LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TuESday, MaRcH 8, 2022
Measure
to discuss
Oregon’s
border back
on ballot
TODAY
In 1618, German astronomer
Johannes Kepler devised his
third law of planetary motion.
In 1817, the New York Stock
& Exchange Board, which had
its beginnings in 1792, was for-
mally organized; it later became
known as the New York Stock
Exchange.
In 1948, the Supreme Court, in
McCollum v. Board of Education,
struck down voluntary religious
education classes in Champaign,
Illinois, public schools, saying the
program violated separation of
church and state.
In 1971, Joe Frazier defeated
Muhammad Ali by decision in
what was billed as “The Fight of
the Century” at Madison Square
Garden in New York.
In 1983, in a speech to the
National Association of Evan-
gelicals convention in Orlando,
Florida, President Ronald Reagan
referred to the Soviet Union as
an “evil empire.”
In 1988, 17 soldiers were killed
when two Army helicopters from
Fort Campbell, Kentucky, col-
lided in mid-flight.
In 1999, baseball Hall of Famer
Joe DiMaggio died in Holly-
wood, Florida, at age 84.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton
submitted to Congress leg-
islation to establish perma-
nent normal trade relations
with China. (The U.S. and China
signed a trade pact in November
2000.)
In 2004, Iraq’s Governing
Council signed a landmark
interim constitution.
In 2008, President George W.
Bush vetoed a bill that would
have banned the CIA from using
simulated drowning and other
coercive interrogation methods
to gain information from sus-
pected terrorists.
In 2014, Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777
with 239 people on board, van-
ished during a flight from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a
massive and ultimately unsuc-
cessful search.
Ten years ago: Jesse Owens
was posthumously made an
inaugural member of the IAAF
Hall of Fame more than 75
years after he won four gold
medals at the 1936 Berlin Olym-
pics. (Owens, Carl Lewis, Jackie
Joyner-Kersee and nine others
were the first athletes to be hon-
ored by the IAAF in its newly cre-
ated Hall of Fame.)
Five years ago: Hawaii
became the first state to sue to
stop President Donald Trump’s
revised travel ban (the state had
previously sued over Trump’s
initial travel ban, but that law-
suit was put on hold while other
cases played out across the
country).
One year ago: According to
some long-awaited guidance
from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, fully vac-
cinated Americans could now
gather with other vaccinated
people indoors without wearing
a mask or social distancing.
Today’s Birthdays: Jazz musi-
cian George Coleman is 87. Actor
Sue Ane Langdon is 86. College
Football Hall of Famer Pete Daw-
kins is 84. Songwriter Carole
Bayer Sager is 78. Actor-director
Micky Dolenz (The Monkees)
is 77. Singer-musician Randy
Meisner is 76. Pop singer Peggy
March is 74. Baseball Hall of
Famer Jim Rice is 69. Jazz musi-
cian Billy Childs is 65. Singer Gary
Numan is 64. NBC News anchor
Lester Holt is 63. Actor Aidan
Quinn is 63. Actor Camryn Man-
heim is 61. Country-rock singer
Shawn Mullins is 54. Neo-soul
singer Van Hunt is 52. Actor
Andrea Parker is 52. Actor Boris
Kodjoe is 49. Actor Freddie Prinze
Jr. is 46. Actor Laura Main is 45.
Actor James Van Der Beek is 45.
R&B singer Kameelah Williams
(702) is 44. Actor Nick Zano is 44.
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10 p.m.: 4-0-5-3
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
A masked Monty the Mountaineer poses for a photo on campus at Eastern Oregon University on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The university will
drop indoor mask requirements along with the state, effective Saturday, March 12, 2022.
EOU will drop mask mandate March 12
Officials base
decision on low
on-campus rates of
COVID-19 cases
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — In
the midst of consistently
low cases on campus and
across Oregon, Eastern
Oregon University is set
to drop its mandatory
indoor mask mandate on
March 12.
According to a state-
ment from the university,
masks will be welcomed
but not required.
“As with anything,
we’re utilizing OHA’s
guidelines and our
local health authority in
making our decisions,”
said Lacy Karpilo, the
university’s vice president
of student affairs. “We’ve
stayed true to the sci-
ence and our local health
authorities.”
The university has
taken a number of steps
in loosening mitigation
efforts, including allowing
travel for field trips and
limiting testing for vacci-
nated individuals. Eastern
stopped its large-scale
testing clinics, moving
COVID-19 testing to the
university’s health center.
Eastern is continuing
to host vaccine clinics,
offering initial doses and
primarily booster shots
— the university most
recently hosted a vacci-
nation clinic on March
2. Across in-person stu-
dents, 75.7% are vacci-
nated and 24.2% received
an exemption. The uni-
versity’s employee vac-
cination numbers stand
at 80.1% vaccinated and
17.7% exempt.
According to Karpilo,
Eastern has tried to stay
extra cautious with fed-
eral and state mandates
that have fluctuated over
the course of the pan-
demic. A close connection
with the Oregon Health
Authority and the Center
for Human Development
has allowed the university
to make timely, fact-based
decisions.
“We’ve been able to
pivot very quickly on
things when we’ve needed
to,” Karpilo
said. “We
make sure
that we’re
taking the
time to con-
nect with
Karpilo
all of our
resources. With every
decision, there’s an
impact. I think that’s what
has made COVID such a
difficult thing to manage.”
The university tallied
just one case among stu-
dents and faculty in the
two-week period from
Saturday, Feb. 18, through
March 5.
Eastern has tallied 295
total COVID-19 cases
since the start of the aca-
demic calendar in July,
with 157 coming from off-
campus students. There
have been 56 cases among
employees and 42 cases in
on-campus students.
The university had one
reported off-campus iso-
lation/quarantine over the
last two-week period, a
number that has stayed
steady since late January.
In the past several
months, students at the
university have reported
non-COVID illnesses.
The typical increase in
winter illnesses such as
the flu without traces of
COVID-19 is a prom-
ising sign for university
officials.
“Right now what we’re
seeing is that students
are getting other things,”
Karpilo said. “There’s
still illness going around,
but it’s not COVID. It’s
great because it signifies
that our students are still
being responsible. Our
students are doing really
good work on that front.”
According to Karpilo,
Eastern will continue
making its decisions
based on COVID-19
trends and consulta-
tions with health author-
ities. While the steady
low numbers are a prom-
ising sign, the university
is continuing to monitor
cases and trends.
“We really look at
what’s best for our
community, both the
EOU community and
the local community,”
Karpilo said. “We don’t
view ourselves as just
a silo, we see ourselves
as part of the bigger
community.”
Eight candidates vie for four positions on city council
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande City Council
will see some new faces
after this fall’s election.
Two candidates will
be vying for mayor and
six will be competing for
three open city council
positions in the Nov.
8 election, according
to filing information
released Friday, March 5.
The race for mayor
will match Mathew
Miles, a retired educator,
against Justin Rock, a
current member of the La
Grande City Council.
Steve Clements, the
incumbent, did not file
for reelection. Clements
is completing his fourth
two-year term as mayor.
The city council berths
up for election are posi-
tions 5, 6 and 7.
Two candidates have
filed for each of the three
spots.
Aaron R. Cooper and
Molly A. King filed for
Position 5, now held by
Gary Lillard, who is not
running for reelection.
The candidates for Posi-
tion 6 are David Moyal
and Denise Wheeler.
John Bozarth, the
incumbent, did not file
for reelection.
Cody R. Vela and Cor-
rine Dutto, who recently
served a four-year term on
the council, will be run-
ning for Position 7, the
spot now held by Rock.
The filing deadline
for the La Grande City
Council positions was
March 1.
All candidates were
required to submit sig-
nature petitions. Only
candidates who had the
needed number of veri-
fied signatures were able
to successfully file.
No La Grande City
Council races will be on
the May primary ballot
because none of the races
for the open berths have
three or more candidates.
The city’s charter
states that when there are
at least three candidates
for a position, an election
for it must be conducted
in May.
School board accepts superintendent’s resignation
Tammy Jones plans
to stay on as
superintendent
until end of June
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — The
Wallowa School Board
made it official, during
an emergency ses-
sion Tuesday, March 1,
accepting the resignation of
the school district’s super-
intendent, Tammy Jones,
from her position.
“I think we should skip
this one,” said board Chair-
person Woody Wolfe, as
he looked at the next item
on the agenda. How-
meetings in Joseph
ever, he opened it up
because she had to
for discussion.
be at school func-
tions. Also, in the
Jones, who also
two weeks sep-
resigned from her
arating the two
position on the
resignations, she
Joseph City Council
Jones
hadn’t yet received
effective Feb. 15,
financial planning infor-
said before the school
mation regarding her
board meeting that the two
state job.
resignations are in no way
Jones plans to stay on
connected.
as superintendent until the
“In some ways but not
really,” Jones said. “It’s just end of June.
Board member Matt
time for me and my health.”
Howard made the motion,
She also said she is
saying, “Reluctantly, I
resigning to spend more
move to approve the retire-
time with her family.
ment/resignation of the
Her letter of resigna-
tion in Joseph said it was
superintendent.”
because of pressures and
The board voted unan-
imously to accept the
responsibilities at work.
motion.
She said that she was
unable to attend evening
This is the second time
in four years the district has
lost a superintendent. In
2020, Jay Hummel resigned
after just two years on
the job, being replaced by
Jones at that time.
Wolfe asked the board
for authorization to contact
the Oregon School Boards
Association and employ it
to begin finding an interim
superintendent to replace
Jones. Since it usually
talks six to eight months to
find a permanent superin-
tendent, the district doesn’t
have the time before Jones
resigns.
Board members did note
that should they be pleased
with the person hired as
interim superintendent, it
may be possible to offer a
permanent contract.
ENTERPRISE — A
variation of a measure
that just missed passage
in Wallowa County in
the November 2020 gen-
eral election will be on the
ballot this May.
Measure 32-007, which
would require the county
commissioners twice a year
to meet to discuss the relo-
cation of Idaho’s border,
will be voted on in the May
17 primary election.
If the measure sounds
similar, that’s because it
is. Measure 32-003, in
the 2020 general elec-
tion, required
county com-
missioners
to meet three
times a year
to discuss the
interests of
Hillock
the county
joining
Idaho, part
of the Move
Oregon’s
Border move-
ment that
has gained
Nash
traction in
recent years. The measure
passed in several coun-
ties in 2020, but fell by a
razor-thin margin in Wal-
lowa County, receiving
2,478 yes votes and 2,519
no votes.
“I thought we would be
like Union County and it
would pass here in Wal-
lowa County was what
I anticipated,” Commis-
sioner Todd Nash said fol-
lowing the failed 2020 vote
and referring to neigh-
boring Union County’s
passage of the measure. “I
think there’s some senti-
ment and frustration with
the way Oregon has legis-
lated, and so I thought that
it might be tilted a little
bit more. Not completely
surprised, either, that it
failed.”
The measure to be voted
on in May is almost ver-
batim of what was voted
on in 2020. The main dif-
ference is commissioners
would be required to meet
just twice a year — on the
fourth Wednesday of Feb-
ruary and August — “to
discuss how to promote
the interests of Wallowa
County that would be rele-
vant to a relocation of state
borders, and to prepare
the county for becoming a
county of Idaho.”
“The commissioners, if
the voters vote it in, we’ll
comply with what they
said,” Commissioner John
Hillock said.
Since Jefferson and
Union counties voted
in 2020 to hold meet-
ings about the potential
of moving to Idaho, six
other counties have joined
this investigation phase:
Harney, Malheur, Baker,
Grant, Lake and Sherman
counties.
Voters in Douglas, Jose-
phine and Klamath coun-
ties have a similar measure
on the ballot this May. Four
additional counties expect
to put a measure on the
ballot in November.
Also on spring ballot
In addition to the ballot
measure, two positions are
up for election this spring:
Position 3 on the county
board of commissioners,
held currently by Hillock,
and the county clerk, which
currently is Sandy Lathrop.
Both Hillock and
Lathrop have filed to run
again for their respec-
tive positions. Currently,
nobody else has filed to run
in opposition.
“I’ve been honored to
serve the county, and feel
like I still have some energy
left to carry on another four
years. I think things have
been running relatively
good in county govern-
ment,” Hillock said.
The filing deadline is
March 8.