top base-
ball and softball com-
plexes in the area and in
Oregon.
“There are a lot of
people around the North-
west that have a lot of
respect for La Grande
baseball,” McKinley said.
“If we have a facility
like this that can handle
again,” she said.
Gover-Shaw said the
enormous amount of help
provided by fair board
members and community
volunteers are the reason
the fair was a success.
“We have an amazing
team,” she said.
The success of this
year’s fair, Gover-Shaw
said, will help build
momentum for 2022,
which will mark the fair’s
150th year.
a lot of games, I think
it’s going to bring people
from all over.”
Spence also noted that
the La Grande School
District had a need for the
project, having already
improved the basketball
and football facilities in
recent years.
“There’s no other turf
fi elds around here, so it
will make us the premier
location and I’m hoping to
draw lots of tournaments
and activities, along with
using the facilities for the
school kids,” he said.
Expected to fi nish in
the fall, the Pioneer Park
project will greatly ele-
vate the level of local
facilities in La Grande.
With teams across mul-
tiple sports using the
fi elds, Optimist Field and
Trice Community Field
will be centerpieces in
the sports community for
years to come. For those
involved in coordinating
the project, the contri-
butions from La Grande
residents have made the
project possible.
“We’ve got tons of
people that are coming in
to help and donate their
labor, time and equip-
ment,” McKinley said.
“It’s going to happen
because of the community
we live in, which is pretty
awesome.”