LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
On Oct. 23, 1973, President
Richard Nixon agreed to turn
over White House tape record-
ings subpoenaed by the Water-
gate special prosecutor to
Judge John J. Sirica.
In 1707, the first Parliament
of Great Britain, created by the
Acts of Union between England
and Scotland, held its first
meeting.
In 1864, forces led by Union
Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis
repelled Confederate Maj. Gen.
Sterling Price’s army in the
Civil War Battle of Westport in
Missouri.
In 1915, tens of thousands
of women paraded up Fifth
Avenue in New York City,
demanding the right to vote.
In 1944, the World War II
Battle of Leyte Gulf began,
resulting in a major Allied vic-
tory against Japanese forces.
In 1956, a student-sparked
revolt against Hungary’s Com-
munist rule began; as the rev-
olution spread, Soviet forces
started entering the country,
and the uprising was put down
within weeks.
In 1983, 241 U.S. service
members, most of them
Marines, were killed in a sui-
cide truck-bombing at Beirut
International Airport in Leb-
anon; a near-simultaneous
attack on French forces killed 58
paratroopers.
In 1987, the U.S. Senate
rejected, 58-42, the Supreme
Court nomination of Robert
H. Bork.
In 1989, 23 people were
killed in an explosion at Phillips
Petroleum Co.’s chemical com-
plex in Pasadena, Texas.
In 2001, the nation’s anthrax
scare hit the White House with
the discovery of a small concen-
tration of spores at an offsite
mail processing center.
In 2009, President Barack
Obama declared the swine
flu outbreak a national emer-
gency, giving his health chief
the power to let hospitals move
emergency rooms offsite to
speed treatment and protect
non-infected patients.
In 2012, during a debate with
Democratic rival Joe Donnelly,
Indiana Republican Senate can-
didate Richard Mourdock said
that when a woman becomes
pregnant during rape, “it is
something that God intended
to happen.” (Other Repub-
lican candidates moved to dis-
tance themselves from Mour-
dock, who went on to lose
the November election to
Donnelly.)
In 2014, officials announced
that an emergency room doctor
who’d recently returned to New
York City after treating Ebola
patients in West Africa tested
positive for the virus, becoming
the first case in the city and the
fourth in the nation. (Dr. Craig
Spencer later recovered.)
Today’s Birthdays: Movie
director Philip Kaufman is 85.
Soccer great Pele is 81. R&B
singer Barbara Ann Haw-
kins (The Dixie Cups) is 78.
Former ABC News investiga-
tive reporter Brian Ross is 73.
Actor Michael Rupert is 70.
Movie director Ang Lee is 67.
Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is 65.
Country singer Dwight Yoakam
is 65. Community activist Martin
Luther King III is 64. Movie
director Sam Raimi is 62. Paro-
dist “Weird Al” Yankovic is 62.
Rock musician Robert Trujillo
(Metallica) is 57. Christian/jazz
singer David Thomas (Take 6) is
55. Rock musician Brian Nevin
(Big Head Todd and the Mon-
sters) is 55. Actor Jon Huertas is
52. Movie director Chris Weitz
is 52. CNN medical reporter
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is 52. Blue-
grass musician Eric Gibson (The
Gibson Brothers) is 51. Country
singer Jimmy Wayne is 49. Actor
Vivian Bang is 48. Rock musi-
cian Eric Bass (Shinedown) is
47. TV personality and host Cat
Deeley is 45. Actor Ryan Reyn-
olds is 45. Actor Saycon Seng-
bloh is 44. Rock singer Matthew
Shultz (Cage the Elephant) is 38.
TV personality Meghan McCain
is 37. R&B singer Miguel is 36.
Actor Masiela Lusha is 36. Actor
Emilia Clarke is 35. Actor Briana
Evigan is 35.
LOTTERY
Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021
Megabucks
8-10-21-22-31-36
Jackpot: $4.7 million
Lucky Lines
4-7-11-14-18-22-26-31
Estimated jackpot: $16,000
Powerball
7-29-36-41-43
Powerball: 5
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $86 million
Win for Life
36-40-42-67
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 1-4-4-3
4 p.m.: 0-8-2-8
7 p.m.: 1-5-8-9
10 p.m.: 2-5-3-6
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021
Lucky Lines
3-8-9-14-20-22-28-32
Jackpot: $17,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 6-0-6-9
4 p.m.: 5-7-1-4
7 p.m.: 9-7-5-5
10 p.m.: 9-6-4-5
SaTuRday, OcTOBER 23, 2021
Raising awareness of domestic violence
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — La
Grande residents painted
the town purple.
Shelter From the Storm,
a local nonprofit who pro-
vides services to those
impacted by domestic vio-
lence, hosted a night walk
and candlelight vigil in
La Grande on Thursday,
Oct. 21. Eastern Oregon
University students and
La Grande residents alike
wore purple and took part
in the event during a month
dedicated to raising aware-
ness of domestic violence.
“We just hope people
see us walking and get
curious about the cause and
either join in or follow up,”
Shelter From the Storm
Executive Director Jamie
Landa said. “We hope it
prompts awareness.”
The roughly 40 individ-
uals in attendance gath-
ered outside Hoke Union
Building at EOU to dis-
tribute lights, candles,
ribbons, wristbands and
lanyards to those taking
part. Many of the par-
ticipants donned purple
for the event, the color
for domestic violence
awareness.
The advocates walked
roughly a mile from the
EOU campus to Max
Square in downtown
La Grande for a candle-
light vigil. Some in atten-
dance volunteered to read
poems to honor victims of
Walking tour of
downtown
La Grande, survey
gather public input
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
Photos by alex Wittwer/The Observer
Above, a small crowd gathers for the Light the Night Against Domestic Violence vigil at Max Square
in La Grande on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Below, Nichole Leal, left, and her daughter Lauren Leal hold
candles during the gathering.
domestic violence. Candles
were lit as the group in a
show of solidarity and sup-
port for those impacted by
sexual assault and interper-
sonal violence.
The Light the Night
Against Domestic Violence
was canceled last year due
to COVID-19. With Thurs-
day’s gathering and future
efforts, organizers aim to
continue to raise awareness
of domestic violence and
further the nonprofit’s mis-
sion of serving victims in
Union County.
“This is something
everyone on the staff put a
lot of effort into, to make
sure it went well,” Landa
said.
Shelter From the Storm
had a reason for beginning
the walk at Eastern Oregon
University.
“We always want the
university to know we are
here for EOU as well as
La Grande,” Landa said.
“Domestic violence affects
everyone, not just one seg-
ment of the population.”
Required quarantine in LG schools cut to 10 days
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
The word “quarantine”
is now a little less omi-
nous-sounding to La
Grande School District stu-
dents and staff.
The number of days
La Grande School Dis-
trict students and staff must
be quarantined after close
contact with someone who
was COVID-19 positive or
was suspected of being so
has been reduced from 14
days to 10 days.
The La Grande School
District announced the
four-day reduction on
Thursday, Oct. 21, in a
press release. The shorter
quarantine period rule
went into effect immedi-
ately. The district made its
shorter quarantine deci-
sion in partnership with
the Center for Human
Development.
Students and staff who
are identified as a close
contact are now able to
return to school after
10 days if they have no
COVID-19 symptoms
during their quarantine
period and they submit to a
visual screening and tem-
perature check at the main
office on their return date
before entering classrooms.
What is the reason for
this change? The local
public health authority,
which in Union Coun-
ty’s case is CHD, deter-
mines the length of quaran-
tine and exclusion periods
based on guidance from the
Oregon Health Authority
and on local context. Local
factors for determining
COVID-19 risk continue
to be hospitalization rates,
medical provider capacity,
case counts, vaccination
rates and overall commu-
nity health.
During the COVID-19
delta surge, case counts
and hospitalizations peaked
in Union County. Current
data is indicating that local
context is improving and
so quarantine lengths are
being relaxed for schools.
If there is another spike
in COVID-19 cases, these
rules would likely change
again, according to the
press release.
LGSD Superintendent
George Mendoza said the
change will help students.
“We know students
need consistent, quality
classroom instruction
for optimal learning, and
teachers and staff need time
with students,” he said.
“We know quarantines
are going to happen, but
reducing that by four days
is helpful.”
Students who are vac-
cinated and not exhib-
iting symptoms or are con-
firmed COVID-19 cases
within the last 90 days
are not required to quar-
antine if they are identi-
fied as a close contact. The
La Grande School District
said all students and fami-
lies with individuals expe-
riencing any COVID-19,
flu or cold-like symptoms
should stay home and not
come to school.
County trims maximum MERA camping limit
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
The maximum length of
camping stays allowed
at the Mount Emily Rec-
reation Area near La
Grande has been trimmed
significantly.
The Union County
Board of Commissioners
at its Wednesday, Oct. 20,
meeting voted 3-0 to adopt
a MERA camping ordi-
Historic
district
aims to
update
standards
nance that cuts the amount
of time people can camp
at MERA from 14 to five
nights in a 30-night period.
The camping ordinance
took effect immediately.
The vote followed a first
reading of the ordinance
on Oct. 6. Union County
Parks Manager Sean
Chambers told the board of
commissioners the move
was needed because people
staying at a campsite for 14
days or longer often accu-
mulate large amounts of
trash. Chambers said the
rubbish spreads throughout
the campsite and is hard to
manage.
Chambers noted that the
majority of people camping
at MERA stay for far less
than two weeks.
Union County Com-
missioner Paul Anderes
said the new ordinance is
“tailored for recreation-
ists.’’ He said they are who
MERA was created for, not
individuals who essentially
are campsite dwellers.
The board of commis-
sioners, in another action
item, also voted to accept
a $32,000 grant from the
U.S. Department of Home-
land Security to buy a
backup energy generator
for the La Grande/Union
County Airport. The gen-
erator will be used to
power the airport’s fuel
farm and offices when
there is an outage.
NEWS BRIEFS
United Way of the Blue
Mountains holds regional
photo contest
WALLA WALLA — United Way
of the Blue Mountains is hosting a
photo contest to commemorate the
organization’s work across the region
as it moves into a new office in Walla
Walla, Washington.
The photo competition is open
now and will take entries until
Friday, Nov. 19. The winners will
have their photos displayed in the
new Walla Walla office.
The two categories of the con-
test are focus areas and funding
regions.
The focus areas category are suc-
cessful students cradle to career;
disaster recovery; and healthy people
and thriving communities. The
funding regions section encompasses
Columbia and Walla Walla coun-
ties in Washington, as well as Baker,
Morrow, Umatilla and Union coun-
ties. United Way of the Blue Moun-
tains supports local nonprofit orga-
nizations and human services across
the region.
A selection committee at United
Way of the Blue Mountains will
select the winning photos.
For full details, contact the United
Way of the Blue Mountains office at
509-529-1183 or info@uwbluemt.org.
To enter the contest, go to https://
woobox.com/xkusqw.
Union County adds one
death, 11 new COVID-19
cases on latest report
SALEM — The Oregon Health
Authority reported 1,407 new con-
firmed and presumptive COVID-19
cases and 40 deaths in its latest
report on Thursday, Oct. 21.
Union County recorded one
new COVID-19 death on the
report, bringing the county’s
total 50 since the start of the pan-
demic. An 84-year-old woman from
Union County died on Sept. 25.
OHA reported that COVID-19 or
SARS-CoV-2 was listed as a cause
of death or significant contribution to
death on the death certificate. Under-
lying conditions are being confirmed.
The update brings the state’s death
toll to 4,275, while the total case
count since the start of the pandemic
is up to 356,061.
There were 11 new cases reported
in Union County on the report, while
three cases were tallied in Wallowa
County. The report brings the case
total to 3,184 in Union County and
686 in Wallowa County since the
start of the pandemic.
The most recent breakthrough
case report from OHA showed that
76.5% of the 6,446 COVID-19 cases
from Oct. 10 through Oct. 16 were
from unvaccinated individuals. There
were a total of 1,977 breakthrough
cases in the report.
Across Oregon, there are cur-
rently 567 patients hospitalized
with COVID-19. There are 48 avail-
able adult ICU beds out of 706 and
265 open adult non-ICU beds out of
4,115.
The state’s seven-day running
average of vaccine doses per day
stands at 9,309.
In the most recent report, OHA
announced that it will be releasing
a revamped disease severity dash-
board, which will illustrate case
demographics, disease severity and
severity trends.
— The Observer
LA GRANDE —
La Grande residents
recently got the chance to
have their voices heard in
regard to the town’s historic
district.
Consultants from Peter
Meijer Architect in Port-
land, along with members
of the La Grande Land-
marks Commission, led a
public walking tour through
the historic district in
downtown La Grande on
Tuesday, Oct. 19. The event
engaged public input on the
upcoming standard amend-
ments updates and allowed
for feedback on the current
state of the historic district.
“We had a surprisingly
great turnout,” said Peter
Meijer Architect consul-
tant Kristen Minor. “We
started hearing some really
useful comments and I fully
expect to hear more in the
coming months.”
Roughly 25 individuals
took part in the tour and
engaged in a back-and-forth
conversation with the con-
sultants leading the way.
The walk started at Max
Square on Adams Avenue
and weaved through other
areas of the district on Jef-
ferson Avenue and side
streets.
Minor and Tricia Forsi,
the preservation consul-
tants present at the tour,
pointed out the various
aspects of historic buildings
in La Grande and the dif-
ferent ways they contribute
value to the district. Along
the way, the consultants
would stop to ask questions
and collect feedback as
those present expresse their
thoughts and concerns.
“The commercial dis-
trict is so central to La
Grande, so people feel very
strongly,” Minor said.
The standards for the his-
toric district, which was cre-
ated in 1999, have resulted
in inconsistencies from one
project to the next over the
years. The aim of the newest
standards update is to make
the process as consistent
and responsive as possible
for future applicants and
current business and prop-
erty owners in the district.
“This project is to set
those parameters in the
right way for this commu-
nity,” Minor said during the
tour.
Tuesday’s walking tour
initiated a three-month
period of public input and
information gathering prior
to the amendment updates.
Those standards will be
drafted in the early months
of 2022 and proposed
before the public and city
council in early spring.
“Our goal is that we
want community buy-in
on whatever the outcome
is,” La Grande Community
Development Director Mike
Boquist said.
The Peter Meijer con-
sultants and the Land-
marks Commission con-
tinue to seek public input. A
survey regarding the stan-
dards is available on the
Landmarks Commission’s
website through the end
of October, with gift cards
being awarded randomly
to two people who take the
survey. Access the survey
at www.cityoflagrande.org/
landmarks-commission.
The consultants will be
following up with phone
calls and reaching out to
contractors, local busi-
nesses, La Grande Main
Street Downtown and other
organizations. The survey
information, as well as any
other feedback received
from the waking tour,
will be a vital element in
drafting the new standards.