LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1473, astronomer Nicolaus
Copernicus was born in Torun,
Poland.
In 1807, former Vice Pres-
ident Aaron Burr, accused of
treason, was arrested in the Mis-
sissippi Territory, in present-day
Alabama. (Burr was acquitted
at trial.)
In 1878, Thomas Edison
received a U.S. patent for “an
improvement in phonograph or
speaking machines.”
In 1942, during World War
II, President Franklin D. Roos-
evelt signed Executive Order
9066, which paved the way for
the relocation and internment
of people of Japanese ancestry,
including U.S.-born citizens.
In 1945, Operation Detach-
ment began during World War
II as some 30,000 U.S. Marines
began landing on Iwo Jima,
where they commenced a suc-
cessful month-long battle to
seize control of the island from
Japanese forces.
In 1959, an agreement was
signed by Britain, Turkey and
Greece granting Cyprus its
independence.
In 1976, President Gerald R.
Ford, calling the issuing of the
internment order for people of
Japanese ancestry in 1942 “a
sad day in American history,”
signed a proclamation formally
confirming its termination.
In 1985, the British soap
opera “EastEnders” debuted on
BBC Television.
In 1986, the U.S. Senate
approved, 83-11, the Genocide
Convention, an international
treaty outlawing “acts com-
mitted with intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious
group,” nearly 37 years after
the pact was first submitted for
ratification.
In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the
last of China’s major Communist
revolutionaries, died at age 92.
In 2003, an Iranian military
plane carrying 275 members of
the elite Revolutionary Guards
crashed in southeastern Iran,
killing all on board.
In 2019, President Donald
Trump directed the Pentagon to
develop plans for a new Space
Force within the Air Force,
accepting less than the full-
fledged department he had
wanted.
Today’s birthdays: Singer
Smokey Robinson is 82. Actor
Carlin Glynn is 82. Former
Sony Corp. Chairman Howard
Stringer is 80. Singer Lou
Christie is 79. Rock musician
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath,
Heaven and Hell) is 74. Actor
Stephen Nichols is 71. Author
Amy Tan is 70. Actor Jeff Dan-
iels is 67. Rock singer-musician
Dave Wakeling is 66. Talk show
host Lorianne Crook is 65. Actor
Ray Winstone is 65. Actor Leslie
David Baker is 64. NFL Commis-
sioner Roger Goodell is 63. Brit-
ain’s Prince Andrew is 62. Tennis
Hall of Famer Hana Mandlikova
is 60. Singer Seal is 59. Actor Jes-
sica Tuck is 59. Country musician
Ralph McCauley (Wild Horses) is
58. Rock musician Jon Fishman
(Phish) is 57. Actor Justine
Bateman is 56. Actor Benicio Del
Toro is 55. Actor Bellamy Young
is 52. Rock musician Daniel
Adair is 47. Pop singer-actor
Haylie Duff is 37. Actor Ari-
elle Kebbel is 37. Christian rock
musician Seth Morrison (Skillet)
is 34. Actor Luke Pasqualino
is 32. Actor Victoria Justice is
29. Actor David Mazouz (TV:
“Gotham”) is 21. Actor Millie
Bobby Brown is 18.
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SaTuRday, FEBRuaRy 19, 2022
Finding an audience
Eastern Oregon
University
students display
artwork at Cook
Memorial Library
Water issue
forces
board
to act
School board declares
emergency due to
drainage problem in
locker rooms
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity and Cook Memorial
Library, La Grande, are
collaborating to display
student artwork to the
public.
The library installed
the university’s fourth
annual student art show
at the beginning of Feb-
ruary, displaying pieces
from the school’s art pro-
gram. The showing will
remain on display at the
library through March 29.
“It’s great for students
in the art program to have
an audience that is more
than just their peers,” said
Susan Murrell, associate
professor of art at Eastern
Oregon University.
The collection
includes 12 pieces of art
from 10 students in the
art program at Eastern.
The artwork comes from
two classes, painting and
screen printing.
Art student Corrina
Stadler, whose work is
included in the show,
helped organize the
event. Murrell noted that
part of the art show is
learning the ins and outs
of putting an exhibition
together.
According to Murrell,
the winter months are
chosen to display the art-
work because it works as
a bridge between terms.
The art show, which was
installed at the library by
teen services librarian
Celine Vandervlugt,
serves as a showcase for
IMBLER
By DICK MASON
The Observer
Photos by alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
“Floating,” by Corrina Stadler, above, and “Island in the Pond,” by Kendrick Johnson, below, hang
among other artwork by Eastern Oregon University students on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, at Cook
Memorial Library, La Grande. The annual EOU student art show, on display through March 29, is
free and open to the public.
students’ work from the
previous term.
“We jumped at the
chance to work with
Celine,” Murrell said.
“It’s advantageous for us
to have displays of local
art in our community.”
The art classes com-
bine a mix of experience
levels, from beginners
to more accomplished.
Murrell said the screen
printing class combines
elements of drawing
and photography as well
as using image-editing
software. The program
typically sees a mix of
art majors and non art
majors.
“I think it’s very
accessible to a wide
variety of skill sets and
interests,” she said. “It’s
a good class for stu-
dents who might not have
as strong of a drawing
background.”
The artwork is dis-
played throughout the
main lobby area of Cook
Memorial Library, 2006
Fourth St.
Murrell noted that the
EOU student art show at
the library accomplishes
two things.
“It’s nice for (art stu-
dents) to have a more
general audience,” she
said, “and it allows the
community to see what
is going on in the art
program.”
Snow forecast for Presidents Day Weekend
Snowfall will be significant
in mountain areas near
Meacham, Tollgate
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A snow-filled
Presidents Day Weekend is in the
forecast for some Northeastern
Oregon residents.
The National Weather Service
is projecting significant snowfall
will hit portions of the region this
weekend. The forecast says that
from Saturday, Feb. 19, through
Tuesday, Feb. 22, Tollgate will
receive 12-18 inches of snow and
Meacham will get 6-8 inches.
Snowfall in the Grande Ronde and
Wallowa valleys should be much
lighter. La Grande and Joseph are
projected to receive only 1-2 inches
of snow during the same period.
The snowfall will be provided
by a northerly weather system
moving south.
“It will be coming in from
the Gulf of Alaska,” said Rob
Brooks, a meteorologist with
the National Weather Service,
Pendleton.
Brooks said the high pres-
sure system over Northeastern
Oregon, which had been keeping
storms out of the region for about
a week, is changing position,
allowing a cold front to “dive in.”
The meteorologist said
snow levels will drop from the
5,000-to-3,500-foot range the
evening of Feb. 19 and to the
2,500-to-1,500-foot category
early on the morning of Feb. 20.
Snow is likely in La Grande
the evening of Feb. 19, there is a
70% likelihood of more during
the morning and afternoon of
Feb. 20. The possibility of snow
showers in La Grande will be
40% the evening of Feb. 20 and
for much of Presidents Day,
Monday, Feb. 21.
The likelihood of snow in
Enterprise will be 30% the eve-
ning of Feb. 19, 50% most of the
day on Feb. 20, 30% the eve-
ning of Feb. 20 and 30% on Feb.
21, according to the National
Weather Service.
The weather in La Grande
and Enterprise throughout the
weekend and into next week will
often be chilly and sometimes
will drop into single digits. Low
temperatures in La Grande are
expected to be 33 degrees on
Feb. 19, 27 degrees on Feb. 20, 13
degrees on Feb. 21 and 6 degrees
on Feb. 22. Enterprise’s low tem-
peratures are forecast to be 24
degrees on Feb. 19, 17 degrees on
Feb. 20, 4 degrees on Feb. 21 and
minus 4 degrees on Feb. 22.
High temperatures for La
Grande are expected to be 48
degrees on Feb. 19, 37 degrees
on Feb. 20, 31 degrees on Feb. 21
and 21 degrees on Feb. 22. The
National Weather Service is pro-
jecting that Enterprise’s high tem-
peratures will be 41 degrees on
Feb. 19, 31 degrees on Feb. 20, 26
degrees on Feb. 21 and 17 degrees
on Feb. 22.
NEWS BRIEFS
Enterprise set to distribute
ARPA funds
ENTERPRISE — The city of
Enterprise is getting ready to dole
out the more than $443,000 it has
received under the federal Amer-
ican Rescue Plan Act distributed
because of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, the council resolved at its
meeting Monday, Feb. 14.
The council passed a resolu-
tion to disperse the funds to sev-
eral departments, according to city
Administrator Lacey McQuead.
She explained the city has place-
holders for the money in the gen-
eral fund, the water fund and the
sewer fund during the 2021-22
budget season.
Also, McQuead said the coun-
cil’s prior ARPA Committee rec-
ommended in June to spend
$32,794.87 for new Toughbook
Computers for all Enterprise
Police officers, as well as mounting
brackets for the vehicles and
docking stations for the offices and
a new server.
She also said the ARPA Com-
mittee will send out an email in the
next couple of weeks asking city
department managers to submit
requests for the use of the ARPA
funds.
In another matter, Angela Mart,
president of the Wallowa Moun-
tains Bicycle Club, said she and the
club’s vice president, Zeb Burke,
are doubtful that there is suffi-
cient room for their proposed pump
track in the previously considered
area next to the city park. Mart and
Burke had taken measurements of
the land needed for the track before
coming to that conclusion.
McQuead said Mart planned
to meet with Public Works Super-
visor Shawn Young to look at a
possible location by the city well
on the corner of Fourth Street and
the road that goes to the Ant Flat
Landfill. McQuead said Mart and
Young discussed the possibility
Feb. 15 and Mart was going to dis-
cuss it further with Burke.
Wallowa City Council fills
vacant seat
WALLOWA — The Wallowa
City Council is back up to full
strength, now that Paul Doherty
was appointed to fill a vacancy at
the council’s meeting Tuesday, Feb.
15, Mayor Gary Hulse said.
Doherty replaces long-time
Councilman and Council President
Joe Town, who retired Nov. 16 for
health reasons.
Hulse said Doherty will serve
until the November election, at
which time he can opt
to run for a permanent
seat on the council.
In another matter,
the council heard an
update on the new
Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital clinic
Hulse
planned for the
city. Dan McCarthy, of the Wal-
lowa County Healthcare District,
showed plans for the clinic and
gave an approximate time line
for its completion.
Hulse said the council had pre-
viously vacated a portion of Ninth
Street to allow the clinic to refur-
bish the old Fox Archery building
and add onto it for the clinic. It is
to be located at the intersection of
Highway 82 and the truck route
through town.
McCarthy told the council it
is hoped to have the clinic up and
running in August or September,
Hulse said.
— EO Media Group
IMBLER — The Imbler
School Board declared an emer-
gency on Tuesday, Feb. 15, to
help it address a water drainage
problem in the boys and girls
locker rooms at Imbler High
School.
Emergency status will reduce
the time needed for the school
district to hire a contractor to cor-
rect the problem, according to
interim Imbler School District
Superintendent Doug Hislop.
“It will expe-
dite the process,”
Hislop said.
The drainage
problem has
forced the school
district to prohibit
the use of the
showers in the
“I don’t
locker rooms
want it
throughout
the school
to be a
year. Hislop
said the lack
problem
of access to
Randy
showers pres-
ents a potential
Waite has
health issue for
athletes such
to deal
as wrestlers.
with.”
Hislop said
that when
Doug Hislop,
wrestlers are
interim
working out
Imbler School
on or com-
peting on mats
District
superintendent
they can pick
up bacteria or
other contam-
inants that could lead to health
issues if the athletes do not have
an opportunity to wash them-
selves by showering after prac-
ticing or competing.
So far this has not been a
problem this season but Hislop
fears that it could become an issue
if wrestlers continue to not be
able to shower. Hislop noted that
IHS’s mats are regularly sanitized
but he said that contaminants
could still be an issue because
sometimes people walk on mats
with their shoes on, which can
soil mats.
The drainage problem in the
locker rooms is caused because
portions of the concrete floors,
which were installed when IHS’s
building was constructed in 1977,
are sinking. This floors are not
level and as a result when stu-
dents take showers much of the
water does not go down a drain
but rather flows over to a wall.
Hislop noted that over time, a
wall that is always moist can
develop mold.
Hislop, who is also IHS’s
wrestling coach, is hopeful that
the Imbler School District’s insur-
ance company will cover the
cost of renovations, which would
allow water from showers to
again drain properly.
Imbler School Board member
Ken Patterson said pipes, flooring
and more may have to be replaced
as part of the renovation work.
“It could be a major rebuild,”
he said.
Patterson is also hopeful the
school district’s insurance com-
pany will cover the cost of the
work. If not, Patterson said,
money from the school district’s
capital improvement fund will
have to be taken to pay for the
repair work. Patterson said ide-
ally he would like the district to
be able to use money from the
capital improvement fund for the
construction of new school struc-
tures. However, he said the dis-
trict may have no choice but to
spend use capital improvement
fund money on the locker room
project because of its importance.
Hislop, who is completing
a one-year stint as the Imbler
School District’s interim super-
intendent, wants to have the
problem taken care of before his
successor, Randy Waite, succeeds
him on July 1. Waite, assistant
principal at Phoenix High School
in Jackson County, was named
Imbler’s next superintendent on
Tuesday, Feb. 15.
“I don’t want it to be a problem
Randy Waite has to deal with,”
Hislop said.