LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1765, the British Parliament
passed the Stamp Act to raise
money from the American colo-
nies, which fiercely resisted the
tax. (The Stamp Act was repealed
a year later.)
In 1882, President Chester Alan
Arthur signed a measure out-
lawing polygamy.
In 1941, the Grand Coulee
hydroelectric dam in Washington
state officially went into operation.
In 1945, the Arab League was
formed with the adoption of a
charter in Cairo, Egypt.
In 1963, The Beatles’ debut
album, “Please Please Me,” was
released in the United Kingdom by
Parlophone.
In 1978, Karl Wallenda, the
73-year-old patriarch of “The
Flying Wallendas” high-wire act,
fell to his death while attempting
to walk a cable strung between
two hotel towers in San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
In 1988, both houses of Con-
gress overrode President Ronald
Reagan’s veto of the Civil Rights
Restoration Act.
In 1993, Intel Corp. unveiled the
original Pentium computer chip.
In 1997, Tara Lipinski, at age
14 years and 10 months, became
the youngest ladies’ world figure
skating champion in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
In 2010, Google Inc. stopped
censoring the internet for China by
shifting its search engine off the
mainland to Hong Kong.
In 2019, special counsel Robert
Mueller closed his Russia inves-
tigation with no new charges,
delivering his final report to Jus-
tice Department officials. Former
President Jimmy Carter became
the longest-living chief executive
in American history; at 94 years
and 172 days, he exceeded the
lifespan of the late former Presi-
dent George H.W. Bush.
In 2020, New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo ordered all nonessential
businesses in the state to close
and nonessential workers to stay
home. Kentucky Republican Rand
Paul became the first member of
the U.S. Senate to report testing
positive for the coronavirus; his
announcement led Utah senators
Mike Lee and Mitt Romney to place
themselves in quarantine.
Ten years ago: Coroner’s offi-
cials ruled singer Whitney Houston
died by drowning the previous
February, but that heart disease
and cocaine use were contributing
factors.
Five years ago: A knife-wielding
man plowed a car into pedestrians
on London’s Westminster Bridge,
killing four people, then stabbed
an armed police officer to death
inside the gates of Parliament
before being shot dead by author-
ities. Supreme Court nominee Neil
Gorsuch wrapped up two days of
Senate questioning to glowing
GOP reviews but complaints from
frustrated Democrats that he
had concealed his views from the
American public.
One year ago: A man opened
fire at a crowded supermarket
in Boulder, Colorado, killing 10
people, including one of the first
police officers to respond. (The
suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, has
so far been found mentally incom-
petent to stand trial.)
Today’s Birthdays: Evangelist
broadcaster Pat Robertson is 92.
Actor William Shatner is 91. Former
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is 88.
Actor M. Emmet Walsh is 87. Sing-
er-guitarist George Benson is 79.
Writer James Patterson is 75. CNN
newscaster Wolf Blitzer is 74. Com-
poser Andrew Lloyd Webber is
74. Sportscaster Bob Costas is 70.
Actor Lena Olin is 67. Singer-actor
Stephanie Mills is 65. Actor Mat-
thew Modine is 63. Actor-come-
dian Keegan-Michael Key is 51.
Actor Will Yun Lee is 51. Olympic
silver medal figure skater Elvis
Stojko is 50. Actor Cole Hauser is
47. Actor Kellie Williams is 46. Actor
Reese Witherspoon is 46.
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TuESday, MaRcH 22, 2022
The face of Fruitdale Lane
Ken Eberhard
regularly walks
4 miles a day
keeping roadway
clean from litter
Project work set in
Union, Wallowa and
Baker counties
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Hun-
dreds of people travel
along two-mile Fruitdale
Lane daily in north La
Grande.
Many, especially those
in vehicles with their win-
dows tinted dark, have an
air of anonymity.
And then there is Ken
Eberhard, who might be
described as the face of
Fruitdale Lane.
The youthful
80-year-old walks a total
of 4 miles on Fruitdale
Lane about four times a
week, beginning on the
road’s north side while
walking west from Hunter
Road to Riverside Park
before returning on its
south side while striding
east back to Hunter Road.
“It is great exercise,”
Eberhard said.
He periodically looks
down while walking,
not to look for text mes-
sages on his cellphone
but to check for some-
thing found in Fruitdale
Lane’s ditches long before
the digital age started
— litter.
Eberhard has been
picking up debris along
Fruitdale Lane ever since
starting his regular walks
about two years ago.
“I want to help keep it
clean,” he said.
Eberhard finishes each
walk with a plastic bag
filled with litter including
face masks, food wrap-
pers, small boxes and
much more.
And his work is
noticed.
“You don’t see any gar-
bage there,” said Eber-
hard’s son-in-law, Gary
By DICK MASON
The Observer
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Ken Eberhard, 80, walks along Fruitdale Lane to pick up litter on Friday, March 11, 2022. Eberhard
started picking up litter along his morning walks as a way to combine exercise and public service.
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Ken Eberhard, 80, collects litter during his daily walk and, when
the weather warms up, wears a backpack to train for hunting
season.
Anderson, who also lives
on Fruitdale Lane.
Eberhard picks up the
litter with a degree of
sensitivity.
If he finds something
that he thinks someone
may have lost and will be
back to retrieve, he will
place it in the far edge
of the Fruitdale Lane’s
shoulder or hang it on a
fence. If nobody claims it,
he’ll place it in his trash
bag two or three days
later.
Sometimes the bag is
filled before he completes
his walk.
Eberhard is careful
not to walk when there is
extensive snow and ice on
Fruitdale Lane because of
the risk it poses.
“There is no point
in exercising if you are
going to get hurt doing it,”
he said.
Later in the year, he
wears a backpack during
his walks to make it more
challenging. He said this
gets him in better condi-
tion for big game hunting
seasons in the fall. Those
he hunts with include
Anderson, his son-in-law,
who credits Eberhard with
being able to take on dif-
ficult terrain during hunts
because of his excellent
condition.
He also hunts geese in
farm fields near his home.
“He has his own
blind,” Anderson said.
When Eberhard is
not hunting he is often
angling. Last weekend,
for example, he was
fishing for walleye on the
Columbia River.
He’s rarely idle.
“He always keeps
busy,” Anderson said.
“If he sits down he gets
bored.”
His penchant for being
active is a carry over from
the years Eberhard oper-
ated a logging company
he owned in the Elgin
area.
“He worked from
sunup to sundown and
then worked in his office
at night,” Anderson said.
He said Eberhard’s
work ethic reflects his
generation.
“Ken is an old school
worker,” Anderson said.
One who enjoys
helping his community
and making connections
with those within it.
“He is a people
person,’’ said his daughter
Keri Eberhard, of La
Grande.
Enterprise, Joseph to be in indie film
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Wal-
lowa County is going to
be a star. At least, several
locations in Enterprise
and Joseph will be in the
upcoming independent
film “New Life,” which
capitalizes on the county’s
resemblance to Canada.
“Today we are filming
in downtown Enterprise,”
Hannah Cumming, asso-
ciate producer and pro-
duction coordinator for
the film, said on Thursday,
March 17. “We’re shooting
on the sidewalk along
Main Street, by the court-
house and near the city
park.”
She said the previous
day the crew shot at a
ranch near Joseph.
“It was beautiful there,”
Cumming said.
She said the film is
about Jess Murdoch, who
gets infected with a virus
that is “causing serious
side effects and she’s
being pursued by an offi-
cial, Elsa, who is trying
to figure out why the side
effects are not affecting her
the way they’re affecting
everyone else.”
Murdoch is portrayed
by Hayley Erin, of Los
Angeles, while Elsa Gray
is portrayed by Sonya
Walger, of the United
Kingdom.
Enterprise is doubling
Local
bridge
projects
underway
Photos by Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Actress Hayley Erin, right, portraying Jess Murdock, flees after
hearing her name called Thursday, March 17, 2022, during filming
of the independent film “New Life” in downtown Enterprise. Sites
in Wallowa County were selected for the film because producers
believe they resemble Canada.
as a town in Alberta,
Canada, near the U.S.
border.
“We were trying to
find a place in Oregon
that looked like Canada,”
Cumming said. “The Wal-
lowas definitely look like
the Canadian border area.”
While “New Life” is
not your typical film about
the “undead” — they
emphasized that “We don’t
use the ‘Z’ word,” Erin
said — it tries to get into
the genre with a more real-
istic approach, Cumming
said.
Occasionally, there is
some of the “undead”-like
appearance to characters.
“There was some
freaky makeup in that
one,” Cumming said of the
scenes shot near Joseph.
The only local Cum-
ming mentioned using
during production was
Michael Ferrell, owner
of the Michael’s on Main
Street salon.
“One of the extras
wasn’t here and they were
filming a scene where they
were walking in front of
the Humane Society that
they put in because of the
kitties,” Ferrell said. “So
I got to be in the movie as
a walker with a girl at my
side.”
Kevin Brown, another
associate producer, said
he’s still unsure when the
film will be released.
“It’s an independent
film and we don’t have a
distributor yet,” he said.
The makeup isn’t ghoulish as in
some films about the undead,
as is apparent with “New Life”
star Hayley Erin during filming
of the independent feature
Thursday, March 17, 2022, in
downtown Enterprise.
“We make it as best as we
can and then try to sell it
to a company that’s going
to distribute it, whether
that’s a streamer online
or a traditional theatrical
(release).”
Cumming said produc-
tion should wrap up by
April 2 and it should take
six months to a year after
that before the release date.
“It would be great if we
could get it in theaters,”
she said.
The Portland-based cast
and crew of about 25 spent
the entire week in Enter-
prise and Joseph.
“The New Life cast and
crew is really grateful to
have the cooperation of
Enterprise and Joseph and
we’re really happy to be
here,” Cumming said.
NEWS BRIEF
Program offered to start
small business
ENTERPRISE — The
CO.STARTERS Core program
is being offered by the Northeast
Oregon Economic Development
District for small business entre-
preneurs interested in successfully
launching a small business idea.
CO.STARTERS Core, offered in
partnership with Reinventing Rural,
equips entrepreneurs of all kinds
with the insights, relationships and
tools needed to turn business ideas
into action.
CO.STARTERS walks small
business owners or those with a
business idea through lean, effec-
tive business modeling methods in
a simple, visual, and intuitive way,
while connecting them to a sup-
portive community of peers and
mentors.
Entrepreneurs will meet virtually
on Thursday evenings from 5:30-
8:30 p.m. starting April 7 for 10 ses-
sions. Sessions will be led by facil-
itators Lisa Dawson, NEOEDD’s
executive director, and Bryan Tweit,
Launch Pad Baker’s executive
director.
For more information, contact
Dawson at 541-426-3598 ext. 1, 541-
432-1056 (cell) or www.neoedd.org.
— The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation is launching a bridge
renovation and building drive
that will restore six spans in
Union and Baker counties and
replace another in Wallowa
County.
Work is now starting on
three of the projects — two in
La Grande and one in Wallowa
County.
The two La Grande spans are
the north Second Street bridge
about 250 yards southeast of
the Union County Fairgrounds,
and McAlister Lane Bridge near
the Flying J Travel Center truck
stop. Both bridges are over Inter-
state 84.
Work on the north Second
Street bridge started Monday,
March 21, and is expected to be
completed by the end of July,
said ODOT spokesperson Tom
Strandberg. The bridge will be
closed to motorized traffic until
the work is finished but bicy-
clists and pedestrians, including
those with disabilities, will be
allowed access through the
work zone.
Crews working at the north
Second Street site will upgrade
bridge rails to current standards,
repair and seal deck surfaces,
and perform other repairs to
keep structures safe and in good
condition.
Work on the bridge will not
affect traffic on Interstate 84,
which runs under the span.
ODOT will stage a detour
around the work zone.
Crews contracted by ODOT
began work at the McAlister
Lane Bridge over I-84 on March
14. Containment devices were
installed to prevent debris from
the project from falling to I-84.
There will be occasional traffic
delays at this site through June
when work should be finished,
Strandberg said.
Work that will be done
later includes the removal and
replacement of the existing
bridge railing with a new one
that meets current vehicular
crash standards, the installation
of new protective screening
and sealing the existing bridge
deck to extend the life of the
surface.
The work scheduled for Wal-
lowa County will involve the
replacement of the Bear Creek
Bridge on Highway 82 near
Wallowa. Removal of vegeta-
tion at the site to allow for bridge
building started March 14.
“Basically, we will be
replacing the bridge over the
Wallowa River just to the
north of the town of Wallowa,’’
Strandberg said.
The narrow bridge will
replace an 80-year-old span that
requires upgrades and repairs.
The bridge will continue to
be used until the new span is
completed.
Freeze-thaw cycles have
damaged concrete railings, side-
walk and other portions of it,
said Vicki Moles, an ODOT
community affairs specialist.
“Erosion and debris jeopar-
dize the bridge’s foundations,”
Moles said.
Strandberg said that unless
the old bridge is replaced there
is a good chance that it would
eventually have to be closed for
repairs, something that would
cause a major disruption for
those traveling to and from
northwest Wallowa County.
The new bridge, which will
cost $14.3 million, is expected to
be completed by fall 2024.
Other bridge projects to be
started this year in Wallowa,
Union and Baker counties, all
on or adjacent to I-84, include
the Upper Perry Bridge, about 5
miles east of La Grande; the on-
and off-ramp bridges at Exit 259,
2 miles east of La Grande; and
the Highway 86 bridge at Exit
302, just north of Baker City.
All of the seven ODOT proj-
ects except for replacement
of the Bear Creek Bridge are
expected to be completed at
least by November, according to
ODOT.