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July 23, 2022
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WEEKEND EDITION
Funds
will help
schools
keep staff
FAMILY
LEGACY
School leaders discuss
how they will spend
their HB30 money
Five generations of
descendants ring in the
centennial anniversary
for La Grande’s
M.J. Goss Motors
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
The challenges posed by the
COVID-19 pandemic have
brought out the best in many of the
teachers and staff in Union Coun-
ty’s public schools.
And now these school districts
are stepping forward to show their
gratitude.
This point is clear based on how
school districts are responding to
House Bill 4030, which the Legis-
lature passed earlier this year. The
legislation provides about $70 mil-
lion to Oregon school districts to
help them recruit new staff mem-
bers and retain their current ones,
as they recover from the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Representatives from Union
County’s public schools across
the board indicated the HB 4030
money they are receiving will be
used to help retain current staff
members, not recruit new ones.
The La Grande School Dis-
trict, which will receive $270,000
in HB 4030 funding, will be using
all of it to give teachers and staff
members additional training to
help them better support students
and their families, said Assistant
Superintendent Scott Carpenter.
The Union School District is
set to receive a little more than
$40,000 in funding from HB 4030.
All of this funding will go directly
to the school district’s employees.
“We will divert all of it to our
staff for retention. We are saying
thank you for all the sacrifi ces
our staff has made,” said Union
School District Superintendent
Carter Wells, referring to the chal-
lenges posed by the COVID-19
pandemic.
The Elgin School District will
receive about $50,000 in House
Bill 4030 funding. Elgin Super-
intendent Dianne Greif said all of
the funding will be used for staff
development.
1930s
By SHANNON GOLDEN • The Observer
A GRANDE — Surrounded by friends,
employees, neighbors and customers,
Mark Goss and the fi ve generations of the
Goss family are celebrating a
century of success.
L
The M.J. Goss Motor Co., a Union
County landmark at 1415 Adams Ave.,
La Grande, is celebrating its 100th year
of serving customers. The Chevrolet,
Buick and GMC dealership sells new
and pre-owned cars, trucks and SUVs,
and provides full-service support for
cars of all types.
For Tayde McAndie, Mark’s
daughter and the great-granddaughter
of founder M.J. Goss, a throughline
in the company’s history has always
been its small-town feel and its ability
to give customers a no-hassle buying
experience.
“Our roots have always stayed
the same,” she said of the business’
1946
See, Goss/Page A7
Goss Motors/Contributed
Robert Dale “Bob”
Goss, 97, marvels
at the cars cruising
along Adams
Avenue for the La
Grande Classic Car
Show on Saturday,
July 16, 2022. He is
the last living child
of M.J. Goss III,
the founder of the
storied La Grande
dealership.
1949
Photos
HISTORICAL PHOTOS FROM TOP
Except for the cars, the storefront of La Grande’s Goss
Motors today still resembles this 1930s photograph.
The Goss Motors service department crew poses for a photo
in 1946 in the dealership’s main building on Adams Avenue.
Inventive incentives
The approximately $40,000 of
funding North Powder School Dis-
trict will receive also will all go
toward helping current teachers
and staff , said Superintendent
M.J. Goss III and his son Bill stand next to a shiny Chevy
four-door sedan at a new car unveiling in the fall of 1949.
Goss Motors had the tradition of hosting new car
reveals every September.
Shannon Golden/The Observer
TODAY »
A refurbished 1922 Chevrolet sits outside of Goss Motors, on Saturday,
July 16, 2022, highlighting the business’ 100 years of service.
See, School/Page A7
Elbow Creek Fire cause
remains unknown
2021 blaze torched nearly 23,000 acres in Wallowa County
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
A fi re line, cut with a bulldozer, crosses the forest fl oor near Promise on
Thursday, July 22, 2021, as fi re crews work to stop the spread of the Elbow
Creek Fire. A year later, the cause of the fi re — which consumed 22,960 acres
before it was contained in mid-August — is still unknown.
WEATHER
INDEX
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
WALLOWA COUNTY — As the
one-year mark of the beginning of the
Elbow Creek Fire passes, Wallowa
County residents are still waiting for
offi cials to determine a cause.
First reported the afternoon of July
15, 2021, about 5 miles northwest of
Promise, the fi re consumed 22,960
acres of the Walla Walla Ranger Dis-
Horoscope ....B3
Local...............A2
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Outdoors ......B1
Sports ............A8
Sudoku ..........B5
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
53 LOW
91/56
Clear
Sunny
trict in the Umatilla National Forest
before it was contained in mid-Au-
gust, according to Darcy Weseman, a
public aff airs offi cer for the Umatilla
National Forest in Pendleton, in an
email Friday, July 15.
The blaze took a few buildings
in remote areas and threatened the
town of Troy — which at one point
was evacuated — as it burned on
See, Fire/Page A7
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Issue 88
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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