LOCAL
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2022
PRODUCTION ISSUES
THE OBSERVER — A3
Due to production issues, the Saturday, Feb. 19, Observer was printed missing two pages. The stories on this page did not run in their entirety and are being reprinted here.
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 District
has released artistic renderings
of how the exterior and interior
of a proposed new athletic 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 current Annex
building, which was built more
than eight decades ago, and the
adjacent maintenance facility.
Joe Justice, a member of the
bond’s political action committee,
Citizens for School Renovation,
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.
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 primary feature,
one used by middle school phys-
ical education 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.
The proposed athletic and aca-
demic center has been a pop-
ular topic since Wednesday, Jan.
12, when the La Grande School
Board unanimously passed a res-
olution giving voters a chance to
approve or reject a bond for the
facility in the May election.
Passage of the proposed bond
would not raise the total school
taxes paid by property owners,
Justice said, because of the recent
refi nancing of the 20-year $31.5
million bond voters approved in
2014 for capital construction and
maintenance.
The building would be a
pre-engineered metal structure
that would be available for public
use and would meet Americans
with Disabilities Act standards,
which the current Annex building
does not.
The aging Annex building is
adjacent to the district’s main-
tenance, facilities and grounds
structure — built in 1911 — that
would also be torn down if the
bond is approved by voters. The
district’s maintenance, facilities
and grounds services would be
moved to a 10,500-square-foot
structure the school district would
rent on Adams Avenue at the
Campus food drive aims to
combat local food insecurity
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 dona-
tion goals. The food drive is
aimed to not only help the
local community but stu-
dents and faculty on campus.
“It all goes back here,”
said Kate Gekeler, adminis-
trative program assistant 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
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
started as an assignment in
an upper-division anthro-
pology and sociology class
has evolved into a campus-
wide eff ort.
“Our campus community
has been very generous over
the years,” Grigsby said.
“We always fi nd building
coordinators and our ship-
ping department helps us
get the food loaded and sent
out to the local food banks
in a 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 rendition
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 monetary goal.
The month-long event
is a part of a larger state-
wide month of giving ini-
tiative, which targets food
insecurity in Oregon.
Eastern partners closely
with Community Connec-
tion of Northeast Oregon,
which assists in distributing
the food throughout Union
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Way to Power
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Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Organizers and volunteers with the Eastern Oregon University annu-
al food drive pose for a group photo outside Loso Hall on Thursday,
Feb. 17, 2022. The group is nearing its goal of collecting 1,000 pounds
of goods and $5,000 in cash to donate to local food banks.
County. The food drive also
gives back to students and
faculty at the university who
could benefi t.
A big emphasis for
Gekeler has been student
involvement, which she says
has been instrumental in
coming up with new ideas
to collect donations.
“They are so hands-on,”
she said of the students.
“When we were thinking
about diff erent ways to raise
funds, they were involved
in the planning and the
building, and they are
incredible.”
Students have partici-
pated in the food drive in a
number of ways, including
gathering donations outside
of Safeway every Friday.
Regan Braden, a junior
at EOU, noted that asking
for donations was a bit of an
unusual experience at fi rst,
but seeing the communi-
ty’s involvement fi rsthand
has been a promising expe-
rience. Braden played a big
role in organizing the food
drive’s donation eff orts.
“I think it shows how
amazing this commu-
nity is,” Braden said. “As a
person who was asking for
donations and speaking with
the people who were con-
tributing, they were all very
willing and very interested
in it.”
Gekeler and Braden
noted that a dollar dona-
tion equates to four pounds
of food that can be donated.
Communicating this equa-
tion has helped them pro-
mote their eff orts and also
created a shift toward mon-
etary donations during the
food drive.
“A lot of people maybe
don’t have four pounds of
food to easily donate in their
pantry, but most people
have a dollar or change in
their car they can add to
our donation fund,” Gekeler
said.
In addition to gathering
donations on campus and in
La Grande, Eastern athletics
programs are involved in
the food drive — the event
has become a competition
to see who could raise more
donations. At the basketball
games on Feb. 12, the teams
raised $500 on raffl e tickets.
The football team gath-
ered upward of 750 pounds
of food, while the basket-
ball teams gathered enough
money for 780 pounds of
food.
“It’s just so amazing
to see how we can all
come together for a good
cause,” Braden said. “I
think it really just shows
the love and good in the
community.”
Student body president
Alexa Jamison helped orga-
nize student eff orts for the
food drive, from garnering
volunteers to fundraising
events.
“Student involvement
is an important element of
this fundraiser because they
directly benefi t from its pro-
ceeds,” she said. “A por-
tion of the proceeds and
donations goes to the coun-
ty’s food bank while a por-
tion goes to EOU’s food
bank. On top of this direct
benefi t, the drive is a good
opportunity to get EOU
students connected to the
community.”
Coming from a back-
ground in a big city, she
noted that the month-long
fundraising eff ort has illu-
minated the sense of com-
munity in La Grande.
“I think that it shows
how caring the EOU and La
Grande communities are,”
Jamison said.
Raising awareness
Another on-campus ini-
tiative to raise funds for the
food drive involves a direct
deduction from employees’
paychecks. Faculty mem-
bers can choose an amount,
large or small, to deduct
from their compensation by
the month or one time. The
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Gekeler noted that the
food drive accomplishes
two important tasks, spot-
lighting an awareness of
food insecurity in Union
County and the impor-
tance of looking out for your
neighbors.
“There are people hungry
in our community and we’re
responsible for each other,”
she said. “I think in the last
two years or so, people are
really getting on board more
than ever.”
The food drive also takes
place in the winter, which
is considered a peak time
for food insecurity. Gekeler,
who has a background in
social services, noted that
limited job opportunities
and colder weather during
the winter months con-
tribute to the trend.
“In the winter months,
food insecurity gets signifi -
cantly worse,” Gekeler said.
“Having the Union County
Warming Station as another
area I touch on, we see that
people are struggling in the
winter more than ever.”
Since its establishment
more than 20 years ago, the
food drive has collected
more than 180,000 pounds
worth of food donations.
“I always focused on a
theme of basic household
food security, meaning
some certainty of supply,”
Grigsby said. “As far as
wealth in this country, there
is no reason why anyone
should be worried about
their next meal, or actually
even going hungry.”
EOU food drive vol-
unteers throughout the
month will continue to col-
lect donations outside of
Safeway and Grocery Outlet
on Fridays as well as orga-
nize on-campus collections.
Donation pickups can be
coordinated by emailing
Gekeler at kegekeler@eou.
edu, and students looking
to get involved can contact
Jamison at aspres@eou.edu.
EOU’s student-run emer-
gency food bank can be
reached at 541-786-3663.
“I think as employees
of EOU, our job is to work
with the students and
help them,” Gekeler said.
“They’re learning so many
things from their profes-
sors that are going to pre-
pare them for their careers.
Eff orts like this prepare
them as human beings. We
want to have that next gen-
eration of compassionate
leaders who are going to go
out and change the world
and rally the troops.”
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The school district is facing
a deadline because in December
2021 it was awarded a $4 million
Oregon School Capital Improve-
ment Matching grant from the
state for the building of the aca-
demic and athletic center.
The school district will receive
the $4 million matching grant
only if voters approve the new
$4.845 million bond. Voters
would have to approve the bond
in May because this was the elec-
tion date specifi ed by the school
district in its application for the
grant.
Joseph Waite, the La Grande
School district’s facilities man-
ager, said if voters approve the
bond, construction of the new
multi-use building could start as
early as the spring 2023.
Oregon could be
‘masks off ’ by March 20
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 hos-
pitalizations from the omi-
cron wave of the corona-
virus is accelerating and
is expected to fall below
400 per day by March 20,
according to the latest fore-
cast by Oregon Health &
Science University.
Gov. Kate Brown said
Feb. 7 that she would lift
the state’s indoor-mask
mandate when hospital-
izations fell below 400 or
no later than March 31. At
the time, the OHSU fore-
cast put the hospitalization
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 com-
mented on the new fore-
cast as of Feb. 17. The fore-
cast was released late in the
afternoon.
The OHSU report cau-
tioned Oregonians to not
get ahead of current public
health recommendations.
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 manage-
able impact on our health
system,” Graven said.
Dropping safeguards
early could slow the
decline of omicron and
push the end of the mask
mandate closer to the
March 31 date.
“This doesn’t mean that
we’re out of the woods,”
Graven said. “The number
of cases are still signifi -
cantly higher than they
have been for most of the
pandemic, but the decline
over the past week provides
relief for hospitals oper-
ating under severe strain.”
Gov. Jay Inslee of
Washington said that he
would order indoor-mask
mandates dropped March
21, a day after Oregon’s
projected date. Inslee said
his order would include
schools.
New Mexico dropped
indoor-mask mandates
immediately on Feb. 17.
California announced
plans to move COVID-19
from pandemic to endemic
status, meaning it would
be handled as a major but
manageable ongoing risk.
“We’re going to live
with this,” California Gov.
Gavin Newsom told the
New York Times. “We’re
not in denial of the hell that
has been the last two years.
This is not like World War
II, where we can have a
ticker-tape parade and
announce the end.”
OHSU’s forecast
showed a strong trend
toward signifi cantly lower
infections, hospitalizations
and eventually, deaths.
OHSU said Oregon
masking rates have
remained among the
highest in the nation, with
surveys showing roughly
80% of residents have con-
tinued to cover up indoors.
Oregon was one of the
last states to drop out-
door mask mandates when
Brown lifted the restriction
in November.
Graven said the fore-
cast was starting to show
state residents have begun
to gather indoors again
with people outside of their
households.
“Those rates have
begun to tick up,” the
OHSU statement that
accompanied Thursday’s
forecast said.
Graven cited Denmark
as an example of where
omicron seemed on the
way out, only to rebound
because of the public get-
ting ahead of pandemic
policies.
“They gave up on public
health measures at what
they thought was the peak
— and it turned out not to
be the peak and they had
even more people hospital-
ized,” Graven said.
The highly contagious
omicron variant was fi rst
confi rmed in Oregon on
Dec. 14.
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