100 years ago — 1922

Monsieur La Grippe is an unwelcome guest at many houses in Pendleton and Umatilla county, and because of his presence, there are a great many persons who are unable to be at their desks or in their offices to transact business as usual. Men and women alike are feeling the effects of the disease, but so far it has been in a mild form, and sufferers from the winter complaint have not been seriously ill. James H. Sturgis, Pat Lonergan, Roy Ritner and C. I. Barr, local men who planned to attend the meeting of the Baker Chamber of Commerce were prevented from going on account of illness. All of the men except Ritner have wives who are suffering with la grippe. The senator doesn’t have any wife at all, but he could not go on account of a special session tonight of the local chapter of Elks.

50 years ago — 1972

Two Umatilla county undercover narcotics agents have been arrested in Spokane, Wash., and charged with the strongarm robbery of an 18-year-old youth. As a result, Umatilla County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Jones has charged the pair with unauthorized use of a vehicle that he loaned them for their undercover work. The pair have also been charged with possession of amphetamines. The complaint Jones filed against them in Umatilla County District Court says they had agreed to use the car only in Umatilla County for transportation while investigating narcotics traffic. The two men were financed in their narcotics undercover work by $200 obtained for them by Jones from the Umatilla County Court. The money came from the budget of Dist. Atty. R. P. Smith who said it was done without his approval.

25 years ago — 1997

Jack Palmer was an employee of Boardman rather than an independent contractor the entire time he worked as city manager, the Public Employees Retirement System concluded after an investigation was launched when a newspaper reporter contacted PERS about Palmer’s employment status as part of a follow-up to a grand jury indictment. A Morrow County grand jury indicted Palmer on 18 counts of theft and official misconduct Dec. 11, alleging he used city employees and equipment to further a personal project. The Boardman City Council suspended Palmer on Dec. 24 but voted to use him as a consultant for ongoing city affairs while continuing to pay his $3,700 monthly salary. He is scheduled to enter a plea in Morrow County Circuit Court on March 7. The city could owe as much as $50,000, or up to 15% of Palmer’s earnings since he began working there in 1993. Boardman’s city attorney, M. D. Van Valkenburgh has said the city will fight the PERS decision classifying Palmer as an employee.