>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Observer news Yellow Pages NE Oregon Classifieds Web
web powered by Web Search Powered by Google

AP Business Video

AP Market Headlines

  • Stocks fall ahead of Fed meeting on interest rates
    NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors turned cautious Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates....
  • Investors turn attention to Fed meeting
    NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market doesn't want any surprises from this week's Federal Reserve's meeting....
  • How the major stock indexes fared on Friday
    Mixed economic reports held the stock market to only modest moves Friday but gains for the week were strong. Uneven figures on retail sales and consumer confidence gave investors little new insight into the economy. The reports weren't enough to propel the market higher a day after the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at its highest level in 17 months. Major stock indicators climbed for the week after investors grew more upbeat about the health of banks....

Home arrow News arrow Business

Nominations sought for Entrepreneur of the Year awards

Nominations are open for the second annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards sponsored by the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District.

The award is sponsored by the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District and coincides with the celebration of National Entrepreneurship Week.

Nominations are due by Feb. 13.

 

Area real estate sales take hit

Bad news: Housing sales in Union County and Northeast Oregon took a dramatic tumble in the past year.

Good news: the local market still hasn’t plunged to the depths sales have in larger, metropolitan areas.

“Our values haven’t been dropping substantially,” said John Howard, principal broker for John Howard and Associates Real Estate. “It’s nothing like Bend or some areas in California where you had subdivisions leapfrogging out. Our county never got into oversupply. The supply was meeting buyers’ needs, or maybe a little less.”

 

Wildflower Lodge under new management

Read more...
Wildflower Lodge is home to 43 clients on the assisted living side and 22 in the memory care wing. The facility employs about 45 workers. The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH
Wildflower Lodge, an assisted living community in La Grande, has changed hands and is operating under new management.

The facility, which includes a unit for patients with memory problems, is now owned by Lonestar Real Estate Fund, of Dallas Texas, and managed by LaVida Communities, an operator and manager of value-oriented senior living communities throughout the U.S.

LaVida Communities, a member of the Senior Resource Group family of companies, recently assumed management of 41 facilities formerly owned by financially-troubled Sunwest Management. Inc.

 

Main Street program kicks off Thursday

The La Grande Main Street Program is set for an official launch Thursday, as the City of La Grande hosts a “kickoff” event at the Maxine and Thomas W Cook Memorial Library.

The event will take place in the Colleen F. Johnson Community Room at the library, 2006 Fourth St. All community members with an interest in downtown La Grande, and especially those willing to take on an active role in the program, are encouraged to attend.

Charlie Mitchell, La Grande’s Community & Economic Development director, said the Oregon Main Street Program is a volunteer-driven approach to downtown revitalization.

 

Area jobless rates nearing 10%

As the national recession deepens, news on the local employment front continues bleak.

According to the latest figures from the Oregon Employment Department, unemployment in Wallowa and Union counties edged upward again in November.

Wallowa County took a hard hit, as the unemployment rate surged a full three percentage points, from 6.4 percent in October to 9.4 percent in November.

 

A New Deal?

Read more...
good times in the backcountry: Recreational opportunities in the Wallowa River Canyon between Minam and Elgin could expand under a proposed partnership between the the Wallowa Union Railroad and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Above, an angler trudges up the tracks during one of the railroad’s fishing excursions. Local officials see a chance to link the railroad to other forms of recreation, including hiking, biking and camping. The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH
In a bid to pay off its debt, the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority is looking to form a partnership with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

The taxpayer-owned railroad is fine-tuning a proposal by Board of Directors Co-Chair Mike Hayward to sell the 26-mile right of way between Minam and Elgin to the parks department.

As part of the deal, the railroad would be allowed to continue its operations in the canyon. The state and county would work together to develop recreational opportunities in the river corridor.

 

Fighting back - local camper maker responds to recession with a new design

Read more...
DETAIL MAN: Robbie Shells of Eagle Cap Campers puts some finishing touches on the exterior of a prototype of the company’s new 711 model. Observer photos/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH
A La Grande camper manufacturer is making the most of down time it’s had to take recently because of poor market conditions.

Eagle Cap Campers, one of the three struggling RV makers doing business in the Grande Ronde Valley, has designed two smaller, lighter, less-expensive models of campers and plans to start producing them early this year.

It’s hoped the new campers, the Eagle Cap 711 and 890, added to the line of larger campers, will catch the fancy of consumers who are holding tight to their money in the midst of recession.

 

New city official aims to make building dept. more 'user friendly'

Read more...
NEW BOSS: Lorin Preston was recently named La Grande’s new chief building official. Preston started out in the building division last September as a temporary building inspector, and applied for the top spot when it became vacant this fall. The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH
The City of La Grande’s building division underwent a major change recently, as a new chief building official took the helm.

Lorin Preston, who joined the division in September, is stepping up to take the place of Lee Bodine, who resigned this fall.

In an interview this week, Preston said he considers effective communication to be a vital part of his job.

 

New public transit hub opens

Read more...
A TRANSIT HUB FIRST: The Greyhound bus shown above was the first to pick up passengers at the newly constructed Northeast Oregon Public Transit Building at 2204 E. Penn Ave. The local Greyhound stop was formerly located at the Flying J truck plaza. The move to the new facility was completed Saturday. Observer photos/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH
The timing was just about perfect.

Monday at 10:25 a.m., a Greyhound bus pulled up for the first time to the new Northeast Oregon Public Transit Building at 2204 E. Penn Avenue. It let off a couple of passengers and took on a couple more.

A half-hour later, a crowd of about 40 people gathered outside the transit building to watch Frank Thomas, Community Connection’s Union County manager, cut a ribbon marking the official opening.

 

Union's economic future focus of forum

Read more...
A plan of action is being formulated to improve Union’s economy. Photo/AMBER GLAZE
UNION — Often it takes a third party vision to direct a divided community to the path of unity. For Union, this direction was implemented last Wednesday in an informational forum presented by economic development experts.

North Eastern Oregon Economic Development District Executive Director Lisa Dawson was recently hired by the city to create a plan of action.

NEOEDD contracted with Vicki Dugger, Portland, executive director of the Oregon Downtown Development Association, to conduct an assessment of Union. 

 
<< Start < Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next page > End >>

Results 76 - 90 of 589
News
Local / Sports / Business / State / National / Obituaries / Public Notices
Opinion
Editorials / Letters / Guest Columns / Columnists
Features
Outdoors / Ag / Spiritual / Go Magazine / Portraits
Classifieds
View all classifieds / Jobs / Autos / Real Estate / Rentals / Place an Ad
The Observer
About / Contact / Commercial Printing / Subscriptions / Terms of Use / Site Map
Also Online
Photo Reprints / Slideshows / Weather and Valley Cam / /index.php?option=com_rss&feed=RSS2.0&no_html=1">RSS Feed ?> RSS Feed

Follow La Grande Observer headlines on Follow La Grande Observer headlines on Twitter

© Copyright 2001 - 2010 Western Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. By Using this site you agree to our Terms of Use

LaGrandeObserver.com works best with the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer or Apple Safari