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THURSDAY EDITION
Fai s r
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FAIR SEASON IN FULL SWING FOR SUMMER
AR KS
FA IR M GE 8
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GR AN T S AU G. 10 -1 3,
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11 3 YE
EOU board postpones appointing interim president
PA GE 3
Trustees will gather
more input, continue
discussions during
special session
The Observer
BOARDMAN — The Eastern
Oregon University board of
trustees declined to move for-
ward with a resolution to name
PA GE 9
PA GE 13
an interim president
during its annual
retreat in Boardman.
The board dis-
cussed the possi-
bility of naming an
interim president
Insko
during the retreat on
Tuesday, Aug. 9. Outgoing Presi-
dent Tom Insko recommended an
interim co-presidency consisting
of Vice President of Finance Lara
Moore and board chair Richard
Chaves.
“We need to be
thoughtful about the
transition, and fortu-
nately, we are fi nan-
cially stable and
have a strategic plan
Chaves
that gives us pur-
pose and focus,” Insko said. “We
have momentum and are doing
great things for our students and
community. My recommendation
is about ensuring our progress
continues, moving us forward as a
university.”
After a lengthy discussion, the
board elected not to move in that
direction.
“We want to be speedy but not
hasty,” vice board chair Cheryl
Martin said. “The process for
naming an interim president is
very important. We would like
more input and feedback from the
university community before we
make a decision.”
The board plans to gather more
input from the EOU community
about naming an interim president
in the coming weeks. They will
continue discussions during a spe-
cial session later in August.
Insko, who announced Aug.
1 that he is leaving his post at
the end of September, has been
named president and chief exec-
utive offi cer at Collins, a wood
See, EOU/Page A3
County
fair draws
biggest
crowd in
six years
More than 18,000 attended
the Union County Fair
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
Shannon Golden/The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Union County
Fair celebrated its 150th anniversary last
week, and rounded out this year’s fair
with a win, drawing in more than 18,000
attendees throughout the four-day event —
the highest total attendance record it’s seen
in the last six years.
“We were exceptionally happy with
the attendance this year,” said Kathy Gov-
er-Shaw, the fair manager.
This year’s total outpaced 2021’s
four-day attendance of 13,893.
This was Gover-Shaw’s second year at
the helm of the community event, and she
said that Thursday, Aug. 4, and Friday,
Aug. 5, were the busiest days.
Gover-Shaw and the fair board’s six-
person team plan the yearly fair months
ahead of time, in collaboration with com-
munity partners like FFA and 4-H. Gov-
er-Shaw credited the fair’s entertainment,
FFA and 4-H programs for getting com-
munity members out to the fairgrounds
this year, as well as the free senior break-
fast sponsored by Grocery Outlet and The
Observer.
4-H and FFA participation
“Our 4-H and FFA programs are so
strong and just everybody wants to come
out and support those,” she said. “It’s just
wonderful.”
A bright blue sign tells guests where to park outside of an Airbnb in La Grande on Aug. 9, 2022.
Pushing pause
La Grande planning commission, council members discuss
pause on new short-term rentals in La Grande
housing needs and how we’re going to
address our housing needs.”
By SHANNON GOLDEN
Boquist and members of the plan-
ning commission posited during the
meeting that the infl ux of short-term
rental applications is in direct con-
fl ict with the city’s recently adopted
Housing Needs Analysis and Housing
Production Strategy.
According to the needs analysis cre-
ated in 2019, La Grande needs 800 new
units within the next 20 years to accom-
modate a projected growth of 1,392
new residents — approximately 40 new
units every year to meet the prediction.
These dwellings range from single and
multi family homes to townhome and
duplexes.
The proposed moratorium would
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — For those vis-
iting La Grande, renting an
Airbnb or vacation rental may
sound like the optimal option for a
brief stay. For city residents, however,
these short-term rentals might be coun-
tering eff orts to deal with La Grande’s
housing shortage.
The La Grande City Council and
the city’s planning commission had a
joint work session on Monday, Aug. 8,
to discuss the possibility of pursuing
a temporary moratorium preventing
residential property owners from con-
verting full-time dwellings into what
the commission calls BnBs — short-
term rentals, Airbnbs, VRBOs and
vacation homes.
Recently, the city’s planning division
received calls from real estate agents
and an investor — who don’t live in the
area — looking for residential prop-
erty to buy and convert to short-term
rentals.
City offi cials have also heard that
local real estate agents were encour-
aging owners to convert rental prop-
erties into Airbnbs. This increased
interest in new short-term rentals in La
Grande’s residential areas prompted the
Aug. 8 meeting.
“That’s just kind of raised some red
fl ags for us,” said Michael Boquist, the
city’s community development director.
“We’re still trying to fi gure out our
Initial concerns
See, Rentals/Page A7
See, Fair/Page A3
Community loses a longtime youth leader
Robin Wortman, leader of Union County
Safe Communities Coalition, passes away
By DICK MASON
The Observer
WALLOWA — North-
east Oregon lost a youth
leader of vision, who
could see in young people
what they could not see in
themselves.
Robin Wortman, of Wal-
lowa, a former 4-H leader
and a former director of the
Union County Safe Com-
munities Coalition, passed
away Tuesday, Aug. 2, of
natural causes at hospital
in White Salmon, Wash-
ington, at the age of 59.
“Robin pushed people
in the right direction. She
was able to get kids to see
their potential, to get them
to realize they had abili-
ties they did not know they
had,” said DeAnne Mans-
veld, a member of the
Union County Safe Com-
munities Coalition’s execu-
tive committee.
Wortman directed the
See, Wortman/Page A3
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ........B1
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Union County Safe Com-
munities Coalition from
2011 through October 2019.
As its director, she helped
the organization implement
a number of community
events, such as October’s
Red Ribbon month and an
annual multimedia confer-
ence for seventh graders
to teach them about online
safety and the dangers
of substance abuse. She
was also a member of the
UCSCC’s Youth Council
and worked with various
community organizations
Dear Abby ....B6
Horoscope ....B2
Lottery ...........A2
Obituaries .....A5
Opinion .........A4
Spiritual ........A6
Sudoku ..........B5
Weather ........B6
Contributed Photo
Robin Wortman is shown with a prize fi sh she landed. Wortman, of
Wallowa, a former 4-H leader and a former director of the Union
County Safe Communities Coalition, died last week of natural causes
at the age of 59.
Full forecast on the back of B section
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Partly sunny; hot
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La Grande, Oregon
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