Travel Oregon Travelers: Oregon Tourism Commission members Chris Erickson (right) and Patrick Nofield, sided by Chairwoman Kari Westlund, listen to testimony during the commission’s quarterly meeting in La Grande. - The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH

The commission is the governing body of Travel Oregon, the state’s program to support and stimulate tourism. It has held meeting at various locations in the region but this was the first time one was held in La Grande.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Union County Tourism Executive Director Janet Dodson and Joe Cho, owner of the Adams Avenue Chevron, display one of the three visitor information signs recently erected in Union County. The signs are designed to give visitors an overview of area. - The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH

Among other recently completed projects, UCT, the non-profit agency responsible for promoting area tourism, unveiled a bike route map it had printed with help from a Cycle Oregon grant.

Relax, bowlers. Chances are, The Rock will be in La Grande a long time.

Steve Rzonka, Bend-based owner of the Rock Bowling and Fun Center, said recently he plans to continue with the business, even though the building that houses it will be soon converted to other purposes.

“I’m not picking up my marbles and going home,” Rzonka said.

Diesel Specialist: On one of his first days in Barnes Diesel Power’s new location, Rob Barnes inspects a part from a diesel engine. - Observer photos/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH

Barnes Diesel Power, founded by Bill Barnes 35 years ago, recently completed the move from a cramped garage in Island City to a new, 9,400-square-foot diesel repair facility at the nearby park.

Chimney sweeps from Austria in white skull caps pose with U.S. sweeps Grant Darrow of Elgin, center, and Allan Bopp of Sandpoint, Idaho, left. German master sweep. The group is posed in front of the Vienna City Hall where 1,000 chimney sweeps celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Vienna Chimney Sweep Guild. - Photos/Eisho Watanabe

Darrow and fellow sweep Allan Bopp of Sandpoint, Idaho, both members and officers in the Oregon Chimney Sweeps Association, were two of six American sweeps who attended.

Gone for good: The La Grande Town Center Blockbuster store, which employs seven to nine workers, will close permanently Aug. 26. - The Observer/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH

Store manager Jennifer Wilson said the decision to shut the doors Aug. 26 came from corporate management and looks to be final.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a $10,000 penalty to Sam Haines Enterprises LLC, a scrap metal salvage business, for openly burning prohibited materials, including waste tires, on property it leases at Wingville Road and Highway 30 near Haines.

Haines Enterprises has appealed the penalty.

The DEQ said burning tires emit dense smoke plumes and thus pose a threat to the public and environment.

La Grande Rotarian Gordon Kohler, right, accepts the Outstanding Service Recognition award from Dennis Wickham, Rotary District 5100 governor. Kohler is one of 60 members in Rotary’s La Grande chapter. The local club hopes to enlist more members to help with projects. - Submitted photo

They see the results of their work. There is no doubt they are doing good.

Growing his own: Determined to take control of supply issues, Jerry Grant, is raising his own hops on land he owns in rural La Grande. This year he started 1,000 plants in four varieties — Cascade, Centennial, Nugget and Willamette. - Observer photos/BILL RAUTENSTRAUCH

“I thought it would be fun. I could make good beer cheaper than I could buy it,” said Grant, managing member and head brewer at the soon-to-open Mt. Emily Ale House in downtown La Grande.

C-Zers Drive-Inn was named after Cecil Churchill of Elgin, whose logging CB handle was C-Zer. Churchill could not have foreseen the role this business would play in his life or that his business would one day become an enduring icon for Elgin - Submitted photo

Under new ownership since June 2006, Andy and Kimmie Campo are the sixth owners of the small, family-friendly drive-in. With it, they inherited a strong patronage and a 50-year-old piece of Elgin’s history.