FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2022
CLUB
Continued from Page A1
The club saw about 20 athletes
compete in the fall, with about
15 taking part in the winter and
spring. For eighth-grader Mattie
Wolcott, the weightlifting program
was an opportunity to participate
in sports during the winter. After
competing in cross-country in the
fall, she wanted to do a sport other
than basketball or wrestling.
“I decided to do weight training
instead,” Wolcott said. “I’ve done
some weight training with my dad
and joined because my friends
were doing it too.”
For Nelson, the lifting club pre-
sented an opportunity to compete
in a sport she had always been
interested in.
“I don’t really do sports that
anybody else does, besides volley-
ball,” Nelson said. “I’ve wanted to
do weightlifting for a long time, so
PAPER
Continued from Page A1
as easily as you can. But the
issue of your truth telling is
another matter. You lie. By
that, I mean you declare as
fact something you know to
be false.”
Smith responded by
saying he wouldn’t respond
to “negative suppositions,”
but also added Malheur
County residents were
“begging” Zaitz to sell his
newspaper and that it had
no support.
“P.S. … if you need a
buyer for the paper, I’ll pay
$35,000 cash,” he wrote at
the end of the email. “No
employees included.”
Later in the chain, Zaitz
told Smith he would share
Smith’s off er with the
public.
“Let’s see what the com-
munity — and the state
— thinks of your idea of
buying a paper to shut it
down,” he said. “Thanks
for the off er. We’ll be in
touch.”
Smith followed-up by
clarifying he would not shut
the Enterprise down if he
bought it.
“I already have staff
in place that would run
the paper quite well,” he
wrote.” I never said it
would be shut down.”
In a response to a
request for comment,
Smith provided a written
statement.
“The Malheur Enter-
prise, a privately owned
company, publicly
announced it was for sale,”
he said. “Gregory Smith and
Company, also a privately
owned company, made an
off er to purchase the Mal-
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Emersyn Miller pushes herself as she completes a squat during the La Grande
Middle School Wildcat Lifting Club’s competition on Saturday, March 12, 2022, in
the LMS gym.
once I heard about it I was really
excited to join.”
Nelson also noted that the club
picked up momentum as students
began to build interest in com-
peting for the lifting club under
Veloz Espinola.
“I think at fi rst people were
sketchy about it because it’s never
been a thing,” Nelson said. “Once
people started doing it and talking
about it, we got a lot of people
interested. It feels so good.”
In the girls weightlifting com-
petition on March 12, Wol-
cott earned a top DOTS score
of 264.55. Nelson was second at
247.66, and Ella Johnson took
home third place with a DOTS
score of 219.65.
“You feel really nervous, right
up until you lift,” Wolcott said.
“Right after you feel okay but then
you get really nervous again for
your next lift. You just have to be
really confi dent in yourself.”
On the boys side, Quinton
Smith earned fi rst place with
a DOTS score of 214.75. Eddy
Orton placed second with a score
of 192.56, while Kyler Myer was
third at 150.87.
In front of teammates and a
crowd of parents in the gymna-
sium, the athletes put all their
heur Enterprise. Other than
being publicly ‘mocked’ by
the seller, no reply to our
off er has been received.
Moreover, Gregory Smith
and Company has not pub-
licly stated its reason for
purchasing the paper. It is
unfortunate, some speculate
to the negative.”
Smith’s history with
the Enterprise
A two-time Pulitzer
Prize nominee with The
Oregonian, Zaitz, along
with his family, bought the
Malheur Enterprise in 2015.
Zaitz eventually took
over the paper’s editorial
operations and worked
toward growing the
weekly’s presence. Zaitz
expanded the newsroom
and started collaborations
with national news orga-
nizations as the Enterprise
collected new accolades
and awards.
Today, Zaitz said the
Enterprise is profi table
and growing. As he neared
his 50th year in the jour-
nalism business, Zaitz said
he decided to sell the paper
because he felt it was the
right time to hand over
the Enterprise to a new
generation.
“We’re not going to
sell to anyone that shows
up with a check or a suit-
case full of $20 bills,” he
said. “The Malheur Enter-
prise is an essential source
of local news and is a role
model for local journalism.
So it’s import goes beyond
just reporting on Malheur
County. It’s import is also
helping show newsrooms
large and small how to do
eff ective local journalism
that generates business
success.”
East Oregonian, File
The Malheur Enterprise is a small weekly newspaper in the
agricultural town of Vale west of Ontario.
When Smith made an
off er to buy the Enter-
prise, Zaitz said he took it
seriously.
Elected in 2000, Smith
is the longest-serving
legislator in the Oregon
House of Representatives.
Although his district’s
lines have shifted sig-
nifi cantly over the years,
Smith always has repre-
sented a chunk of North-
eastern Oregon from his
home in Heppner.
But being a legislator is
only a part-time position.
His full-time work involves
him serving a number
of economic develop-
ment positions throughout
Oregon, both within and
outside his legislative dis-
trict. Some of his titles
include being the project
manager for the Columbia
Development Authority in
Boardman, the director of
the Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity Small Business
Development Center in La
Grande and the economic
development director in
Malheur County.
His status as an infl uen-
tial lawmaker who also is
in charge of raising money
for local projects and insti-
tutions around the state
has earned him scrutiny in
the media. The Willamette
Week referred to Smith
as the “best compensated
lawmaker in Salem” while
also noting his actions
were “perfectly legal.”
The Enterprise also has
done reporting on the con-
nections between Smith’s
personal business and his
work in the Legislature, in
addition to focusing on his
work in Malheur County,
publishing stories on his
contracts with the county
and his handling of local
economic development
projects.
Zaitz declined to pro-
vide further details on the
editorial that prompted
the exchange with Smith
before it was published,
but later summarized the
Enterprise’s various deal-
ings with Smith over the
years.
eff ort into reaching their lift
goals.
“It takes a lot of mental focus,
but when you’re up there it kind
of just goes away,” Nelson said.
“I think it’s just a mental game.
Even if you don’t get it, it’s
about your mentality. I some-
times struggle with that, so I just
try to tell myself that I’m going
to improve either way.”
This spring, the Wildcat Lifting
Club is set to compete against
other teams in Ontario, through
a regional tournament hosted by
the United States Powerlifting
Association.
In just the fi rst year of the pro-
gram, the LMS lifting club is
hoping to continue meeting goals
and drawing in new athletes.
“I really hope that we still
get to have it next year,” Wolcott
said. “Our coach is only a student
teacher, but I really hope he’ll be
able to keep the program going
and that more people will join.”
“He complained that our
reporting on him repre-
sented criminal conduct,”
he said. ”The sheriff looked
into that and essentially
laughed him out of Mal-
heur County on that alle-
gation. He has publicly rid-
iculed the Enterprise and
has made representations
that raise questions about
whether the Enterprise is
paying its taxes. This is a
man who has a pattern of
taking aggressive actions
against the newspaper
that is doing no more than
reporting on matters of
public importance.”
After Smith made
his off er, Zaitz followed
through on his promise
and shared excerpts from
the exchange on the Enter-
prise’s Facebook page and
asked readers what they
thought. As of the evening
of Thursday, March 10,
nearly 70 people have com-
mented on the post. Almost
all the comments either
opposed Smith buying the
paper, expressed support
for the Enterprise’s cur-
rent ownership or both.
Many questioned Smith’s
motivations.
Even if Smith doesn’t get
involved in the Vale media
business, he’ll continue
to be a prominent fi gure
in Eastern Oregon for the
foreseeable future. No one
fi led to contest Smith in
either the Republican pri-
mary or the general elec-
tion, all but assuring him a
12th term in Salem.
SHOWS
Continued from Page A1
usage. With mask and
capacity restrictions off the
table, Jennings is encour-
aging individuals to come
back out to live events, while
also being responsible in
making health choices.
“I’m encouraging people
that feel like they should or
want to wear a mask to do
so. There’s no judgment in
it,” Jennings said.
When concerts returned
last summer, HQ faced a
number of restrictions in
terms of crowd size and
COVID-19 precautions.
“If something is still
required of us, we’ll be
posting that. I know we’re
pulling away from there and
just encouraging people to
show up,” Jennings said.
“There’s a lot going on out
there. We need to start get-
ting back together around
things and queueing on life
through culture.”
In addition to live shows
returning, HQ’s owners are
encouraging local artists to
utilize the space and what
it off ers.
“We’re really interested
in fi nding creative promotors
in town who have ideas that
require the space, whether
it’s fi lm presentation or pro-
jection or supporting a music
show,” Jennings said. “We’re
looking for people who
are interested in bringing
new programming ideas to
the space.”
Union County Business Grants Available
The 2022 Union County Business Assistance Grant Program is currently
accepting applications from small businesses financially affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible applicants may receive up to $10,000.
Applications, eligibility requirements, and additional information is available
on the Union County website at www.union-county.org or by calling 541-963-
1001. Completed and signed applications packets must be received via email
at bizgrant@union-county.org or hand delivered to
1106 K Avenue by 12:00 noon on Friday, April 1, 2022.
This grant program is being made available due to federal funding received from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund.
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