Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2021)
INSIDE OTEC USING VIRTUAL REALITY TO SHARE SAFETY EDUCATION MESSAGES | October 21, 2021 BUSINESS, AG LIFE, B1 $1.50 THURSDAY EDITION Nearing INSIDE DROUGHT’S IMPACT ON THE NORTHEAST the fi nish line? FALL DRO UGH T 20 21 Takin g a lo ok a t the afte rma th o f this year ’s un prece den ted wea ther 2021 Recent grants show end in sight for Liberty Theatre project By DAVIS CARBAUGH The Observer LA GRANDE — Things are looking up at the Liberty Theatre in downtown La Grande. The Liberty Theatre Foundation, the organi- zation renovating the his- toric theater, recently announced it received a $250,000 grant from the MJ Murdock Chari- table Trust in Vancouver, Washington. The most recent funds, along with $10,000 in grant money from the Wildhorse Foun- dation in late June, bring the project within reach of completion. “We’re approximately three-quarters completed with the overall project and we were recently awarded $250,000 from the Mur- dock Charitable Trust, which really takes us over the fi nal hump,” Vice Chair of the Liberty The- atre Foundation Jeff Clark said at the most recent La Grande Urban Renewal Agency meeting. The project was orig- inally put into place in 2009, when the nonprofi t organization was created by La Grande locals. After years of renovations, the end is getting closer for the historic venue. The MJ Murdock Chari- table Trust grant will close the gap in needed funds to complete the project, according to Liberty The- atre Foundation Chair Ashely O’Toole in a press release. “When an organization of their stature has such a high belief in our project and confi dence in our abil- ities, it gives us all the more motivation and con- fi dence that we can get it done — despite the chal- lenges we’ve been facing during the pandemic,” O’Toole said. See, Liberty/Page A5 Supply chain casualties Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File A young boy walks out of the Riveria Activity Center’s kitchen after receiving a free lunch on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Programs such as the Summer Seamless Option, Summer Food Service Program and other school lunch programs are slated to continue despite supply chain problems. School lunches in disarray amid nation’s supply chain troubles By ALEX WITTWER EO Media Group LA GRANDE — Supply chain issues gripping the nation have found a new, unexpected victim — local schools. Those issues prompted state leaders with the Oregon Department of Education to issue temporary waivers for schools for nutritional requirements. That meant that long-time staples of the cafeteria such as pizza or spaghetti were absent. Offi cials grappled with bro- kering deals with new suppliers to get food to the students. With supplies short on hand, local school lunch cooks had to improvise to get food out to hungry students. “There are products we’re only sup- posed to serve for child nutrition, and all of the pizza was zeroed out — it was nothing — so basically I did pizza that I put my own toppings on,” said Tanya Alex Wittwer/The Observer Kristi Ritchie, head cook with La Grande High School, hands out lunches on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. A shortage of fi ve-compartment lunch trays led to students receiving plastic bag lunches. Ritchie, who has been an employee with La Grande High School for 21 years, laments the ordering hiccups and menu changes due to the pandemic and supply chain issues. Corta, a kitchen supervisor with Imbler School District. “We’re running on a tight ship here.” Tight ship or not, the supply chain woes leave little certainty about the menus — typically planned a month in advance — and whether or not the ingredients will even be available. That puts extra strain on kitchen workers and supervisors. See, Lunch/Page A5 State vaccination mandate goes into eff ect Organizations in Union County affected by mandates feel minimal impact By DAVIS CARBAUGH and DICK MASON The Observer Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File Demonstrators outside of La Grande City Hall protest against vaccine mandates on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. INDEX Business & Ag.......B1 Classified ...............B2 Comics ....................B5 Crossword .............B2 Dear Abby .............B6 WEATHER Horoscope .............B2 Lottery ....................A2 Obituaries ..............A3 Opinion ..................A4 Records ..................A3 SATURDAY Spiritual Life..........A6 Sports .....................A7 State ..................... A10 Sudoku ...................B5 Weather .................B6 UNION COUNTY — Union County resi- dents can breathe a sigh of relief. The state vaccination mandate that took eff ect earlier this week has not resulted in a mass exodus of employees that would hobble its public schools, health care services and state government agencies. Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Friday 49 LOW 50/42 Showers late Rain, some heavy WOLF CREEK GRANGE CELEBRATES MILESTONE Under Executive Order 21-29 all public school staff for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, health care workers and employees of state government agen- cies must have been vacci- nated for COVID-19 by Oct. 18 or have been granted an exception on religious or medical grounds. It appears that this order has resulted in only a limited number of employees leaving their positions in Union County. Grande Ronde Hos- pital was directly aff ected by the deadline, with health care workers falling under the umbrella of the vaccination mandate. See, Mandate/Page A5 CONTACT US 541-963-3161 Issue 124 3 sections, 36 pages La Grande, Oregon Email story ideas to news@lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page A4. Online at lagrandeobserver.com
