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TUESDAY EDITION
July 12, 2022
Joyful
return
Poll shows
a reason
for GOP
optimism
New leadership for the
Union County chapter of
Special Olympics Oregon
and athletes preparing
for regional games
Republican State Leadership
Committee poll suggests GOP
has chance to win in November
By RONALD BOND
By JULIA SHUMWAY
For The Observer
Oregon Capital Chronicle
L
A GRANDE — With very
little being said in recent
years about the Union
County chapter of Special Olym-
pics Oregon, Lis and JT Thorne
noted there was some concern
that the program had dropped
altogether.
But the couple, who a few
months ago took over as the local
program coordinators for the orga-
nization, said the program is up
and running once again after a
hiatus that saw the group face the
passing of a man who was the face
of the organization for decades,
Doug Trice, and a long pause due
to COVID-19.
“With Doug passing, a lot of
people are assuming that the pro-
gram is gone,” Lis Thorne said.
“It’s defi nitely a regrowth year, and
we are trying to do the best we can.
We’re full steam ahead.”
The Thornes, whose daughter,
Dani, has been a Special Olym-
pics athlete for about nine years,
See, Olympics/Page A3
SALEM — Republicans haven’t con-
trolled any branch of Oregon government
since Barack Obama’s fi rst campaign for
president — but they’re bullish this year
about their legislative chances.
An internal poll memo produced for the
national Republican State Leadership Com-
mittee and shared with the Capital Chron-
icle suggests that Republicans have a “rare
opportunity” to win in November, thanks to
low opinions of President Joe Biden and Ore-
gon’s Democratic leaders.
“Voters across Oregon have had enough
and view Republican state legislators as the
remedy to get the state out of a downward
spiral and back on the right track,” com-
mittee spokesperson Zach Kraft said in a
statement.
All 60 House districts and 30 Senate dis-
tricts are new this year following last year’s
post-census legislative redistricting. Leg-
islative Democrats controlled redistricting,
and independent analyses like Dave’s Redis-
tricting website suggest the new districts
disproportionately benefi t Democratic
candidates.
But polls, both the internal poll released
by Republicans and earlier public surveys,
show that a majority of Oregon voters aren’t
pleased with the state’s direction. More than
57% of the 600 likely voters surveyed by
national GOP polling fi rm Cygnal between
June 28-30 said the state was on the wrong
track.
When asked about generic legislative can-
didates, nearly 35% said they would defi -
nitely vote for a Republican, and another
12% said they would probably vote for the
Republican. The same numbers were 10.5%
and 32% for Democrats, giving Republicans
a nearly 5-point lead on generic legislative
ballots.
About 52% of respondents said they dis-
approved of the job legislative Democrats
were doing, and 57% said government would
work better with a more partisan balance.
“There’s defi nitely a path for Republicans
to a majority, and I don’t think that path has
been there for the last 20 years,” said Senate
Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend.
The Republican nominee for governor,
Christine Drazan, had a 1-point lead over
Democratic nominee Tina Kotek, with 32.4%
of respondents saying they would vote for
Drazan, 31.4% choosing Kotek and 24.4%
opting for nonaffi liated candidate Betsy
Johnson. Johnson released her own poll
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
JT Thorne high-fi ves Dennis Adams during practice at the Eastern Oregon University track
in La Grande on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. The Special Olympics athletes are training to
compete at the regional games in Hermiston for track on July 16 and in Oregon City for golf
on July 17.
Special Olympics athletes, from left, Jennifer
Coppin, Autumn Rush, Dennis Adams, Ranne
Werner, Pete Crowell and Tommy Boren practice
their softball throws at the Eastern Oregon
University track in La Grande on Wednesday,
July 6, 2022, in preparation for the upcoming
Special Olympics Oregon regional games.
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
See, GOP/Page A3
Remnants of Hot Lake’s fi refi ghting legacy remain
A hillside reservoir once fed a
hydrant system at Hot Lake
H
ot Lake Springs, whose story as a
hotel and a medical center dates back
more than a century, has a history as
rich as its min-
eral-fi lled water.
The site,
DICK
not surpris-
MASON
THE ANSWER MAN ingly, is filled
with remnants
of this past,
including some that are keeping embers of
a bygone firefighting era alive — two small
hydrants that have been shut off for many
decades.
See, Hot Lake/Page A3
WEATHER
INDEX
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Dear Abby ....B6
The hydrants are survivors
of an era when Hot Lake virtu-
ally had its own fire department.
The system included a network
of approximately 14 hydrants, all
installed by Hot Lake’s owners
about a century ago. This put Hot
Lake in select company since at the
time most fire hydrant systems were
typically found only in incorporated
towns and cities.
“Hot Lake was like a small munic-
ipality,” said Dick Roth, of Orting,
Washington, a historian and author
who has written six books about Union
County’s history.
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Vance Orchard/Contributed Photo
Dick Roth, right, drives Hot Lake’s old Model
TT fi re engine in 1968 at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show
parade in Union.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
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