A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
On Dec. 7, 1941, the Empire
of Japan launched an air raid
on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii as well as tar-
gets in Malaya, Hong Kong,
Guam, the Philippines and
Wake Island; the United States
declared war against Japan the
next day.
In 1787, Delaware became
the first state to ratify the U.S.
Constitution.
In 1909, chemist Leo H.
Baekeland received a U.S.
patent for Bakelite, the first syn-
thetic plastic.
In 1917, during World War I,
the United States declared war
on Austria-Hungary.
In 1946, fire broke out at
the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta;
the blaze killed 119 people,
including hotel founder W.
Frank Winecoff.
In 1972, America’s last moon
mission to date was launched as
Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape
Canaveral.
In 1982, convicted murderer
Charlie Brooks Jr. became the
first U.S. prisoner to be exe-
cuted by injection, at a prison in
Huntsville, Texas.
In 1987, 43 people were killed
after a gunman aboard a Pacific
Southwest Airlines jetliner in
California apparently opened
fire on a fellow passenger, the
pilots and himself, causing the
plane to crash. Soviet leader
Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot
on American soil for the first
time, arriving for a Washington
summit with President Ronald
Reagan.
In 1988, a major earthquake
in the Soviet Union devastated
northern Armenia; official esti-
mates put the death toll at
25-thousand.
In 2001, Taliban forces
abandoned their last bastion
in Afghanistan, fleeing the
southern city of Kandahar.
In 2004, Hamid Karzai was
sworn in as Afghanistan’s first
popularly elected president.
In 2017, Democratic Sen. Al
Franken said he would resign
after a series of sexual harass-
ment allegations; he took
a parting shot at President
Donald Trump, describing him
as “a man who has bragged on
tape about his history of sexual
assault.” Republican Rep. Trent
Franks of Arizona said he would
resign, after revealing that he
discussed surrogacy with two
female staffers.
In 2018, the man who drove
his car into counterprotesters
at a 2017 white nationalist rally
in Virginia was convicted of
first-degree murder; a state jury
rejected defense arguments
that James Alex Fields Jr. acted
in self-defense.
Ten years ago: Rod Blago-
jevich, the ousted Illinois gov-
ernor whose three-year battle
against criminal charges
became a national spectacle,
was sentenced to 14 years in
prison. (A pardon from Pres-
ident Donald Trump freed
Blagojevich from prison in 2020,
after he had served eight years.)
Veteran character actor Harry
Morgan, 96, died in California.
Five years ago: Presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump
selected retired Marine Gen.
John Kelly to head the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security,
Oklahoma Attorney General
Scott Pruitt to lead the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency,
the former chief executive of
World Wrestling Entertainment,
Linda McMahon, to run the
Small Business Administration
and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to
be the new U.S. ambassador to
China. Time magazine named
Trump its Person of the Year.
LOCAL
‘A full-community event’
Festival of Trees
returns in person,
raises funds for
Soroptimists
Reward
offered for
information
on wolf
poisonings
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
The Observer
LA GRANDE — In
the season of giving, local
businesses and individ-
uals gave back to a good
cause during La Grande’s
annual Festival of Trees.
Guests packed the
Blue Mountain Confer-
ence Center on Friday,
Dec. 3, to bid on a variety
of decorated Christmas
trees and items to raise
money for the Soropti-
mist International of La
Grande, a nonprofit that
works to improve the
lives of women and girls
through social and eco-
nomic change. The orga-
nization also hosted a
Family Fun Day on Dec.
4, which included photos
with Santa Claus and a
number of activities for
children.
“It’s a full-community
event,” said Di Lyn Lars-
en-Hill, the co-chair of
the festival.
Nearly 300 indi-
viduals took part in
the 35th annual Fes-
tival of Trees auction,
which raised funds for
La Grande Soroptimist’s
work around the com-
munity. The auction
included 19 trees, each of
which included decora-
tions and goodies below
the tree. From Pend-
leton Round-Up tickets
and Girl Scout cookies to
hardware appliances, the
theme of each tree pre-
sented a unique aspect
of local businesses and
organizations.
Last year, during the
peak of the COVID-19
pandemic in 2020, the
event was held virtu-
ally. Despite the set-
back, the online fund-
raiser was a success. For
that reason, the Soropti-
mists established a hybrid
format this year in which
a variety of items were
up for bid online for the
LA GRANDE — Con-
servation and animal rights
groups are stepping forward to
help the Oregon State Police
solve a case involving eight
gray wolves that were fatally
poisoned in Union County
over the past year.
The groups are offering a
combined reward of $36,000
for information leading to
a conviction in the case,
according to a press release.
“Poisoning wildlife is a pro-
foundly dangerous and serious
crime, putting imperiled spe-
cies, companion animals
and people all at risk,” said
Bethany Cotton, conservation
director for Cascadia Wild-
lands. “We call on those with
information about this reckless
killing to come forward to pro-
tect Oregon’s wildlife and our
communities.”
The $36,000 in combined
rewards are being offered by
Wolves of the Rockies, Center
for Biological Diversity, Cas-
cadia Wildlands, Defenders of
Wildlife, Humane Society of
the United States, Northeast
Oregon Ecosystems, Oregon
Wild, Predator Defense and
Wild Earth Guardians.
“This is a cowardly and
despicable act,” said Brooks
Fahy, executive director of
Predator Defense, an Ore-
gon-based national wildlife
advocacy nonprofit. “It is abso-
lutely critical that the perpe-
trator of this crime be caught
and prosecuted to the full
extent of the law. The Oregon
State Police should aggres-
sively pursue all leads that
will help bring the individual
who carried out this atrocity to
justice.”
The poisoning case dates
back to February when Oregon
State Police reported troopers
from its Fish and Wildlife
Division division received
information from the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life about a dead collared wolf.
Troopers responded to the area
and found five dead wolves —
three males and two females.
It was later determined the
wolves were from the Cath-
erine Pack.
The wolves were southeast
of Mount Harris, within Union
County. The five wolves were
collected and transported to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice Forensics Lab in Ash-
land to determine the cause of
death. The U.S. Fish and Wild-
life Service Forensics Lab con-
cluded the wolves had been
poisoned.
Fish and Wildlife troopers
in March again received infor-
mation from ODFW per-
sonnel of a wolf collar emit-
ting a mortality signal in the
same general location. A
search of the area located a
deceased female wolf, which
was sent to the USFWS lab for
testing. The female wolf was
dispersing from the Keating
Pack.
Two more collared wolves
were found dead in Union
County after the initial inci-
dents. In April, a deceased
adult male wolf from the
Five Points Pack was located
west of Elgin, and in July a
young female wolf from the
Clark Creek Pack was discov-
ered northeast of La Grande.
Toxicology reports from the
USFWS lab confirmed the
presence of poison in each
wolf.
“We are furious and
appalled. These poisonings
are a significant blow to wolf
recovery in Oregon. Such a
targeted attack against these
incredible creatures is unac-
ceptable and we hope our
reward will help bring the
criminals who did this to jus-
tice,” said Sristi Kamal, senior
northwest representative for
Defenders of Wildlife.
davis carbaugh/The Observer
Kevin Loveland emcees the La Grande Festival of Trees on Friday, Dec. 4, 2021. This year’s event
auctioned off 19 decorated Christmas trees to a crowd of nearly 300.
weekend, while the Fes-
tival of Trees auction took
place in person.
Festival chair Shayla
Rollins said the added
space from moving the
non-tree items to a virtual
format is a trend that will
likely continue in years
to come. The added space
allowed for 270 attendees
to join the gala, which is
an increase of about 20
individuals from years
past.
“Since we put the auc-
tion stuff online, we had
more room,” she said.
“We could fit more tables
and have more trees.”
According to Lars-
en-Hill, the auction was
one of the most suc-
cessful overall fund-
raisers that the La Grande
Soroptimists have
hosted since the orga-
nization was founded
in La Grande in 1987.
Trees sold for anywhere
from around $1,000 to
a package from Legacy
Ford that sold for $6,500.
The tree included a
four-month demo of a
brand-new Ford Bronco.
All in all, local busi-
nesses and organizations
combined their efforts to
donate toward the Sorop-
timists’ cause. A multi-
tude of businesses funded
trees, as well as placing
the winning bids. Rollins
and Larsen-Hill noted the
importance of the con-
tinued local support.
“We see a lot of repeat
businesses coming in,”
Rollins said. “Even some
of the first-year busi-
nesses went above and
beyond this year.”
Christmas in July
The Festival of Trees
is the biggest fundraiser
of the year for La Grande
Soroptimists, but the
preparation begins well
before the holidays. The
group of 16 committee
members started planning
for the 2021 event in the
peak of summer.
It’s absolutely our big-
gest fundraising event,”
Rollins said. “We start in
the summer, around July.”
Larsen-Hill noted that
the Soroptimists have
smaller events and fund-
raisers throughout the
year, which helps the
organization put on the
Festival of Trees.
“We sell raffle tickets
and do a variety of activ-
ities to make this pos-
sible,” she said.
Kids take part in the
holiday fun
Following the gala and
tree auction, kids from
around the community
flocked to the conference
center for their own day
of fun and festivities on
Saturday, Dec. 4.
Children in attendance
could speak with Santa
about their wish lists and
take part in a number of
activities such as cookie
decorating and science
experiments. According
to Family Fun Day chair
Pat Wood, the Soropti-
mists found fun ways
to make the event more
pandemic-friendly. For
instance, instead of sit-
ting on Santa’s lap, kids
could come up to his
desk and drop off their
Christmas lists.
In Mrs. Claus’ kitchen,
all ages decorated
their own cookies with
frosting. Members of the
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity chemistry depart-
ment guided children
through science experi-
ments, where the partici-
pants created slime.
“Kids really look for-
ward to it and we’re able
to bring in canned goods,
which is the admission
for the event,” Wood said.
Larsen-Hill noted that
since the first Festival of
Trees in 1987, more than
$600,000 has been raised
for local community proj-
ects and scholarships.
“Our goal is to
empower women and
raise funds to help local
causes,” Larsen-Hill
said. “All the donations
go right back into the
community.”
Slip sliding away in Union County
LOTTERY
Friday, Dec. 3, 2021
Megamillions
22-45-48-58-61
megaball: 13
megaplier: 5
Jackpot: $122 million
Lucky Lines
1-8-12-16-18-24-26-31
Jackpot: $35,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 2-2-1-5
4 p.m.: 4-5-9-8
7 p.m.: 2-6-2-1
10 p.m.: 1-5-8-3
Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021
Powerball
10-40-45-56-67
Powerball: 2
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $280 million
Megabucks
13-15-18-23-25-44
Jackpot: $6.6 million
Lucky Lines
3-7-9-16-17-21-27-29
Jackpot: $36,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 6-8-6-2
4 p.m.: 5-4-4-2
7 p.m.: 9-8-3-8
10 p.m.: 3-0-0-7
Win for Life
16-31-46-69
Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021
Lucky Lines
2-8-10-14-17-23-28-29
Estimated jackpot: $37,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 9-6-1-4
4 p.m.: 9-9-5-7
7 p.m.: 8-1-2-5
10 p.m.: 7-9-2-5
TuESday, dEcEmBER 7, 2021
alex Wittwer/The Observer
A vehicle went off the Union-Cove Highway and landed on its side, one of several crashes reported in the Grande Ronde Valley
Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. Dispatch reported at least 20 calls during the morning hours due to roughly six different crashes on the
county’s slippery roads.
NEWS BRIEFS
Enterprise man dies
in single-vehicle
crash Dec. 5
WALLOWA
COUNTY — An Enter-
prise man died in a
traffic crash at around
5 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 5,
according to Oregon
State Police.
OSP and emergency
personnel responded to
a single-vehicle crash on
Highway 3 near milepost
13 at about 4:51 a.m.
The response team
found that a northbound
pickup driven by Chris-
topher Thacker, 36, of
Enterprise, drifted across
the highway and eventu-
ally crashed into a tree
about 200 feet from the
road. Thacker was pro-
nounced dead at the
scene.
OSP, Enterprise Fire,
Wallowa County Emer-
gency Medical Services
and Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
responded to the crash.
City suspends
downtown parking
enforcement
LA GRANDE —
The city of La Grande
announced it is suspending
enforcement of the two-
hour downtown parking
limit.
The suspension will
be in place through
Christmas Day, Dec.
25. The suspension is in
place to make it easier
for people to shop for the
holidays in downtown
La Grande, according to
La Grande City Manager
Robert Strope.
— The Observer
MORE INFORMATION
Anyone with information about
the poisonings is asked to contact
OSP through the Turn-In Poachers
Hotline at 1-800-452-7888, or email
TIP@state.or.us, referencing case
number SP21-033033.