LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1765, Britain enacted the
Quartering Act, requiring Amer-
ican colonists to provide temporary
housing to British soldiers.
In 1832, a mob in Hiram, Ohio,
attacked, tarred and feathered
Mormon leaders Joseph Smith Jr.
and Sidney Rigdon.
In 1882, German scientist Robert
Koch announced in Berlin that he
had discovered the bacillus respon-
sible for tuberculosis.
In 1934, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed a bill granting
future independence to the
Philippines.
In 1976, the president of Argen-
tina, Isabel Peron, was deposed by
her country’s military.
In 1980, one of El Salvador’s
most respected Roman Catholic
Church leaders, Archbishop Oscar
Arnulfo Romero, was shot to death
by a sniper as he celebrated Mass in
San Salvador.
In 1995, after 20 years, British
soldiers stopped routine patrols in
Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In 1999, NATO launched air-
strikes against Yugoslavia, marking
the first time in its 50-year exis-
tence that it had ever attacked
a sovereign country. Thirty-nine
people were killed when fire
erupted in the Mont Blanc tunnel in
France and burned for two days.
In 2010, keeping a promise he’d
made to anti-abortion Democratic
lawmakers to assure passage of
his historic health care legislation,
President Barack Obama signed an
executive order against using fed-
eral funds to pay for elective abor-
tions covered by private insurance.
In 2015, Germanwings Flight
9525, an Airbus A320, crashed
into the French Alps, killing all
150 people on board; investiga-
tors said the jetliner was deliber-
ately downed by the 27-year-old
co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz.
In 2016, a U.N. war crimes court
convicted former Bosnian Serb
leader Radovan Karadzic of geno-
cide and nine other charges for
orchestrating a campaign of terror
that left 100,000 people dead
during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia;
Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years
in prison. (The sentence was later
increased to life in prison.)
In 2020, the International
Olympic Committee announced
that the Summer Olympics in
Tokyo would be postponed until
2021 because of the coronavirus.
Ten years ago: Former Vice Pres-
ident Dick Cheney, with a long his-
tory of cardiovascular problems,
underwent a heart transplant at a
Virginia hospital.
Five years ago: President
Donald Trump and GOP leaders
yanked their bill to repeal
“Obamacare” off the House floor
when it became clear the measure
would fail badly.
One year ago: The Senate con-
firmed former Pennsylvania Health
Secretary Rachel Levine to be
the nation’s assistant secretary of
health; Levine was the first openly
transgender federal official to win
Senate confirmation.
Today’s Birthdays: Fashion and
costume designer Bob Mackie is
83. Former Washington Gov. Chris-
tine Gregoire is 75. Rock musi-
cian Lee Oskar is 74. Singer Nick
Lowe is 73. Rock musician Dougie
Thomson (Supertramp) is 71.
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger
is 71. Actor Robert Carradine is
68. Former Microsoft CEO Steve
Ballmer is 66. Actor Kelly LeBrock
is 62. TV personality Star Jones is
60. Actor Peter Jacobson is 57. Rock
singer-musician Sharon Corr (The
Corrs) is 52. Actor Lara Flynn Boyle
is 52. Actor Jim Parsons is 49. Chris-
tian rock musician Chad Butler
(Switchfoot) is 48. Actor Alyson
Hannigan is 48. Former NFL quar-
terback Peyton Manning is 46.
Actor Amanda Brugel (TV: “The
Handmaid’s Tale”) is 45. Actor Jes-
sica Chastain is 45. Actor Philip
Winchester (TV: “Strike Back”) is
41. Dancer Val Chmerkovskiy is 36.
Actor Keisha Castle-Hughes is 32.
CORRECTION
In the page A2 story “Lathrop
sentenced to jail, probation, resti-
tution,” published Thursday, March
17, the names of Mick and Jeff
Lathrop were incorrect. Also, the
judge did order a substance abuse
evaluation and recommended a
mental health evaluation.
LOTTERY
Monday, March 21, 2022
Megabucks
15-32-38-39-41-46
Estimated jackpot: $3.2 million
Lucky Lines
4-6-10-16-19-24-26-29
Estimated jackpot: $38,000
Win for Life
8-60-66-75
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 8-6-8-1
4 p.m.: 6-2-7-6
7 p.m.: 9-7-3-6
10 p.m.: 1-8-9-4
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Mega Millions
8-15-21-27-61
Mega Ball: 8
Megaplier: 3
Estimated jackpot: $50 million
Lucky Lines
4-6-9-14-17-23-26-32
Estimated jackpot: $39,000
Pick 4
1 p.m.: 5-7-5-7
4 p.m.: 8-0-8-7
7 p.m.: 5-8-3-4
10 p.m.: 2-1-8-0
THuRSday, MaRcH 24, 2022
Local thrift store elevates its services Demo
Community
Kindness of Eastern
Oregon expands
business into two-
story operation
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Things are moving up
at La Grande thrift store
Community Kindness of
Eastern Oregon.
The store, located on
1315 Adams Ave., recently
concluded an upstairs
expansion that added 6,600
square feet of space for
the store to expand. With a
whole new look and added
room for services and
donation intake, the store
is ramping up operations
to serve as a focal point for
the La Grande community.
“What we want to do is
really establish ourselves
as a hub to help people,”
said Liz Meyer, who runs
the store alongside her hus-
band Grant Meyer. “We
decided to go for it. How
could we not, for the com-
munity? We were getting
a bit crowded, we need
to make people feel more
relaxed and have a nice
atmosphere and get more
stock out.”
Community Kindness
of Eastern Oregon under-
went the expansion this
winter, officially opening
up the new area to the
public in early March.
The added space
allows the thrift store
to create an extensive
clothing area, while any-
thing from dishes, elec-
tronics, records and fur-
niture can still be found
in the downstairs area.
In addition to the expan-
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Liz Meyer, co-owner of Community Kindness, says the thrift store’s
newly renovated upstairs serves as a way to offer clothes to a wide
variety of customers from casual wear to wedding dresses.
sive new clothing area, the
space now includes two
dressing rooms, a back-
room for preparing the
clothing and a meeting
room for employees and
board members. The added
upstairs area increased the
store’s clothing capacity
significantly, allowing for a
variety of brands, clothing
types and even unique
items like wedding dresses.
In a large thrift store, the
intake of donations can be an
overwhelming task. The new
backroom area now helps
Meyer and the staff metic-
ulously organize the items
through the process of dona-
tion, cleaning, cataloging
and shelving for sale. Every
item in the new upstairs
clothing area is itemized
and color blocked for conve-
nience to the customer.
“You have to be orga-
nized for it to be right,”
Meyer said.
Meyer initially
expressed concern over
ADA accessibility in
adding an upstairs sec-
tion, but the staff came up
with a solution that makes
the shopping experience
easier for any customer in
Community Kindness of
Eastern Oregon. The thrift
store uses a tablet that lists
the shop’s inventory, and
personal shoppers pick out
clothes from the upstairs
section for customers.
“I want it to be nice for
people,” Meyer said. “It’s
been a really rough three
years for people.”
The renovation process
involved a group effort,
as local entities made
a difference in the pro-
cess. Carpet One Floor
and Home donated and
installed the carpeting on
the new staircase, while
former businesses Bealls
and The Peanut Gallery
donated shelves and racks
that adorn the upstairs
floor. The renovation
involved in-house work as
well as volunteer work and
contractors.
Founded in 2019, Com-
munity Kindness of
Eastern Oregon Thrift
store is the main fundraiser
for the Community Kind-
ness organization. Since
that point, Meyer and the
staff have placed a large
emphasis on giving back to
the community. The store’s
manager hopes to continue
sponsoring local organiza-
tions, churches, care facil-
ities, schools and every-
thing in between.
“This is my contribution
to my community, which
accepted me 21 years ago,”
Meyer said “People come
in and smile. They love it.
If I can make people happy
and smile, that is what I
always want to do.”
Meyer is originally
from England, which is
made evident by the store’s
British flags adorning
the exterior and the shelf
full of candies and food
items from her home
country. Since joining on
at the thrift store, Meyer
has placed an emphasis
on serving as a commu-
nity centerpiece that gives
back.
The store’s manager
works roughly 60 to 70
hours per week, strictly on
a volunteer basis. Meyer
credits a steady flow of
hard-working volun-
teers in bringing Commu-
nity Kindness of Eastern
Oregon to where it is now.
“I absolutely love what
I do. I couldn’t imagine
doing anything else,”
Meyer said. “If we can
make a difference in some-
one’s life, then this is what
we’re going to do.”
Upon completion of
the expansion project,
Community Kindness of
Eastern Oregon is cur-
rently back on its regular
schedule and open to the
public.
“It’s a very generous
community,” she said. “I
couldn’t do this without
them. It’s a community
teamwork experience.”
Wallowa bike playground adds $1,000 to coffers
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — Fund-
raising efforts toward the
planned bicycle playground
at Wallowa have reached
about two-thirds of the
needed money, after youths
sold about $1,000 worth of
tickets in a drawing for a
barbecue grill.
A drawing for the grill
was held Thursday, March
17, at the site of the future
playground at Wallowa
School. Todd Pederson, of
Wallowa, was the winner of
the Traeger wood-fired grill
valued at $900, according to
Ron Pickens, who is spear-
heading the project. The
grill was donated by Ace
Hardware in Enterprise.
He said the expected
budget for the playground is
about $235,000.
Annette Moeller’s
sixth grade class at Wal-
lowa Middle School had
the honor of drawing the
winner, with class member
Gavin Schaeffer earning
the right to actually draw
the ticket. Pickens said the
selection of Moeller’s class
was entirely random.
“We’re just trying to
spread the love,” he said,
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa Middle School sixth grader Gavin Schaeffer draws the
winner for a barbecue grill raffled off as part of the fundraising
efforts to pay for the new bicycle playground to be built in the
field behind the kids at the school. Todd Pederson of Wallowa
won the grill. Ron Pickens, of Building Healthy Families, who is
spearheading the project, holds the bucket of tickets.
adding that all the Wallowa
students had the opportu-
nity to participate in the
fundraising efforts.
Together, the class
shouted, “Thank you Wal-
lowa County.”
Next on the project’s
fundraising drive is a Wal-
lowa School Piggy Bank
Coin Drive. That will run
from March 28 to April 15.
Plastic jugs decorated as
piggy banks will be placed
in various locations around
the county to take donations
for the project, Pickens said.
“The winning class gets
a pizza party at the end,”
he said, as well as a spon-
sorship plaque on a piece of
playground equipment.
The kindergarten class
from Wallowa Elemen-
tary School will have its
“piggy bank” at the Wal-
lowa Public Library, the
first grade’s bank will be at
M. Crow in Lostine, sec-
ond-grade donations will be
taken at Goebel’s in Wal-
lowa, third-grade donations
can be taken at Wallowa
County Grain Growers in
Enterprise, fourth-graders
can donate at ACE Hard-
ware in Enterprise, the fifth-
grade bank will be at the
Wallowa Mountain Bar and
Grill in Wallowa and the
sixth-grade bank will be at
Wallowa Food City.
Pickens, a prevention
coordinator and alternative
school teacher with Building
Healthy Families in Enter-
prise, spearheaded last year’s
project to refurbish the
Enterprise Skate Park. Since
then, he became interested in
seeing a similar project built
in Wallowa, where he lived
until recently.
The groundbreaking
was originally scheduled
for August, but the schedule
has been moved up.
“Now we’re going to
break ground in early July
and hope to open in mid-
summer,” he said.
The project is expected
to accommodate bikes,
scooters, roller blades and
skateboards in a colorful
space that kids can play in,
Pickens said.
NEWS BRIEFS
Island City hydrant
flushing set to begin
ISLAND CITY —
The city of Island City
will begin conducting fire
hydrant flushing starting
Monday, March 28.
The three-week process
will conclude April 15.
Flushing will be con-
ducted from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. Mondays through
Fridays. The flushing is
necessary to ensure ade-
quate water volume and
pressure for fire suppres-
sion and to detect any
potential problems in the
water system.
If residents experience
discoloration or sediment
in their water, they should
let an outside faucet or a
cold-water bathtub faucet
run until the water has
cleared.
The city advises that res-
idents also check their water
before washing clothes.
For more information,
call the city of Island City
at 541-963-5017.
Baker City man
arrested on sex
abuse charges
BAKER CITY —
A Baker City man was
arrested Monday, March
21, on multiple sex crime
charges that, were he
convicted on all or most
counts, could result in a
prison sentence of more
than 30 years.
Jerry Ray Shaw Jr., 40,
was arrested at the Baker
City Police Department
and taken to the Baker
County Jail, according to
law enforcement.
Shaw is charged with 10
total counts — four counts
of first-degree sodomy, four
counts of first-degree sex
abuse, and two counts of
unlawful first-degree sexual
penetration with an object.
Shaw was arraigned on
March 22 in Baker County
Circuit Court. Baker City
attorney Bob Moon was
appointed to represent Shaw.
Judge Matt Shirtcliff set
Shaw’s bail at $1 million.
Shaw is scheduled
to enter a plea in Baker
County Circuit Court on
April 14 at 1:30 p.m.
The alleged victim
is a juvenile girl, police
said. According to court
records, Shaw knew the
alleged victim. The investi-
gation is continuing.
The alleged abuse hap-
pened between Jan. 1,
2012, and Dec. 31, 2015,
in Baker City, according
to court documents. The
victim was younger than
14 throughout the period,
and younger than 12 in
some instances.
According to Oregon
Revised Statutes, first-de-
gree unlawful sexual
penetration involves a
victim younger than 12
or a victim who is “inca-
pable of consent by reason
of mental incapacitation,
physical helplessness or
incapability of appraising
the nature of the victim’s
conduct.”
First-degree sexual
abuse involves a victim
who is younger than 14 or
is “incapable of consent
by reason of mental inca-
pacitation, physical help-
lessness or incapability of
appraising the nature of the
victim’s conduct.”
— EO Media Group
work
underway
at Cougar
Dome
Wallowa High
School gymnasium
undergoing
extensive remodel
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — It looked
like a bomb went off in
the Wallowa High School
Cougar Dome on Thursday,
March 17, but it was the
result of workers getting
hard at it in their efforts to
demolish and retrofit the
structure.
Efforts to replace key
portions of the structure
began in earnest
March 7, Superintendent
Tammy Jones said.
“The seismic is about
gutting the gym,” she said.
“They’re tearing out the
walls and roof.”
She pointed out “hinge
points” that make the
building unstable in case
of a seismic event — spots
where the walls don’t
extend from floor to ceiling.
The fault line
The Wallowa School
District received a $2.3 mil-
lion seismic retrofit grant
last year from the Oregon
Department of Education.
The funds will be used to
make the Cougar Dome
stable and safe in the event
of an earthquake. The grant
will fund primarily struc-
tural improvements so that
the large gym building can
serve as public shelter in the
event of an earthquake or
other disaster.
The school and the town
of Wallowa are along the
western end of the Wallowa
fault, which has uplifted the
Wallowa Mountains more
than 7,000 feet. It still pro-
vides low intensity quakes
of Magnitude 2 (M2) to M4
every few years, mostly
centered in the Upper Wal-
lowa Valley.
Based on the fault’s
nearly 40-mile length,
geologists have calcu-
lated that it could unleash
a M6 to M7 quake. Map-
ping of the fault near Wal-
lowa Lake, which shows
detailed ground topography
even under heavy forest
cover, shows no evidence
of major faulting or signifi-
cant fault scarps in the past
17,000 years. But that’s only
a short time in geologic
cycles.
The current gym was
built in 1949, Jones said, to
replace an earlier one that
had burned. She said she
expects the seismic work
done by fall. The rest of
the gym project will take
another year.
“The big part of that is
the heating and all that,”
she said.
As of March 17, taken
out were the bleachers,
ceiling and lockers.
“There will be a new,
4,200-square-foot entry
that will have a community
space and where kids can
hang out during lunch, new
bathrooms, an elevator that
will serve all three floors
and as a connector,” Jones
said. “The elevator will pro-
vide access to all the floors
of the high school.”
Community will have
access to an exercise
facility when students aren’t
using it, such as during eve-
nings or weekends.
The overall project
involves building new
walls, a roof, locker rooms,
bleachers, adding an exer-
cise room and entryway, a
larger gym floor, a laundry
room and electrical work.
The seismic retrofit grant
was awarded the same year
the district approved a
$7 million bond levy and
$4 million grant through
the OSCIM Oregon School
Capital Improvement
Matching Program.