LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse
transmitted the message “What
hath God wrought” from Wash-
ington to Baltimore as he formally
opened America’s first telegraph
line.
In 1935, the first major league
baseball game to be played at
night took place at Cincinnati’s
Crosley Field as the Reds beat the
Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1.
In 1937, in a set of rulings, the
U.S. Supreme Court upheld the
constitutionality of the Social
Security Act of 1935.
In 1941, the German battleship
Bismarck sank the British battle
cruiser HMS Hood in the North
Atlantic, killing all but three of the
1,418 men on board.
In 1961, a group of Freedom
Riders was arrested after arriving
at a bus terminal in Jackson, Mis-
sissippi, charged with breaching
the peace for entering white-des-
ignated areas. (They ended up
serving 60 days in jail.)
In 1962, astronaut Scott Car-
penter became the second Amer-
ican to orbit the Earth as he flew
aboard Aurora 7.
In 1974, American jazz com-
poser and bandleader Duke
Ellington, 75, died in New York.
In 1976, Britain and France
opened trans-Atlantic Concorde
supersonic transport service to
Washington.
In 1980, Iran rejected a call by
the World Court in The Hague to
release the American hostages.
In 1994, four Islamic fundamen-
talists convicted of bombing New
York’s World Trade Center in 1993
were each sentenced to 240 years
in prison.
In 1995, former British Prime
Minister Harold Wilson died in
London at age 79.
In 2006, “An Inconvenient
Truth,” a documentary about
former Vice President Al Gore’s
campaign against global warming,
went into limited release.
In 2011, Oprah Winfrey taped
the final episode of her long-run-
ning talk show.
Ten years ago: President Barack
Obama doubled down on criti-
cism of rival Mitt Romney’s back-
ground as a venture capitalist,
telling a rally at the Iowa State Fair-
grounds there might be value in
such experience but “not in the
White House.”
Five years ago: Setting past
differences and rude comments
aside, President Donald Trump and
Pope Francis put a determinedly
positive face on their first meeting
at the Vatican.
One year ago: Tennessee
became the latest state to ban
teachers from talking about cer-
tain aspects of race and racism in
public schools.
Today’s birthdays: Actor-come-
dian-impressionist Stanley Baxter
is 96. Jazz musician Archie Shepp is
85. Comedian Tommy Chong is 84.
Singer Bob Dylan is 81. Actor Gary
Burghoff is 79. Singer Patti LaBelle
is 78. Actor Priscilla Presley is 77.
Country singer Mike Reid is 75.
Actor Jim Broadbent is 73. Actor
Alfred Molina is 69. Singer Rosanne
Cash is 67. Actor Cliff Parisi is 62.
Actor Kristin Scott Thomas is 62.
Rock musician Vivian Trimble is
59. Actor John C. Reilly is 57. Actor
Dana Ashbrook is 55. Actor Eric
Close is 55. Actor Carl Payne is 53.
Rock musician Rich Robinson is 53.
Former MLB pitcher Bartolo Colon
is 49. Actor Billy L. Sullivan is 42.
Actor-rapper Jerod Mixon (aka Big
Tyme) is 41. Rock musician Cody
Hanson (Hinder) is 40. Dancer-cho-
reographer-singer Mark Ballas is
36. Country singer Billy Gilman is
34. Rapper/producer G-Eazy is 33.
CORRECTIONS
The Observer works hard to be
accurate and sincerely regrets
any errors. If you notice a
mistake in the paper, please call
541-963-3161.
LOTTERY
Friday, May 20, 2022
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TuESday, May 24, 2022
Wet
weather
eases
drought
conditions
Cove graduates 21 seniors
Moisture, cool
temperatures help
extend snowpack
By JEFF BUDLONG
Wallowa County Chieftain
Cove High School graduated
21 seniors on Saturday, May
21, 2022, during an in-person
ceremony at the school’s
football field. It was smiles all
around as students received
their diplomas, right, and the
students tossed their caps into
the air, above, after officially
graduating. The class of 21
students earned numerous
awards for academics, athletics
and extracurricular activities,
together garnering roughly
$270,000 in scholarships and aid
for future training and studies.
Photos by
davis Carbaugh/The Observer
Memorial Day events set in Union, Wallowa counties
EO Media Group
NORTHEASTERN OREGON
— The spotlight will again be on La
Grande and Summerville this Memo-
rial Day weekend in Union County.
Annual events commemorating
Memorial Day on Monday, May
30, will be conducted at Grandview
Cemetery, La Grande, at 11 a.m. and
at Summerville Cemetery at 8 a.m.
The Summerville ceremony will
feature the raising of the American
flag by a pair of local veterans, John
Martin and Burl Pugh. The raising
of the colors will be accompanied by
live music.
Those who will be present at the
raising of the colors include mem-
bers of the Imbler Rural Fire Depart-
ment and the Patriot Guard Riders,
an organization whose members
attend the funerals of veterans and
first responders at the invitation of
the deceased’s families.
The Summerville ceremony is
annually attended by between 100
and 120 people, according to Martin,
who served in the U.S. Marine Corps
and helps lead the Memorial Day
event.
At La Grande’s Grandview Ceme-
tery, veterans will be saluted with the
Avenue of Flags. Those appearing
at the program will include Roger
Cochran, pastor of Trinity Bap-
tist Church, who will officiate, and
La Grande High School’s A Cap-
pella Choir performing the National
Anthem.
The flag will be raised by mem-
bers of Boy Scouts of America,
according to John Craig, finance
officer for American Legion Post 43,
which puts on the Avenue of Flags.
The ceremony will take place
amid a sea of at least 165 United
States flags on poles along the road at
Grandview Cemetery. All are burial
flags donated by families of Amer-
ican veterans. The flags will be put
up early Saturday, May 28, and will
remain up until 3 p.m. May 30.
Portable lights will illuminate the
flags at night. A federal resolution,
The Observer, File
Pendra Ogilvie plays “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes during the Avenue of Flags
Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 31, 2021, at Grandview Cemetery, La Grande.
which the American Legion wrote
and Congress adopted, requires illu-
mination to identify American flags
on display after dark, Craig said.
Members of American Legion
Post 43 will be assembling the flags
to be displayed at Grandview Ceme-
tery on Friday, May 27, at the Amer-
ican Legion Post 43, 301 Fir St., La
Grande. Anyone who would like to
assist with the work, which starts
at 3 p.m., is welcome to participate,
Craig said.
Activities begin May 27 in
Wallowa County
Veterans organizations will turn
out this weekend to begin Memorial
Day activities to honor veterans who
have died with ceremonies and deco-
rations at cemeteries within Wallowa
County.
On Friday, May 27, members
of the Enterprise Veterans of For-
eign Wars Post will meet at 9 a.m.
at Bramlet Memorial Cemetery off
Promise Road north of Wallowa. A
gathering at Wallowa Cemetery on
Whiskey Creek Road at 10 a.m. is
followed by events at 11 a.m. at Los-
tine Cemetery on Clark Lane and at
noon at Enterprise Cemetery.
At 1 p.m., there will be the
Reading of the Fallen at the Wal-
lowa County Courthouse in Enter-
prise. The names of about 40 mem-
bers of the military, first responders
and auxiliary will be read. Flags will
be raised, the national anthem sung
and a 21-gun salute will be fired,
according to Kim Hutchison, quar-
termaster of the VFW post.
On Memorial Day — Monday,
May 30 — the Enterprise American
Legion post will hold small cere-
monies at three ceremonies, and the
public is urged to attend and honor
veterans who have passed, post Com-
mander Jeff Baty said.
The Legion on Monday will be at
Alder Slope Cemetery at 10:30 a.m.,
at Hurricane Creek Cemetery at
11 a.m. and at Prairie Creek Ceme-
tery at noon.
Memorial Day, originally known
as Decoration Day, was conceived
after the Civil War to decorate the
graves of the fallen.
NEWS BRIEF
Umatilla National Forest in
need of resource committee
members
PENDLETON — The Umatilla
National Forest is searching for mem-
bers to serve on two resource advi-
sory committees.
The organization is looking for
nominees to serve on the Southeast
Washington or Columbia County
Resource Advisory Committees —
both groups are key resource advi-
sory committees in the southeastern
region of Washington.
Members of the committees work
toward recommending projects in
order to improve forest health, water-
sheds and roads and facilities in the
Umatilla National Forest area.
Resource committee members
serve a four-year term after being
appointed by the secretary of agricul-
ture. Members do not receive com-
pensation for their work, but can be
reimbursed for travel to and from
meetings.
Members are expected to attend
one to two meetings per year, which
last roughly three to four hours on
average. In order to participate, inter-
ested members must be a Wash-
ington resident or live in the vicinity
of Asotin, Garfield or Columbia
counties. Each committee includes
15 members and is broken down into
three categories.
Projects for the committees range
from fish passage restoration to con-
struction of walking trails. The com-
mittees often work with youth and
volunteers in completing projects.
Those interested in applying for
the resource committees can fill out
and submit a survey at the Forest
Service website, www.fs.usda.gov.
— The Observer
WALLOWA COUNTY
— Coming off one of the
driest and hottest summers
in recorded history, Wallowa
County and much of North-
eastern Oregon has benefited
from a recent run of wet, cool
weather.
While the central and
southern portion of the state
still is extremely dry, leading
Gov. Kate Brown to use the
word “megadrought” in an
address last week, Eastern
Oregon has seen drought con-
ditions improve. That doesn’t
mean effects of last year’s
dry conditions still aren’t
being felt, and fire season is
coming, if not as soon as ini-
tially thought.
Cooler, wetter weather
in April and to begin May
has helped improve condi-
tions in northern portions of
Oregon. Wallowa County has
areas of moderate, severe and
extreme drought, according
to the latest drought mon-
itor, released May 17. Most of
Umatilla, Morrow and Union
counties are abnormally dry
— the least severe drought
ranking.
Much of the moisture the
north has enjoyed eluded cen-
tral and southern Oregon
where a large area of excep-
tional drought conditions exist.
The combination of mois-
ture and cool temperatures
can be seen in the local green
up, but more important is the
continued presence of the
snowpack on the mountains.
“In March, we were seeing
the snowpack melting pretty
rapidly already,” said Mar-
ilyn Lohmann, a National
Weather Service hydrologist
in Pendleton.
With the snowpack at just
70-80% of normal, it was
projected to melt between a
month to two months early.
Fortunately, that is no longer
the case.
“The cooler weather
has allowed the snow-
pack to stay in place, and in
some cases actually build,”
Lohmann said. “It will now
be melting in a more normal
time frame. We should see
streamflows last longer into
the early summer months,
which will help irrigation
and just put more moisture
back into the soil.”
April saw 1.37 inches of
moisture and 6.3 inches of
snow in Wallowa County,
and just over an inch of pre-
cipitation and an additional
9 inches of snow in Lostine,
Lohmann said. Precipita-
tion over the last 30 days has
ranged from 130-200% of
normal, making for a signif-
icant difference from just 90
days ago.
Forage issue
The combination of cool
and wet is a positive, but also
it has its downside.
“For forage, that combina-
tion doesn’t allow it to grow,”
Wallowa County Commis-
sioner Todd Nash said. “We
have seen a really slow pro-
gression of forage this year,
and grasslands in particular
have been very slow to come.”
Nash said that puts a lot
of pressure on people with
livestock who want to get
out to pasture, and has led to
feeding more hay at a signif-
icant financial cost because
of the scarcity. This year’s
hay crop likely won’t begin
to come to fruition until the
middle of June at the ear-
liest because of the slower
growing conditions.
That comes on top of last
summer’s drought that Nash
called “the most severe that
anyone alive in Wallowa
County has ever seen.” The
combination of overuse a
year ago and the slow growth
of forage this year continues
to put stress on those raising
livestock even as moisture
has recently returned.