La Grande Police Chief Brian Harvey believes the best option the La Grande School District has for boosting its security is putting an armed school resource officer in each of its schools. CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

La Grande police chief presents two options to school board for protecting city’s schools from violence 

The question is on the mind of almost every administrator, teacher, staff member and parent with close ties to the La Grande School District.

What are the steps the district can take to protect its students and staff from acts of violence by intruders? 

The Oregon Department of Transportation said the addition of a westbound truck climbing lane on the steep Spring Creek Grade west of La Grande, above, will alleviate bottlenecks. Construction of the third lane is one component of a $43 million project aimed at improving travel along Interstate 84 between the Second Street undercrossing in La Grande and the Kamela Interchange west of the city. CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

The Oregon Department of Transportation last week announced a planned $43 million highway project on Interstate 84 near La Grande that includes an additional travel lane on the steep Spring Creek Grade west of the city.

ODOT contractors will launch the sweeping project between the Second Street undercrossing in La Grande and the Kamela Interchange at Exit 246 next spring, and complete it sometime in 2015. The project will include pavement resurfacing, replacement of a functionally obsolete median barrier, bridge repairs, rock fall corrections, truck chain-up area improvements, plus construction of the westbound truck climbing lane on the Spring Creek hill.

Smokehouse Restaurant employee Michelle Richardson of Union prepares for the evening shift Wednesday. Jack and Tammy Chess, owners of the Smokehouse Restaurant said they take a financial hit almost every Jan. 1 when the state’s minimum wage is annually boosted. CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

Minimum wage increase comes at a bad time for some, others say they will boost prices to help offset expense 

The timing — in the eyes of Jack and Tammy Chess, owners of the Smokehouse Restaurant — is always far from perfect.

The couple take a financial hit almost every Jan. 1 when the state’s minimum wage is annually boosted. On Tuesday, an increase of 15 cents an hour took effect under a decade-old state law mandating that the minimum wage be boosted at the start of each year.  

For many of the rescue personnel who responded to Sunday’s charter bus crash on Interstate 84, including local agencies such as the La Grande Rural Fire Protection District and the Union County Search and Rescue, the incident is among the most devastating they have ever been called to. OSP photo

Local responders among those who helped at Sunday’s deadly accident near Pendleton 

For emergency responders throughout Northeast Oregon, including Union County, Dec. 30, 2012, will never be forgotten.

Near the top of Cabbage Hill, 13 miles east of Pendleton, a tour bus crashed through a guardrail and plunged down a steep embankment, killing nine people and injuring dozens more.  

Andy Gebhardt, left, and Jeff Fields play a little hockey on the Wallowa Valley Ice Rink in the Enterprise City Park. The rink is a mecca for winter sports during the cold season. KATY NESBITT/The Observer

If the best things in life are free, add skating at the Wallowa Valley Ice Rink to the list.

Each fall dedicated volunteers erect the rink and prepare it for the freezing temperatures of December needed for hockey and free skating. 

Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a multiple fatality accident where a tour bus careened through a guardrail and several hundred feet down a steep embankment. LA GRANDE RURAL FIRE DEPARTMENT photo

Nine dead after tour bus crashes on icy Interstate 84 near Pendleton

PENDLETON — The stretch of rural Oregon interstate where a tour bus crashed through a guardrail and plummeted 100 feet down a steep embankment is so notorious that state transportation officials have published a specific advisory warning of its dangers.

Nine people were killed and more than two dozen injured when the charter bus veered out of control around 10:30 a.m. Sunday on snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police. 

PENDLETON, Ore. — A tour bus careened through a guardrail along an icy Oregon highway and several hundred feet down a steep embankment Sunday, killing nine people and injuring about 20 others, authorities said.

The charter bus carrying about 40 people lost control around 10:30 a.m. on the snow- and ice-covered lanes of Interstate 84, according to the Oregon State Police.

The bus came to rest at the bottom of a snowy slope. More than a dozen rescue workers descended the hill and used ropes to help retrieve people from the wreckage in freezing weather. The bus driver was among the survivors, but had not yet spoken to police because of the severity of the injuries the driver had suffered.

Pauline Linde with her children in front of her new house built by Grande Ronde Habitat for Humanity. The children in the back are George and Heather; in the front are Faith, Jaxon, Allie and Chelsea, PHOTOS by CHRIS BAXTER/The Observer

 Just in time for Christmas, family moves into new Habitat for Humanity home 

Christmas was nine days away but George Linde, 8, was already in full celebration mode.

George was running down a hallway of his family’s house on North Pine Street with his arms extended almost like exclamation marks shouting, “I love my new home!’’ 

Wallowa Union Railroad Authority ends agreement with Calif. man who planned to bring steam locomotive to Northeast Oregon

ELGIN — The Wallowa Union Railroad Authority is without a contract operator following a decision by the board of directors to terminate an agreement with Court Hammond’s Sierra Nevada and Pacific company. 

Charges stem from May 10 stabbing in Wallowa County restaurant following altercation

WALLOWA — A Wallowa County man entered a not guilty plea Wednesday morning to one count of murder stemming from a May 10 stabbing.

A grand jury handed up an indictment of murder for Michael Trent Gaston, 49, of Enterprise for the stabbing death of Lawrence Mock, 26, of Wallowa on May 17.