LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1732, James Oglethorpe
received a charter from Britain’s
King George II to found the colony
of Georgia.
In 1870, author Charles Dickens
died in Gad’s Hill Place, England.
In 1915, guitarist, songwriter
and inventor Les Paul was born in
Waukesha, Wisconsin.
In 1940, during World War II,
Norway decided to surrender to
the Nazis, effective at midnight.
In 1954, during the Senate
Army-McCarthy hearings, Army
special counsel Joseph N. Welch
berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy,
R-Wis., asking: “Have you no sense
of decency, sir? At long last, have
you left no sense of decency?”
In 1969, the Senate confirmed
Warren Burger to be the new chief
justice of the United States, suc-
ceeding Earl Warren.
In 1972, heavy rains triggered
record flooding in the Black Hills
of South Dakota; the resulting
disaster left at least 238 people
dead and $164 million in damage.
In 1978, leaders of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
struck down a 148-year-old policy
of excluding Black men from the
Mormon priesthood.
In 1983, Britain’s Conservatives,
led by Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher, won a decisive election
victory.
In 1986, the Rogers Commission
released its report on the Chal-
lenger disaster, criticizing NASA
and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol
for management problems leading
to the explosion that claimed the
lives of seven astronauts.
In 1993, the science-fiction film
“Jurassic Park,” directed by Steven
Spielberg, had its world premiere
in Washington, D.C.
In 2004, the body of Ronald
Reagan arrived in Washington
to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol
Rotunda before the 40th presi-
dent’s funeral.
In 2020, hundreds of mourners
packed a Houston church for the
funeral of George Floyd, a Black
man whose death during a Minne-
apolis arrest inspired a worldwide
reckoning over racial injustice.
Ten years ago: Spain became
the fourth and largest country
to ask Europe to rescue its failing
banks (however, the bailout was
averted). Maria Sharapova won the
French Open, defeating Sara Errani
6-3, 6-2 to complete the career
Grand Slam.
Five years ago: Punching back
a day after his fired FBI director’s
damaging testimony, President
Donald Trump accused James
Comey of lying to Congress and
said he was “100%” willing to tes-
tify under oath about their con-
versations. Actor Adam West, TV’s
“Batman,” died in Los Angeles at
age 88.
One year ago: The sponsor of
the Keystone XL crude oil pipe-
line said it was pulling the plug
on the contentious project after
Canadian officials failed to per-
suade the Biden administration
to reverse its cancellation of the
company’s permit; the partially
built line was intended to trans-
port crude from the oil sand fields
of western Canada to Nebraska.
The White House dropped execu-
tive orders from the Trump era that
were intended to ban the popular
apps TikTok and WeChat; officials
said there would be a new review
aimed at identifying national secu-
rity risks with software applica-
tions tied to China.
Today’s birthdays: Media ana-
lyst Marvin Kalb is 92. Sports com-
mentator Dick Vitale is 83. Author
Letty Cottin Pogrebin is 83. Rock
musician Mick Box (Uriah Heep)
is 75. Retired MLB All-Star Dave
Parker is 71. Film composer James
Newton Howard is 71. Mystery
author Patricia Cornwell is 66.
Actor Michael J. Fox is 61. Writ-
er-producer Aaron Sorkin is 61.
Actor Johnny Depp is 59. Actor
Gloria Reuben is 58. Gospel sing-
er-actress Tamela Mann is 56. Rock
musician Dean Felber (Hootie &
the Blowfish) is 55. Actor Keesha
Sharp is 49. Bluegrass singer-mu-
sician Jamie Dailey (Dailey & Vin-
cent) is 47. Actor Natalie Portman is
41. Actor Mae Whitman is 34.
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.
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THuRSday, JunE 9, 2022
GRADUATION 2022
WALLOWA COUNTY
New health
clinic opens
doors
Sarah Peterson
opens Hillock
Family Medicine
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
north Powder High School/Contributed Photo
The North Powder Charter School Class of 2022 is celebrated at a graduation ceremony on Saturday, June 4, 2022. The 19 seniors hauled
in more than $150,000 in scholarship aid.
North Powder graduates 19 seniors
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
he members of North Powder
T
Charter School’s class of 2022
celebrated their graduation on
Saturday, June 4. The class included 19
graduates, who collectively received more than
$150,000 in scholarship aid.
Viri Rodriquez-Medrano was named the class valedic-
torian and Reece Dixon was the salutatorian.
In addition to other scholarships, Rodriquez-Medrano
was awarded the Oregon State University Finley aca-
demic scholarship, which provides $4,000 a year for four
years, and Dixon received the Western Undergraduate
Exchange Scholarship for $14,661.
Novalee Shoemaker and Hailey Fisher were recipients
of scholarships from Eastern Oregon University.
north Powder High School/Contributed Photo
Salutatorian Reece Dixon, left, and valedictorian Viri Rodriquez-
Medrano celebrate the close to their senior year at North Powder
Charter School’s graduation on Saturday, June 4, 2022. Dixon
received more than $18,000 in scholarships and Rodriquez-
Medrano was awarded more than $25,000.
A nontraditional pair
Mother-daughter
duo join the
Pinnacle Honor
Society at EOU
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Tradi-
tion may be a cornerstone
of academics, but what
actually defines a student as
traditional is not applicable
to everyone. For two remote
Eastern Oregon University
students, their success tran-
scends any restrictive ideas
of tradition.
Mother and daughter
pair hillary (who requested
her name not be capital-
ized) and Victoria Dochow,
nontraditional EOU stu-
dents from Seaside, were
initiated into the Pin-
nacle Honor Society on
Wednesday, May 18, in rec-
ognition of their academic
achievements.
“Pinnacle Honor Society
is our nontraditional student
honor society at EOU. Our
age for who is eligible is
22 and over. These two are
both online students, which
is something we really
appreciate. They are both
excelling and have 4.0s.
They’re not just a moth-
er-daughter pair, they’re
academic super stars,” said
Administrative Program
Assistant Kate Gekeler.
Their co-academic
journey started as a
Eastern Oregon university/Contributed Photo
Mother and daughter pair hillary and Victoria Dochow,
nontraditional online Eastern Oregon University students from
Seaside, were initiated into EOU’s Pinnacle Honor Society on
Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
response to hillary’s dis-
satisfaction with the public
school system’s adherence
to her daughter’s Individ-
ualized Education Pro-
gram. Removing Victoria
from pubic school in junior
high, the two shifted toward
online learning where Vic-
toria achieved significant
academic success.
“I pulled her out of
public school in junior
high because they were
constantly violating her
IEP and told her that she
was unteachable. Origi-
nally, they refused to do
the autism testing on her
until we went into an IEP
meeting and asked for
mediation,” hillary said.
“I tried to homeschool her
on my own for the rest of
that year. I then found the
Oregon Virtual Academy
and signed her up. That
was the best thing that ever
happened.”
Though initially testing
at only fourth- or fifth-
grade level when she
entered junior high at the
virtual academy, Victoria
quickly found herself in
the top-95 percentile of her
online high school class.
hillary worked as her
daughter’s academic
coach and then college
study partner when Vic-
toria started classes at
Clatsop Community Col-
lege in the fall of 2018.
hillary began classes at
Clatsop in the spring of
2019 and both she and
Victoria would join the
Phi Theta Kappa honor
society. Each graduated
from Clatsop in 2021
with an associate degrees
before transferring to
EOU.
“Me being in school
is kind of weird. I started
going to school because I
was studying with her and
then realized as she was get-
ting ready to take finals that
I could have been passing
those finals too. It’s like we
work as a team. It’s nice and
the honor society thing is
just awesome to be able to do
that together,” hillary said.
Currently, hillary is a
junior at EOU majoring in
accounting and Victoria is a
senior majoring in business
administration with plans
on opening a specialty food
truck after graduation.
“For a student who
was pulled out of public
school for being told I was
unteachable, mentally I can
slap them across the face
with it. It feels amazing
because to get somewhere
after being told I would
never get there is something
that not many people get to
do,” Victoria said.
Victoria and hillary
were initiated into EOU’s
Pinnacle Honor Society
as part of a hybrid virtu-
al-in-person ceremony.
“This is what Eastern
Oregon University and
our online programs are
all about. Bringing people
together, having students
be an active part of our
campus, even from afar,
and providing opportuni-
ties for growth and recogni-
tion,” Gekeler said.
NEWS BRIEFS
Joseph man hurt, woman
dies in cycle crash
Planning commission set to
meet June 14
LA GRANDE — A Wallowa
County man was injured and woman
killed in a motorcycle crash Sunday,
June 5, in Union County.
Robert E. Scott, 50, of Joseph, was
traveling eastbound on Highway 82
near milepost 32 when he lost con-
trol of his Harley-Davidson motor-
cycle and crashed, according to a
report from the Oregon State Police.
The weather, which was rain and fog,
is being investigated as contributing
factors, police said.
Scott suffered serious injuries and
was transported to an area hospital.
A passenger, Linda S. Walker, 52,
of Joseph, was transported via Life
Flight but suffered fatal injuries and
later died.
OSP was assisted at the scene
by the Union County Sheriff’s
Office, Elgin Fire Department,
La Grande Fire Department, Life
Flight and Oregon Department of
Transportation.
LA GRANDE — The La Grande
Planning Commission will meet at
6 p.m., Tuesday, June 14.
Four public hearings for condi-
tional use permits will be conducted
at the meeting. The meeting will be
held in the city council chambers at La
Grande City Hall, 1000 Adams Ave.
Public comment now being
accepted on proposed
Union water project
UNION — A public comment
period is now being conducted for
people who have concerns about
the environmental impact the city
of Union’s planned installation of a
backup power generation system for its
water system.
A contractor for the city earlier
determined that there would not be an
environmental impact. City officials
then asked state agencies and other
interested parties if they had concerns
about the environmental impact and
none were expressed, according to city
of Union Administrator Doug Wiggins.
Now anyone in the general public
who has concerns, or believes anything
was missed in the environmental study
process, is invited to contact the city
and express their reservations. Com-
ments will be shared by city officials
with Business Oregon, a state organi-
zation that oversees the Community
Block Grant program. Business Oregon
could determine that steps need to be
taken to address any issues brought to
its attention via the public comment
process.
Union will receive a Community
Block Grant to fund for the backup
power generation system if it is deter-
mined that all environmental concerns
have been addressed.
Comments regarding the environ-
mental impact of the program must
be submitted by Monday, June 20. For
additional information call Union City
Hall at 541-562-5197.
— The Observer
ENTERPRISE — Lis-
tening to Sarah Peterson for a
few minutes, it becomes clear
she is passionate about rural
health care. Her devotion to
her patients runs deep.
“The biggest thing I want
to be able to do is give my
patients the time and care
they deserve,” she said.
Peterson believes in
treating the patient as a
whole. From focusing on pre-
ventative medicine — the
disease processes to end-of-
life care —
birth to death,
for all ages.
“I take on
the respon-
sibility of
caring for my
patients. It
Peterson
doesn’t end at
5 o’clock,” she said. “It’s 24/7.
Being able to be there after
hours for patients’ minor care
needs is beneficial for my
patients and frees up a very
busy ER in the county.”
Hillock Family Medicine
opened June 6, 2022, and is
accepting new patients. The
office is located at 107 N.
River St., Enterprise, next to
Sugar Time Bakery. Peterson
is also doing telehealth
appointments.
Peterson said when it
became time to do her clin-
ical experience, she visited
Wallowa County and “just
fell in love with it.”
“It’s the people,” she
said. “They’re down-to-
earth, hardworking and it’s a
friendly community.”
She settled on Olive
Branch Medical to do her
clinical with Theresa Russel
because they shared the same
vision — a family provider
for all needs of the patient.
Peterson graduated with a
bachelor of science in nursing
from Lewis-Clark State Col-
lege in Lewiston, Idaho. She
was a critical care nurse at
Tri-State Memorial Hospital
doing the pain clinic, gastro-
enterology and wound care.
Then she decided she “could
do more and give more,”
so she pursued a doctor of
nursing science at Idaho
State University in Pocatello.
She is also a certified family
nurse practitioner.
Originally from Southern
Idaho, her goal always was
to be a rural nurse practi-
tioner: “Being able to work in
a rural area and give care to
people and treat people like
I saw people treat my grand-
father, and care for people
throughout their life.”
Her practice offers pri-
mary care and medical aes-
thetics for both cosmetic
and medical purposes, from
using Botox to treat varicose
veins or migraine headaches
to wrinkle treatment and
prevention.
“I have a passion for der-
matology. It’s really exciting.
It’s something I can offer to
the community,” she said.
Her goal is to offer the
community a comfort-
able, beautiful and relaxing
environment for primary
care and other needs they
have. Peterson encourages
people not only to schedule
their wellness exams but
annual skin cancer checks,
which she says are “very
important.”
Peterson is immersing
herself in the life of Wallowa
County, getting to know the
community. She has joined
the Elks and plans to make
Wallowa County her “forever
home.”
“Andrew Hillock and I
want to raise our daughter
here. I want to build a prac-
tice that cares for individ-
uals or entire family units
and is people’s forever pro-
vider,” she said. “ I want to
provide hometown health
care that seems to be dimin-
ishing anymore. I want to be
able to leave a legacy for my
daughter, if she so chooses to
follow in my shoes.”