LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1958, Britain’s Queen Eliza-
beth II named the first four women
to peerage in the House of Lords.
In 1967, five days of deadly
rioting erupted in Detroit as an
early morning police raid on an
unlicensed bar resulted in a con-
frontation with local residents,
escalating into violence that
spread into other parts of the city;
43 people, mostly Blacks, were
killed.
In 1982, actor Vic Morrow
and two child actors, 7-year-old
Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old
Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed
when a helicopter crashed on
top of them during filming of a
Vietnam War scene for “Twilight
Zone: The Movie.” (Director John
Landis and four associates were
later acquitted of manslaughter
charges.)
In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing
767 ran out of fuel while flying
from Montreal to Edmonton; the
pilots were able to glide the jet-
liner to a safe emergency landing
in Gimli, Manitoba. (The near-di-
saster occurred because the fuel
had been erroneously measured in
pounds instead of kilograms at a
time when Canada was converting
to the metric system.)
In 1990, President George H.W.
Bush announced his choice of
Judge David Souter of New Hamp-
shire to succeed the retiring Jus-
tice William J. Brennan on the U.S.
Supreme Court.
In 1996, at the Atlanta Olym-
pics, Kerri Strug made a heroic
final vault despite torn ligaments
in her left ankle as the U.S. women
gymnasts clinched their first-ever
Olympic team gold medal.
In 1997, the search for Andrew
Cunanan, the suspected killer
of designer Gianni Versace and
others, ended as police found his
body on a houseboat in Miami
Beach, an apparent suicide.
In 1999, space shuttle Columbia
blasted off with the world’s most
powerful X-ray telescope and
Eileen Collins, the first woman to
command a U.S. space flight.
In 2003, Massachusetts’
attorney general issued a report
saying clergy members and others
in the Boston Archdiocese prob-
ably had sexually abused more
than 1,000 people over a period of
six decades.
In 2006, Tiger Woods became
the first player since Tom Watson
in 1982-83 to win consecutive
British Open titles.
In 2011, singer Amy Winehouse,
27, was found dead in her London
home from accidental alcohol
poisoning.
In 2019, Boris Johnson won the
contest to lead Britain’s governing
Conservative Party, putting him in
line to become the country’s prime
minister the following day.
In 2020, the virus-delayed and
shortened major league base-
ball season began with the World
Series champion Washington
Nationals hosting the New York
Yankees at an empty Nationals
Park; Dr. Anthony Fauci threw out
the ceremonial first ball. (The Yan-
kees won, 4-1, in a game halted
by rain.)
Today’s birthdays: Retired
Supreme Court Justice Anthony
M. Kennedy is 86. Actor Ronny Cox
is 84. Actor Larry Manetti is 79.
Rock singer David Essex is 75. Sing-
er-songwriter-politician John Hall
is 74. Actor Belinda Montgomery
is 72. Rock musician Blair Thornton
(Bachman Turner Overdrive) is 72.
Actor-writer Lydia Cornell is 69.
Actor Woody Harrelson is 61. Rock
musician Martin Gore (Depeche
Mode) is 61. Actor Eriq Lasalle is
60. Rock musician Slash is 57. Mod-
el-actor Stephanie Seymour is
54. R&B singer Sam Watters is 52.
Country singer Alison Krauss is 51.
R&B singer Dalvin DeGrate is 51.
Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans
is 50. Country singer Shannon
Brown is 49. Actor Kathryn Hahn
is 49. Retired MLB All-Star Nomar
Garciaparra is 49. Former White
House intern Monica Lewinsky is
49. R&B singer Michelle Williams
is 42. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 33.
Country musician Neil Perry is 32.
Actor Lili Simmons is 29.
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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Thursday, July 21, 2022
Lucky Lines
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10 p.m.: 6-7-6-9
SaTuRday, July 23, 2022
Heat wave is coming our way
Northeastern
Oregon will have
hot days and
warm nights
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — A
heat wave will be hitting
Northeastern Oregon over
the next week, one which
Union County will not
escape.
It will be bring in the
hottest weather the region
has experienced this year,
said Rob Brooks, a mete-
orologist for the National
Weather Service in
Pendleton.
“It is going to be toasty.
It is important that people
start planning for how
they are going to handle
this heat,” Brooks said on
Thursday, July 21.
The National Weather
Service is projecting highs
in the mid to high 90s
starting on Sunday, July
24, peaking at 100 degrees
on Thursday, July 28.
The highs concern
Brooks but the projected
lows are just as con-
cerning. The meteorolo-
gist said many of the low
temperatures projected for
Northeastern Oregon will
be at or approaching 70
degrees.
“Recovery time will be
down,” he said. “People
will have less opportunity
to cool off their core body
temperature.”
In La Grande, this will
be particularly true July
dick Mason/The Observer
Landon Wilder, of Cove, a Spectrum field technician, works in
sweltering heat in La Grande on Thursday, July 21, 2022.
26-28 when the average
low temperature will
be a relatively warm 66
degrees, even though the
average high temperature
for these three days is fore-
cast to be 98 degrees.
“People will need to
find ways to cool off at
night,” Brooks said.
It will be even hotter
in Pendleton during this
three-day period, with
projected highs to be 104
degrees and average lows
expected to be 68 degrees.
La Grande and Pend-
leton typically experience
their hottest temperatures
in the last week of July and
the first two or three days
of August, according to
Jim Smith, a meteorologist
with the National Weather
Service in Pendleton.
Brooks, the coach of a
youth boxing club in Pend-
leton, is so concerned
about the projected hot
weather that he is giving
his boxers the option of
not coming to practice
next week. He said he does
not know how many of
his boxers have air condi-
tioning in their homes to
help lower their core body
temperatures at night.
Pendleton will be hotter
than La Grande over the
next six days because of
its lower elevation, Brooks
said. La Grande has an ele-
vation of 2,785 feet, while
Pendleton sits at 1,200 feet.
Temperatures will be lower
in Enterprise, which has
an elevation of 3,757 feet,
because it is higher, but the
Wallowa Valley will not
escape the heat wave.
Enterprise’s projected
to climb to 95 degrees by
July 28.
The projected North-
eastern Oregon heat wave
will hit about a year after
a blistering one hit the
region. That weather event,
caused by a high-pressure
system described by many
as a heat dome that blocked
all weather systems out
of the region, broke many
high temperature records.
Brooks does not expect
the upcoming heat wave
to shatter any records, but
he said it poses a threat to
people because of its pro-
jected prolonged nature.
“I’m not concerned
about records,” he said. “I’m
concerned about safety.”
Open house slated for bridge project
Oregon Department of Transportation
plans to replace Meacham Creek and
Union Pacific Railroad Bridge
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Department of Transpor-
tation plans to replace the
Meacham Creek and Union
Pacific Railroad Bridge in
2024, a project that will cost
an estimated $6.9 million.
According to ODOT, the
bridge, located on the I-84
Frontage Road at milepost
239, is structurally deficient
and does not provide ade-
quate clearance between
piers and the railroad tracks.
“We do routine bridge
inspections every two years,
and that’s how it was deter-
mined that we needed to
replace this bridge,” said
Erin Winterton, a trans-
portation project manager
working on the Meacham
Bridge renovation.
ODOT noted several
concerns about the bridge
in their report, including
the poor condition of the
rail and deck, severe con-
crete deterioration, cracks
in the pavement and con-
crete grinders, insufficient
clearance between the piers
and the railroad tracks and
the bridge’s one-way traffic
allotment.
Winterton noted that on
ODOT’s sufficiency rating
scale, the bridge, which was
built in 1925, scored 38.5
out of 100. “The bridge deck
and the bridge rail especially
need attention,” she said.
Due to a variety of
maintenance needs and
increasing maintenance
costs, the department opted
to replace the bridge com-
pletely rather than make
repairs to the existing
one. The project involves
removing the existing
bridge and constructing a
wider one that accommo-
dates two-way truck traffic
and that has sufficient
clearance.
The project will go out to
bid in September 2023 and
construction is scheduled for
the spring and summer of
2024. According to ODOT,
the project will require a
road closure. Vehicles will
be able to make a detour
around the construction via
I-84 Exit 234.
The department will pro-
vide more information about
the project’s impacts closer
to construction.
There will be an
in-person open house for
those interested in learning
more about the project on
July 26 at 5 pm at the ODOT
Meacham Maintenance Sta-
tion, located at 64462 Old
Oregon Trail Road, Mea-
cham, 97859.
ODOT encourages local
residents and businesses
to visit the project’s web-
site for more information.
For those who want to keep
up-to-date on the project,
the department offers North-
east a sign-up on the website
for Northeast Oregon news
releases.
Young La Grande mother suffers cardiac arrest
GoFundMe page set up for
Vanessa Durfee’s family
By TRISH YERGES
For The Observer
LA GRANDE — A La Grande
woman, Vanessa Durfee, 26, the
daughter of Sharee Henderson
and Ed Durfee of Elgin, suffered a
sudden cardiac arrest at her residence
on Sunday, July 17.
Her 6-year-old daughter found her
unresponsive and alerted Vanessa’s
partner, Troy Jones, who immedi-
ately called 911 for emergency med-
ical assistance. According to her
aunt, Sandra Roda, Durfee was intu-
bated and admitted July 17 to the
intensive care unit at Grande Ronde
Hospital, where she has undergone
tests to determine the cause of her
condition. To date no medical reason
can be ascertained.
“The doctors have done all the
testing they can do, and there’s no
explained reason why Vanessa had
a sudden cardiac arrest,” Roda said.
“They performed a drug screening,
and it was negative, so there’s no
known reason for this. We’re also
unsure how long she was without
oxygen. She might have gone without
oxygen for up to 20 minutes. Right
now, she’s sedated and has some
major brain swelling due to the time
she was without oxygen.”
The physicians will be reevalu-
ating Durfee’s condition on July 23,
said Roda, who works as a neurolog-
ical trauma nurse in ICU at Sacred
HOW TO DONATE
To make a donation to help Vanessa Durfee
and her family, go to https://gofund.
me/0aa91a02.
Heart Medical Center in Spokane,
Washington.
Durfee is a graduate of Elgin High
School and is currently a stay-at-
home mother of two daughters, ages
6 and 1. The family has established
a GoFundMe page to help the young
family with the costs related to her
medical emergency and her absence
from home.
“As a longtime resident of the
community, anything the community
can give her would be extremely ben-
eficial,” Roda said.
NEWS BRIEFS
EOU’s board of trustees
to hold annual retreat
in Boardman
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon
University’s board of trustees will
hold its 2022 annual retreat Aug. 8-9
in Boardman.
The meetings will include engage-
ment with local and regional business
leaders, local representatives and
regional stakeholders to discuss the
university’s role in business, industry
and education in the area.
Trustees will host a public recep-
tion from 5-6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug.
8, in the SAGE Center Gallery. The
public is invited to attend the recep-
tion and share their EOU stories and
hear comments from President Tom
Insko and the board’s chair, Richard
Chaves.
“The board of trustees intention-
ally holds its retreat in different loca-
tions to better understand the regions
EOU serves,” Tim Seydel, vice pres-
ident for university advancement,
said. “This is a great opportunity for
community members, alumni and
friends to meet with trustees and the
president and hear about what we are
doing, and for EOU to learn more
about the needs of the area.”
During the retreat, the board also
plans to host panels on economic
development and education and con-
duct regular business. A full agenda
will be made available in early August.
NP’s city hall temporarily
without phone service
NORTH POWDER — The city of
North Powder is moving its city hall
into its old fire station.
North Powder’s city hall will not
have phone service until at least
Wednesday, July 27, due to the move,
according to city officials.
Residents can reach city offi-
cials with an emergency by phone at
541-975-0422.
—The Observer
Fire danger
continues
to climb
ODF fire managers
raised public use
restrictions July 22
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Rising fire danger, due to
drier and warmer condi-
tions, prompted the Oregon
Department of Forestry to
increase public use restric-
tions in Northeastern
Oregon.
The added public use
restrictions — which went
into effect at 12:01 a.m. July
22 — are intended to pre-
vent or minimize human-
caused wildfires and to pro-
tect natural resources and
public health and safety.
“This year has been
unique in the sense that
we are seeing large fires
around the region sev-
eral weeks ahead of when
we would normally expect
them. With the thunder-
storms that have been hit-
ting the area, we must
consider our options in
reducing the number of pre-
ventable fires,” said Steve
Meyer, Baker Wildland fire
supervisor.
Public use restric-
tions are being amped up
because measurements that
fire managers use to esti-
mate seasonal fire severity
are indicating extreme
fire conditions across the
region, according to an
Oregon Department of For-
estry press release.
The restrictions now in
place include the following
fire prevention measures:
• Open fires are prohib-
ited, including campfires,
charcoal fires, cooking fires
and warming fires.
• Portable cooking
stoves using liquefied or
bottled fuels are allowed.
Propane firepits are not
allowed.
• Debris burning is pro-
hibited, including the use of
burn barrels.
• Nonindustrial
chainsaw use is prohibited.
• Smoking is prohibited
while traveling, except in
vehicles on improved roads,
in boats on the water, or at
a cleared area free of flam-
mable vegetation.
• The use of motor vehi-
cles, including motorcy-
cles and all-terrain vehi-
cles is prohibited except
on improved roads, except
in the commercial culture
and harvest of agricultural
crops.
• Possession of the fol-
lowing firefighting equip-
ment is required while
traveling, except on state
highways, county roads and
driveways: a shovel and a
gallon of water or a 2-1⁄2
pound fire extinguisher.
• The cutting, grinding
and welding of metal is
prohibited.
• The mowing of dried
and cured grass with pow-
er-driven equipment is
prohibited.
• The use of fireworks is
prohibited.
• The use of exploding
targets is prohibited, as is
the use of tracer ammu-
nition or any bullet with a
pyrotechnic charge in its
base.
• Any electric fence con-
troller in use must be listed
by a nationally recognized
testing laboratory or be cer-
tified by the Department of
Consumer Business Ser-
vices, and operated in com-
pliance with manufacturer’s
instructions.
The Umatilla and Wal-
lowa-Whitman national
forests, as well as Bureau
of Land Management
lands are currently under
public use restrictions in
Northeastern Oregon. Fire
restrictions for these forest-
lands can be found at www.
bmidc.org.
FIRE DANGER STATUS
Current information on fire
danger status in North-
eastern Oregon is available at
www.bluemountainfireinfo.
blogspot.com and on Face-
book at www.facebook.com/
oregondeptofforestryNEO/