LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
assumed command as Gener-
al-in-Chief of the Union armies in
the Civil War.
In 1912, the Girl Scouts of the
USA had its beginnings as Juliette
Gordon Low of Savannah, Georgia,
founded the first American troop
of the Girl Guides.
In 1925, Chinese revolutionary
leader Sun Yat-sen died in Beijing.
In 1947, President Harry S.
Truman announced what became
known as the “Truman Doctrine”
to help Greece and Turkey resist
Communism.
In 1955, legendary jazz musician
Charlie “Bird” Parker died in New
York at age 34.
In 1971, Hafez Assad was con-
firmed as president of Syria in a
referendum.
In 1980, a Chicago jury found
John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the
murders of 33 men and boys. (The
next day, Gacy was sentenced to
death; he was executed in May
1994.)
In 1987, the musical play “Les
Miserables” opened on Broadway.
In 1994, the Church of England
ordained its first women priests.
In 2003, Elizabeth Smart, the
15-year-old girl who vanished from
her bedroom nine months ear-
lier, was found alive in a Salt Lake
City suburb with two drifters, Brian
David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee.
(Mitchell is serving a life sentence;
Barzee was released from prison in
September 2018.)
In 2011, fifteen passengers were
killed when a tour bus returning
from a Connecticut casino scraped
along a guard rail on the out-
skirts of New York City, tipped on
its side and slammed into a pole
that sheared it nearly end to end.
(Driver Ophadell Williams was later
acquitted of manslaughter and
negligent homicide.)
In 2020, the stock market had
its biggest drop since the Black
Monday crash of 1987 as fears of
economic fallout from the coro-
navirus crisis deepened; the Dow
industrials plunged more than
2,300 points, or 10%. The NCAA
canceled its basketball tourna-
ments because of the corona-
virus, after earlier planning to play
in empty arenas. The NHL joined
the NBA in suspending play. Major
League Baseball delayed the start
of its season by at least two weeks.
(An abbreviated 60-game season
would begin in July.)
Today’s Birthdays: Politician,
diplomat and civil rights activist
Andrew Young is 90. Actor Bar-
bara Feldon is 89. Actor-singer Liza
Minnelli is 76. Sen. Mitt Romney,
R-Utah, is 75. Singer-songwriter
James Taylor is 74. Former Sen.
Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is 74. Rock
singer-musician Bill Payne (Little
Feat) is 73. Actor Jon Provost (TV:
“Lassie”) is 72. Author Carl Hiaasen
is 69. Rock musician Steve Harris
(Iron Maiden) is 66. Actor Lesley
Manville is 66. Actor Jerry Levine
is 65. Singer Marlon Jackson (The
Jackson Five) is 65. Actor Jason
Beghe is 62. Actor Courtney B.
Vance is 62. Actor Titus Welliver
is 60. Former MLB All-Star Darryl
Strawberry is 60. Actor Julia Camp-
bell is 59. Actor Jake Weber is 59.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is
54. Actor Aaron Eckhart is 54. CNN
reporter Jake Tapper is 53. Rock
musician Graham Coxon is 53.
Country musician Tommy Bales
(Flynnville Train) is 49. Actor Rhys
Coiro is 43. Country singer Holly
Williams is 41. Actor Samm (cq)
Levine is 40. Actor Jaimie Alex-
ander is 38. Actor Tyler Patrick
Jones is 28.
CORRECTION
The Page A2 story
“Community Band
Northeast receives Wild-
horse Grant,” published
Saturday, March 5, mis-
stated when rehearsals
begin for the band’s
end-of-term concert.
The rehearsals are set to
begin at 7 p.m. on March
28 at Eastern Oregon
University.
LOTTERY
Wednesday, March 9,
2022
Megabucks
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Jackpot: $2.7 million
Lucky Lines
3-6-11-16-17-22-26-31
Estimated jackpot: $26,000
Powerball
13-22-34-51-67
Powerball: 10
Power Play: 2
Jackpot: $112 million
Win for Life
32-41-61-77
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 4-4-9-7
4 p.m.: 1-3-2-3
7 p.m.: 0-8-4-7
10 p.m.: 3-5-6-5
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Lucky Lines
3-5-10-15-19-22-28-31
Jackpot: $27,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 9-0-6-1
4 p.m.: 5-9-0-4
7 p.m.: 9-6-4-1
10 p.m.: 5-6-9-0
SaTuRday, MaRcH 12, 2022
Mendoza earns high marks in review
Driver fatally injured
in Interstate 84 crash
La Grande School
Board extends
superintendent’s
contract
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — La
Grande School District
Superintendent George
Mendoza earned high
marks in his latest perfor-
mance evaluation.
On Wednesday, March
10, the members of the
La Grande School Board
indicated approval and
appreciation for the
superintendent.
“You continue to
exceed our expectations
of a superintendent,” said
Robin Maille, chair of the
La Grande School Board,
in a letter she read at the
meeting.
Maille said Mendoza
received high marks in
the nine professional stan-
dards the board set for
him. The review credited
the superintendent with
“accomplished” in the
areas of visionary lead-
ership, policy and gover-
nance, communication and
community relations, effec-
tive management, resource
management, ethical lead-
ership and labor relations.
Mendoza was rated by the
board as “effective” in the
areas of curriculum plan-
ning and development and
instructional leadership.
The board rated Men-
doza as “accomplished”
in meeting the goals of
the school district’s stra-
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza delivers the opening address at the
La Grande High School class of 2021 commencement on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Mendoza
received high marks in his job performance review from the La Grande School Board on
Wednesday, March 10, 2022.
tegic plan, which includes
ensuring that all students
are ready to learn, fos-
tering increased academic
success and developing
engaged lifelong learners.
The board also com-
mended Mendoza for his
effective communication
during the COVID-19
pandemic.
“You have worked dili-
gently through the year to
maintain communications
with district partners, fam-
ilies and community mem-
bers to share information
about the changing school
safety requirements, so
that our schools could stay
open despite the continued
impacts of the pandemic,”
Maille said.
She said Mendoza’s
strong leadership was
especially important in
the midst of the unsettling
pandemic.
“You have been a steady
force in our district and the
region, and we appreciate
and value your leadership
during this time,” Maille
said.
The board also credited
Mendoza with doing an
excellent job of looking to
the future.
“In planning for the
future, you have worked
with staff to identify new
sources of funding to keep
our district strong despite
a deceased enrollment
resulting from the pan-
demic and changing family
priorities,” Maille said.
The board chair noted
that over the past year the
La Grande School District
has experienced a signif-
icant turnover in admin-
istrative staff and that
Mendoza has handled the
changeover well.
“You have worked
closely with this new staff
and those in changed roles
to provide mentoring and
leadership,” she said.
The board, Maille said,
has agreed to extend Men-
doza’s contract with the
school district. Mendoza
presently has about two
years left on his contract.
Mendoza came to La
Grande from the Morrow
County School District,
where he was an assistant
superintendent.
He is a 1997 graduate of
Eastern Oregon University
and a member of its board
of trustees.
La Grande School District may cut 10 positions
Officials cite
falling enrollment
in the district as
reason for cuts
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A
budget shortfall caused
by declining enrollment
may force the La Grande
School District to reduce
staffing by 10 positions in
the 2022-23 school year.
The good news is that
there would be no layoffs
since reductions would be
made through attrition,
according to La Grande
School District Super-
intendent George Men-
doza. The positions that
would be cut are either not
filled, will be vacated due
to retirement and the like,
or the employee will be
moved to another position
within the district.
Mendoza told the La
Grande School Board that
three full-time teaching
positions, one adminis-
trative position and six
classified staff positions
would be cut as a result of
the reductions. Classified
positions include cooks,
custodians and mainte-
nance staff. The people in
The Observer, File
La Grande Middle School students in May 2013 visit their lockers before heading to class following
lunch. A budget shortfall caused by declining enrollment may force the La Grande School District to
reduce staffing by 10 positions in the 2022-23 school year, including a full-time teaching position at
the middle school.
these positions who are
not retiring or resigning
will be transferred to other
positions in the school
district.
“They will be involun-
tary transfers,” Mendoza
said.
The superintendent is
recommending that one
teaching position be cut at
La Grande Middle School,
Island City Elementary
School and La Grande
High School. A classroom
teacher position would be
cut at the middle school,
a core teaching position
would be cut at the high
school, and a behavior pro-
gram teacher for students
in kindergarten through
second grade would be cut
at Island City Elementary.
Mendoza attributes
the enrollment decline to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school district’s
enrollment, which is now
2,130, is down 230 stu-
dents since the pandemic
hit La Grande two years
ago. The decline is having
an impact on the school
district’s budget since it
receives about $9,000 from
the state per student.
“Our general fund is
shrinking,” Mendoza said.
The superintendent said
there has been an increase
in the number of students
being home-schooled or
taking classes through
online programs. Mendoza
said the school district will
be contacting families of
students who are no longer
enrolled to find out why
they left and encourage
them to have their children
return.
“Our goal is to reach
out to families and com-
municate with them about
their plans and intentions,”
Mendoza said.
Last-minute filings alters commissioner races
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— David Nelson made a
sudden return to local poli-
tics on Tuesday, March 8.
On the last day candi-
dates could file for local
office ahead of the May
17 election, Nelson, a
former state senator, joined
a packed race to replace
Position 1 Commissioner
George Murdock.
The Pendleton resi-
dent represented District
29 as a Republican in the
Oregon Senate from 1997-
2013, including a stint as
the majority leader. After
retiring from the Legisla-
ture, Nelson served on the
Eastern Oregon University
Board of Trustees before
stepping off in 2020.
Then-Commissioner
Bill Hansell won elec-
tion to succeed Nelson in
IN BRIEF
the senate. A decade later,
the board. Before Nelson
Nelson now is seeking the
entered his name, five other
county board seat
candidates already
filed.
Hansell once held.
Two business
It’s not unprec-
edented in Oregon
owners — Susan
for legislators to
Bower of Pendleton
seek county office
and Cindy Timmons
after serving in
of Milton-Freewater
Nelson
Salem. Former
— were the first to
Republican
join the race. The
Minority Leader Herman
rest of the field is com-
Baertschiger left the senate posed of Bob Barton, a
in 2020 after he was elected Hermiston construction
business owner; Jesse Bon-
to a seat on the Josephine
ifer, an Athena city coun-
County Board of Com-
cilor and Second Amend-
missioners. And in 2016,
ment activist; and Alvin
former state Rep. Jessica
Vega Pederson successfully Young, a Hermiston store
manager.
ran for a county commis-
sioner seat in Multnomah
A late entry means
County, although unlike
voters also will weigh in on
Nelson, both legislators
Position 2 in the May pri-
mary. Rick Pullen, a former
immediately transitioned
Umatilla County employee,
from state to county office.
filed a last-minute chal-
While Nelson brings
lenge to incumbent Com-
plenty of name recognition
missioner John Shafer.
to the race, he won’t have
a glide path to a seat on
Shafer’s other challenger
is conservative activist Hol-
lyJo Beers.
Regardless of the results
during the primary, the
two candidates who get the
most votes in each com-
mission race will advance
to a Nov. 8 runoff.
Most races for offices
that represent Umatilla and
Morrow counties will not
be competitive, but state
Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo,
is facing a challenge in the
Republican primary. Skye
Farnam, a Summerville
business owner, is seeking
to oust Levy. Farnam ran
for the District 58 seat in
2018 as an independent
but lost to then-incumbent
Greg Barreto.
State Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, the incum-
bent in District 57, is all
but assured another term
in Salem after drawing no
Republican or Democratic
opponents.
UNION COUNTY
— An automobile crash
on Interstate 84 in Union
County resulted in the
death of one individual
on Wednesday, March 9,
according to Oregon State
Police.
The driver of a Mercedes
GLS, later identified by
OSP as Brian Burton, sus-
tained fatal injuries due to
a Freightliner commercial
motor vehicle colliding with
his car in the eastbound
lanes.
Burton, a 59-year-old
from Portland, stopped
his car in the roadway in
a traffic backup related to
a previous CMV crash on
I-84 near milepost 259. A
CMV operated by Eddi
Morales, a 30-year old
from Othello, Washington,
was unable to stop upon
rounding a curve — the
CMV collided with the left
side of Burton’s vehicle.
According to the press
release from OSP, Burton
sustained fatal injuries and
was pronounced deceased.
Helen Burton, a 62-year-old
from Portland, was in the
passenger seat and was
uninjured. Morales was not
injured.
I-84 eastbound lanes
remained closed for
approximately five hours.
According to the press
release, OSP is investigating
icy roadways and speed as
contributing factors in the
automobile collision.
OSP was assisted
in the investigation by
Union County Fire and
the Oregon Department of
Transportation.
Masks still required
at Grande Ronde
Hospital
LA GRANDE —
Grande Ronde Hospital in
La Grande will continue to
require that masks be worn
inside its buildings.
Oregon’s mask mandates
for schools and indoor set-
tings are set to be lifted on
Saturday, March 12, but the
Oregon Health Authority
will still require the wearing
of masks at health facilities
throughout Oregon.
Grande Ronde Hos-
pital released a statement to
remind the public that the
hospital will require staff,
patients and visitors to wear
masks in its facilities and to
ask for patience with front-
line workers and screeners.
Plane lands safety in
Ladd Canyon after
power failure
LA GRANDE — The
pilot of a small plane made
an emergency landing on
the southeast edge of Ladd
Canyon on Interstate 84 on
Thursday, March 10.
The landing was made
by Portland pilot Brian
Lew Moentenich, 74,
whose plane lost power at
an altitude of 8,000 feet,
according to Lt. Daniel
Conner of the Oregon State
Police. The plane landed
safely in the westbound
lanes of I-84 about 14 miles
southeast of La Grande at
about 2 p.m.
“He had to land between
semis,” Conner said.
Some truck drivers,
Conner said, pulled their
vehicles off to the side of
the freeway to allow the
plane space to land.
Soon after the plane
landed, an aircraft
mechanic was brought in
to repair the engine. Once
the mechanic’s work was
completed the pilot and his
passenger, Elizabeth-Anne
Hall, 68, of Portland, took
off from the same stretch
of freeway. The takeoff
was made after traffic was
slowed on the interstate to
create space for the plane’s
pilot to taxi, Conner said.
Hall and Moentenich
both said they felt very for-
tunate and were apprecia-
tive of the help they were
receiving from the OSP and
the Oregon Department of
Transportation, which were
controlling traffic.
“They were very
grateful,” Conner said.
— The Observer