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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2021)
LOCAL A2 — THE OBSERVER TODAY On Nov. 13, 2015, Islamic State militants carried out a set of coordinated attacks in Paris on the national stadium, restaurants and streets, and a crowded concert hall, killing 130 people in the worst attack on French soil since World War II. In 1775, during the Amer- ican Revolution, the Continental Army captured Montreal. In 1849, voters in California ratified the state’s original constitution. In 1940, the Walt Disney film “Fantasia,” featuring animated segments set to classical music, had its world premiere in New York. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure lowering the minimum draft age from 21 to 18. In 1956, the Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses. In 1969, speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accused net- work television news depart- ments of bias and distortion, and urged viewers to lodge complaints. In 1971, the U.S. space probe Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars. In 1974, Karen Silkwood, a 28-year-old technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter. In 1979, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan announced in New York his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. In 1982, the Vietnam Vet- erans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Wash- ington, D.C. In 1985, some 23,000 res- idents of Armero, Colombia, died when a volcanic mudslide buried the city. In 2019, the House Intelli- gence Committee opened two weeks of public impeachment hearings with a dozen cur- rent and former career foreign service officials and political appointees scheduled to tes- tify about efforts by President Donald Trump and others to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals. One year ago: Speaking pub- licly for the first time since his defeat by Joe Biden, President Donald Trump refused to con- cede the election. Masked workers in teams of two began counting ballots in counties across Georgia; the hand tally of the presidential race stemmed from an audit required by a new state law. Republicans suf- fered setbacks to court chal- lenges over the election in the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The governors of Oregon and New Mexico ordered near-lock- downs in the most aggres- sive response yet to the latest wave of coronavirus infections shattering records across the U.S. Peter Sutcliffe, the British serial killer known as the “York- shire Ripper,” died at 74; he was serving a life sentence for the killings of 13 women. The Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng as general manager, making her the high- est-ranking woman in the oper- ation of a major league team. Today’s Birthdays: Jour- nalist-author Peter Arnett is 87. Actor Jimmy Hawkins is 80. Blues singer John Hammond is 79. Country singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard is 75. Actor Chris Noth is 67. Actor-come- dian Whoopi Goldberg is 66. Actor Rex Linn is 65. Actor Car- oline Goodall is 62. Former NFL quarterback and College Football Hall of Famer Vinny Testaverde is 58. Rock musician Walter Kibby (Fishbone) is 57. Comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel is 54. Actor Steve Zahn is 54. Actor Gerard Butler is 52. Writer-activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali is 52. Actor Jordan Bridges is 48. Actor Aisha Hinds is 46. Former NBA All-Star Metta San- diford-Artest (formerly Ron Artest and Metta World Peace) is 42. Actor Monique Coleman is 41. Actor Rahul Kohli is 36. LOTTERY Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021 Megabucks 16-18-24-30-31-35 Jackpot: $5.6 million Lucky Lines 3-7-12-15-17-24-25-32 Estimated jackpot: $12,000 Powerball 19-25-43-46-48 Powerball: 14 Power Play: 2 Jackpot: $173 million Win for Life 7-24-51-55 Pick 4 1 p.m.: 0-8-3-2 4 p.m.: 9-4-0-9 7 p.m.: 5-9-8-6 10 p.m.: 3-7-4-6 Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021 Lucky Lines 1-5-12-15-20-22-28-29 Jackpot: $13,000 Pick 4 1 p.m.: 8-9-6-4 4 p.m.: 8-3-6-0 7 p.m.: 4-7-0-7 10 p.m.: 3-7-5-7 SaTuRday, NOVEmBER 13, 2021 Roads to be busy over holiday Thanksgiving travel projected to bounce back to pre- pandemic levels By DAVIS CARBAUGH The Observer PORTLAND — Roads may be heavily con- gested again for this year’s Thanksgiving travels, according to projections from the American Auto- mobile Association. AAA predicts that 53.4 million Americans will travel for the holiday, which is a rise of 13% from 2020. With travel numbers nearing that of 2019, the projected boost in travel is expected to be the largest single-year increase since 2005. “Travel is again high on the list for Ameri- cans who are looking for- ward to spending time with family and friends this Thanksgiving,” AAA Public Affairs Director Marie Dodds said in a press release. “But it means travelers should plan for roads and airports to be noticeably more crowded than what we experienced during the pandemic.” The projections from AAA show that roughly 16.2% of the entire Amer- ican population are expected to travel for Thanksgiving, while approximately 17.7% of Oregon citizens will tra- verse. That percentage comes out to about 746,000 alex Wittwer/The Observer, File Semis and other motorists line Island Avenue in La Grande on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, waiting to get back on the road. An accident on I-84 east of Pendleton and dense fog caused ODOT officials to close the interstate for roughly four hours. Thanksgiving holiday traffic this year is predicted to be close to pre-pandemic levels, and travelers are advised to plan ahead for crowded airports and roads — and perhaps unexpected delays. Oregonians traveling for turkey day. During the Thanks- giving holiday in 2019, approximately 49.9 mil- lion Americans traveled by automobile, 4.6 million flew and 1.5 million used public transportation. Due to a severe drop in travel due to COVID-19, in 2020 roughly 5.5 million fewer automo- bile travelers hit the road and air travel was cut in half by just over 2 million. As this Thanksgiving approaches, AAA predicts that 652,000 Oregonians will travel by automobile and 86,000 will fly. A steep rise in gasoline prices over the last year is having an impact on pro- jections, but not to a large extent, according to AAA. Gas prices are roughly one dollar more per gallon than during last year’s Thanks- giving holiday. “Gas prices aren’t keeping people home,” Dodds said in a press release. “Those who need to trim expenses will do so in other ways such as lim- iting dining out and looking for more budget-friendly choices in accommodations and other activities.” With travel being expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, AAA is reporting that hotel rates are up nearly 50% and rental car rates have risen by about 4%. The top travel spots for AAA Oregon members are Anaheim, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, San Diego and Maui. According to AAA, the organization will likely receive roughly 8,200 calls for road assistance over the holiday. The top issues involve dead batteries, flat tires and lockouts. AAA urges caution and planning ahead for this Thanksgiving, noting that busy roads and crowded airports should be expected. According to the organiza- tion’s website, those who travel by airplane should expect full flights. The official Thanks- giving holiday travel period is defined as Nov. 24-28. AAA predicts that the busiest travel days will take place on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. La Grande schools COVID-19 rate rises slightly Count numbers remain low, allowing the school district to reduce some restrictions By DICK MASON The Observer LA GRANDE — The La Grande School Dis- trict’s COVID-19 infection rate, which had been drop- ping dramatically, was up slightly the first week of November. The school district’s latest weekly statistics show that 17 students missed school during the week of Nov. 1-5 because of positive COVID-19 tests, COVID-19 symp- toms or close contact with those who have COVID- 19. That number is up eight from the week of Oct. 25-29 when nine students missed school because of COVID-19, but down sig- nificantly from the week of Oct. 18-22 when 48 stu- dents missed class and the week of Oct. 11-15 when 57 students were out because of COVID-19. “I’m happy that the trend is going down,” said La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza. Mendoza noted that the school district’s infec- tion rate is far lower than it was in August, September and much of October. To put things in perspec- tive he pointed out that in the past three weeks the total number of students who missed school due to COVID-19 was 43, a far cry from the 123 stu- dents and staff who were out during one week in mid-September. The superintendent said that because COVID-19 numbers are remaining low, the school district was able to move into the less restrictive low-risk cate- gory on Thursday, Nov. 11, under the rules of its 2021 Communicable Disease plan. The school district had been in the moderate risk category. Entrance into the low- risk category means schools can again con- duct assemblies and con- certs that can be attended by parents and community members, more volunteers can work in the school dis- trict and in some instances children in different grades can have recess at the same time at elementary schools. The school district’s week of Nov. 1-5 statistics indicate that no staff mem- bers were absent during the week due to positive COVID-19 tests, symp- toms of the disease or close contact with someone who has it. This marks the fifth week in a row that the La Grande School District did not have any staff out because of COVID-19. The district’s latest sta- tistics, based on reports to school district nurses, show that five students were out during the first week of November due to testing positive for COVID-19. Four of these students were from Island City Ele- mentary School and one was from La Grande High School. A total of 12 students were quarantined the week of Nov. 1-5 due to close contact with someone with COVID-19 or suspected of having COVID-19, up four from the previous week. Five of the students out were from Island City Ele- mentary, three were from Central Elementary, three were from Greenwood Ele- mentary and one was from La Grande Middle School. Mendoza stressed that students and staff still must exercise caution and follow COVID-19 safety protocol despite the overall decline in the infection rate. “We have to be careful in order to continue oper- ating,” Mendoza said. CHD to host COVID-19 booster clinics, will also administer pediatric vaccines By DAVIS CARBAUGH The Observer LA GRANDE — The Center for Human Devel- opment in La Grande announced a series of upcoming vaccination clinics, offering both COVID-19 booster shots and the Pfizer BioNTech pediatric vaccine. CHD will hold a drive- thru clinic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Union County Fairgrounds on Nov. 18. A drop-in clinic will take place at CHD from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 19. Pfizer booster shots are available for all persons 65 years or older, residents 18 or older living in long-term care settings, individuals 18 or older with under- lying medical conditions and people 18 or older who live or work in a high- risk environment. Individ- uals looking to receive the booster dose must have received their last dose of Moderna or Pfizer six or more months prior. alex Wittwer/The Observer, File Doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine sit in a tray at the Center for Human Development vaccination clinic in La Grande on Friday, Aug. 5, 2021. In November, CHD began administering the Pfizer pe- diatric vaccine to children age 5-11. Johnson & Johnson booster doses are available to individuals 18 or older who received a previous Johnson & Johnson vac- cine two or more months ago. Children age 5-11 are eligible for the Pfizer pedi- atric vaccine, which will be available at the drop-in clinics as well as by appointment. The Pfizer pediatric shots were approved by the FDA and recommended by the CDC in early November. According to an Oregon Health Authority media briefing with Dr. Kristen Dillon, a senior adviser with OHA, the pediatric vaccines are being distributed to phar- macies, public health clinics, hospitals and other community centers in Oregon. The initial distribu- tion of the pediatric vac- cine began in Oregon last weekend, with sites still in the process of receiving their doses. Dillon noted that the Pfizer pediatric vaccines do not need to be held in the same ultra- cold storage as the orig- inal wave of vaccines for adults, which allows the doses to be stored at refrig- erated temperatures and for longer periods of time. The durability of this wave of pediatric vaccines will make them readily acces- sible in rural areas in Oregon. Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the Health Officer and State Epidemiologist for OHA, said the pediatric vaccines are not known to have serious side effects for chil- dren, and children who receive the vaccine should be able to return to school the next day. During the week of Thanksgiving, the Center for Human Develop- ment will not hold vaccine events, but appointments will be available. NEWS BRIEFS Cove council to hold executive session COVE — The Cove City Council will hold an exec- utive session followed by a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov 16. The meeting will be hosted at Cove City Hall, 504 Alder St., at 7 p.m. and can be accessed via com- puter, tablet or smartphone. The executive session will include considering the employment of a public staff member, which will be the only matter of business prior to the special meeting. The special session will entail a call to order and public comment section, which is limited to three minutes per individual. The meetings can be viewed at https://www.got- omeet.me/CityofCove. Indi- viduals looking to tune in via phone can call 877- 309-2073 or 312-757-3129. The access code to join the meeting is 566-891-733. Umatilla sheriff investigating death of man in Ukiah UKIAH — The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man in Ukiah. The sheriff’s office in a press release Wednesday, Nov. 10, reported the Uma- tilla County dispatch center on Nov. 7 at 11:45 p.m. received a 911 call requesting an ambulance to the Antlers Hotel in Ukiah for an unresponsive male. “CPR was being per- formed at the time of the call,” according to the press release. Medics with the Pend- leton Fire Department arrived, and the man, whom the sheriff’s office identified as Lewis Milton Brightman, 59, of Klamath Falls, died at the scene. Sheriff’s deputies arrived and requested a detective respond, the press release stated, and the sheriff’s office requested an autopsy because the cause of death could not be determined. The autopsy was sched- uled for Nov. 9, and the results are pending. The sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing with “further informa- tion to be released when appropriate.” OTEC to return $3 million to member-owners BAKER CITY — Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors has approved the retirement of $3 mil- lion in capital credits to its member-owners. OTEC in a press release Tuesday, Nov. 3, explained capital credit retirements are one of the more visible benefits of membership in an electric cooperative. “Positive financial con- ditions allowed for us to return these funds to our members,” OTEC Chief Financial Officer Heidi Dalton said. “Our financials are strong and we’re proud to demonstrate the power of the cooperative business model through capital credit retirements.” The credits become each member’s “owners’ equity” and investment in OTEC, and each year the board makes a decision on how much it can return to members without reducing the cooperative’s financial strength. Returns are applied directly to the member’s account if the amount is less than $15, or if the member has a past due bal- ance. Members with returns greater than $15 and no past due accounts will receive a check in the mail in mid-December. Since OTEC first began retiring capital credits in 1996, according to the press release, the co-op has returned $49 million to its member-owners. Nonprofit cooperatives such as OTEC allocate and periodically return those funds back to the member-owners rather than to stockholders. — The Observer Ththe e, as inves-
