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BILL IN LEGISLATURE WOULD ALLOCATE $7 MILLION FOR WILDLIFE CROSSINGS | OUTDOORS & REC, B1
February 19, 2022
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
District off ers look at possible future athletic-academic center
Artistic renderings of
multi-use building
released ahead of May
vote on proposed bond
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Less imagi-
nation is now needed to visualize
a major addition proposed in the
La Grande School District.
The La Grande School Dis-
trict has released artistic ren-
derings of how the exterior and
interior of a proposed new ath-
letic and academic center on the
grounds of La Grande Middle
School would appear if voters
approve a $4.845 million bond
in May for its construction. The
structure would replace the cur-
rent Annex building, which was
built more than eight decades
ago, and the adjacent mainte-
nance facility.
Joe Justice, a member of the
bond’s political action com-
mittee, Citizens for School Ren-
ovation, said the renderings will
give its campaign a boost.
“People are visual,” he said,
noting that a “picture helps
people understand” what is
being proposed.
Oregon could
be ‘masks off ’
by March 20
La Grande School District/Contributed Photo
This artist’s rendering, released in February 2022, shows what the proposed new
multi-use building at La Grande Middle School would look like.
The new building, according
to preliminary plans, would
have two full-size gyms, locker
rooms and two classrooms. The
current Annex building has a
single full-size gym as its pri-
2022 STARTED WET, BUT
DROUGHT
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The fi rst day of
spring could be a new beginning
in the COVID-19 pandemic, with
the likely lifting of indoor-mask
mandates, a state report forecast
on Thursday, Feb. 17.
The drop in daily hospitaliza-
tions from the omicron wave of
the coronavirus is accelerating and
is expected to fall below 400 per
day by March 20, according to the
latest forecast by Oregon Health &
Science University.
Gov. Kate Brown said Feb.
7 that she would lift the state’s
indoor-mask mandate when hos-
pitalizations fell below 400 or no
later than March 31. At the time,
the OHSU forecast put the hospi-
talization goal at the far end of the
timeline.
But the incredibly rapid rise
of the omicron variant to record
numbers of cases is now being
matched by its decline.
“Oregonians are doing the right
thing, and it’s paying off ,” said
Dr. Peter Graven, OHSU’s lead
forecaster.
Brown had not yet commented
on the new forecast as of Feb. 17.
The forecast was released late in
the afternoon.
The OHSU report cautioned
Oregonians to not get ahead of
current public health recommen-
dations. The new forecast date is
still more than a month away, not
today.
“It will be important to keep it
up if we’re going to have a more
manageable impact on our health
system,” Graven said.
Dropping safeguards early
could slow the decline of omicron
and push the end of the mask man-
date closer to the March 31 date.
“This doesn’t mean that we’re
out of the woods,” Graven said.
WORRIES
LINGER
Dry January aggravates dry conditions
across Northeastern Oregon
mary feature, one used by
middle school physical educa-
tion classes plus other classes
and the community.
“That gym has gotten a lot of
use. A lot of kids have benefi ted
from the facility. However, we
need a more modern building for
the future,” Justice said, adding
that the current building would
not be torn down until the new
one was built because it is used
so much by the middle school.
Preliminary plans call for
the new multi-use building to
be near the middle school’s
greenhouses.
See, Bond/Page A7
By KATY NESBITT
For EO Media Group
P
ENDLETON — December and January
storms set up the winter of 2022 to be cold
and wet, but several weeks without sig-
nifi cant snow or rain are creating concerns of
another drought year.
Northeastern Oregon is faring better than
Central and Southern Oregon, with cold tem-
peratures preventing the early January snow-
fall from melting. Snow in the last few days has
helped inch up snowpack and snow water equiv-
alent levels for the Blue and Wallowa mountains.
According to the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service website, monthly stream-
fl ow and reservoir conditions for January in the
Umatilla-Walla Walla-Willow Basin were above
average. Two bodies of water In the southern
region of the basin near Heppner are consider-
ably higher than the rest of the basin: Willow
Creek is at 187% and Rhea Creek is at 142% of
the 30-year median.
See, Drought/Page A7
Weeks of subfreezing temperatures
have held snow in the higher elevations
of Northeastern Oregon, as is evident in
this February 2022 photo of the Wallowa
Mountains. Despite reasonable snow-
pack levels in the high country, however,
most of the region is still facing severe
drought conditions.
Katy Nesbitt/For EO Media Group
See, Masks/Page A7
Campus food drive aims to combat local food insecurity
EOU students and faculty unite to collect
food and financial donations
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon University
community is doing its part
to make sure those in need
have food on the table.
The university is
halfway into its month-
long annual campus food
drive, which is on pace to
reach its donation goals.
The food drive is aimed
to not only help the local
community but students
and faculty on campus.
“It all goes back here,”
said Kate Gekeler, admin-
istrative program assis-
tant in EOU’s Offi ce of
Regional Outreach and
Innovation. “We are one of
the biggest places that goes
out and really tries to rally
the troops and build up that
supply.”
Gekeler, who is in her
WEATHER
INDEX
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Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
TUESDAY
fi rst year as the food drive’s
director, helped organize
the event alongside eight
regularly volunteering stu-
dents and others looking
to get involved on campus.
The food drive, which has
occurred for more than 20
consecutive years, began
Thursday, Feb. 3, and con-
cludes March 2.
Prior to Gekeler, Bill
Grigsby served as the food
drive’s campus coordinator
for roughly 15 years and
helped pass the torch to the
next wave of campus lead-
ership and students. What
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started as an
assignment in
an upper-di-
vision anthro-
pology and
sociology
class has
Gekeler
evolved into
a campus-wide eff ort.
“Our campus commu-
nity has been very gen-
erous over the years,”
Grigsby said. “We always
fi nd building coordinators
and our shipping depart-
ment helps us get the food
loaded and sent out to
the local food banks in a
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
34 LOW
37/27
Bit of rain, snow
A little snow
EOU SCIENCE JOURNAL RECEIVES AWARDS
timely manner. It has been
a pleasure to be part of this
cause and work with other
like-minded folk.”
All hands on deck
In this year’s rendi-
tion of the campus food
drive, the university set
the goal of collecting
1,000 pounds of goods and
$5,000 in funds. According
to Gekeler, the food drive
at the halfway mark has
reached 95% of the food
goal and 68% of the
See, Food/Page A7
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 22
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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observer.com.
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com