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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2022)
INSIDE LA GRANDE FOOTBALL, GIRLS SOCCER HAUL IN ALL-STATE HONORS | January 8, 2022 SPORTS, A7 WEEKEND EDITION $1.50 Contract for MERA logging awarded Forest management work at MERA could start in less than a week By DICK MASON The Observer LA GRANDE — A contro- versial plan for forest manage- ment in the Red Apple portion of the Mount Emily Recreation Area will go forward, but over a longer timeline. The Union County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday, Jan. 5, to award ReedCo For- estry a contract for the project, which will include some logging in the 300-acre Red Apple area of MERA. The contract awarded will pay the Union County-based business $500 an acre for its work. The Red Apple area is fi lled with popular trails for hiking and mountain biking and other non- motorized activities. Its users have expressed concern that while fi re prevention and forest health is paramount, the proposed project could damage the area’s trails and landscape. The bid awarded calls for ReedCo to do most of the thin- ning and removal of fuels this winter and in the winter of 2022- 23. The original plans were for it all to be done this winter. The bidding process for the work was postponed to allow Union County offi cials more time to take public input on the project. Sean Chambers, Union Coun- ty’s parks manager, said he will meet with Jesse Reed, the owner of ReedCo Forestry, to discuss plans for his company’s work. “The work could start as soon as the middle of next week,” he said. Chambers said the two-year timeframe will reduce the neg- ative impacts of the project. He said it is best to do forest manage- ment work in the winter when the ground is harder due to freezing conditions and there is snow cover. This reduces the chance of equipment damaging the land. “Having an extended work window will allow for protection of trails and allow for open public access during the spring and summer without interference with any operations,” he said. ReedCo Forestry was the lone bidder for the project. The com- pany is familiar with MERA. See, MERA/Page A5 Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File Union County Circuit Judge Thomas B. Powers presides over arraignments in the county courthouse on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. In short supply Some Northeastern Oregon counties grappling with a shortage of deputy district attorneys By ALEX WITTWER EO Media Group LA GRANDE — Counties across Eastern Oregon have struggled over the past few years to hire attorneys to pros- ecute criminal charges, and offi cials believe a variety of factors, including uncompeti- tive salaries, have contributed to the vacant positions. Wallowa County is bereft of a deputy district attorney for its already strained staff . Morrow County and Grant County each have only a dis- trict attorney to handle cases. Umatilla County has just fi ve prosecutors — including the district attorney — instead of the normal 10 attorneys. Union County has fared better, but even its offi ce is down one deputy district attorney. Only Baker County has a fully staff ed prosecution team. Every other county in Northeastern Oregon has posi- tions open for deputy attor- neys. Those positions have been hard to fi ll, and in some cases have been unfi lled for at least three years. Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter has had an open position since 2018 — except a brief period when a prosecutor fresh out of Carpenter Frolander McDaniel law school worked for a short stint before leaving to become a local public defender. Car- penter remains the county’s sole prosecutor. “Following his departure, I had no confi dence that I would be able to fi nd a replacement,” Carpenter wrote in an email, “especially knowing that areas such as Deschutes and Mult- nomah, which pay much better than northeastern counties can, had numerous openings and I would not be able to com- plete with them for quality applicants.” Carpenter had an agree- ment with Grant County that he would serve as county counsel in return for funding for a deputy district attorney position; before then, the role was funded through a grant. Unable to locate a suit- able attorney to fi ll the role as deputy, he resigned from his position as counselor in Feb- ruary 2020. Likewise, Wallowa County District Attorney Rebecca Fro- lander has had an open posi- tion for three years. She was Primus Nelson the deputy prosecutor there before she was elected as dis- trict attorney. “From 2018 up until we revamped the position in the fall of 2018, I received two applications,” Frolander said, “but before I could even get them interviewed they took jobs across the state.” For a long while after Fro- lander became district attorney in 2012, grants funded the deputy district attorney posi- tion in Wallowa County. But it sat vacant for an extended period, and that grant money had to be returned and the position remains open. The paper chase Data from the Oregon State Bar during the past decade show the number of exam- inees per year steadily drop- ping — approximately 12 less attorneys each year pass the bar based on a simple linear regression model. The exam has not become more diffi cult over time, but fewer tests are being taken. In 2020 the pandemic ush- ered in a “diploma privilege,” which allowed newly gradu- ated law students to bypass the bar entirely and receive their license — a fi rst for Oregon. But even then, only 343 attorneys were minted in Oregon that year. It was the lowest number of admissions since 1972 when 310 attorneys passed the bar exam. Also contributing to the lawyer shortage is a higher number of lawyers retiring or leaving the fi eld. According to a 2017 economic survey released by the Oregon State Bar, nearly 20% of respondents said they planned on retiring within the next fi ve years — or by 2022. Additionally, the average age of practicing law- yers was 47 according to the survey. But perhaps the biggest reason why lawyers have given the cold shoulder to Eastern Oregon attorney offi ces is that salaries in the rural wild west don’t compete with those in metropolitan areas. According to the eco- nomic survey from the Oregon State Bar, the gap is signifi - cant. The 2017 survey showed an Oregon lawyer could expect an average salary of $105,000 per year. However, See, Shortage/Page A6 Largest wave of pandemic thus far hits state Oregon could ration medical care as case count spikes By GARY A. WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon is on a “red alert” of the growing wave of the omicron variant of COVID-19 that pushed the daily new case count to 10,451 Friday, Jan. 7, eclipsing the records set over the past four days. “Once again, COVID-19 has regrouped and is marching across Oregon,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state chief epidemiolo- gist, in a Friday press call. With the new wave fore- cast to peak on Jan. 27 with 1,650 people in the hos- pital, the Oregon Health Authority issued a “crisis care” protocol to guide doc- tors on prioritizing possibly life-or-death care. Based on a model already used by Wash- ington and other states, TUESDAY See, Spike/Page A6 WEATHER INDEX Classified ......B3 Comics ...........B5 Crossword ....B3 Dear Abby ....B6 patients who would not sur- vive if discharged have top priority. Patients already under care take precedence over newly arriving cases of the same level. If a choice needs to be made between two patients in identical medical situations, the choice will be made at random using a system on OHA’s website. “This is a very diffi - cult topic to consider and Horoscope ....B4 Local...............A2 Lottery ...........A2 Obituaries .....A3 Opinion .........A4 Outdoors ......B1 Sports ............A7 Sudoku ..........B5 Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File Grande Ronde Hospital house supervisor Danita Thamert answers a phone in the hospital’s ICU on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. Oregon is on a “red alert” of the growing wave of the omicron variant of COVID-19 that pushed the daily new case count to 10,451 Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Sunday 25 LOW 33/23 Partly cloudy Mostly sunny PAINT, HARDWARE AND A NOODLE SHOP CONTACT US 541-963-3161 Issue 3 2 sections, 14 pages La Grande, Oregon Email story ideas to news@lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page A4. Online at lagrandeobserver.com