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

JOSEPH — Arts in the Field, a pilot project designed to introduce middle school students from the Northwest to activities involving theater, dance and interaction with horses at the WindDance Learning Center on a ranch in Joseph, is being held today and Sunday.

Workshop participants will be camping out at Joseph High School. Evening activities will include rehearsing the imaginative work that they will have begun during the daytime workshops. Sunday’s activities will include visiting with the horses and polishing up for performance.

Brian Kelly of La Grande, an arborist consultant and restoration coordinator for the Hells Canyon Preservation Council, talks to members of Oregon’s Heritage Tree committee Thursday. Kelly is in front of a black locust at EOU that was designated a Heritage Tree in 2002. The designation salutes the efforts of James Baker, who planted the tree in the late 1800s at his wife’s gravesite and then watered it for years. Standing behind Kelly are Carol Westenskow, left, and Mary Wiggins, Baker’s great-great-granddaughters. - The Observer/CHRIS BAXTER

Jim Renner, manager of the Oregon Heritage Tree program, explained why during a visit to La Grande Thursday.

La Grande and Salem, the state’s capital, are the only cities in Oregon with at least two historic trees, Renner said. Historic, that is, in the eyes of the Oregon Heritage Tree selection committee. La Grande has two trees designated as Heritage Trees and Salem has three.

SMOOTH RIDE: Cars travel on the reconstructed 12th Street this morning. - The Oserver/CHRIS BAXTER

The busy section between Gekeler and G Avenue closed early this summer with the commencement of the 12th Street Improvement Project, a joint effort of the City of La Grande and Union County.

Inmates with mental health issues are taxing the Union County jail’s staff and facility.

That’s the message Union County Sheriff Boyd Rasmussen and Capt. Craig Ward, as well as Dwight Dill of the Center for Human Development, conveyed to the Union County Board of Commissioners at its regular meeting on Wednesday.

Ward provided the board with an overview of the scope of the issue.

The Meyer Memorial Trust has declined to provide Union County funding through a program-related investment for the proposed Mount Emily Recreation Area, or MERA, but there are other financing possibilities being considered.

The county had applied to the trust in the amounts of either $1 million or $250,000.

Meanwhile, the board of commissioners has set a special meeting on Sept. 29 to come to a final decision on its remaining options for buying 3,700 acres on Mount Emily from Forest Capital Partners.

Levar Howard

Union County District Attorney Tim Thompson said Howard will be tried on one count of murder, plus two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

With winter approaching and a growing number of local workers finding themselves unemployed, the La Grande City Council last night pledged support to an effort to bolster area food banks.

Following a briefing by United Way of Eastern Oregon representative Karyl Kramer, Mayor Colleen Johnson and Councilors Kelly McGee and Mary Ann Miesner volunteered to serve on the newly formed community emergency response task force.

Enrollment continues to be on the uptick in the La Grande School District.

A strong first-grade class combined with the addition of an alternative school has boosted the La Grande School District’s enrollment by 1.5 percent.

The La Grande district has 2,184 students, up 34 from a year ago. This marks the second year in a row enrollment has been up in the school district, encouraging news following years of decline. The district’s enrollment had tumbled steadily since 1992 when it had about 2,900 students.

ENTERPRISE — A meeting on bike infrastructure and bike tourism will be hosted by the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District Sunday.

The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Terminal Gravity Brew pub in Enterprise.

The district recently was awarded a grant to assist residents and entrepreneurs in Wallowa, Baker and Union counties interested in developing bike infrastructure and tourism opportunities in Northeast Oregon.