LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
On Nov. 6, 1860, former Illi-
nois congressman Abraham
Lincoln of the Republican Party
was elected President of the
United States as he defeated
John Breckinridge, John Bell
and Stephen Douglas.
In 1632, King Gustavus Adol-
phus of Sweden was killed in
battle.
In 1893, composer Peter
Ilyich Tchaikovsky died in St.
Petersburg, Russia, at age 53.
In 1906, Republican Charles
Evans Hughes was elected gov-
ernor of New York, defeating
newspaper publisher William
Randolph Hearst.
In 1928, in a first, the results
of Republican Herbert Hoover’s
presidential election victory
over Democrat Alfred E. Smith
were flashed onto an electric
wraparound sign on the New
York Times building.
In 1956, President Dwight
D. Eisenhower won reelection,
defeating Democrat Adlai E.
Stevenson.
In 1977, 39 people were killed
when the Kelly Barnes Dam in
Georgia burst, sending a wall
of water through Toccoa Falls
College.
In 1984, President Ronald
Reagan won re-election by a
landslide over former Vice Presi-
dent Walter Mondale, the Dem-
ocratic challenger.
In 1990, about one-fifth of
the Universal Studios backlot
in southern California was
destroyed in an arson fire.
In 2012, President Barack
Obama was elected to a second
term of office, defeating Repub-
lican challenger Mitt Romney.
In 2014, the march toward
same-sex marriage across the
U.S. hit a roadblock when a fed-
eral appeals court upheld laws
against the practice in four
states: Ohio, Michigan, Ken-
tucky and Tennessee. (A divided
U.S. Supreme Court overturned
the laws in June 2015.)
In 2015, President Barack
Obama rejected the proposed
Keystone XL pipeline, declaring
it would undercut U.S. efforts to
clinch a global climate change
deal at the center of his envi-
ronmental legacy. (President
Donald Trump would reverse
the Obama decision, but Pres-
ident Joe Biden canceled the
permit for the pipeline on the
day he took office.)
In 2017, former Democratic
congressman Anthony Weiner
reported to prison in Massa-
chusetts to begin a 21-month
sentence for sexting with a
15-year-old girl.
One year ago: Democrat
Joe Biden overtook President
Donald Trump in Georgia as the
counting of votes continued in
the battleground state; Biden
also expanded his lead over
Trump in Pennsylvania and
Nevada. The federal agency
that oversees U.S. election secu-
rity pushed back at unsubstan-
tiated claims of voter fraud in
a statement, saying that local
election offices had detec-
tion measures that “make it
highly difficult to commit fraud
through counterfeit ballots.”
Today’s Birthdays: Actor
June Squibb is 92. Country
singer Stonewall Jackson is 89.
Singer P.J. Proby is 83. Actor
Sally Field is 75. Singer Rory
Block is 72. Jazz musician Arturo
Sandoval is 72. TV host Cath-
erine Crier is 67. News corre-
spondent and former California
first lady Maria Shriver is 66.
Actor Lori Singer is 64. Actor
Lance Kerwin is 61. Former Edu-
cation Secretary Arne Duncan
is 57. Rock singer Corey Glover
is 57. Actor Brad Grunberg is
57. Actor Peter DeLuise is 55.
Actor Kelly Rutherford is 53.
Actor Ethan Hawke is 51. Chef/
TV judge Marcus Samuelsson
is 51. Actor Thandiwe Newton
(formerly Thandie) is 49. Mod-
el-actor Rebecca Romijn is 49.
Actor Zoe McLellan is 47. Actor
Nicole Dubuc is 43. Actor Taryn
Manning is 43. Retired NBA star
Lamar Odom is 42. Actor Patina
Miller is 37. Actor Katie Leclerc
is 35. Singer-songwriter Ben
Rector is 35. Singer-songwriter
Robert Ellis is 33. Actor Emma
Stone is 33. Actor Mercedes
Kastner is 32.
LOTTERY
Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021
Megabucks
10-19-21-24-25-28
Jackpot: $5.3 million
Lucky Lines
4-7-9-15-18-24-26-29
Estimated jackpot: $30,000
Powerball
1-2-24-50-57
Powerball: 26
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $146 million
Win for Life
19-24-42-74
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 7-1-0-2
4 p.m.: 5-6-2-6
7 p.m.: 7-1-3-8
10 p.m.: 6-4-7-0
Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021
Lucky Lines
4-7-11-16-17-22-27-29
Jackpot: $31,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 1-7-2-7
4 p.m.: 6-4-0-2
7 p.m.: 0-2-8-0
10 p.m.: 8-2-6-2
SaTuRday, NOVEmBER 6, 2021
County club hopes to establish
bicycle playground in Enterprise
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE —
Public parks to accommo-
date fun on wheels seem to
be a growing concern these
days. First, the Enterprise
Skate Park was refurbished.
Then plans were announced
for a bicycle playground in
Wallowa.
Now, a Wallowa County
club is hoping to get
approval — and funding —
for an Enterprise Bike Park
that would include a pump
track and possibly more
sometime next year.
According to www.bicy-
cling.com, a pump track is
a looped sequence of rollers
and berms (swoopy, banked
turns) for bike riders. It’s
designed to maximize
momentum so the cyclist
can ride with minimal
pedaling.
“It’s one of the fast-
est-growing sports in
America for cities to add
to their park collection
for things to do for all
ages. It can be ridden by
someone who’s old enough
to stand on a Stryder bike
to anyone,” said Zeb Burke,
vice president of the Wal-
lowa Mountains Bicycle
Club.
All kinds of bikes
The track could be for
“any kind of bicycle,” he
said. “There are some that
are better suited, such as
BMX bikes, mountain
bikes, kids’ bikes, things
like that.”
“You can use skate-
boards, roller blades,
scooters, even possibly
wheelchairs,” club Pres-
ident Angela Mart said.
Facebook/Contributed Photo
The Leavenworth Pump Track in Leavenworth, Washington, is similar to what the Wallowa Mountains
Bicycle Club hopes to have in Enterprise.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION
What: Wallowa Mountains
Bicycle Club
Where: P.O. Box 166, Joseph
97846
Email: wallowamountains
bicycleclub@gmail.com
Online: Facebook
“These accommodate a
wide variety of activities.”
Burke said a road bike
or 10-speed is not as condu-
cive to such a track.
“A downhill bike with a
lot of travel would be a little
harder because of all the
suspension,” he said. “It’s a
pumping action that actu-
ally gets you around the
track, not pedaling.”
Possible sites
Mart and Burke indi-
cated one potential site
would be next to the current
skate park, but there also
are couple of areas by the
baseball fields on the north
side of town.
“Three, possibly four,
if the place behind the city
park works out,” Mart said.
“But, like Zeb said, there
are a lot of potential compli-
cations with that location.”
“(It’s a) riparian area,”
Burke said. “That’s the big-
gest one.”
Mart said that if they’re
able to locate the bike park
next to the skate park, com-
petition between the two
shouldn’t be an issue.
“If it ends up being
there, it’d be great for the
kids to have all of that in
one location,” she said.
“That’d be rad; if I was a
kid, I’d like to be able to
do tricks at the skate park
and then work on my skills
on the pump track. I think
that’d be ideal.”
They are considering a
park of about 10,000 square
feet. Burke called that the
“smallest footprint” they’re
planning.
“The bigger it gets, the
more money it takes,” he
said. “In Enterprise, within
the city limits, we’re sort of
constrained in our allowed
spacing.”
Cost
The Wallowa Mountains
Bicycle Club has a bid from
a builder in Bend called
Black Sage Dirt Works for
about $100,000, Mart said.
She said so far, the club
has raised about $2,000
from members. They also
have been approached by
local businesses who are on
board to do fundraisers. The
big money will likely come
from grants and “other
potential donors,” she said.
They did a bit of shop-
ping around before settling
on Black Sage.
“One builder was over
$350,000,” Burke said. “We
found another that was a lot
lower.”
But they need to get a
site identified before any-
thing else can be done.
The grants they hope to
see require that, and city
council approval will have
to come first.
“We want to get the
word out to the commu-
nity and look for potential
donors and make the public
aware of it,” Mart said.
Chief Joseph Days Board receives grant
for improvements to Thunder Room
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — The
Thunder Room is set to
receive another upgrade.
The expansive facility
that stands adjacent to
Harley Tucker Memorial
Arena in Joseph will have
work done — hopefully
before the end of the year
— to fix roof leaks and add
needed insulation.
The Chief Joseph Days
Rodeo board of directors
recently received a grant
for $20,000 from the Wild-
horse Foundation in Pend-
leton to complete the work,
said Mike Warner, one of
CJD’s board members.
“We’re trying to make
this building a year-round
facility,” Warner said.
Warner said new bath-
rooms were put in the
facility about five or six
years ago, and a dona-
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
The Chief Joseph Days Board of Directors has received a $20,000
grant from the Wildhorse Foundation that will go toward upgrades
for the Thunder Room, adjacent to Harley Tucker Memorial Arena.
tion allowed CJD to last
year put in a new heating
system.
“We got a good heating
system in it now, but the
roof leaks, and there is no
insulation,” he said. “Right
now, the heat just goes right
through the ceiling, so we
gotta get that fixed.”
In addition to roof repair
and insulation installation,
the grant will allow work
to be done on the lights in
the Thunder Room, Warner
said.
The room is often rented
or used for weddings,
funerals and other events.
“We’ve had other people
wanting to rent the place,
other organizations and
stuff like that,” Warner
said. “That would be a good
deal for the whole county,
not just Chief Joseph Days.”
It’s not the only upgrade
the board is looking to
make to the Thunder
Room, Warner said. The
board member noted the
board is applying for
more grants with the hope
of improving the facili-
ty’s current kitchen and
expanding the building to
the west. The expansion,
he said, would include the
addition of a Hall of Fame
room.
He said the hope is to get
the roof repaired and insu-
lation in place “soon.”
When done, Warner
said, the year-round nature
of the improved building
will be “something that will
benefit the whole commu-
nity, not just us.”
La Grande council clears way for downtown art piece
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The La Grande
City Council met virtually for its
November meeting on Wednesday,
Nov. 3, discussing a sizable section of
new business items.
One topic discussed will give the
green light for a new public art piece
to be built outside of Cook Memorial
Library in downtown La Grande.
After a discussion of the benefits
and drawbacks, the council voted to
approve a memorandum of under-
standing between La Grande Parks
and Recreation Director Stu Spence
and artist Jason Hogge. The agree-
ment will allow the La Grande Arts
Commission to seek grant funding for
the project and finalize design details
with the artist.
Hogge’s perspective artwork fea-
tures four different images visible on
acrylic paintings displayed on con-
crete slabs. Depending on where the
viewer stands, different images can
be seen. The theme of the pieces are
“honoring the past,” “celebrating the
present” and “embracing the future.”
The project will cost an estimated
$50,000 and rely on grant funding
budgeted to the parks department.
General funds budgeted to the city
will not be used for the artwork.
The councilors voiced their opin-
ions on the designs, with council
member David Glabe raising several
concerns. Glabe noted his opinion
that the perspective piece will not be
adequately visible from Max Square,
where a majority of foot traffic in that
area passes through. He also called for
a broader public input process on the
design itself. Council member Nicole
Howard noted that the La Grande
Arts Commission is in place to make
these types of decisions, while Spence
elaborated on different elements of the
artwork.
The motion was passed by each
council member except Glabe, who
cited the need for more public input.
The council unanimously approved
a memorandum of understanding
between the city manager and Fire-
fighters Local 924, which will incen-
tivize employees to conduct out-of-
county ambulance transfers. The hope
of the memorandum is to cover staff
shortages related to ambulance trans-
portation out of La Grande. The raise
in compensation will still cut costs in
comparison to the price of air trans-
portation for out-of-county transports.
Spence presented another topic of
new business, which was an amend-
ment to park facility fees in the area.
The amendment standardizes kitchen
rate fees, which will make the new
booking website more adaptable to
the city and the site’s users.
The council approved an agree-
ment that will allow the La Grande
Swim Club and the La Grande High
School Swim Team to continue using
Veterans’ Memorial Pool.
And, a resolution to annex a prop-
erty at 102 South Second Street was
approved, which will enable the prop-
erty to receive city water and sewage
services.
The council’s final item of new busi-
ness was awarding a sewage project bid
to Planned Engineered Construction,
Inc., which will improve sewer main-
lines across La Grande, some of which
are heavily aged and need repair. The
awarding bid was $192,000.
The La Grande City Council
will meet next for a regular session
on Dec. 1. Council members dis-
cussed the possibility of returning to
in-person meetings and what precau-
tions would need to be taken for that
to happen.
NEWS BRIEFS
Union County
tallies 14 new
COVID-19 cases in
latest OHA report
SALEM — The
Oregon Health Authority
released its daily case
report on Friday, Nov.
5, which showed 14
new COVID-19 cases in
Union County and four
in Wallowa County.
Across the state, 1,141
new confirmed and pre-
sumptive cases were
reported. Oregon added
19 new deaths in the
latest update. The report
brings the state’s case
total to 372,137 since the
start of the pandemic,
while the death toll
stands at 4,562.
The new cases bring
Union County’s total to
3,294, while Wallowa
County stands at 729
cases. Neither county
reported any deaths in
the latest report.
There are currently
533 patients hospitalized
with COVID-19 across
Oregon. Out of 692 total
adult ICU beds, there are
59 open in the state. For
adult non-ICU beds, 224
are available out of 4,119.
The OHA report
showed that Oregon’s
seven-day running
average of vaccine doses
per day is 17,009.
EOU Board
reviewing new
degree programs
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity’s Board of Trustees
will meet on campus
Wednesday, Nov. 10, for
its first regular meeting
of the academic year.
New degree pro-
grams in public relations
and public administra-
tion are up for approval,
and Ben Cannon, exec-
utive director of the
Higher Education Coor-
dinating Commission,
will provide a report.
HR Director Chris
McLaughlin will lead a
discussion regarding the
university’s employee
compensation strategy.
After reviewing budgets
proposed last spring, the
board will vote on a final
budget for the next fiscal
year.
Representatives from
shared governance
groups, elected for 2021-
22, will report to the
board for the first time.
Trustees will also hear
presentations on enroll-
ment strategy, ongoing
pandemic response and
an updated DEIA (diver-
sity, equity, inclusion and
access) Strategic Plan.
Wallowa Memorial
hospital adds
security
ENTERPRISE —
Wallowa Memorial Hos-
pital, making an effort
to improve safety at the
hospital, announced
Thursday, Oct. 28, that it
will be adding a security
department, which is set
to launch in the next sev-
eral weeks.
“The safety of our
staff and patients is the
most important thing to
us. Having a security
department will ensure
that we are doing every-
thing possible to provide
that safety,” said Stacey
Karvoski, who was
named Security Depart-
ment Director.
The hospital cited
heightened emotions and
frustrations in the last 12
months, during the pan-
demic, as the reason for
the added security team.
The hospital has seen an
increase in patients with
violent behavior, suicidal
tendencies and “a gen-
eral feeling of unrest.”
An executive manager
and two security offi-
cers will provide daily
coverage for the hospital
and clinics. They will
monitor security cam-
eras, check security logs,
patrol the campus and
support staff as needs
arise.
— EO Media Group