La Grande Observer Daily Paper 08-14-15

Page 1

V LLEYBALL:E UL K T BUILD N2014 EA N,8A M ORE IN SPORTS: NEW BASKETBALL COURTS GOING INAT PIONEER PARK, SA AND INSIDE: ELKHORNS PROVIDE DREAM TRIP,1C

THE 8ERVING UNION AND WALLOWA COUNTIE8 8INCE 1886 I

t

I

I

.

I

I

I

EI

I

I

.

.

I

No one hurtin morning blaze • Smoking believed to be the cause of early morning apartmentfire

. ::• There are 15 Oregon counties that are eligible • Cities in Union and Wallowa counties ' to opt out, including Union, Wallowa, Baker, grappling with opting out of allowing sale, production of recreational, medical marijuana : Harney, Malheur, Umatilla and Wheeler

By Dick Mason The Observer

Nobody was injured Thursday morning in a small apartment fire on the 1800 block of Adams Avenue. The fire, reported at 5:42 a.m., involved a groundlevel apartment unit that is partofa largerhouse-like building. A woman was in the apartment when the fire started. She escaped unharmed but a cat was killed in the fire, said Sgt. Kris Rasmussen of the La Grande Police Department. An investigation determined that the fire was caused by someone smoking while using medical oxygen in the apartment, said Robert Tibbetts, an investigator for the La Grande Fire Department. Medical oxygen is extremely flammable becauseitisconcentrated. Individuals using medical oxygenareadvised to keep it away from heat sources like lit cigarettes. Tibbetts hopes that Thursday's fire will draw attention to the risk people run when they smoke while using medical oxygen. "Smoking and medical oxygen is a bad combination," Tibbetts said. SeeBlaze / Page5A

By Cherise Kaechele The Observer

f~

et A

I 'c \

TheAssociated Press file photo

Young marijuana plants stand under grow lamps at a marijuana growing facility. Locally, La Grande, Enterprise, Union, Cove and Union County have not yet decided whether to opt out of Oregon House Bill 3400.

"We haven't looked atit. Someday there will be discussions, but the OI.CC hasn't even made up their mind about regulations. It's hard to (make a decision) when you don't know what the stateis doing." — Ken McCormack, Union mayor

t's easier to list the number of cities who have not opted out of Oregon House Bill 3400 — allowing the sale and production of recreational and medical marijuanathan list the municipalities who have. Locally, La Grande, Enterprise, Union, Cove and the unincorporated land in Union County have not yet decided whether to opt out. Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed HB 3400 at the beginning of July, giving the counties and the cities in the county that voted at least 55 percent against Measure 91 in November 2014the option ofopting outofthe sale and production of marijuana. Of the counties in this category in Oregon, m ost are located in theeastern partofthe state: Union County and Wallowa County are joined by Baker, Crook, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla and Wheeler counties. La Grande is the only city in Union and Wallowa counties that has medical dispensaries. Hwy. 30 Cannabis and Eagle Cap Dispensary will both be grandfathered in if the city decides to opt out. The cities of Union, Cove and Enterprise have not had any formal discussions relating to HB 3400. City of Cove Recorder Donna Lewis said the city didn't enact a moratorium when medical SeePot / Page 5A

BAIt',ER COUNTY

COURT RULING

Fire crews work to get control of Fires

FormerFOIlstaler loseslatestruling

• Windy Ridge, Cornet fires threaten homes, force evacuations in Baker County

• Courts say Robert L. Davis' late-night sex in hotel room not job-related duty

By Jayson Jacoby

ByAimee Green

WesCom News Service

several dozen residents to evacuatefrom areasranging BAKER CITY — Two of fro m Alder Creek southeast the bigger fires in Baker of Baker City to Black MounCounty in the past quarter t ai n near Phillips Reservoir. century raced across thouDamo n Simmons, informaS. John Collins/WescomNews Sennce sands of acres of sagebrush t i o n officer with the state- TheWindy Ridge fire rages southeast of Baker City and forest Wednesday and wid e team of firefighters who Thursday afternoon. Thursday south and southarr i ved Thursday to help east of Baker City. protect buildings, said Friday Inside The 16,000-acre Windy m o rning that an unknown number of structures, includRidge and 12,800-acre A trio of forest fires outside the southeast border of Cornet fires, both sparked by ing homes, were burned in Union County gained momentum Thursday, putting lightning Monday afternoon, S t ices Gulch south of Baker people with cabins in the area on higher evacuation t hreatened more than 100 City . alert. Page 2A rural homes and forced SeeFires / Page 5A

The Oregonian

INDEX Calendar........7A Classified.......1B Comics...........7B Crossword.....2B Dear Abby .....SB

WE A T H E R Health ............6C Outdoors .......1C Horoscope.....2B Record ...........3A Lottery............2A Spiritual Life..6A Obituaries......3A Sports ............SA Opinion..........4A Television ......3C

i~'~r

A former Eastern Oregon University administrator who successfully defended himself against a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing him of raping a co-worker has lost his latest attempt to get the state to foot his

$100,000 legal bill. The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the state isn't obligated to pay Robert L. Davis' defensecostsforthelate-night

CONTACT US

Full forecast on the back of B section

Friday

encounter in an Atlanta hotel room. Davis had argued that he was being sued for something that allegedly occurred while he was on the job. When co-worker Marla Johnson accused Davis of rape,Davis was the director of undergraduate students at the 3,600-student university in La Grande, 260 miles east of Portland. Johnson didn't pursue criminalcharges,according to anAssociated Press story SeeRuling / Page5A

Saturday

Sunday

49 iow

81/43

82/45

Partly cloudy

Sunshine;nice

Sunnyandnice

541-963-3161 Issue 96 3 sections, 24 pages La Grande, Oregon

MONDAY IN HOME ENJOYING SLIDERS AND COLESLAW

Email story ideas to newsC~lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page 4A.

s I

51 1 53 0 0 1 00

I

"Best Tire Value Promise" •

•000

•000

+

•000

6


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.