The care you deserve — right here at home.
DONATE TODAY
www.grh.org/givingtuesday
INSIDE
POWDER VALLEY COMES UP JUST SHORT IN CLASS 1A TITLE GAME LOSS TO ADRIAN | SPORTS, A7
$1.50
TUESDAY EDITION
November 30, 2021
LABOR SHORTAGE
Mary Altaff er/Associated Press, File
In this 2018 fi le photo, a Narcan nasal device that delivers naloxone
lies on a counter as a health educator gives instructions on how to
administer it in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A joint release by
Grande Ronde Hospital, Center for Human Development, La Grande
Fire Department and La Grande Police Department on Tuesday, Nov.
23, 2021, said that there has been a recent uptick in heroin and fen-
tanyl overdoses in Union County.
Local authorities see
increase in overdoses,
issue joint warning
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — After
an alarming increase in
drug overdoses, local
authorities have issued a
joint warning.
Grande Ronde Hos-
pital and Clinics, Center
for Human Development,
La Grande Fire Depart-
ment and La Grande Police
Department released a
statement on Tuesday, Nov.
23, to bring awareness to
the recent uptick in heroin
and fentanyl overdoses in
Union County.
The Grande Ronde Hos-
pital Emergency Depart-
ment reported eight heroin
overdoses in the six days
prior to the statement,
which is a 400% increase.
The department typically
sees two to three overdoses
per month in Union County.
Also in the statement,
the La Grande Police
Department reported a sig-
nifi cant increase in calls for
response to overdoses in the
last several weeks.
Based on informa-
tion from revived patients,
Grande Ronde Hospital
Emergency Department
staff suspect the current
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
heroin in the area of being
tainted by additional drugs.
According to Grande
Ronde Hospital, the uptick
is the largest in recent his-
tory in Union County. The
county has not experienced
an increase like this since
April, when tainted fentanyl
spread around the area.
The statement noted
that the Center for Human
Development is suspecting
a rise in drugs that may
be more potent than in the
past. Public health offi cials
are seeing an uptick in indi-
viduals who are seeking
out fentanyl, which the
statement says may have
become a primary drug in
the county.
According to Carrie Bro-
goitti, public health admin-
istrator at CHD, accidental
overdoses can result from a
number of factors.
“People may be taking
substances thinking they
are one thing but are actu-
ally mixed with other things
that are more potent or have
a diff erent eff ect than they
are expecting,” Brogoitti
said. “They may also be
mixing substances in ways
See, Overdoses/Page A5
Police departments in Pendleton, La Grande and Baker City say they have had little luck fi nding applicants for their open
positions in the fall of 2021. “I’ve been with the city of La Grande for 28 years, and 20 to 25 years ago we would see 150 appli-
cations for one opening for a police offi cer position — and that has been trending in what I feel is a negative direction for a
long time,” said La Grande Police Chief Gary Bell.
CALL TO DUTY
Law enforcement faces hiring woes as applications dwindle
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
B
AKER CITY — Add
law enforcement offi -
cers to the growing list
of professions feeling
the brunt of a labor
shortage and facing hiring woes.
Police departments in Pend-
leton, La Grande and Baker City
are having little luck fi nding appli-
cants for their open positions, and
the police chiefs are fl ummoxed
about the reasons why.
“We’ve had zero applicants,”
said Ty Duby, chief of the Baker
City Police Department.
Duby, who worked for 25 years
for the Oregon State Police before
joining the Baker City Police
Department in 2019, recalls a time
when a single opening brought in
hundreds of applications, giving
law enforcement agencies a wide
variety of potential applicants
Bell
Byram
Duby
to choose from. Those numbers
have dwindled over the past year
— and Duby said he has had to
actively pursue applicants and ask
them to apply for the job.
The the Baker City Police
Department is not alone in
the struggle to fi nd qualifi ed
applicants.
“I’ve been with the city of La
Grande for 28 years, and 20 to
25 years ago we would see 150
applications for one opening for
a police offi cer position — and
that has been trending in what I
feel is a negative direction for a
long time,” said La Grande Police
Chief Gary Bell.
Bell’s department is having
only slightly better luck hiring,
with nearly 15 qualifi ed appli-
cants vying for two open posi-
tions, he said, but the situation is
being made more diffi cult with an
increasing number of law enforce-
ment offi cers retiring or resigning.
“The last 18 to 24 months, we
have seen a lot of our long-time
employees — police offi cers —
retire, and so we have been doing
more hiring than what maybe we
would, or have over the course of
the last 15 to 20 years,” Bell said.
To attract lateral transfers —
poaching police offi cers from
other regions — Bell created a
$6,000 hiring bonus for certi-
fi ed experienced police offi cers,
hoping to draw in offi cers from
across the state. So far, that eff ort
See, Duty/Page A5
Trees for sale help fund Philly trip
Local schools selling Christmas
trees in downtown La Grande
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Downtown La
Grande became a lot more green over the
weekend — albeit temporarily.
Dozens of Christmas trees were set up
for sale on Friday, Nov. 26, at a downtown
La Grande cafe, The Local. The trees are
part of a fundraising eff ort for the Union
County Youth Heritage Group, the pro-
gram behind the annual “Philly Trip”
taken by Imbler and Elgin eighth grade
students who travel to Philadelphia and
other Eastern United States cities to visit
historic landmarks.
“It’s kind of a whole cultural American
history experience,” said Ken Patterson,
a volunteer with the program. “Unless
you’ve gone on the trip, you can’t really
appreciate it. Until you’ve actually gone,
then you’re like, ‘Wow, this is amazing.’”
Parents, students and volunteers
were all smiles while they unloaded the
Christmas cargo last week. Close to 100
trees were set up for sale in the courtyard
of The Local at 1508 Adams Avenue, as
patrons watched from inside the ice cream
and coff ee shop.
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified ......B4
Comics ...........B7
Crossword ....B4
Dear Abby ....B8
See, Trees/Page A5
Home .............B1
Horoscope ....B5
Letters ...........A4
Lottery ...........A2
THURSDAY
Obituaries .....A3
Opinion .........A4
Sports ............A7
Sudoku ..........B7
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Keira Counsell, right, and Karlee Patterson set up Christmas trees for
sale at The Local in downtown La Grande on Friday, Nov. 26, 2021.
The trees are being sold as a part of a fundraising campaign for the
Imbler and Elgin schools’ annual trip to Philadelphia.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
43 LOW
57/38
Cloudy
Partly sunny
NEW UNION BUSINESS OFFERING ANIMAL HIDE TANNING
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 140
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page 4A.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com