LOCAL & STATE
A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
‘JOE BELL’ TELLS COMPELLING, TRAGIC TALE FROM 2013
Film featuring story of La Grande
father, son set for release July 23
By Dick Mason
The (La Grande) Observer
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 an-
nouncement has been made
on the Twitter site of Mark
Wahlberg, an American actor,
producer and songwriter, who
plays Joe Bell in the fi lm.
“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 on Oct.
9, 2013, while walking along
a road when he was hit by a
truck in Colorado.
The movie was originally
scheduled to be released in
theaters in February but the
release was delayed because of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Terry McQuisten, owner of
the Eltrym Theater in Baker
City, said she’s requested the
fi lm, but hasn’t confi rmed
the booking yet. For updates,
check the Eltrym’s Facebook
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2021
Umatilla County
at high risk in
final COVID-19
weekly rating
By Bryce Dole
East Oregonian
The (La Grande) Observer/File Photo, 2013
Before beginning his cross-country walk in 2013, Joe Bell embraces his wife, Lola,
beside the tiled palmprint of their late son Jadin in a display made several years ago
at Riverside Park.
page or www.eltrym.com.
Patty Johnson, manager of
La Grande’s Granada Theatre,
said she is attempting to get
the movie booked for showings
at the theater.
The fi lm is being released
by Solstice Studios and was
directed by Reinaldo Marcus
Green and its screenplay was
written by Diana Ossana
and Larry McMurtry. Ossana
and McMurtry also wrote
the screenplay for the 2005
landmark fi lm Brokeback
Mountain. The stars of Joe
RESTRICTIONS
Continued from A1
Users of BLM land can use stoves,
heaters, portable grills and other equip-
ment that runs on liquifi ed gas, as well
as gas-powered generators, so long as
the device is in an area cleared of fl am-
mable debris for at least 10 feet around.
“It is uncommonly drier than normal
in Eastern Oregon, which is why we
are entering into fi re restrictions earlier
than we have the last few years,” said
Bell, in addition to Wahlberg,
include Connie Britton and
Morgan Lily. The movie was
fi lmed at sites around Utah,
including Salt Lake City and
Summit County.
Although the fi lm was
not shot in Union County,
Wahlberg did visit La Grande
in late January 2019 to do
research for his part in the
movie.
A portion of the movie fo-
cuses on Joe Bell’s walk, when
he gave a number of talks in
churches, schools and other
Tracy Skerjanec, fi re management of-
fi cer for the Vale District, which includes
BLM land in Baker County, mainly
south and east of Baker City. “Rising
temperatures combined with minimal
precipitation throughout June have now
cured the annual grasses and other fi ne
fuels that carry fi re quickly.”
Rainfall at the Baker City Airport
through June 28 was about 20% of aver-
age for the months.
Chain saw use will be prohibited
starting July 1, as well as the use of
places on behalf of his founda-
tion. He talked of the evils of
bullying and what can be done
to prevent it.
Jadin Bell’s family mem-
bers and friends said bullying
drove him to suicide, and they
later launched an anti-bully-
ing campaign called Faces for
Change.
Joe Bell premiered at the
2020 Toronto International
Film Festival. It was once
titled Good Joe Bell, according
to the website www.slashfi lm.
com.
steel core ammunition, metal targets
and all explosives, including exploding
targets.
“We still want people to enjoy their
public lands, but we have to balance
that with reasonable restrictions to
prevent wildfi res,” said Al Crouch, the
Vale District’s fi re mitigation and educa-
tion specialist. “Statistically, fi res caused
by motorized vehicles and trailers are
second only to lightning starts.”
More information is available at www.
blm.gov/orwafi re.
PENDLETON — Umatilla County is one of six
counties in Oregon that remained at high risk in Gov.
Kate Brown’s latest, and fi nal, coronavirus risk level
assessment.
Brown, who announced the risk levels Tuesday,
June 22, said Oregonians no longer will hear about
risk levels as the state inches closer to the 70% vac-
cine threshold and June 30, the date Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown announced she would end statewide restric-
tions, including county risk levels. Brown said she
would lift the mandates on June 30 or whenever the
state reached the 70% level, whichever arrived fi rst. It
appears likely that June 30 will arrive fi rst.
Among counties in Northeastern Oregon, Umatilla
County is an outlier when it comes to risk levels. Baker,
Union, Wallowa and Morrow counties all remained at
lower risk for weeks, and some for months.
Umatilla County Public Health Director Joe Fiuma-
ra said there could be a number of explanations for this,
including the county’s greater population density and
its industrial facilities increasing the risk of infection,
but it’s diffi cult to pin exactly why the county continues
to report relatively high case counts.
The data shows Umatilla County ultimately will be
dragged across the fi nish line when the state reaches
70%. But county offi cials are worried that reopening
may lead to case spikes in the county due to its low
vaccination rate.
“Somehow, being over the line gives the impression
that COVID is over,” Umatilla County Commissioner
George Murdock said. “And that’s a false assumption.
It’s not. It’s not over, even if Oregon opens up, it’s not
over here. It’s going to continue.”
Last week, Umatilla County reported 76 cases, 35
more than the previous week, according to county
health data. That’s the steepest weekly case spike the
county has reported since April, after reporting declin-
ing weekly cases for fi ve straight weeks.
“We were trending downwards, and that (case spike)
keeps us solidly in that high risk unfortunately,” said
Fiumara. “I wish it wasn’t this way. But, we’re waiting
for the rest of the state to carry us across the goal line.”
Fiumara said much of the county’s cases are being
traced back to small social gatherings but with no large
outbreaks. However, he said people who have been
exposed often are reluctant to cooperate with contact
tracers, all but assuring cases are going unreported and
making it diffi cult to track the spread of infection.
Fiumara and Murdock each said nearly all reported
cases are coming from people who have not been vac-
cinated against COVID-19.
Oregon Legislature wraps up turbulent 2021 session
Democrats and Republicans
and the expulsion of a law-
PORTLAND — The Oregon maker who let rowdy protest-
Legislature adjourned Satur- ers into the Capitol.
day afternoon, June 26, bring-
“This session has been
ing to a close the 2021 session unlike any other in Oregon
in which signifi cant renewable history,” said House Speaker
energy, police reform, wildfi re Tina Kotek, D-Portland.
recovery and racial equity bills
On Saturday the Legisla-
were passed.
ture passed House Bill 2021,
The session was also
which would require the
marked by COVID-19 scares, state to transition 100% of its
tension between majority
electricity generation to clean,
By Sara Cline
Associated Press
renewable sources by 2040.
Advocates say that would be
the fastest such transition in
the country, but opponents
worry the push will lead to
higher energy prices.
This session was unlike
those in the past as the
Capitol in Salem was closed
to the public for the entire ses-
sion, which began in January,
because of COVID-19 restric-
tions.
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The session was also no-
table as it saw the state House
expel a Republican member
who let far-right protesters
into the Capitol on Dec. 21.
On June 11 Rep. Mike Near-
man was removed by a 59-1
vote, marking the fi rst time a
member has been expelled by
the House in its 160-year his-
tory. The only vote against the
resolution for expulsion was
Nearman’s own.
Nearman has argued the
Capitol should be open.
For the past two years, Re-
publican state senators staged
walkouts to deny the chamber
a quorum. During the debate
over measures that ban guns
from the Capitol and mandate
the safe storage of guns, fi ve
Republican senators did not
attend. However, six did. The
GOP senators that attended
have since faced death threats
and recall petitions from their
own party.
A package of police reform
bills was passed that includes
requirements that police
offi cers assigned to crowd
control during protests must
be clearly identifi ed by name
or badge number; and another
provision requires all new
police offi cer background
checks must include a scan for
membership in hate groups.