LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1566, French astrologer, phy-
sician and professed prophesier
Nostradamus died in Salon.
In 1776, the Continental Con-
gress passed a resolution saying
that “these United Colonies are,
and of right ought to be, free and
independent States.”
In 1881, President James A. Gar-
field was shot by Charles J. Guiteau
at the Washington railroad station;
Garfield died the following Sep-
tember. (Guiteau was hanged in
June 1882.)
In 1917, rioting erupted in East
St. Louis, Illinois, as white mobs
attacked Black residents; nearly 50
people, mostly Blacks, are believed
to have died in the violence.
In 1937, aviator Amelia Earhart
and navigator Fred Noonan dis-
appeared over the Pacific Ocean
while attempting to make the first
round-the-world flight along the
equator.
In 1964, President Lyndon
B. Johnson signed into law a
sweeping civil rights bill passed by
Congress.
In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court,
in Gregg v. Georgia, ruled 7-2 that
the death penalty was not inher-
ently cruel or unusual.
In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony
dollar coin was released to the
public.
In 1986, ruling in a pair of cases,
the Supreme Court upheld affirma-
tive action as a remedy for past job
discrimination.
In 1990, more than 1,400 Muslim
pilgrims were killed in a stampede
inside a pedestrian tunnel near
Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
In 1997, Academy Award-win-
ning actor James Stewart died in
Beverly Hills, California, at age 89.
In 2018, rescue divers in Thai-
land found 12 boys and their
soccer coach, who had been
trapped by flooding as they
explored a cave more than a week
earlier.
In 2020, a statement posted on
his Twitter account revealed that
former GOP presidential candidate
Herman Cain was being treated for
the coronavirus at an Atlanta-area
hospital, less than two weeks after
attending President Donald Trump’s
campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(Cain died on July 30 of complica-
tions from the virus.) British socialite
Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in
New Hampshire on charges that she
had helped lure at least three girls
— one as young as 14 — to be sex-
ually abused by the late financier
Jeffrey Epstein. (Maxwell would be
convicted on five of six counts.)
Ten years ago: Jim Yong Kim
began his new job as president
of the World Bank, promising to
immediately focus on helping poor
countries navigate a fragile global
economy.
Five years ago: New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie was photographed
with his family soaking up the
sun on a beach he had closed to
the public for the Fourth of July
weekend because of a government
shutdown.
One year ago: After nearly 20
years, U.S. forces in Afghanistan
vacated the biggest U.S. air base
there, Bagram Airfield, as part of
the final U.S. withdrawal from the
country; an Afghan official said
dozens of looters then stormed
through the gates before Afghan
forces regained control.
Today’s birthdays: Former Phil-
ippine first lady Imelda Marcos is
93. Jazz musician Ahmad Jamal
is 92. Actor Robert Ito is 91. Actor
Polly Holliday is 85. Racing Hall of
Famer Richard Petty is 85. Former
White House chief of staff and
former New Hampshire governor
John H. Sununu is 83. Former Mex-
ican President Vicente Fox is 80.
Writer-director-comedian Larry
David is 75. Luci Baines Johnson,
daughter of President Lyndon B.
Johnson, is 75. Actor Saul Rubinek
is 74. Actor-model Jerry Hall is 66.
Actor Jimmy McNichol is 61. Actor
Yancy Butler is 52. Actor Owain
Yeoman is 44. Race car driver Sam
Hornish Jr. is 43. Singer Michelle
Branch is 39. Figure skater Johnny
Weir is 38. Actor Lindsay Lohan is
36. Actor Margot Robbie is 32. U.S.
Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy
is 27.
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
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SaTuRday, July 2, 2022
Defendant in arson case posts bail ‘Nothing
out of the
ordinary’
Fire department
officials reveal two
previous fires
happened at the
care facility
Wallowa County
food bank not
touched by
inflation, for now
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande man arrested
on charges of arson and
reckless endangering at the
Wildflower Lodge is now
out of jail.
Teryn DeMoss, 20,
was taken into custody
on Thursday, June 23,
and lodged in the Union
County Jail without inci-
dent, according to a
press release from the La
Grande Police Department.
DeMoss worked as the
lodge’s cook and had been
employed at the assisted
living facility for over a
year.
“DeMoss ultimately
confessed and told me he
started the fire in room
42,” wrote detective Scott
Norton in the probable
cause declaration. “I asked
DeMoss to tell me how he
started the fire and he told
me he lit a cardboard box
located against the south
wall of the room on fire
with his lighter (consis-
tent with physical evidence
showing fire origin).”
Bail was set at $25,000
and DeMoss posted his
security release of $2,500
By JACK PARRY
Wallowa County Chieftain
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
A bus waits at the front drive of Wildflower Lodge, La Grande, on Thursday, June 30, 2022. The assisted
care facility was the site of three suspicious fires in 2022, the latest of which is the focus of an ongoing
arson court case.
on June 25, according to
court documents. The
conditions of his release
include not entering the
Wildflower Lodge prop-
erty and not having any
contact with representa-
tives or employees of the
facility.
In the declaration,
Norton stated he was
informed by Deputy
State Fire Marshal Casey
Kump and La Grande Fire
Department Chief Emmitt
Cornford that there had
been three suspicious fires
in the facility since the
beginning of 2022 — one
in a bathroom, one in a
laundry room and the latest
fire in room 42.
Norton requested
employee records and iden-
tified DeMoss — along
with two other employees
— as being listed as
working on all three days.
In an interview with
police, a lodge employee
told the police about addi-
tional suspicious activi-
ties related to the facility’s
circuit breakers. The cir-
cuit breaker in the kitchen
office and the maintenance
room had been intention-
ally flipped on numerous
occasions. The employee
noticed that the flipped
breakers in the mainte-
nance room were predom-
inantly associated with fire
control, response and sup-
pression systems. Addi-
tionally, the breaks flipped
in the kitchen office were
for outlets, lights and fire
doors in the memory care
portion of the facility.
While being inter-
viewed, DeMoss also
admitted to being charged
with arson as a juvenile.
He did not confess to set-
ting the other two fires.
DeMoss is represented
by Jared Boyd, of La
Grande.
The hearing plea has
been scheduled for Aug. 30
in Union County Circuit
Court.
Council to consider Parks master plan approval
New plan outlines
upgrades to
existing assets
and areas for
new opportunity
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande City Council
is set to consider a new
Parks and Recreation
master plan at its regular
session on Wednesday,
July 6.
The plan is intended
to help meet the needs of
current and future res-
idents of La Grande by
building onto the commu-
nity’s existing parks and
recreation assets and iden-
tifying new opportunities.
The plan includes five
years worth of recommen-
dations and was created
based on responses from a
community survey.
This city council meet-
ing’s agenda includes a
public hearing to address
comments on the master
plan.
The council will also
discuss a number of new
topics at the session, such
as updating the language
in the historic district
design standards.
The document was
written in 1999 as guide-
lines. The name was
updated to standards in
2009, but no changes were
made to the wording of
the document. As a result,
many of the standards are
still phrased as recom-
mendations rather than
requirements. This has led
to confusion from prop-
erty owners.
Downtown property
owners and businesses
were invited to review
the proposed changes and
were asked to provide
public comment at the
July 6 meeting.
Also in the new busi-
ness section is an inter-
agency agreement
between the city of La
Grande and the La Grande
School District for use of
Pioneer Park’s baseball
and softball fields.
The artificial turf
installed for Optimist
Field and Trice Commu-
nity Field was a cooper-
ative project undertaken
by the city and the school
district. The proposed
agreement outlines both
parties’ responsibilities
when it comes to the base-
ball and softball fields,
equipment and facilities
— such as the conces-
sion stand, box office and
restrooms.
The council has also
been asked to consider the
annexation of two par-
cels of property. Property
owners on the 1600 block
of Gildcrest Drive have
requested to be annexed
by the city in order to
have access to water and
sewer services provided
by La Grande. The prop-
erty is located within the
city of La Grande’s urban
growth boundary.
Other items on the
agenda include appointing
members to both the
arts and planning
commissions.
The regular session
meeting will be open to
the public at La Grande
City Hall. The meeting
also will be streamed at
the La Grande Alive web-
site and on Facebook.
DEQ fines Union for wastewater permit violation
The Observer
UNION — The Oregon
Department of Environ-
mental Quality issued four
penalties on Wednesday,
June 29, totaling $78,040
for various environ-
mental violations in May,
including a $3,300 penalty
for wastewater issues in
Union.
The pen-
alty is for
violating
the chlo-
rine residual
effluent limit
in the city’s
Wiggins
National Pol-
lutant Discharge Elim-
ination System Permit,
according to a letter to the
city of Union from Kieran
O’Donnell, DEQ manager
of the office of compliance
and enforcement. Chlorine
is highly toxic to fish and
other aquatic life in Cath-
erine Creek, the letter said.
According to the state’s
findings, on Dec. 11, 2020,
the city discharged effluent
with a chlorine concen-
tration of 0.47 milligrams
per liter, exceeding the
0.07 milligrams per liter
limit allowed by the city’s
wastewater discharge
permit.
The city must either pay
the fine or file an appeal
within 20 days of receiving
notice of the penalty. It
may be able to offset a
portion of a penalty by
funding a supplemental
environmental project
that improves Oregon’s
environment.
Union City Adminis-
trator Doug Wiggins said
the chlorine got into Cath-
erine Creek because of the
failure of a dechlorination
pump.
“The system failed,” he
said.
Wiggins said the
problem occurred early
in the morning and the
city found out about it at
6:30 a.m. that morning and
it was corrected within 30
minutes.
Wiggins said the city
would have found out
about it sooner but the
alarm indicating there
was a problem also failed.
The city is now appealing
the calculation of the fine,
which it believes is too
high.
Wiggins said Union
was not given proper credit
for foreseeing the poten-
tial problem and having
a system in place for pre-
venting it. He also said the
city did not get credit for
the fact that the problem
did not involve operator
error.
“It was purely mechan-
ical,” he said.
Wiggins said he
believes DEQ’s formula for
determining fines calls for
them to be lower when a
violation is not caused by
operator failure. He said
that based upon Oregon
Administrative Rules the
fine should be at least a
third less.
“We believe the fine
should be no more than
$2,100,” he said.
The city administrator
said the city told the DEQ
about the violation the
same day it occurred.
DEQ penalties in May
were also issued to Coos
Bay, Sandy and Albany,
ranging from $2,250 to
$62,290.
NEWS BRIEFS
CDC: Union, Baker, Wallowa
counties reach high levels
for COVID spread
LA GRANDE — The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
raised the COVID-19 community
levels Thursday, June 30, to high for
Union, Wallowa and Baker and 12
other Oregon counties.
The increasing spread means 24
Oregon counties are now at high
levels of community spread. Nine
counties were at high levels as of
June 23.
All other Oregon counties were
listed June 30 at medium levels.
Umatilla, Morrow and Malheur
counties are also listed at high.
The CDC has been monitoring
community levels of COVID-19
to help communities decide what
prevention steps to take based on
the latest data. Levels can be low,
medium or high and are determined
by looking at hospital beds being
used, hospital admissions and the
total number of new COVID-19
cases reported in an area.
Precautions the CDC recom-
mends for communities with high
levels:
• Wear a mask indoors in public.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19
vaccines.
• Get tested if you have
symptoms.
• Additional precautions may be
needed for people at high risk for
severe illness.
— The Observer
ENTERPRISE — As
trying economic times
stretch across the country,
it is important to remember
that some of the govern-
ment’s essential services,
like food banks, are going
through similar struggles.
Surprisingly, those strug-
gles haven’t had a notice-
able effect on the Commu-
nity Connection of Wallowa
County’s food distribution
center in Enterprise.
Danielle Brockamp, the
manager of the center, said
that effects of recent infla-
tion and rising gas prices
aren’t having that much of
an impact on the branch.
“I went back the past
couple months, and there
really hasn’t been anything
out of the ordinary,” she
said.
Brockamp, who started
at Community Connection
in April, only noticed that
ground beef was becoming
harder to obtain, and she
said there hasn’t been a
jump in the number of
people served.
“We have not seen a
whole lot of an increase in
our food bank usage yet,”
she said.
Wallowa County seems
fine but that’s not the case
in nearby counties. Audrey
Smith, the manager of
Community Connection’s
Northeast Oregon Regional
Food Bank, based in La
Grande, has seen a change
in the region as a whole,
which includes Baker,
Grant, Union, and Wallowa
counties.
She reported a 7.5%
increase in food boxes,
which are given out once a
month. Also, the food bank
has had a 23% increase in
produce, bread and gro-
cery rescue boxes. Produce
boxes are given out multiple
times a month, so the data
tends to vary more.
“You have a few extra
people coming in to get
food boxes, and you have
a lot of people that are
using our produce and gro-
cery rescue program more
often,” Smith said.
So why is Wallowa
County’s food bank not
experiencing similar
trends? Smith believes
that’s because it’s a lot
smaller than other opera-
tions with just two pantries,
in Enterprise and Wallowa.
The economic impacts may
be harder to notice in Enter-
prise than they are in the
region.
“From January through
April, we had an average
of 124 people come to the
pantry, and in May we had
155,” she said. “That is a
little bit of an increase.”
Brockamp noted that
Wallowa County’s food
bank supply comes from
other sources.
“Our Harvest Share and
our Fresh Alliance that we
get from Safeway help to
supplement our food bank,”
she said. “That helps to sus-
tain our fresher foods, the
meat and the salads and
stuff like that.”
While Brockamp
said transportation costs
aren’t affecting the Enter-
prise-based center, Smith
said that the regional food
bank has been renting a
U-Haul truck two times a
week to transport produce
across Northeastern Oregon.
They are still waiting for
a refrigerated truck that
they received a grant for in
December of last year.
With gas prices
exceeding expectations for
grants that they received,
the cost of renting a U-Haul
is really hurting the produce
program.
“We’ll continue to do it
as long as we can,” Smith
said.