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8, 2022
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BUSINESS & AG LIFE, B1
ENJOY A PAIR OF CONCERTS IN
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Spring storms transform region’s snowpack
INSIDE
PA GE 3
PA GE 4
page 8
PA GE 15
a paltry snowpack into one that,
in some places, has soared well
above average.
Statistics illustrate how stark
the reversal has been.
During March, which in many
years is the snowiest month at
higher elevations, the water con-
tent in the snow — the statistic
that best predicts summer water
April storms continue into May, boosting snowpack above average in places
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — April
showers couldn’t completely
make up for a meager winter
snowpack in the mountains of
McCloud
claims bias
from other
candidates
Gubernatorial
candidate believes
treatment violates
party bylaws
By JEFF BUDLONG
For EO Media Group
SALEM — Republican
gubernatorial candidate Tim
McCloud claimed discrim-
ination in a Friday, May 6,
press release by his own
party for violating bylaws
put in place to treat all
legally qualifi ed candidates
equally.
McCloud, the fi rst Black
GOP candidate in the state’s
history to run for governor,
believes a recent exchange
with fellow candidate Marc
Thielman during the April
22 Linn County forum led
to him being uninvited
from scheduled gubernato-
rial events and ignored alto-
gether. During the forum,
Thielman claimed not to
know what a white suprem-
acist is.
“It has been a series of
escalating comments he
is making with me in the
room,” McCloud said. “After
he said (the white suprema-
cist remark) he came and sat
down with me and wanted
to fi st bump me as if, at
that moment, I was going
to be an endorser for his
comment.”
Instead of a fi st bump,
McCloud wagged his fi nger
at Thielman to note his dis-
approval. He subsequently
voiced his displeasure with
the comment on May 5
during a League of Minority
Voters event in Portland and
Northeastern Oregon.
But the month put on a pretty
fair rally.
And so far May has main-
tained the momentum, with snow
falling not only in the mountains
but also, most recently on Sunday,
May 8, and Monday, May 9, in the
valleys.
A persistent weather pat-
tern over the past month that
has pushed cool storms through
the region regularly, laden with
Pacifi c moisture, has transformed
supplies — dropped at 13 of 17
measuring sites around the region.
The water content was below
average at all of those places by
the end of March.
But the storms of April had a
profound eff ect.
At High Ridge, for instance, in
See, Snowpack/Page A8
THREE-PEAT
LHS A Cappella Choir wins third straight state title
By DICK MASON • The Observer
A GRANDE — No state choir championship experience?
No problem.
The La Grande High School A Cappella Choir, com-
peting without a single member who had ever sang at the
state championships, easily won its third straight state
Class 4A title Saturday, May 7, at Oregon State University, Cor-
vallis. La Grande fi nished with 334 points to easily beat runner-up
McLoughlin High School, which fi nished with 308 points.
The a cappella choir members knew they had a good chance
of winning, but many didn’t rest easy until the fi nal results were
announced.
“It was surreal. I was confi dent but it did not fully hit me until I
heard the results,” said LHS junior Brielle Hood.
LHS senior Jarom Huntsman said he felt an overwhelming sen-
sation when the results were announced.
“It wasn’t real until then,” he said.
Last weekend’s championship event was the
fi rst time the Oregon School Activities Associa-
BACKGROUND: La
tion had conducted state 4A choir championships
Grande High School
since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic,
A Cappella Choir
L
Director Kevin Durfee,
fl anked by members
of his choir, holds the
fi rst place trophy his
choir won at the state
championships in the
class 4A category on
Saturday, May 7, 2022.
See, Choir/Page A7
Dick Mason/The Observer
Kevin Durfee, right, director of the La Grande High School A Cappella
Choir, and his wife, Kascie Durfee, center, the choir’s assistant director,
talk with LHS Principal Brett Baxter on Tuesday, May 10, 2022. The Durfees
had just been presented with shirts by Baxter honoring them for the state
choir title LHS won on Saturday, May 7.
Kevin Durfee/
Contributed Photo
See, Candidates/Page A7
Wolf depredation, ODFW response frustrate ranchers
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
— Wolf kills of livestock
are becoming more frus-
trating to Wallowa County
ranchers and livestock offi -
cials when they see how
those depredations are han-
dled by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
Crow Creek rancher
Tom Birkmaier, who is
the president of the Wal-
lowa County Stockgrowers
Association, runs about 500
cows, most of which have
calves. He lost a half dozen
animals to wolves of the
Todd Nash/Contributed Photo
The elongated nature of a wolf track makes it distinctly diff erent from a
dog or coyote track, said Todd Nash, a Wallowa County rancher, county
commissioner and president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.
Chesnimnus Pack in late
April and early May.
Birkmaier said he asked
ODFW to “remove” the pack
— meaning to kill them.
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ........B1
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
In response, ODFW
issued a kill permit April
29. The permit, good
through May 24, allows
Birkmaier or an agent on
Dear Abby ....B6
Horoscope ....B4
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Spiritual ........A6
Sports ............A9
Sudoku ..........B5
his behalf to kill two wolves
in Dorrance Pasture or Trap
Canyon Pasture, where
the depredations on cattle
occurred, he said.
One of Birkmaier’s
agents killed a yearling male
on Tuesday, May 3, said
John Williams of Enterprise,
co-chairman of the wolf
committee for the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association.
Birkmaier declined to iden-
tify who took the wolf in an
interview on May 9.
“I don’t want him to get
threatened” by wolf propo-
nents, Birkmaier said.
He said that at the time
of the killing, the wolf was
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
34 LOW
57/47
A shower or two
Inc. clouds
not actively attacking cattle,
but was in Dorrance Pas-
ture along Crow Creek.
A targeted wolf does not
legally have to be in the act
of attacking livestock, it just
has to be in an area where
depredations have occurred,
he said.
Eff ective management?
Todd Nash, president
of the OCA, a Wallowa
County Commissioner and
a local rancher, said that
the state conservation and
wolf-management plan has
two main parts.
See, Ranchers/Page A8
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 57
3 sections, 34 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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observer.com.
More contact info
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