LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1789, President-elect George
Washington left Mount Vernon,
Virginia, for his inauguration in
New York.
In 1889, comedian and movie
director Charles Chaplin was born
in London.
In 1945, In his first speech
to Congress, President Harry S.
Truman pledged to carry out the
war and peace policies of his late
predecessor, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
In 1947, the cargo ship Grand-
camp, carrying ammonium nitrate,
blew up in the harbor in Texas City,
Texas; a nearby ship, the High Flyer,
which was carrying ammonium
nitrate and sulfur, caught fire and
exploded the following day; the
blasts and fires killed nearly 600
people.
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.
wrote his “Letter from Birmingham
Jail” in which the civil rights activist
responded to a group of local cler-
gymen who had criticized him
for leading street protests; King
defended his tactics, writing,
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere.”
In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on
a voyage to the moon with astro-
nauts John W. Young, Charles M.
Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on
board.
In 1977, Alex Haley, author of
the best-seller “Roots,” visited the
Gambian village of Juffure, where,
he believed, his ancestor Kunte
Kinte was captured as a slave in
1767.
In 1996, Britain’s Prince Andrew
and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of
York, announced they were in the
process of divorcing.
In 2003, Michael Jordan played
his last NBA game with the Wash-
ington Wizards, who lost to the
Philadelphia 76ers, 107-87.
In 2007, in one of America’s
worst school attacks, a college
senior killed 32 people on the
campus of Virginia Tech before
taking his own life.
In 2010, the U.S government
accused Wall Street’s most pow-
erful firm of fraud, saying Goldman
Sachs & Co. had sold mortgage
investments without telling buyers
the securities were crafted with
input from a client who was bet-
ting on them to fail. (In July 2010,
Goldman agreed to pay $550 mil-
lion in a settlement with the Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission,
but did not admit wrongdoing.)
In 2020, the Trump administra-
tion gutted an Obama-era rule
that compelled the country’s coal
plants to cut back emissions of
mercury and other human health
hazards.
Ten years ago: A trial began in
Oslo, Norway, for Anders Breivik,
charged with killing 77 people in
a bomb and gun rampage in July
2011. (Breivik was found guilty
of terrorism and premeditated
murder and given a 21-year prison
sentence.)
Five years ago: U.S. officials said
a North Korean medium-range
missile exploded seconds after
launch, a high-profile failure that
came hours before U.S. Vice Pres-
ident Mike Pence arrived in South
Korea for a visit at the start of a
10-day trip to Asia.
One year ago: Jon Ryan
Schaffer, a member of the far-right
Oath Keepers militia group and
a heavy metal guitarist, became
the first defendant to plead guilty
to federal charges in connection
with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the
U.S. Capitol. Interior Secretary
Deb Haaland revoked a series of
Trump-era orders that promoted
fossil fuel development on public
lands and waters, and issued a
new order that prioritized climate
change in agency decisions.
Today’s Birthdays: Emeritus
Pope Benedict XVI is 95. Singer
Bobby Vinton is 87. Denmark’s
Queen Margrethe II is 82. Basket-
ball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar is 75. Former Massachu-
setts first lady Ann Romney is 73.
NFL coach Bill Belichick is 70. Rock
singer and former politician Peter
Garrett is 69. Actor Ellen Barkin is
68. Actor Michel Gill is 62. Secre-
tary of State Antony Blinken is 60.
Rock musician Jason Scheff (Chi-
cago) is 60. Singer Jimmy Osmond
is 59. Rock singer David Pirner (Soul
Asylum) is 58. Actor-comedian
Martin Lawrence is 57. Actor Jon
Cryer is 57. Actor Peter Billingsley
is 51. Actor Lukas Haas is 46. Actor-
singer Kelli O’Hara is 46. Actor
Claire Foy (TV: “The Crown”) is 38.
Snow doesn’t solve issues
A snowy week in mid-April won’t be enough to reverse rapid melt-off or drought
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE —
Despite the sudden and
unexpected April snow-
storms, snowpack levels
aren’t quite back on track
to where they need to be.
Snow has been falling
since early this week,
breaking records across the
state for the latest snowfall
in Oregon’s history with
1.6 inches falling April
11 on parts of the Port-
land-metro area, according
to the National Weather
Service in Portland.
And while snow isn’t
unheard of this far into
spring in the Blue Moun-
tains — the latest snowfall
recorded at Pendleton was
April 20, 1963, according
to the National Weather
Service — it is a hopeful
sign for a region still
gripped by drought. How-
ever, the recent snowfall
might not be enough to put
municipalities and agricul-
turalists at ease.
Scott Oviatt, a hydrol-
ogist and snow survey
supervisor at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service for Oregon,
said while the recent addi-
tion to the snowpack is
welcomed, it won’t fix the
rapid melt-off that started
in late March.
“We’ve started the pro-
cess, and it’s really not
going to stop,” he said.
“We’re adding to the snow-
pack, of course, adding
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
A dusting of snow covers the mountain range near Cove and Mount Fanny on Wednesday, April 13,
2022. Early April snowstorms won’t be enough to rectify the region’s dwindling snowpack levels,
according to snow survey experts.
water content to it, but
eventually it’s going to
warm up, and it will melt
out rapidly.”
The snowpack had
been at healthy, above-av-
erage levels for January
and February before rap-
idly declining in March —
between March 22-31, the
Grande Ronde Valley region
lost nearly 25% of its snow-
pack. Many parts of the
state, including the south-
east region encompassing
Harney, Grant and Malheur
counties, have experienced
drastically reduced snow
water equivalent levels,
having dropped below 40%
of the median value for
early April.
The current water con-
tent in the snowpack for
the Grande Ronde-Burnt-
Powder-Imnaha region
remains at 76% of median
as of April 12, while the
Umatilla-Walla Wal-
la-Willow region is at 93%
of median values. Nearly
90% of the state remains
under drought conditions
as of April 12, according to
the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Oviatt said that despite
the rapid melt-off, chances
of flooding are unlikely as
temperatures are forecast
to remain below normal
until later in April.
Because there isn’t
enough time for gradual
melting of the newly
acquired snow and over-
night freezing to take
place, snowpack levels
won’t become as dense,
according to Oviatt.
That means what fell
over the week will likely
melt quickly without the
chance to develop gla-
cier-like pockets of mois-
ture content.
“We’re almost too late
to make up the deficit we
have,” he said. “This didn’t
solve our problems. It just
delayed it. Obviously the
additional water content is
good, but I don’t think it’s
going to come out in terms
of additional volume that’s
of use to municipalities and
agricultural uses.”
VP of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to visit
Ian Galloway to meet with students,
local business owners at Eastern Oregon
University speaking event in La Grande
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity is preparing to host
a speaking event on rural
economic growth for busi-
ness and economic stu-
dents, as well as local
businesses and entities.
Ian Galloway, the vice
president and regional
executive of the Port-
land branch of the Fed-
eral Reserve Bank of San
Francisco, is set to visit
La Grande for a series
of speaking events. Gal-
loway will visit several
business and economics
classes at Eastern Oregon
University on Monday,
April 18, before holding
a public meeting on rural
economic growth geared
toward local businesses
and interested individuals.
Galloway will speak
at a public
gathering of
community
members
at 3 p.m. in
Zabel Hall
Room 101.
Galloway
Topics at the
event will
focus on economic growth
and federal action in the
rural West. Scott McCo-
nnell, an economics pro-
fessor and part-owner of
Side A Brewing, will be
hosting the event.
The Zabel Hall event
will be streamed live on
YouTube for those who
are interested by cannot
attend.
Prior to the evening
gathering, EOU will host
Galloway in the morning
for three on-campus
speaking events, specific
to students in business
and economics classes.
Economics professor
Peter Maille teaches two
of the classes Galloway
will visit.
“To be in a room and
have access to his knowl-
edge is a really great
opportunity for the stu-
dents,” Maille said.
The bulk of students in
the two economics classes
are underclassmen. All
EOU students are invited
to take part as well.
McConnell noted that
it will be a productive
experience for students at
the university to engage
with a professional in the
field, seeing their studies
portrayed in a real-world
setting.
“It’ll be great for stu-
dents to meet someone
working for the Fed,
especially doing so in
rural communities,” he
said.
In Galloway’s posi-
tion at the Portland branch
of the Federal Reserve
Bank of San Francisco,
he works with business,
banking community and
government sectors across
Oregon.
He has worked with
the Federal Reserve since
2007.
OTEC holding annual meeting May 21 at Baker High School
The Observer
BAKER CITY —
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative announced
it will hold its annual
meeting Saturday, May
21, at 10:30 a.m. at Baker
High School, 2500 East St.,
Baker City.
Board President Wayne
Overton and Chief Exec-
utive Officer Les Penning
will report on the state
of the cooperative. Three
positions on the OTEC
Board of Directors are up
EOU,
county see
stagnant
COVID
trends
Sustained low
numbers at Eastern
Oregon University
open doors for
lowered restrictions
for election.
Election results for Posi-
tion 7 (Union County),
Position 8 (Union County)
and Position 9 (Baker
County) will be announced
during the meeting.
All OTEC mem-
ber-owners are invited to
the in-person meeting,
and there is no fee to
attend. Doors will open
at 8:30 a.m., with access
to community booths and
other activities. The busi-
ness meeting begins at
10:30 a.m., followed by
LOTTERY
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
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powerball: 26
power play: 2
Jackpot: $325 million
Win for Life
3-5-15-20
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Thursday, April 14, 2022
Lucky Lines
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Jackpot: $25,000
Pick 4
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4 p.m.: 9-3-4-5
7 p.m.: 3-1-3-9
10 p.m.: 5-7-1-2
SaTuRday, apRil 16, 2022
a complimentary lunch.
There will be music, raffle
drawings, activities and
booths for adults and
children.
Buses will be available
for members from Burns,
John Day and La Grande
who want to attend the
meeting in Baker City.
Those interested in a
free ride can now reg-
ister at the following loca-
tions: the Senior Citi-
zen’s Community Center
in John Day, the Harney
County Senior Center
in Burns and the Union
County Senior Center in
La Grande.
Seats are limited and
will be awarded on a first
come, first served basis.
For those mem-
ber-owners not able to
attend, a livestream of the
business meeting and the
announcement of elec-
tion results will be avail-
able at www.otec.coop
and on OTEC’s Facebook
page, with a recording of
the meeting posted online
afterward.
NEWS BRIEFS
wood permits and wood availability.
Wallowa-Whitman National
Commercial-use firewood per-
Forest personal-use firewood mits are available at the regular
price of $10 per cord, with a min-
permits available May 1
LA GRANDE — Starting
this May, the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest will begin offering
free personal-use firewood permits.
The permits are limited to 10
cords per household, per year. Inter-
ested individuals can acquire per-
mits free of charge at local Forest
Service Offices and at local vendors.
When acquiring the permits from
local businesses, a $2 processing fee
per transaction may be charged.
Locally, firewood permits can be
acquired at the district offices in La
Grande, Baker City and Joseph. The
permits are valid from Sunday, May
1, through Nov. 30. Early fall snow-
pack and fire danger in the summer
can impact the accessibility of fire-
imum two-cord permit.
The Forest Service recommends
checking fire closure areas before
collecting firewood. Information on
industrial fire precaution levels and
public use restrictions can be found
on the Wallowa-Whitman website,
www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman,
or by calling 541-523-1234.
Eastern Oregon Climate
Change Coalition to host
virtual information session
BAKER CITY — The Eastern
Oregon Climate Change Coalition
will host its monthly informational
presentation via Zoom at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 19.
Peter Fargo, a Baker City res-
ident and co-founder of Climate-
Vigil.org, is set to give a presenta-
tion on his experience at the 2021
United Nations Climate Change
Conference in November 2021.
Fargo observed the UN meeting, in
which member nations pledged to
work collectively toward reducing
emission of greenhouse gases
and limiting the rise of the global
average temperature.
His speech at the virtual
meeting, entitled “Mr. Fargo Goes
to Glasgow,” will summarize the
UN meeting and reflect on impacts
on Eastern Oregon.
For information about joining the
Zoom meeting, email EastOregon-
ClimateChange@gmail.com or go
to www.eoc3.org.
The Zoom link will be sent out
via email on April 18.
— The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Counties across Oregon
are seeing slight upticks in
COVID-19 cases in April
compared to March.
Even so, cases remain
significantly low in com-
parison to past surges
caused by COVID-19 vari-
ants. COVID-19 numbers in
Union County have deflated
in recent months, with the
county totaling just 14 cases
between March 13 and
April 13.
Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity, La Grande, has
not reported a positive
COVID-19 test since Feb.
27. On-campus mask man-
dates were
lifted
March 12,
and the
university
has seen a
handful of
students
report ill- “Masks
nesses,
are
but fur-
ther
welcome,
testing
revealed a but not
common
required.”
cold or
other sick- Lacy Karpilo,
ness. The
Eastern’s vice
president of
school’s
student affairs
2,808
total tests
administered equate to
a 10.5% positivity rate
through April 13.
“People seem to be
dealing well with knowing
that masks are welcome,
but not required,” said
Lacy Karpilo, Eastern’s
vice president of student
affairs. “There’s still some
people wearing masks and
we’re creating that space
where people can make
that choice. We’re finding
that people are very excited
to connect and see faces,
we hear that a lot. We’re
watching though, of course,
as it comes to cases.”
Physical distancing
requirements have gone by
the wayside for most of the
academic year, but now stu-
dents are also able to engage
in common dorm spaces
and university buildings
without a mask. However,
masks are still required at
the Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity health center.
The university is working
with the Center for Human
Development in regard to
booster shot availability.
Eastern does not plan to host
vaccine clinics on campus in
the near future, rather urging
any interested individuals to
utilize resources available at
CHD.
“We’re waiting at this
point,” Karpilo said. “Since
CHD has it available and
people can go there, we feel
that those who need it are
able to get it.”
As the university phases
into a more normal learning
environment, officials are
also looking forward to
bringing back a standard
rendition of a storied tradi-
tion — graduation. Eastern
is planning its end-of-year
commencement ceremony at
Community Stadium. This
year’s ceremony will be the
first on the field since 2018, as
the turf was being replaced in
2019 and COVID-19 altered
the formats of the last two
graduations.
“It will be in person and
we will manage if there
were to be an outbreak or
whatnot,” Karpilo said.
“However we can manage
that we will, but we know
it’s so important for people
to be able to have that cele-
bration of success and share
that with their loved ones.”