Heavy wet snow was the cause of an outage Tuesday that left 460 consumers without electricity in the Summerville area for more than 13 hours. Approximately 40 consumers were still without power at press time.

A winter storm brought wet snow that was so heavy it caused cross arms and poles to break at around noon, said Michael Howe, spokesman for OTEC.

Crews were able to restore power to the majority of members by about 1:30 this morning. Three OTEC crews, two from La Grande and one from Baker City, were reinstalling wires, setting new poles and replacing cross arms this morning.

This bull moose was collared in the Wenaha Unit during the winter of 2008. After moving 40 air miles, back and forth between his summer range in the North Fork Umatilla wilderness and his winter range in the Wenaha, the bull was found dead this last August. Wildlife biologists suspect an arterial worm was the cause of death. PAT MATTHEWS photo

Unlike the infamous Dick Tracy and Sherlock Holmes, Matthews doesn’t work the dim lit backstreets of a large city. His “beat” includes the rugged Wallowa Mountains and the dense forests of Northeast Oregon.

Matthews is a wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. His daily routine might find him flying over a herd of elk — counting their numbers and checking their overall health. The next day he’s loading up Rocky Mountain goats and trucking them to a release site. But, when “his” critters are ill, he’s often called to figure out their suffering.

Wade Bissonnett stocks items at Gem Stop Chevron in La Grande where he is the assistant manager. DICK MASON/The Observer

Marcum’s heart and memories of a year spent in a wheelchair would not let her.

She was talking to Wade Bissonnett of Island City, a popular and proud man who has been wheelchair-bound for 26 years after suffering a spinal cord injury in a car accident.

When temps warm, GCT workers will pour six inches of concrete over these Opera House steps. - Submitted photo

Contractors GCT Land Management are juggling two phases of the renovation project at the same time. They have torn down the front concrete steps, poured the footings and were ready to pour the new steps when the cold snap arrived, Mayor John Stover said.

With seed and plant catalogs arriving in our mailboxes, there have been several inquiries regarding terminology that are used to describe varieties of seeds that aren’t always readily explained.

Several of you have wondered what it means when the description states it is an “heirloom” variety. Seeds being sold as heirloom must have been in cultivation for at least 50 years, and are open pollinated. Open pollination occurs when seeds are produced from random, natural pollination and resulting plants are varied.

La Grande High School seniors Krystal Johnson, left, and Ana Curtiss are among seven area youths who have their stories told on a new Photo Voice display board. - DICK MASON/The Observer

Film is being forgotten but anyone who looks closely at the new images in the LHS library will not soon forget.

The pictures are the heart of a Photo Voice display run by the La Grande School District Homeless/Unaccompanied Youth In Transition Program, one operated in partnership with the Union County Commission on Children and Families.

Dear Diary,

I can’t believe the reception my funny little column has had with the general public and I am overcome with its reception. Ted and I have agreed to run it weekly if folks can stand that much of me. We’ll give it a try anyway and see what happens.

A column came to mind this afternoon when I was at a downtown shop. There was a tumbleweed perched on top of The Observer box in front of the shop. I failed to ask the owner how it got there or why, but it was a good-looking weed as far as tumbleweeds go. In my mind I saw it decorated and sitting on a table in place of the traditional Christmas tree in front of the window.

The memory was in my mind.

A new court facility and law enforcement center for Union County will cost between $17 million and $24 million to build, according to a study recently completed by Chang-Ming Yeh of the National Center for State Courts.

Union County Circuit Court and associated offices are currently housed in the Joseph Building at Fourth Street and K Avenue. The building, a former hospital constructed in 1937, has been deemed inadequate for use as a courthouse.

In a 2008 study, the building was ranked as the poorest court facility in the state. Its structural layout does not meet modern courthouse guidelines.

Eastern Oregon University is hoping to open the door to high-demand careers in computer programming, web design and health care through a series of new certificate programs available beginning winter term.

“EOU is here to serve the community and the region,” said Marilyn Levine, dean of the College of Arts and Science at EOU. “As an institution, it is critical that we identify what the community wants and needs.”

To help identify those wants and needs, EOU entered into discussions with various community partners including Union County Training and Employment Consortium, Blue Mountain Community College and Cayuse Technologies in Pendleton.

La Grande High School students Brittanie Sorensen and Jason VanLaarhoven hold playing cards to their foreheads during a Shakespeare workshop Thursday. DICK MASON/The Observer

Toppling this intimidation barrier, though, can be as simple as breaking open a deck of cards.

Eddie Lopez and John Pribyl of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival School Visit Program proved this Thursday at La Grande High School. Lopez and Pribyl put on Shakespeare assemblies and workshops for students throughout the day.