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THURSDAY EDITION
December 16, 2021
La Grande,
Pendleton
schools back
in the same
conference
Pendleton will join
Tigers, Baker City,
Ontario in 4A Greater
Oregon League
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pend-
leton Athletic Director Mike
Somnis knew about six
weeks ago the Bucks were
destined to drop from 5A
to 4A and join the Greater
Oregon League.
The executive board of
the Oregon School Activi-
ties Association made that
fi nal Monday, Dec. 13, when
it approved the last recom-
mendation of the Classifi ca-
tion and Redistricting Com-
mittee. The decision will
bring changes to several
leagues throughout the state
starting with the 2022 fall
season.
“I think everyone is
excited and ready to make
the move,” Somnis said. “We
have been very competitive
at the 5A level. The reality of
it is, with Hermiston going to
the WIAA, and Hood River
going to 5A and to the North-
west Oregon Conference, if
we stayed, we would be in
the Bend league. It will be a
seamless fi t.”
Pendleton will join GOL
teams La Grande, Baker City
and Ontario. McLoughlin
is moving down to the 3A
Eastern Oregon League.
La Grande and Baker
are ecstatic that Pendleton is
joining the GOL.
“We are very pleased
to have Pendleton in our
league,” La Grande AD
Darren Goodman said. “It
will help strengthen our
league. Everyone will have to
raise their game, for sure.”
Baker AD Buell Gonzales
added there is now more bal-
ance in the league.
“The GOL will defi nitely
be more competitive now,”
Gonzales added. “The issue
with the scheduling is still
there with just four teams.
Losing Mac-Hi and gaining
Pendleton, our league is more
competitive and balanced.
We didn’t want to lose La
Grande. This worked out the
best for everyone involved.”
See, OSAA/Page A5
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald, File
Rocky Mountain elk munch on alfalfa hay during a previous winter at the Elkhorn Wildlife Area feeding site along Anthony Creek west of North Powder.
The elk arrive
Snow or no, the animals
instinctively know when
state-run feeding sites
are closed to the public
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
N
ORTH POWDER — Elk don’t
need calendars.
Dan Marvin is convinced of
that.
He can’t vouch for the animals’ ability
to recognize, say, Christmas or Indepen-
dence Day or any other holiday observed
by humans.
But elk certainly know when
December arrives.
Some elk, anyway.
Marvin can attest only to the chrono-
logical acumen of the elk that congregate
each year at the Elkhorn Wildlife Area.
‘They know where that feed is’
That’s the series of 10 elk-feeding sta-
tions, ranging from Old Auburn Lane in the
south to Shaw Mountain in Union County,
operated by the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife.
Marvin is starting his fourth winter as the
Elkhorn Wildlife Area manager.
The publicly owned portions of the Wild-
life Area (some stations are on private
land for which ODFW has leases) close to
public entry on Dec. 1, and remained closed
through April 10.
Marvin said elk start to show up at some
of the feed sites — most notably the meadow
along Anthony Creek, west of North Powder
— on Dec. 1. And the animals stroll into
the meadow even in years, such as the cur-
rent one, when the fall has been mild, snow
is scarce and the elk have no particular need
for handouts of alfalfa hay.
“These elk, they know where that feed
is,” Marvin said on Friday morning, Dec. 10.
“They have a phenomenal memory of where
they’ve wintered in the past, and they can
migrate for many miles overnight to be here
at the feed site the next morning.”
To be clear, Marvin and his crew dis-
tribute several hundred tons of alfalfa to
elk each winter not because the animals
wouldn’t survive without the supplemental
feed. Elk are tough and hardy, capable of
digging through deep snow to get at the
meager winter forage.
See, Elk/Page A5
La Grande discusses crime, homelessness
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
About 10 downtown La
Grande business owners,
city and police leaders and
other community mem-
bers met Tuesday, Dec. 14,
to discuss concerns over
a rise in crime and home-
lessness in the downtown
area.
The hour-long meeting,
which was open to the
public, was organized
by the city of La Grande
and was held at Brother
Bear Cafe. City Man-
ager Robert Strope, Police
Chief Gary Bell, Parks
and Recreation Director
Stu Spence and Economic
Development Director
Timothy Bishop attended
the meeting to open a
dialogue for solutions to
recent concerns.
“It’s an interesting
dynamic. I think the mis-
sion tonight is that we treat
these people as humans,
which is what they are,”
Spence said. “They have a
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer
La Grande Police Chief speaks with downtown business owners at
Brother Bear Cafe regarding recent concerns over crime and loiter-
ing at Max Square on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. Bell was joined by City
Manager Robert Strope, Parks and Recreation Director Stu Spence
and Economic Development Director Timothy Bishop.
right to do certain things,
but they don’t have a right
to do criminal activity.”
The meeting follows a
letter of concern signed
by numerous downtown
entities over reports of
crime and loitering, as
well as a letter in response
from Bell on Nov. 29. The
issues have been brought
up at city council meetings
and have caught the atten-
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tion of a number of down-
town residents.
“We genuinely have a
safe community. It’s safe
for you to take a walk at
night. But, a component of
public safety is also per-
ception and what is felt,”
Bell said. “That contrib-
utes to what we talk about
as ‘livability.’”
The downtown busi-
ness owners in attendance
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gave examples of nega-
tive interactions that their
business or its customers
have experienced.
A handful said they
have witnessed drug usage
at Max Square, which they
found alarming. One busi-
ness owner mentioned
that a car was broken into,
while another spoke about
a time in which a car was
stolen. While those in
attendance agreed on sup-
porting resources for those
in need, they collectively
emphasized that the issue
is negatively impacting
their businesses and the
overall state of downtown
La Grande. In addition,
several spoke up regarding
ways the city can address
the worries.
Aaron Grigg, the
mental health director
for the Center for Human
Development, gave input
and took questions at the
meeting. Grigg discussed
trends within the com-
munity that CHD has
observed as well as local
resources and options
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Friday
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A little snow
A morning fl urry
TACTICS FOR TAKING A TURKEY
available for homeless
individual.
“One thing we’ve
learned is that if, over
time, we can develop that
relationship with those
individuals, oftentimes
it will come to the point
where they decide that it’s
time to get help,” he said.
“Who are they going to go
to when they need help?
They’re going to go to the
ones that they trust.”
Grigg and Bell both
said the majority of home-
less individuals in La
Grande are local to the
area. A common trend
in the meeting was Bell
and Grigg pointing out
ways that CHD and law
enforcement are looking to
encourage the use of local
resources to individuals
who may be causing con-
cern in La Grande.
“We have more
resources locally, in the
span of my career, than
we’ve ever had,” Bell said.
“But, we also have more
See, Crime/Page A5
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 147
3 sections, 37 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com