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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2022)
FROM PAGE ONE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2022 THE OBSERVER — A7 SURVEY Mass crash in Umatilla County closes Interstate 84 Continued from Page A1 Oregon Department of Transportation/Contributed Photo PENDLETON — A mass crash involving dozens of vehicles early in the after- noon of Monday, Feb. 21, closed a portion of Interstate 84 about 21 miles east of Pendleton, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation and Nick Vora, Union County’s emergency services director. The crash was reported on ODOT’s Trip Check website at 12:44 p.m. Pendleton Fire Chief Jim Critchley said the wrecks stretch for a mile and emer- gency agencies from regional counties are responding. Capt. Merle Laci with the La Grande Fire Department said two ambulances and one rescue rig were on scene from Union County, with crews from Union and Island City fi re departments on standby. The La Grande Fire Department sent eight personnel to the scene. Laci said crews are conducting triage and no other emergency vehicles have been called as of 2:30 p.m. According to a press release from ODOT, “This is expected to be an extended closure lasting through the evening for westbound freeway and at least several hours for eastbound freeway.” The westbound freeway also is closed to trucks in Ontario due to limited truck parking in Baker City and La Grande. Highway 204 (Tollgate Highway) and High- CTE Continued from Page A1 “Transition time will be reduced and the time students have to work in the woodshop will be increased,” Wells said. The robotics lab will replace one now located in the high school gym. Wells said that having a robotics classroom in the CTE center will be a plus because the CTE center includes a metal shop, where there are many tools that are needed to create robots. A timetable for the con- struction of the classroom, robotics lab and open-air work station has not been set yet because it has not been determined how much construction costs will be. The Union School District is now accepting proposals and bids from contractors for the construction. Wells said that if the amounts the contractors would charge for the projects is more than what the school district can pay, some of the work will be postponed until funding is available. “We will see what we can aff ord,” Wells said. “I’m hopeful that we will receive an off er we cannot refuse.” The school district has made the construction of way 245 also were closed to all but local traffi c. ODOT reported these are not viable detour routes for freeway traffi c. Grande Ronde Hospital Incident Commander Elaine LaRochelle activated the hospital’s incident command system, according to a press release from Mardi Ford, public information offi cer. “We are preparing to support any patients sent our way with emergency ser- vices and medical care,” Ford said in the release. “We do not have any news on distribution of patients to be sent our way. However, we are prepared to assist in this emergency. We are cooperating fully with all regional partners, including our media contacts, to do what we can to keep everyone informed. Our primary mission, however, is to provide emergency services and medical care to patients in need. Once we know more, we will issue an update.” Emily Smith, director of communications for St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton, reported that as of 3 p.m., the hospital received six patients from the multi-vehi- cle crash. “The patients’ statuses are unknown at this time,” she reported, “and no information on ages etc. is available to the media at this time.” The Observer will have updated information on this story in print Thursday, Feb. 24, and online as it becomes available at lagrandeobserver.com the robotics lab and the classroom its top priority and the building of the out- door work space its second priority. Wells said it is very likely that construction of the classroom and robotics lab will begin in early March and could be fi n- ished by early fall. Wells wants the Union School District’s CTE pro- gram to develop to the point that students, after gradu- ating, will have the skills needed to begin working in the manufacturing industry for local fi rms, such as Woodgrain Lumber, Boise Cascade, Northwood Man- ufacturing and Barreto Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File Union High School student Kyle Boren works in the school’s wood- shop on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. The district’s former bus barn was renovated into a new woodshop and welding building in 2021. Plans for further expansion in the career and technical education center include an adjacent classroom, a robotics lab and a large covered outdoor area. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. STOPS Continued from Page A1 such as a country road in rural Oregon on a winter’s night — the loss of a head- light poses a serious safety concern. “When we see a vehicle approaching us with two headlights — you’re able to discern the outboard sec- tions of that vehicle,” he said. “If you see one head- light, in hours of darkness or low light, you know, is it a motorcycle or is it a vehicle with a headlight out, and which headlight is it? If it’s a two-lane highway or a roadway, you don’t know — are they in their lane or your lane? It’s genuinely a safety issue.” Bell also said that in his many years working as a law enforcement offi cer, and among the countless times he’s stopped motor- ists for faulty equipment, he often heard the driver state that they were unaware that their headlights were out. That can spell disaster, Bell said, if the other headlight fails as well, creating a sit- uation that is “straight-up unsafe.” Oregon State Police has a program in place that gives motorists with faulty Manufacturing. The planned additions come on the heels of a major boost the program received last summer when the school district’s former bus barn was renovated into a woodshop with money from a $140,000 state CTE grant. The grant was written by Karolyn Kelley, UHS’s agricultural sciences teacher. The renovation of the bus barn was completed in the summer of 2021 and provides much needed space for the high school’s woodshop, which was revived in 2020 after being shut down for more than 25 years. whiney third will fi nd some way to draw attention to themselves and how they’re being personally oppressed instead of doing any meaningful Democratic debates,” wrote Brenda Pace, a Deschutes County resident who responded to the survey. The survey asked about the state’s direction and mental well-being. The margin of error ranges from 1.6% to 2.6% due to rounding. The Oregon Values and Beliefs Center is an indepen- dent, nonpartisan organization. The center partnered with Pam- plin Media Group and EO Media Group, which owns The Observer and The Bulletin. In the survey, suburban respon- dents were more optimistic than rural residents. Yet rural residents said they were less likely to believe the state is headed in the right direction than other Oregonians, according to the survey. Roughly a quarter of the respondents defi ned themselves as from rural areas and 37% were suburban. The younger the respondents were and the farther west of the Cascades they lived, the more opti- mistic the responses about 2022, according to the survey. Gener- ally, those who were ages 45 to 74 were not optimistic about the year, according to the results. And Black, Indigenous and other people of color were signifi cantly more likely to say they were hopeful about 2022. “I have lived many years growing up in Portland and now live outside of Portland in a rural area,” wrote Aurora Kay Sancoy, who lives in Lane County. “One thing I have learned is that politics diff er geographically.” www.eomediagroup.com Charles & Eileen Stewart 10304 A 1st St. Island City, OR cstewartpc@gmail.com Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File An Oregon State Police trooper’s signature hat sits in the cabin of an OSP service vehicle on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. A law in the Oregon legislature would remove the ability of offi cers to stop motorists for faulty lights, which La Grande Police Chief Gary Bell sees as a safety concern. lighting a voucher for auto parts stores to allow them to get discounts on the parts needed to fi x issues such as burned-out bulbs. But the law, if passed, would limit those interac- tions and prevent drivers and motorists from receiving those vouchers and the notifi cation that their equipment was defec- tive. OSP offi cials said they weren’t looking to discon- tinue the program, however. “At this time there are no plans to discontinue the Car Care Program,” Oregon State Police Capt. Steph- anie Bigman said. “The passage of SB1510 may aff ect the overall numbers of vouchers handed out but offi cers would still have the option of providing the vouchers if the person was stopped for an unrelated violation.” SB1510 would also make changes to the way in which law enforcement offi - cers search vehicles. The bill would require motor- ists give informed verbal consent for the search when no probable cause is found. That verbal consent would also need to be recorded. 541.910.5435 Pay cash or Rent to own Authorized Dealer