LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1715, following a reign of 72
years, King Louis XIV of France died
four days before his 77th birthday.
In 1897, the first section of Bos-
ton’s new subway system was
opened.
In 1923, the Japanese cities of
Tokyo and Yokohama were dev-
astated by an earthquake that
claimed some 140,000 lives.
In 1939, World War II began as
Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
In 1942, U.S. District Court
Judge Martin I. Welsh, ruling from
Sacramento, California, on a law-
suit brought by the American Civil
Liberties Union on behalf of Fred
Korematsu, upheld the wartime
detention of Japanese-Americans
as well as Japanese nationals.
In 1945, Americans received
word of Japan’s formal surrender
that ended World War II. (Because
of the time difference, it was Sept.
2 in Tokyo Bay, where the cere-
mony took place.)
In 1969, a coup in Libya brought
Moammar Gadhafi to power.
In 1972, American Bobby Fischer
won the international chess
crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, as
Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union
resigned before the resumption
of Game 21. An arson fire at the
Blue Bird Cafe in Montreal, Canada,
claimed 37 lives.
In 1983, 269 people were killed
when a Korean Air Lines Boeing
747 was shot down by a Soviet jet
fighter after the airliner entered
Soviet airspace.
In 1985, a U.S.-French expedi-
tion located the wreckage of the
Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic
Ocean roughly 400 miles off
Newfoundland.
In 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray
Nagin issued a “desperate SOS” as
his city descended into anarchy
amid the flooding left by Hurricane
Katrina.
In 2009, Vermont’s law allowing
same-sex marriage went into
effect.
In 2015, invoking “God’s
authority,” Rowan County, Ken-
tucky, Clerk Kim Davis denied mar-
riage licenses to gay couples again
in direct defiance of the federal
courts, and vowed not to resign,
even under the pressure of steep
fines or jail. (Davis would spend
five days in jail; she was released
only after her staff issued the
licenses on her behalf but removed
her name from the form.)
Ten years ago: President Barack
Obama ridiculed the just-com-
pleted Republican National Con-
vention as better-suited to an era
of black-and-white TV and “trick-
le-down, you’re on your own” eco-
nomics, and declared that Mitt
Romney “did not offer a single new
idea” for fixing the economy.
Five years ago: A line of cars
stretched more than a mile at a
water distribution center set up on
a high school football field in Beau-
mont, Texas, which had been left
without drinking water by flooding
from Hurricane Harvey.
One year ago: Three suburban
Denver police officers and two
paramedics were indicted on man-
slaughter and other charges in
the 2019 death of Elijah McClain,
a 23-year-old Black man who was
put into a chokehold and injected
with a powerful sedative in a fatal
encounter that provoked national
outcry. President Joe Biden played
host to Ukrainian President Volo-
dymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office,
and sought to reassure him that
the U.S. remained squarely behind
the Eastern European nation.
Today’s Birthdays: Attorney
and law professor Alan Dershowitz
is 84. Comedian-actor Lily Tomlin
is 83. Singer Barry Gibb is 76. Talk
show host Dr. Phil McGraw is 72.
Singer Gloria Estefan is 65. Country
singer-songwriter Charlie Rob-
ison is 58. Retired NBA All-Star
Tim Hardaway is 56. Actor Ricardo
Antonio Chavira is 51. Actor Maury
Sterling is 51. Rock singer JD For-
tune is 49. Actor Scott Speedman
is 47. Country singer Angaleena
Presley (Pistol Annies) is 46. Actor
Boyd Holbrook is 41. Actor Zoe
Lister-Jones is 40. Rock musician
Joe Trohman is 38. Actor Aisling
Loftus is 32.
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.
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THuRSday, SEpTEmBER 1, 2022
Labor Day heat wave expected
Union County
temperatures set to
heat up again for
Labor Day
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
LA GRANDE — After
a slight reprieve, tempera-
tures in La Grande are
expected to heat up once
more in time for Labor
Day weekend — but not
for long.
Last weekend’s highs
were markedly lower than
last week’s forecast, drop-
ping around 10 degrees.
The weekend also brought
cooler temperatures in the
mornings, reaching the low
40s around dawn. Still, this
week’s forecast predicts
that temperatures will once
again spike to the high 90s.
Rob Brooks, a meteo-
rologist for the National
Weather Service in
Pendleton, noted that a
high-pressure area coming
out of Nevada and Utah
and extending up into the
Pacific Northwest — in
an elongated format that
he equated to a mountain
ridge — may be to blame.
But he asserted that these
elevated averages shouldn’t
stick around.
“We don’t anticipate a
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Hazy air caused by burning wildfires and high temperatures blankets the Grande Ronde Valley,
obscuring the view from Blackhawk Trail Lane north of La Grande, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022.
whole lot of more heating
past this,” he said. “It’s
going to get warmer, but
we’re not looking for-
ward to it becoming 100
(degrees) again.”
The average tempera-
ture for September will sit
at 60.4 Fahrenheit, with an
average low of 32 degrees.
This weekend, highs will
reach the low 90s and lows
will drop into the high 40s,
according to the National
Weather Service. Labor
Day will bring sunny skies
and a high of 88.
High-pressure areas
make it harder for clouds
to accumulate, resulting in
hotter, dryer temperatures.
The National Weather
Service has issued a heat
advisory for the lower
Columbia River Basin of
Oregon — not including
Union County — urging
residents to take precau-
tions while outside and to
drink plenty of fluids.
The hottest hours of the
day are between 3-5 p.m.
and night temperatures
in the area are still above
65 or 70 — making it a
challenge for people “to
cool down overnight,”
according to Brooks.
Temperatures will
begin to dip again in the
coming weeks, as the days
get shorter. Brooks esti-
mated that in the next few
months, precipitation is
expected to be at normal
levels, while the tempera-
ture highs will remain
slightly above average.
The National Weather
Service’s Climate Pre-
diction Center predicts
most of Oregon will also
receive normal precipita-
tion this fall.
Hurricane Creek Grange named Distinguished Grange
Wallowa County
grange to be
honored at national
convention in
November
MORE INFORMATION
Hurricane Creek Grange meets
on the second Tuesday of each
month at 6 p.m. in the Grange
Hall, 82930 Airport Lane,
Joseph.
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Hurricane
Creek Grange has been
recognized as a 2021-22
Distinguished Grange,
by the National Grange
organization.
Grange members will
attend the 156th annual
National Grange Conven-
tion in Sparks, Nevada,
in November to receive
the award in person at a
special reception for the
24 community granges
and three state granges
to receive the distinction.
The Oregon State Grange
was one of the three state
granges to also receive
the Distinguished Grange
recognition.
“It will come as no sur-
prise to people in the com-
munities where these dis-
tinguished granges are
active that they have qual-
ified for such a select
honor,” National Grange
President Betsy Huber
said. “While each of our
1,500 granges across
Eagle Cap
Wilderness
fires grow
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain, File
The Hurricane Creek Grange gave a free barbecue Sunday, Aug.
22, 2021, to thank the community for the past year. The grange has
been recognized as a 2021-22 Distinguished Grange.
America perform great
feats to improve their com-
munities, these granges
are an integral piece of the
fabric of their hometowns,
constantly finding ways to
improve the lives of their
neighbors and rising to the
occasion with innovating
outreach.”
Hurricane Creek
Grange members said they
were proud to qualify for
the award.
“We are very pleased
to be able to serve our
community in a number
of ways. Receiving the
National Distinguished
Grange award is a great
honor,” Grange Treasurer
David McBride said. “As
Hurricane Creek Grange
completes 100 years
of supporting Wallowa
County next year, it is very
impressive to remember
all that has been accom-
plished by the grange. We
certainly look forward to
expanding our member-
ship and support for the
community.”
Hurricane Creek
Grange submitted for
national review a recap
of activities from July
2021 through June 2022,
including awarding $1,500
in scholarships to three
graduating high school
seniors, distributing dic-
tionaries to third grade
students throughout Wal-
lowa County, offering a
free ice cream social in the
spring and a barbecue to
the community. Hurricane
Creek Grange offers a low-
cost breakfast monthly,
and hosts meals through
Community Connection
of Northeast Oregon. The
Grange Hall is offered for
public gatherings. Hur-
ricane Creek Grange
members volunteer to
assist with the Eagle Cap
Extreme Dog Sled race,
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo
and the Wallowa County
Museum.
“I grew up just down
the road from Hurri-
cane Creek Grange and
remember attending a few
events when I was a young
child,” Grange member
Mary Kay Pace said. “Fast
forward, after finishing a
teaching career in Nevada,
my husband and I returned
home to Joseph. I joined
the grange in 2017 because
I wanted to make sure that
the beautiful old white
Hurricane Creek Grange
continues to flourish and
serve the communities of
Wallowa County.”
Bad weather brings out best in people
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — Despite being
pelted by hail balls three inches in
size, and after working a nine-hour
shift, crew members on the ADA
sidewalk ramp upgrade project in
Wallowa, still found it within them-
selves to help the community in
its time of need, including aiding a
pedestrian to shelter and helping to
board up broken windows.
Henry Lugo, consultant construc-
tion inspector for the project who was
on site during the storm, said after
everything they had already done
during their shift, “they still wanted
to keep helping and doing as much as
they could.”
The sudden midday hailstorm
on Aug. 11, caused several inju-
ries, broke windows, knocked out
car windshields and stripped trees of
leaves.
According to a press release from
the Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation (ODOT), vacuum truck oper-
ator Randy Burns, was responsible
for guiding a pedestrian to safety,
providing care until medical per-
sonnel could arrive to treat her inju-
ries and transport her to the hospital.
The identity and condition of the
woman is unknown.
During the storm, according to
Lugo, drill operator Aaron Grif-
fiths and laborer Willy Ramos began
securing the roadway, clearing it of
traffic cones, and some signs, to make
a path for emergency vehicles. He
said the debris was nothing serious.
Lugo also said that Griffiths and
Ramos helped board up the broken
windows of a couple of Wallowa res-
idences using plywood from their
trucks. He said the plywood was on
the truck and used for multiple pur-
poses at other times. It was donated to
the homeowners.
Matt Murray, a journeyman elec-
trician, took up the responsibilities
of an injured flagger, directing traffic
and emergency vehicles until both
lanes of traffic through town could
be reopened, according to the press
release.
All of the men now work out of
Portland and were unavailable for
comment.
IN BRIEF
Eastern Promise is now Early ondary Economic Development
grant and Moonshot collaboration
College Initiatives
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon
University’s Eastern Promise pro-
gram is getting a name change.
The decade-old dual credit and
professional development program
will be known as Early College Ini-
tiatives, according to a press release
from the school.
With an eye for new avenues of
success, Early College Initiatives
will utilize the new Rural Post-Sec-
to provide more resources to dual-
credit high school students. ECI
is dedicated to creating a robust
environment for students to learn,
teachers to be trained and oppor-
tunities to be realized at Eastern
Oregon University.
To contact Early College Initia-
tives, parents, students, teachers
and other partners can now email
eci@eou.edu or visit eou.edu/
early-college-initiatives.
“The foundation that was laid
a decade ago has allowed us to
move forward with additional grant
funding and a new commitment to
our dual credit community,” Kath-
leen Brown, associate director of
Early College Initiatives, said. “ECI
is excited to continue our partner-
ships and develop new ones that help
all students in our region, no matter
their educational location, realize
their goals of a college education.”
— The Observer
BAKER CITY — The
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest has closed sections
of three trails that are near
one of the two growing
lightning-sparked fires the
agency is monitoring, but
not fighting, in the Eagle
Cap Wilderness.
The Wallowa-Whitman
announced the trail clo-
sures, in the North Minam
River area, on Tuesday,
Aug. 30.
Both the Sturgill Fire,
which is near the closed
trails, and the Nebo Fire,
more than 15 miles east
across the wilderness, pro-
duced large smoke plumes
on Aug. 30 as temperatures
eclipsed record highs for the
date.
The fires started Aug. 22.
The Sturgill Fire
spawned a pyrocumulus
cloud Aug. 30 — in effect, a
thunderhead induced by the
fire’s heat.
The atmosphere was
already slightly unstable,
meaning the sun was
heating the ground and
causing the air to rise high
enough that some of the
moisture condensed into
cumulus clouds, said Jay
Breidenbach, a meteorolo-
gist at the National Weather
Service office in Boise.
The fire added consider-
ably more heat to the equa-
tion, he said, allowing the
air to rise even higher. The
result was the pyrocumulus
cloud.
Breidenbach said he
reviewed a time-lapse loop
of satellite images from
Aug. 30, and the progres-
sion of both smoke from the
Sturgill Fire and the for-
mation of the pyrocumulus
cloud were evident.
Such clouds typically
form late in the afternoon
and dissipate relatively rap-
idly after sundown as the air
cools, Breidenbach said.
Sturgill Fire
The blaze, on the east
side of the Minam River
Canyon, is about 6 miles
from the nearest private
property.
Firefighters are working
on a strategy to protect
private land at Catherine
Creek Meadow, to the
southwest, and Red’s Horse
Ranch and Minam River
Lodge to the northwest.
The Wallowa-Whitman
has closed sections of three
trails near the fire.
• Minam River Trail, No.
1673, from the Bear Moun-
tain Trail junction south to
the Rock Creek Trail.
• North Minam Trail, No.
1675, from the Minam River
Trail to the Bowman Trail.
• Green Lake Trail,
No. 1666, from the North
Minam Trail to Green Lake.
Nebo Fire
Firefighters are working
along roads and trails out-
side the Eagle Cap Wil-
derness to potentially use
them as control lines if nec-
essary to protect the Lick
Creek Guard Station, struc-
tures at Big Sheep Camp,
and Indian Crossing camp-
ground along the Imnaha
River should the fire
threaten those, according to
the Wallowa-Whitman.
There were no trail clo-
sures around the Nebo Fire
as of Wednesday, Aug. 31.
Crockets Knob Fire
This blaze, started by
lightning on Aug. 22, con-
tinues to burn on the Mal-
heur National Forest, in the
Greenhorn Mountains about
19 miles north of Prairie
City.
The fire has burned about
1,900 acres. Gusty winds
and higher temperatures on
Tuesday, Aug. 30, resulted
in active burning, and the
fire produced a significant
smoke column.
The fire has moved close
to the west Princess Trail-
head south of Indian Rock
Lookout, and it has spread
northeast onto a small part
of the Umatilla National
Forest.