The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, April 12, 2022, TUESDAY EDITION, Page 2, Image 2

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    A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1945, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt died of a cerebral hem-
orrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia,
at age 63; he was succeeded by
Vice President Harry S. Truman.
In 1955, the Salk vaccine against
polio was declared safe and
effective.
In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri
Gagarin became the first man to fly
in space, orbiting the earth once
before making a safe landing.
In 1963, civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr. was arrested and
jailed in Birmingham, Alabama,
charged with contempt of court
and parading without a permit.
(During his time behind bars, King
wrote his “Letter from Birmingham
Jail.”)
In 1981, former world heavy-
weight boxing champion Joe
Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
In 1985, Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah,
became the first sitting member
of Congress to fly in space as the
shuttle Discovery lifted off.
In 1988, the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office issued a patent
to Harvard University for a genet-
ically engineered mouse, the first
time a patent was granted for an
animal life form.
In 1990, in its first meeting, East
Germany’s first democratically
elected parliament acknowledged
responsibility for the Nazi Holo-
caust, and asked the forgiveness of
Jews and others who had suffered.
In 1992, after five years in the
making, Euro Disneyland (now
called Disneyland Paris) opened
in Marne-La-Vallee, France, amid
controversy as French intellectuals
bemoaned the invasion of Amer-
ican pop culture.
In 2015, Hillary Rodham Clinton
jumped back into presidential pol-
itics, announcing in a video her
much-awaited second campaign
for the White House.
In 2018, police in Philadelphia
arrested two black men at a Star-
bucks; the men had been asked
to leave after one of them was
denied access to the restroom.
(Starbucks apologized and, weeks
later, closed thousands of stores
for part of the day to conduct anti-
bias training.)
In 2020, Christians around the
world celebrated Easter Sunday
isolated in their homes by the
coronavirus. St. Peter’s Square was
barricaded to keep out crowds.
Pope Francis celebrated Easter
Mass inside the largely vacant
basilica, calling for global soli-
darity in the face of the pandemic
and urging political leaders to give
hope and opportunity to people
who had lost jobs.
Today’s Birthdays: Playwright
Alan Ayckbourn is 83. Jazz musi-
cian Herbie Hancock is 82. Rock
singer John Kay (Steppenwolf) is
78. Actor Ed O’Neill is 76. Actor
Dan Lauria is 75. Talk show host
David Letterman is 75. Author
Scott Turow is 73. Actor-playwright
Tom Noonan is 71. R&B singer JD
Nicholas (The Commodores) is 70.
Singer Pat Travers is 68. Actor Andy
Garcia is 66. Movie director Walter
Salles is 66. Country singer Vince
Gill is 65. Model/TV personality J
Alexander is 64. Rock musician Will
Sergeant (Echo & the Bunnymen) is
64. Rock singer Art Alexakis (Ever-
clear) is 60. Country singer Deryl
Dodd is 58. Folk-pop singer Amy
Ray (Indigo Girls) is 58. Actor Alicia
Coppola is 54. Rock singer Nich-
olas Hexum (311) is 52. Actor Retta
is 52. Actor Nicholas Brendon is 51.
Actor Shannen Doherty is 51. Actor
Marley Shelton is 48. Actor Sarah
Jane Morris is 45. Actor Jordana
Spiro is 45. Rock musician Guy Ber-
ryman (Coldplay) is 44. Actor Riley
Smith is 44. Actor Claire Danes is
43. Actor Jennifer Morrison is 43.
Actor Matt McGorry is 36. Actor
Brooklyn Decker is 35. Contempo-
rary Christian musician Joe Rickard
(Red) is 35. Rock singer-musician
Brendon Urie (Panic! at the Disco)
is 35. Actor Saoirse Ronan is 28.
LOTTERY
Friday, April 8, 2022
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Powerball
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power play: 2
Jackpot: $288 million
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7 p.m.: 8-5-2-3
10 p.m.: 8-3-7-9
TuESday, apRil 12, 2022
Celebrating diversity with CEAD
Conference offers
on-campus
diversity, equity
workshops
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Now
in its 11th year, the Cele-
brate, Educate & Appre-
ciate Diversity (CEAD)
Conference has become a
signature event at Eastern
Oregon University.
This half-day confer-
ence, scheduled for Sat-
urday, April 23, invites
students, staff and com-
munity members across
Eastern Oregon to net-
work and explore important
issues around diversity
and student leadership.
The conference provides
a safe space where par-
ticipants can engage in
thoughtful and informative
conversations.
“I look forward to the
conference being back in
person because it will allow
us to have conversations
and interactions in a dif-
ferent way than we would
virtually,” said Frances
Santos, a senior studying
anthropology and sociology
who serves as coordinator
of the Student Council for
Multicultural Affairs and
co-chairs the CEAD Plan-
ning Committee.
The conference offers
diversity training and edu-
cation for participants,
equipping them to “lead
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Eastern Oregon university/Contributed Photo
Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, is hosting its annual Celebrate, Educate & Appreciate Diversity
Conference on Saturday, April 23, 2022. Now in its 11th year, the conference offers diversity training
and education for students, faculty and community members.
responsible and reflec-
tive action in a diverse and
interconnected world.”
Those who attend the
CEAD Conference gain
a greater awareness and
understanding of power,
privilege, biases and stereo-
types, as well as a broader
understanding of differ-
ences in groups, back-
grounds, cultures, practices
and worldviews through
meaningful dialogue.
Attendees will hear
from keynote speaker
Bushra Amiwala, who
will speak about empow-
ering youth voices and
intersectionality. Ami-
wala is a community orga-
nizer, a social justice advo-
cate and the youngest
Muslim elected official in
the United States, serving
on the Skokie School
Board. As a first-gener-
ation child of Pakistani
immigrants, Amiwala will
share her wealth of experi-
ence and different perspec-
tives to discuss a variety of
impactful and timely topics
around diversity, equity
and inclusion.
The in-person confer-
ence will features diver-
sity and inclusion presenta-
tions with an emphasis on
empowering youth voices,
healing, unpacking identity
and more. Two workshop
sessions will be offered
immediately following the
keynote address. The con-
ference will conclude with
closing remarks and lunch
served at the Mountie Cafe,
on the second floor of Hoke
Union Building. All activ-
ities take place in Badgley
Hall on EOU’s campus in
La Grande. Participants
receive a certificate identi-
fying that they have com-
pleted four hours of diver-
sity training.
This year’s CEAD
workshop presenters also
include 2021 Oregon
Teacher of the Year Nicole
Butler-Hooton (Siletz/
Apache) and Health Equity
Advocate Jaylyn Suppah
(Confederated Tribe of
Warm Springs). Closing
remarks will be offered by
Chicano artist and scholar
Jake Prendez.
Mount Glen Road widening planned
Traffic delays will
be limited
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
widening of a portion of one
of the busiest roads main-
tained by Union County is
set to begin soon.
The work will involve a
3.5-mile stretch of Mount
Glen Road, running from
Booth Lane to Standley
Lane. The work will widen
both sides of this portion of
the road, which is north of
La Grande.
“We will add a foot to
both sides of the road,” said
Union County Public Works
Director Doug Wright.
Crews working on the
project will grind a por-
tion of both edges of the
roadway, which are deteri-
orating, during the first part
of the project.
“They will be ground
to create straight edges,”
Wright said.
The ground asphalt will
be removed and then new
asphalt will be installed to
widen the road. The old
asphalt will be added to the
shoulder of the road and
compacted. In the process
of doing this the shoulder of
Mount Glen Road will be
expanded by compressing
its soil and gravel.
The work will be a con-
tinuation of the widening
of Mount Glen Road that
started a year ago with the
portion of the road from
Blackhawk Trail Lane to
Booth Lane, a stretch of
about 3 miles.
Work on the project was
slated to begin Monday,
April 11, but was delayed
due to snow.
“It will take about two
weeks to complete,” Wright
said.
Wright said an average
of 1,400 vehicles a day
travel on Mount Glen Road,
making it one of the most
heavily used roads main-
tained by Union County.
Wright said it is
important to maintain the
road, not only because of its
heavy traffic but because it
also is a popular bike route.
North Powder River
Road project
The Mount Glen wid-
ening work is one of
two road projects Union
County will be involved in
over the next five months.
The second will be the
repaving of a 5-mile stretch
of North Powder River
Road in southern Union
County.
Union County will be
paying 10% of the funding
for the project and the
remainder will be provided
by the federal Forested
Lands Access Program.
The goal of the Federal
Lands Access Program is
to improve transportation
facilities that provide access
to, are adjacent to, or are
located within federal lands,
according to its website.
Wright said that main-
taining North Powder
River Road is critical
because it receives so
much use.
He said, “A lot of
traffic accesses it to
reach Anthony Lakes
Highway,” which is
the route used to reach
Anthony Lakes Mountain
Mountain Resort.
The paving project is
expected to take four or
five months to finish.
“We anticipate that the
project will start in June
and should be finished in
October,” Wright said.
The Union County
Public Works director said
there will be traffic delays
during the repaving of
North Powder River Road.
Traffic control devices and
flaggers will be present for
a portion of the time work
is being done.
State Rep. Levy visits Wallowa History Center
Center received
$500,000 grant for
renovation
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — A
$500,000 grant recently
received from the state will
help renovate and restore
the former U.S. Forest Ser-
vice Compound into the
Wallowa History Center,
according to a press release.
The former Bear Sleds
Unit Office is owned by the
city.
The grant was secured
by state Rep. Bobby Levy
and state Sen. Bill Hansell,
both of Umatilla County,
with the assistance of Rep.
John Lively, a Wallowa
native and now a state rep-
resentative from Eugene.
Earlier this month,
Levy and her chief of staff,
Whitley Sullivan, vis-
Wallowa
County
declares
drought
emergency
debbie lind/Contributed Photo
State Rep. Bobby Levy visited the Wallowa History Center on Friday,
April 1, 2022, to see the subject of a $500,000 grant she and others
helped secure. From left are Wallowa Mayor Gary Hulse, Wallowa
History Center board member Marilyn Hulse, WHC Board Chairman
David Weaver, Levy, Levy’s Chief of Staff Whitley Sullivan, WHC Board
member Jenny Hawkins and WHC Board member Joseph Goebel.
ited Wallowa County and
stopped in Wallowa to
see the compound and the
center.
The Wallowa History
Center Board of Direc-
tors has several new proj-
ects nearing comple-
tion. They plan to work
with photographer Ellen
Morris Bishop to photo-
graph remains of wagon
roads in the Wallowa River
Canyon area and publish
the Findley family papers
edited by John Gotterud, of
Wallowa.
The board has been
asked to supply historic
photos of natural resources
for the Doug McDaniel
Stewardship Center in
Enterprise. Preserving the
natural resource history of
the county is another goal,
as is publishing the board’s
quarterly, magazine-style
newsletter under the editor-
ship of Mark Highberger,
of Wallowa.
The History Center’s
website, www.wallowa-
history.org, interactively
ties together old newspaper
formats, holds the archived
photos and connects with
other historical resources
using current technology.
NEWS BRIEF
Governor candidate Pulliam
Pulliam will be at Urban Vine, 10107 Main Street Heroes, including small
business owners, veterans, law
to visit Union County as part W. First St., Island City, at 12:30 p.m.
The
public
is
invited
to
attend.
enforcement, and first responders
of gubernatorial campaign
LA GRANDE — Stan Pulliam,
mayor of Sandy and candidate for
Oregon governor, will visit Union
County Wednesday, April 13, during
a campaign tour of Eastern Oregon.
“We’re excited to continue
meeting with Main Street business
owners, community leaders, and con-
cerned Oregonians at the next few
stops of our bus tour,” Pulliam said.
“We’re going to keep highlighting
who are truly the backbone of our
local communities.”
Pulliam will also make stops in
Baker City, Ontario, John Day and
Burns.
— The Observer
ENTERPRISE —
Another year of drought was
declared by the Wallowa
County Board of Commis-
sioners during its meeting
Wednesday, April 6.
“We don’t have a lot
of information other than
we’re in D4,” Commis-
sioner Todd Nash said,
referring to the most-ex-
treme drought condition.
The county was listed
as D4 all summer until the
fall.
“We’ve been in D3
since, over a good por-
tion of our county,” Nash
said, referring to a less-se-
vere designation. “So there
is reason enough there to
declare drought. We have
somewhere between 50%
and 70% snowpack in the
mountains.”
The commissioners
issued a drought declara-
tion in May 2021, a full
month later than this year.
“Most of our soils, espe-
cially in the northern por-
tion of the county, are
extremely dry,” he said.
“Reports vary on watering
conditions for livestock
from full capacity in the
pond storage to not so
much. It does vary from
site to site throughout
the county. The bearing
it has, I think, we have
some potential wet weather
coming. May and June are
really the critical times for
Wallowa County and so
we could be getting ahead
of ourselves a little bit,
but for where we are right
now, 88% of Oregon is in a
drought condition.”
Nash recommended
moving toward a drought
declaration.
“I think it would be
responsible for us to
pursue declaring a drought.
I don’t want to do this
every year, but we’re still
recovering from last year,
too,” he said. “Those soil
conditions and I think
even into what is going to
be our groundwater con-
ditions are going to con-
tinue to recover for a
while. With that, it would
be my recommendation
that we pursue declaring a
drought.”
Commission Chair
Susan Roberts asked if the
county needs more infor-
mation from a Soil and
Water Conservation Dis-
trict, but Nash said that
isn’t necessary.
“We don’t at this point
because the U.S. Drought
Monitor shows us in D3,”
Nash said. “I did take a
bit of a survey around the
county and got varying
responses and I’ve tried to
articulate most of those.”
The U.S. Drought
Monitor is a map that is
updated each Thursday
to show the location and
intensity of drought across
the country. As of the
latest report, taken April 5
and released April 7, nearly
half of Wallowa County
(49.13%) was in D3, or
extreme drought.
Roberts explained the
declaration is the first step
toward obtaining state or
federal assistance for those
plagued by drought.
“What that does is
we send in a form to the
state through our emer-
gency manager and then
the state recognizes our
declaration and approves
it and then forwards the
request to the secretary
of agriculture for a con-
sideration of a drought
declaration for Wallowa
County,” she said. “Then,
if people need assistance
or if the county does,
we’re eligible for it, but
we have to make the dec-
laration in order to get the
assistance.”
Roberts asked for a
motion, which Nash made,
and the board approved.