RECORDS
Saturday, auguSt 28, 2021
PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT
DEATH & SERVICE NOTICES
Roger Kirkland
North Powder
Roger Kirkland, 77, of North Powder, died Aug. 25,
2021, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Walla Walla,
Washington. Arrangements are by Tami’s Pine Valley
Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Halfway.
Gayleen M. Henderson
La Grande
Gayleen Marie Henderson, 67, of La Grande, died
Aug. 20, 2021, in Bonner, Montana. A memorial service
will be held Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. at the Imbler Christian
Church, followed by a dinner.
Steven E. Merrick
Union
Steven E. Merrick, 71, of Union, died July 27, 2021,
at Grande Ronde Hospital. A celebration of his life will
be held Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. at the Union Baptist Church.
The service will be streamed live; go to www.loveland-
funeralchapel.com and click on “Funeral Videos” at the
bottom of the page.
David H. Payne
Formerly of La Grande
David H. Payne, 60, formerly of La Grande, died
Dec. 15, 2020, at his home in Pendleton. A celebration
of his life and tribute will be held from 2-4 p.m. Aug. 28
at Pendleton’s Pioneer Park, 400 NW Despain Ave.
Bernice M. Webster
La Grande
Bernice M. Webster, 85, of La Grande, died April
21, 2020, at her residence. A celebration of her life will
be held Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. at the La Grande First Chris-
tian Church. The service will be streamed live; go to
www.lovelandfuneralchapel.com and click on “Funeral
Videos” at the bottom of the page.
UPCOMING LOCAL SERVICES
Please follow guide-
lines regarding face cov-
erings and social dis-
tancing at all gatherings.
Aug. 28 — LELAND
SAMS: 10 a.m. grave-
side service, Island City
Cemetery (casual dress
preferred).
Aug. 28 — RODNEY
PAYANT: noon to 3 p.m.
celebration of life, Pend-
leton Eagles Lodge.
Aug. 28 — DAVID
PAYNE: 2-4 p.m. cele-
bration of life and tribute,
Pioneer Park, Pendleton.
Aug. 28 — SHIRLEY
KUNKEL: 1:30 p.m.
celebration of life, La
Grande Seventh-day
Adventist Church.
Aug. 28 — STE-
PHEN CRUIKSHANK:
2 p.m. service with
military honors, Dan-
iels-Knopp Funeral, Cre-
mation & Life Celebra-
tion Center, La Grande.
Sept. 4 — GAY-
LEEN HENDERSON:
1 p.m. memorial service,
Imbler Christian Church;
dinner follows.
Sept. 4 — STEVEN
MERRICK: 1 p.m. cel-
ebration of life, Union
Baptist Church; also
livestreamed at www.
lovelandfuneralchapel.
com (click on “Funeral
Videos” at bottom of
page).
Sept. 9 — BER-
NICE WEBSTER:
10 a.m. celebration of
life, La Grande First
Christian Church; also
livestreamed at www.
lovelandfuneralchapel.
com (click on “Funeral
Videos” at bottom of
page).
Sept. 18 — DEBRA
DAVIS: 2 p.m. celebra-
tion of life, Riverside
Park Pavilion, La Grande.
Sept. 18 — JAMES
YOST: 2 p.m. celebration
of life, Cloverleaf Hall,
Enterprise.
Sept. 26 — DEBBIE
RACHAU: 2 p.m. cel-
ebration of life, Elgin
Community Center.
Oct. 16 — MEL
ELDER: 10 a.m. memo-
rial service, La Grande
First Christian Church.
— calendar cour-
tesy of Loveland Funeral
Chapel, La Grande
tHE OBSErVEr — A3
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 25
8:16 a.m. — A caller reported drug paraphernalia on the 65300
block of Courtney Lane, Imbler. A Union County sheriff’s deputy
made contact, took information and arranged for extra patrols.
9:09 a.m. — La Grande police received a report of a transient
camp on the 2600 block of Island Avenue. An officer made contact
with the caller and took information.
10:18 a.m. — A La Grande resident asked to speak to law
enforcement regarding fraud. A Union County sheriff’s deputy
made contact.
12:27 p.m. — La Grande police received a report of a burglary
on the 2600 block of Bearco Loop. An officer made contact and
logged information.
4:07 p.m. — A La Grande resident reported computer fraud.
A Union County sheriff’s deputy made contact and explained
options.
5:13 p.m. — La Grande police received a report of a possible
intoxicated driver on Willow Street. Officers responded and coun-
seled the driver, who was not impaired.
8:09 p.m. — The Union County Sheriff’s Office responded
to Highway 204 and Valley View Road on a report of a deer that
was injured after a vehicle hit it. A Union County sheriff’s deputy
responded and euthanized the deer.
10:35 p.m. — La Grande police received a complaint about
youths playing loud music at the high school parking lot, 708 K
Ave. An officer responded and advised the group to keep it down.
11:29 p.m. — A resident on the 1900 block of H Avenue reported
a disturbance at a neighbor’s place. Officers responded, found peo-
ple were arguing and the parties agreed to separate for the night.
11:55 p.m. — A caller reported an assault on the 800 block of
Grandy Avenue, La Grande. Police responded but the suspect was
no longer on scene. Officers planned to follow up.
THURSDAY, AUG. 26
4:08 a.m. — A caller complained about noise from a residence
on the 1900 block of Cove Avenue, La Grande. Officers responded
and resolved the situation.
12:43 p.m. — A caller reported livestock on the loose in the area
of 69100 Summerville Road, Summerville.
3:24 p.m. — A caller reported harassment at Walmart, 11619
Island Ave., Island City. Law enforcement made contact and took
information.
7:40 p.m. — La Grande police received a report of a dog bite on
the 1700 block of Claire Street. An officer responded and will fol-
low up.
8:17 p.m. — A caller reported finding a dog at Y Avenue and
Spruce Street, La Grande.
8:46 p.m. — A caller reported finding a dog on the 1100 block
of Adams Avenue, La Grande. There was no information to indicate
if this was the same dog as the earlier call.
RECENT OREGON STATE POLICE ACTIVITY
Aug. 17 — A trooper arrested Christopher Wayne Jackson, 38, of
La Grande, for driving under the influence of intoxicants.
Aug. 22 — A trooper stopped a driver on Highway 82 near
milepost 11, La Grande, for tossing a cigarette onto the road. The
trooper cited Jennifer Lee Allen, 56, for throwing burning material
from a vehicle and for driving without a license.
HOSPITALS
Continued from Page A1
National Guard have
already begun assisting
operations in the Blue
Mountain Hospital Dis-
trict. The hospital is among
only 11 hospitals in Oregon
to receive support from the
nearly 500 national guard
members currently acti-
vated. Officials with the
Oregon National Guard
have indicated roughly 20
more hospitals will be bol-
stered by an additional
1,000 guard members by
next week, with numbers
varying based on need.
Soldiers’ tasks include
assisting in support roles,
such as entrance screeners,
janitorial services and secu-
rity for the hospital, as well
as providing logistical relief
for overworked health care
staff who have been on the
front lines of the pandemic
for nearly two years.
“We have staff burnout.
They have been working
very long, stressful hours,
and we are looking for
ways to help our staff out
as they face this next wave
of COVID-19,” said Mark
Snider, public relations and
digital strategy coordinator
at Saint Alphonsus Health
System in Baker City.
Soldiers with the Oregon
National Guard are serving
La GRANDE
AUTO REPAIR
975-2000
www.lagrandeautorepair.com
MOST
ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
AVAILABLE
Joe Horst
Maj. Chris Clyne/Oregon Army National Guard
1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment, Oregon National Guard soldiers staff the front desk and screen
patients at Mercy Medical Center, in Roseburg on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021. The soldiers are part of a state-
wide effort to help hospitals with support functions due to increased COVID-19 cases and staff shortages.
in support roles in Jose-
phine County in Southern
Oregon, which has experi-
enced the fastest growing
outbreaks of COVID-19 in
the United States within the
past two weeks.
“The goal is to help these
hospitals with nonclinical
support staff,” said Maj.
Chris Clyne, public affairs
officer with the Oregon
National Guard.
Mardi Ford, director of
communications and mar-
keting at Grande Ronde
Hospital, said that the sit-
uation at the hospital is
fluid — while they haven’t
needed support from the
National Guard yet, that sit-
uation could change.
“Yes, we are short
staffed, but at this point
we have contingencies
locally and at the state level
for bringing in support
and are in the process of
working through all of that
if needed,” Ford said in an
email.
According to Ford, the
situation in Union County
is not as dire as it is in
Southern Oregon, but GRH
is monitoring the situation
closely.
“Right now, we are man-
aging. But it requires daily
— often hourly — over-
sight,” Ford said.
Hospitals in Eastern
Oregon have reported
staffing issues and are
looking to add several
dozen workers to their
ranks. As of Aug. 26,
Grande Ronde Hospital had
63 positions available on its
career webpage, while St.
Anthony had 57 open posi-
tions. Ontario had 41 open
positions, Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital had 31 and
Baker City St. Alphonsus
Medical Center had 28 open
positions.
More than 1,600 new
cases of COVID-19 were
reported in Northeastern
Oregon between Aug.
11 and Aug. 26. Region
9, which encompasses
Morrow, Umatilla, Wal-
lowa, Union, Baker, Grant
and Malheur counties,
during that time reported
five available staffed inten-
sive care unit beds. Jackson
and Josephine counties in
Southern Oregon reported
having only one ICU bed
available. On Aug. 27,
Region 9 reported the same
situation: only one available
staffed ICU bed.
As hospitalizations
increase throughout the
state, the stress it puts on
normal operations at hos-
pitals is immense. Grande
Ronde Hospital in Union
County reported last week
it had to transfer a patient
to Montana because there
wasn’t enough space avail-
able at the 25-bed hospital.
“As the volumes con-
tinue to rise statewide and
as facilities elsewhere in the
state become overrun and
start looking for other loca-
tions to transfer patients,”
Snider said, “they turn to
smaller locations like Baker
City.”
ACDelcoTSS
COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD
Tribute and Toasts
for
DAVID PAYNE
August 28th • 2-4 pm
Tributes at 2:30pm
Pioneer Park
400 NW Despain, Pendleton
Masks are required
MENUS
Union County Senior
Center takeout lunches
Served 11:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. at 1504 N.
Albany St., La Grande. For
delivery, call 541-963-7532
before 10 a.m. Age 60+,
$3 suggested donation; all
others, $5. All are welcome.
Aug. 30-Sept. 3
Monday: ravioli, salad
greens, garlic bread, fruit,
cookie.
Tuesday: meatloaf,
mashed potatoes with
brown gravy, garden salad,
fresh fruit, dessert.
Wednesday: tender
beef, red potatoes, gravy,
steamed vegetables, salad
greens, fruit, light dessert.
Thursday: cashew-
chicken stir-fry, cucum-
ber-dill salad, fruit, cookie.
Friday: cabbage rolls
with rice and beer, layered
salad, fresh fruit, ice cream.
BRIEFS
Registration open for
Parks and Rec after-
school program
LA GRANDE — La
Grande Parks and Recre-
ation is offering an after-
school program for elemen-
tary students. On school
days, the program will run
from 2:30-5 p.m., with late
pickup until 5:15 p.m. The
cost is $60 per week.
Each day will have
homework help, outside
play time, arts and crafts,
snacks, bike and pedes-
trian safety, and science,
technology, engineering
arts and math activities.
The program will be at the
Riveria Activity Center at
the beginning of the school
year, but will move into all
three elementary schools
once the COVID-19 risk
levels drop.
For full details and to
sign up, go to ww.lagrande-
parks.org/program/41339/
after-school-program.
Fishtrap sets online
writing workshop
ENTERPRISE — Fish-
trap is launching its 2021-
2022 season of workshops
and seminars with an online
writing course led by Nick
Jaina, an Oregon Book
Award finalist. “Refining
Our Writing Voice Through
Poetry” will be held on
Wednesdays from Sept. 8 to
29 from 6-7:30 p.m.
“One of the core com-
ponents of writing is devel-
oping a distinctive voice.
We can look at poetry not
just as a genre of writing,
but as a way of viewing
the world,” according to
Jaina. “In this workshop
we’ll work on developing
a poetic heart to improve
our writing, no matter what
genre it might be.”
The cost of the workshop
is $180. For more informa-
tion and to register, go to
www.fishtrap.org/poetry-
workshop-with-nick-jaina.
BIRTHS
Grande Ronde Hospital
CALEY: Maverick
Archer Cruise Caley, Aug.
13, 2021, son of Melissa
Kropf and Taylor Caley,
of La Grande. Grandpar-
ents are James and Lynette
Kropf.
DIXON: Rowan Ade-
laida Dixon, Aug. 19, 2021,
daughter of Meghan Anne
Dixon and Trenton Lee
Dixon, of Union. Grand-
parents are Lance and Suzi
Dixon and Paul and Jen-
nifer McDonough.
HUELTER: Holly Lynn
Huelter, Aug. 10, 2021,
daughter of Katelyn Laine
Huelter and Nicholas Alvin
Huelter, of Union. Grand-
parents are Brad and Jeanne
Trisler and Chris and
Donna Huelter.
WEBER: Beaux Weber,
Aug. 18, 2021, son of
Shelby Weber and Joshua
Weber, of La Grande.
WHITCOMB: Landrey
Darlene Whitcomb, Aug.
13, 2021, daughter of
Courtney Whitcomb and
Bud Whitcomb Jr., of La
Grande. Grandparents
are Michael and Darlene
Key and Rick and Barb
Whitcomb.
— The Observer