Associates at the Island City Walmart earned a $5,000 grant by volunteering time to collect food for Community Connection of Northeast Oregon. Among the 63 workers who helped were (front row, left to right) Lucas Wagoner, Georgia Payne, Tricia Dutcher, Ruth Johnson and Jamie Wagner; and (back row) Bill Morris, Tim Louden, Stephanie Jasper and Brian Girrard. At the right in the back row are Store Manager Tony Tony Betzold and Carmen Gentry of Community Connection. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Area food banks got a big boost recently thanks to Walmart and its sales associates at the Island City Store.

The opening session of the La Grande Farmers Market takes place 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The Saturday market continues through Oct. 22. Tuesday sessions begin June 7 and continue through Oct. 18.

With live music sounding in the air and vendors laying out the best of their home-grown products, the La Grande Farmers Market rolls out another season in Max Square at Adams Avenue and Fourth Street Saturday.

Tony Calumet was recently named general manager for Pacific Empire Radio Group’s La Grande stations. Calumet, an Iowa native with 30 years experience in broadcasting, says he plans for the stations to be more involved in community affairs. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

New manager: Accent will be placed on local happenings

Members of Mad as Hell Doctors, including (left to right) Gregg Densmore, Bob Seward, Michael Huntington, Rick Staggenborg, Frank Erickson and Chris Goeser sing a humorous song about health care during a gathering last week at Grande Ronde Hospital. Bill Whitaker, executive director of Oregon Rural Action, stands at the far right. The Oregon Rural Action-sponsored event drew about 50 people, most of them supportive of a single-payer health care system. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Group decries state of health care delivery, stumps for an ‘improved Medicare for all’ system

09-1-1 DISPATCHER Cathy Schwebke accepts her Telecommunicator of the Year award from La Grande Mayor Daniel Pokorney during a ceremony Friday at the Union County justice center. Schwebke, who has logged 22 years as a dispatcher, won the award also in 2007. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Longtime dispatcher named Union County Public Safety Telecommunicator of the Year

EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY student Rebecca Johnson recently was tapped for an internship with College Works Painting. This summer, she’ll work as the company’s La Grande branch manager, hiring crew, doing estimates and overseeing work. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Eastern student learns business skills, earns money for school through College Works Painting internship

CARLA SORWEIDE, owner of Hought’s 24 Flavors in La Grande, re-opened the long-dormant business on Valentine’s Day 2005 — and she has kept it much the way it was in its heyday. BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH / The Observer

Ice cream and burger shop to be featured stop on Rose City Motorcycle Club Grand Tour; will be included in book about quaint, out-of-the-way places to dine

The La Grande Main Street Program and Grande Ronde Roadrunners are sponsoring an event that will give people a chance to explore downtown, get some fresh air exercise and share in some community goodwill.

In the first 5K Stroll and and 10K Run, scheduled for April 9, walkers and runners will follow a route designed to showcase recent building upgrades, streetscape improvements and future projects.

4-H PROGRAMS COULD SUFFER: Union County 4-H members display goats at the Union County Fair. 4-H programs, which are administered by Oregon State University extension offices, could suffer if funding for the OSU statewide program is cut as proposed in Gov. John Kitzhaber’s budget. Observer file photo

Ag dean: Proposed reductions will devastate Extension services, agricultural experimental station, forest research lab