NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Independence Day travel expected to be second busiest in history
By CARLOS FUENTES
The Observer
LA GRANDE — With
56% of all adult Americans
now fully vaccinated, travel-
ers are gearing up for Fourth
of July weekend. According
to the American Automo-
bile Association, 597,000
Oregonians are expected to
travel for the holiday, a 40%
increase from 2020.
This will be the second
highest number of travel-
ers for Independence Day in
Oregon, only slightly under
the 2019 record of 609,000.
AAA says the easing of
COVID-19 travel restric-
tions, increased vaccinations
and lower unemployment are
giving Americans increased
confidence to travel for vaca-
tions and fireworks this year.
“People are eager to travel
this summer after staying
close to home for the last year-
and-a-half, Doreen Loofbur-
row, senior vice president of
travel at AAA Oregon/Idaho,
said in a press release. “With
pandemic restrictions easing
and more people getting
vaccinated, we saw a strong
kick-off to the summer travel
season over Memorial Day
and that trend continues for
Independence Day.”
Oregonians won’t be trav-
eling alone: 48 million Amer-
icans are expected to travel
between July 1 and July 5 —
14.4% of the total population,
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
AAA says the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions, increased vaccinations and lower unemployment are giving Americans
increased confidence to travel for vacations and fireworks this year.
according to AAA.
The most popular destina-
tions for Oregonians include
Central Oregon, national
parks of Utah, Yellowstone,
Hawaii, Disneyland and Las
Vegas, AAA reported. With
record numbers of travel-
ers hitting the road, traffic
is expected to cause major
delays on highways and in
metropolitan areas.
“With travelers eager to
hit the road this summer,
we’re expecting nationwide
traffic volumes to increase
about 15% over normal this
holiday weekend. Drivers
around major metro areas
must be prepared for more
delay,” Bob Pishue, transpor-
tation analyst at INRIX, said
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
in a press release. “Knowing
when and where congestion
will build can help drivers
avoid the stress of sitting in
traffic.”
To avoid major traffic
delays, AAA recommends
avoiding travel on the after-
noons of July 1 and 2 and
mid-day July 5.
More traffic likely will
‘Joe Bell’ to open in theaters next month
By DICK MASON
The Observer
Record-breaking
temperatures
Near-record
temperatures
114° 76°
106° 72°
Mostly sunny and
very hot
Very hot with
sizzling sunshine
Very hot with
partial sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
100° 69°
101° 70°
100° 68°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
118° 79°
109° 75°
103° 73°
104° 73°
104° 71°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
75/61
105/72
115/76
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
114/80 Lewiston
88/61
116/78
Astoria
71/59
Pullman
Yakima 116/80
87/59
115/78
Portland
Hermiston
97/64
The Dalles 118/79
Salem
Corvallis
83/58
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
106/69
PRECIPITATION
John Day
105/71
Eugene
Bend
90/59
111/66
Ontario
108/72
Caldwell
Burns
112°
70°
84°
55°
112° (2021) 40° (1964)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
88/58
0.00"
0.23"
0.56"
1.93"
1.65"
5.67"
WINDS (in mph)
103/71
103/60
0.00"
0.28"
1.02"
4.31"
8.57"
7.53"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 103/65
94/61
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
114/76
117/74
110°
72°
83°
55°
110° (2021) 40° (1908)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
89/60
Aberdeen
110/78
114/80
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
90/63
Today
Medford
103/65
Wed.
NE 4-8
SE 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
102/56
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
SW 7-14
NNW 6-12
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:09 a.m.
8:49 p.m.
12:08 a.m.
10:41 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
July 1
July 9
July 17
July 23
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 117° in The Dalles, Ore. Low 31° in Gothic, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
LA GRANDE — The
compelling and tragic story of
Jadin Bell and his father, Joe
Bell, will soon hit the silver
screen.
“Joe Bell” is set to open
in theaters July 23. The
announcement has been made
on the Twitter site of Mark
Wahlberg, an American actor,
producer and songwriter, who
plays Joe Bell in the film.
“This family and their
story touched my heart in a
big way,” the social media
post said.
The story of Joe and Jadin
Bell made national headlines
in 2013 after Jadin, a 15-year-
old sophomore at La Grande
High School, took his own life
after being bullied because he
was gay.
Joe Bell later started on a
national walk in memory of
his son to draw attention to
bullying. He was killed Oct.
9, 2013, while walking along
a road when he was hit by a
truck in Colorado.
“Joe Bell” originally was
scheduled to be released in
theaters in February, but the
release was delayed because
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patty Johnson, manager
of La Grande’s Granada
Theatre, said she is attempt-
ing to get the movie booked
for showings at the theater.
Johnson said she first needs to
receive authorization from its
distributor. She said distrib-
utors have requirements for
elements like screen size and
audience capacity that must be
met before their films can be
shown in a theater. Johnson
said she does not anticipate
problems in receiving autho-
rization.
“Joe Bell,” which is being
released by Solstice Studios,
was directed by Reinaldo
Marcus Green and its screen-
play was written by Diana
Ossana and Larry McMurtry.
Ossana and McMurtry also
wrote the screenplay for the
2005 landmark film “Broke-
back Mountain.” The stars
of “Joe Bell,” in addition to
Wahlberg, include Connie
Britton and Morgan Lily.
The movie was filmed at
sites around Utah, including
Salt Lake City and Summit
County.
Although the film was not
shot in Union County, Wahl-
berg did visit La Grande in late
January 2019 to do research
for his part in the movie.
A portion of the movie
focuses on Joe Bell’s walk,
when he gave a number of
talks in churches, schools and
other places on behalf of his
foundation. He talked of the
evils of bullying and what can
be done to prevent it.
Jadin Bell’s family
members and friends said
bullying drove him to suicide,
and they later launched an
anti-bullying campaign called
Faces for Change.
“Joe Bell” premiered at the
2020 Toronto International
Film Festival. It was once
titled “Good Joe Bell,” accord-
ing to the website www.slash-
film.com.
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
-10s
lead to more accidents and
delays. AAA expects to
rescue more than 468,000
motorists nationally and
8,000 in Oregon this Indepen-
dence Day weekend, with the
most common issues being
dead batteries, lockouts and
flat tires.
However, not all accidents
are so minor.
According to the U.S.
Department of Transporta-
tion, Fourth of July week-
end usually sees an increase
in impaired driving crashes.
According to their website,
from 2015-19, 1,339 drivers
died in motor vehicle crashes
during the holiday weekend
— over a third of whom were
drunk.
Nearly 3.5 million Amer-
icans are expected to use
airline travel on the holiday
weekend; 12% of Oregon
travelers will be flying to their
destinations, compared to the
86% of drivers who will pay
for the highest gas prices on
July 4 in seven years, accord-
ing to AAA.
The holiday’s national gas
price average of $3.07 will
be the highest average since
2014, and the Oregon average
of $3.49 is the fifth highest in
the nation.
Nonetheless, these prices
aren’t deterring travel plans,
according to AAA.
“Expensive pump prices
won’t keep people home,”
Marie Dodds, public affairs
director for AAA Oregon/
Idaho, said. “Instead, trav-
elers will find other ways to
save money, such as staying
closer to home, shortening
the duration of a trip, limit-
ing restaurant meals and/or
eating at moderately priced
restaurants, limiting shop-
ping budgets, and looking for
free or low-cost activities.”
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
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No public interest in jail
deputy after getting caught
having phone sex with inmate
JOHN DAY — An attorney for the jail
deputy recorded having sexual phone conver-
sations with an inmate said there was no public
interest in the matter and threatened to sue the
county if records related to the investigation
are released.
Dan Thenell, general counsel for the
Fraternal Order of Police union, argued his
clients, former deputy Abigail Mobley and
her husband the undersheriff, had been “vili-
fied” based on “false accusations.” He made
the statements at a name clearing hearing June
23 offered by the Grant County Court, which
has indicated it plans to release records related
to the case.
“(Mobley) has been the victim of a vicious
campaign to defame her,” Thenell said.
Thenell said there was no public interest
in the records because Mobley resigned from
her position at the sheriff’s office and the only
reason to release them would be to hurt her.
He said, if the county releases the records
as planned, it would present his client in a
false light, and he would have no choice but
to pursue a legal remedy.
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Personnel discipline actions are condition-
ally exempt from disclosure under Oregon
law — unless the public interest requires
disclosure in the particular instance. Person-
nel investigations of public safety employ-
ees that do not result in discipline may not be
disclosed — unless the public interest requires
disclosure, or the public body (in this case, the
county court) determines that nondisclosure
of the information would adversely affect the
confidence of that body.
Mobley spent 21 months on administra-
tive leave from March 2019 until she resigned
in December 2020, costing county taxpay-
ers between $117,500 and $149,000, amid
investigations by Deschutes County Sheriff’s
Office, the Oregon Department of Justice and
Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office.
DOJ officials determined through dozens
of recorded jail calls that Mobley was having
sexual conversations with former jail inmate
Darren Mortimore but concluded there was
not “a reasonable likelihood of proving beyond
a reasonable doubt that Ms. Mobley commit-
ted the crime of custodial sexual misconduct.”
Thenell said at the hearing that the inmate
was an intelligent predator seeking out and
abusing vulnerable women, including another
former female sheriff’s office employee.
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