LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
SaTuRday, auguST 21, 2021
UNION COUNTY
Today is Saturday, Aug. 21,
the 233rd day of 2021. There are
132 days left in the year.
Sheriff: New building necessary
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
IN HISTORY
Union County green lights exploratory process for new public safety building
On August 21, 1991, the
hard-line coup against Soviet
President Mikhail S. Gorbachev
collapsed in the face of a pop-
ular uprising led by Russian
Federation President Boris N.
Yeltsin.
ON THIS DATE
In 1831, Nat Turner launched
a violent slave rebellion in Vir-
ginia, resulting in the deaths
of at least 55 whites; scores of
Blacks were killed in retribution
in the aftermath of the rebel-
lion. (Turner was later captured
and executed.)
In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s
“Mona Lisa” was stolen from the
Louvre Museum in Paris. (The
painting was recovered two
years later in Italy.)
In 1959, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower signed an execu-
tive order making Hawaii the
50th state.
In 1986, more than 1,700
people died when toxic gas
erupted from a volcanic lake
in the West African nation of
Cameroon.
In 1992, an 11-day siege
began at the cabin of white sep-
aratist Randy Weaver in Ruby
Ridge, Idaho, as government
agents tried to arrest Weaver
for failing to appear in court on
charges of selling two illegal
sawed-off shotguns; on the
first day of the siege, Weav-
er’s teenage son, Samuel, and
Deputy U.S. Marshal William
Degan were killed.
In 1993, in a serious setback
for NASA, engineers lost con-
tact with the Mars Observer
spacecraft as it was about to
reach the red planet on a $980
million mission.
In 2000, rescue efforts to
reach the sunken Russian
nuclear submarine Kursk ended
with divers announcing none of
the 118 sailors had survived.
In 2010, Iranian and Russian
engineers began loading fuel
into Iran’s first nuclear power
plant, which Moscow prom-
ised to safeguard to prevent
material at the site from being
used in any potential weapons
production.
In 2013, an Army private now
known as Chelsea Manning
was sentenced at Fort Meade,
Maryland, to up to 35 years in
prison for spilling an unprec-
edented trove of government
secrets. (The sentence for the
former intelligence analyst
was commuted by President
Barack Obama in his final days
in office.)
In 2014, Gov. Jay Nixon
ordered the Missouri National
Guard to begin withdrawing
from Ferguson, where nightly
scenes of unrest had erupted
since a white police officer
fatally shot a Black 18-year-old
nearly two weeks earlier.
Ten years ago: Euphoric
Libyan rebels raced into
Tripoli and took control of the
center with little resistance as
Moammar Gadhafi’s defenses
collapsed and his four-de-
cade regime appeared to be
crumbling.
Five years ago: Shaking
to samba and sharing reflec-
tions in uniquely Brazilian
words, Olympians and fans
said goodbye to the Rio Games
with one last big bash inside
Maracana Stadium. Earlier in
the day, Kevin Durant scored 30
points and helped the Ameri-
cans rout Serbia 96-66 for their
third straight gold medal, cap-
ping an Olympics in which
the U.S. dominated the medal
tables, both the gold (46) and
overall totals (121).
One year ago: Michigan’s
appeals court said Democratic
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emer-
gency declarations and orders
to curb the coronavirus clearly
fell within the scope of her legal
powers. Police in Lafayette, Lou-
isiana, shot and killed a Black
man, Trayford Pellerin, outside
a convenience store; they said
he was carrying a knife and
ignored commands to drop it.
LOTTERY
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021
Megabucks
2-4-7-9-29-44
Jackpot: $2 million
Lucky Lines
2-6-11-16-20-23-25-31
Estimated jackpot: $62,000
Powerball
35-36-51-55-61
Powerball: 26
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $290 million
Win for Life
23-27-47-67
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 6-2-6-6
4 p.m.: 9-1-7-1
7 p.m.: 0-1-5-6
10 p.m.: 8-3-2-6
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021
Lucky Lines
4-7-12-13-18-22-26-31
Jackpot: $63,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 9-8-5-7
4 p.m.: 3-4-2-4
7 p.m.: 2-8-0-2
10 p.m.: 9-6-6-1
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A
new public safety building
may be in the future for
Union County.
Union County Sheriff
Cody Bowen told the
Union County Board
of Commissioners
Wednesday, Aug. 18, that
he wanted to have his
office put out a request for
proposals to get a design
firm to come in and
develop a conceptual plan
for a new public safety
building. The commis-
sioners, ultimately, gave
Bowen the green light to
proceed.
The sheriff’s office
will now begin an explor-
atory process for deter-
mining how a new public
safety building could be
built. Bowen will later
report the findings to the
commissioners.
If a new structure is
built, it might replace
Union County’s cur-
rent law enforcement
building, which was
built in 1979. The struc-
ture — which houses the
Union County Sheriff’s
Office, the La Grande
Police Department, the
Union County Jail, the
La Grande Police Depart-
ment Dispatch Center, and
the Union County Emer-
gency Operations Center
— is too small to accom-
modate all the services
it provides, Bowen told
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Observer, File
The Union County Board of Commissioners voted on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, to begin the process of
designing and building a new county jail and public safety building.
commissioners.
“We are like a family
of five in a one-bedroom
apartment,” he said.
The lack-of-space
issue in the building
also applies to its Union
County Jail, which Bowen
said is among the smallest
in the state.
He said it would be
impossible to add to the
current law enforcement
building because of the
way it is designed and
where it is located.
“There is no way to go
down, up or out,” he said.
The firm making a suc-
cessful bid for the archi-
tectural project will be
responsible for developing
a conceptual design for a
public safety center that
would house the Union
County Sheriff’s Office,
the La Grande Police
Department, the Union
County Jail and Union
County Parole and Proba-
tion, according to Bow-
en’s proposed RFP.
Bowen told the com-
missioners he would also
like the building to have a
center where people expe-
riencing mental health
issues could be helped.
The firm chosen for the
project would be required
to get input from people
with local criminal jus-
tice entities on their needs
before creating architec-
tural plans. The company
would also be asked to
make a cost estimate for
the structure it creates a
design for.
The deadline for “final-
izing architectural plans’’
would be March 1, 2022.
The sheriff’s office will
issue its request for pro-
posals in early September,
and the deadline for sub-
mitting would be 4 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 4.
“If we do not take the
first step, we will not
take any,” Union County
Commissioner Paul
Anderes said.
911 dispatcher honored by commissioners
Brooke Langerman awarded Golden
Feather of Achievement award
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
coronavirus pandemic may
be causing problems, but
it also allows for stars to
shine — in this case, a star
of the Wallowa County 911
dispatch division.
On Wednesday, Aug.
18, dispatcher Brooke
Langerman was awarded
the second-ever Golden
Feather of Achievement
award by the Wallowa
County Commissioners at
their regular meeting.
“For the second time
ever since I’ve been
here, we’re recognizing
an employee for exem-
plary work,” Commission
Chairman Todd Nash said.
“This goes to Brooke Lan-
german. She apparently got
tricked into coming over
here. We really appreciate
the above and beyond and
your willingness to hang in
there and keep a vital part
County
OKs new
smart
texting
system
of Wallowa County oper-
ating at the 911 station.
You gave up family time in
a time of trepidation where
you could’ve said, ‘It’s just
too dangerous and I’m not
coming in.’ But you kept
that operation going and
we really appreciate your
service and we want to rec-
ognize that. There’s a lot
of extra people who came
here today just to make
sure you are recognized for
your duties, so thank you
very much.”
This was met with
applause from those
present, which included
Sheriff Joel Fish, several
Enterprise police officers
and other 911 dispatchers.
Langerman said after
the presentation that four
of the six 911 dispatchers
had been out sick with
coronavirus and it was
just her and her super-
visor keeping the operation
going.
“We were working
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County 911 dispatcher Brooke Langerman, right, is con-
gratulated by Commission Chairman Todd Nash for exemplary
work on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, as Commissioner Susan Roberts
applauds and fellow dispatchers watch in the background.
12-hour shifts,” Lan-
german said.
The working mom of
three kids ages 3, 5 and
6, said the long shifts and
shorthanded situation
lasted about two weeks.
Nash turned the presen-
tation of the award over
to Commissioner Susan
Roberts.
“Since it was decided
that we have employees
who went above and
beyond, we decided we
needed to give those
employees something spe-
cial when they did some-
thing special,” Roberts
said. “So, the local glass-
blower made the Golden
Feathers of Achievement
for us. We do understand
that the line on the flag
for 911 operators is a gold
line.”
The first time such an
award was presented was
June 16 to Wallowa County
Deputy Jennifer Harmon.
NEWS BRIEFS
Union County with 81 new
cases of COVID-19 in two
days
LA GRANDE — The Oregon
Health Authority reported 64 more
cases of COVID-19 in Union County
on Thursday, Aug. 19, and 17 cases
on Friday, Aug. 20, among more than
5,000 new cases reported in the state
those two days. The county total is up
to 2,103.
Neighboring Wallowa County,
meanwhile, had its highest one-day
total of the pandemic with 16 new
cases Thursday and five Friday, and
now is at 332.
The state passed 250,000 overall
cases of COVID-19 since the start of
the pandemic, and now has 252,977.
On both Aug. 19 and 20, there were 19
more COVID-related deaths reported
by the OHA.
One of those deaths on Friday was
of a 62-year-old Union County man
who died on Aug. 17 at home. The
man had tested positive seven days
earlier, and had underlying conditions.
Union County’s total vaccina-
tion rate is up to 40.8%, and the rate
of those 18 and older is 50.4%. The
Wallowa County rates are 50.4% and
60.3%, respectively.
Oregon averaged an all-time
high of 2,020 cases a day over the
past week.
Law enforcement responds
to two pursuits in two days
LA GRANDE — A brief foot
pursuit on Thursday, Aug. 19, ended
with an arrest and the recovery of
a stolen motorcycle, according to a
press release from the La Grande
Police Department.
The La Grande Police Depart-
ment responded to a report of a
stolen motorcycle around 1 p.m. on
Aug. 19. Prior to confronting Albert
Jared Horne, the department con-
firmed that the 23-year-old had a
Union County arrest warrant for
unlawful use of a weapon, assault in
the fourth degree, reckless endan-
gering of another person and men-
acing. The warrant was a result of a
July domestic violence incident, the
release said.
Upon finding Horne at a resi-
dence on the 3000 block of Union
Street, Horne fled on foot toward the
Grande Ronde River. Law enforce-
ment chased Horne as he crossed the
river and began running on Interstate
84. The chase caused traffic to stop
in both directions as an Oregon State
Police trooper apprehended Horne on
the interstate, with assistance from
the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Horne was arrested for his pre-
vious arrest warrant and faces addi-
tional charges of unauthorized use of
a motor vehicle, two counts of escape
and disorderly conduct.
La Grande Police officers recov-
ered a 2017 Honda motorcycle that
was reported stolen in Baker City on
Aug. 18.
The La Grande Police Department
was assisted by the Union County
Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police
and Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation, the release said.
Police said the investigation is
ongoing and additional charges could
be filed.
The Oregon State Police and
Union County Sheriff’s Office also
were involved in a pursuit on Aug. 18.
The Union County Sher-
iff’s Office assisted Oregon State
Police in the arrest of Aubrey Scott
Fryman between Baker and North
Powder, according to police. Depu-
ties arrested Fryman around 3 p.m.,
with assistance from four Oregon
State Police officers. Fryman was
arrested for attempting to elude by
vehicle and on foot, reckless driving,
reckless endangering, driving while
suspended and resisting arrest,
police said.
Law enforcement made the
arrest on Pocahontas Road in Baker
County. Four Union County Sheriff’s
deputies were involved in the chase
and arrest.
— The Observer
ENTERPRISE — A
presentation on a new
smart texting system was
made to the Wallowa
County Board of Com-
missioners on Wednesday,
Aug. 18, after which the
board agreed to purchase
and install the system.
Attending the meeting
via Zoom, Russell Murphy,
of TextMyGov, demon-
strated to the commis-
sioners how the system
would work both for the
county and for county
residents.
According to the com-
pany’s website, Text-
MyGov is a software com-
pany out of Logan, Utah,
that uses smart texting
technology to communi-
cate with citizens 24/7.
Local government agen-
cies can answer questions,
send links to their website
and provide details on gar-
bage pickup, utility pay-
ment, city news, events,
office hours, department
locations and more.
Murphy has been
working with Stacey
Fregulia, the county’s
information technology
director and the commis-
sioners’ executive assistant
on the system.
Murphy said he’s also
been working with other
Oregon counties and local
governments in other
states. In addition to con-
tact between the county and
residents, the administra-
tors can allow other select
groups to be involved.
“We work with all kinds
of populations and demo-
graphics,” he said.
The three main functions
of the system are to allow
texting to:
• Report issues, such as
those concerning public
safety.
• Find information on a
variety of topics.
• Request permits issued
by the county.
“We wanted to make it
simple, so it’s simple for the
citizens to get in,” Murphy
said.
Search parameters use
keywords such as “fire,”
“fair” or “events” and can
include additional ones
as county administrators
determine the necessity.
“I like it,” Commission
Chairman Todd Nash said.
“It seems like a product
that is really user friendly.”
Commissioner John
Hillock had his thoughts
on possible uses for the
system.
“The Road Depart-
ment could use it if they
had a road delay, fire emer-
gencies, there are a lot of
things that we could defi-
nitely use it for,” he said.
Commissioner Susan
Roberts said a certain level
of responsibility is needed
by those using it.
“A citizen has to sign in,
that’s an important thing,”
she said.
Fregulia, in her role
as IT director, gave her
thumbs-up to the system.
“It’s very user friendly,”
she said. “It’s very non-
complicated for department
heads.”
Roberts said the system
will cost the county $2,500
a year with a $1,000 setup
fee. It starts with an initial
two-year contract and after
that each year is a separate
contract.
The cost of the system
pays for 50,000 texts and
additional texts can be
purchased.
“We have to be careful
of that limited number
of texts,” Roberts said.
“Everybody and their dog
is going to be texting.”
The commissioners
agreed it will take some
monitoring to control the
number of texts used in
the system.