Princesses Bailey Dutcher and Shai Allen along with Queen Sarah Kunkle will represent the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo as its 2013 royalty. (Katy Nesbitt/The Observer)

by Katy Nesbitt/The Observer

The contestants in the Chief Joseph Day Rodeo were treated to sunny skies Saturday as they put their horses through their paces at the Joseph Rodeo Grounds.

By Kelly Ducote/The Observer

A 70-year-old woman was injured and 10 cattle were killed in a five-vehicle accident on Highway 204 two miles west of Tollgate in Umatilla County on Tuesday morning.

by Jayson Jacoby/Wescom News Service

BAKER CITY — Water from the Smith Ditch, an irrigation canal that runs along Spring Garden Hill at the southeast corner of Baker City, spilled over Monday morning but damage was minimal and limited to one property.

by Katy Nesbitt/The Observer

A bill in Oregon’s House of Representatives, if made into law, would make it easier for livestock producers and state officials to kill problem wolves. 

Court hands out 22 months, 68 months in separate drug-related cases 

by Kelly Ducote/The Observer

Two men will be spending time behind bars after being sentenced in separate drug-related cases in Union County.

Jorge Garcia was sentenced to 22 months in state prison on April 11, and Daniel Martinez was sentenced to 68 months on Monday, according to court documents.

The La Grande City Council is exploring raising building permit and inspection fees to sustain the city’s building division. (Chris Baxter/The Observer)

by Kelly Ducote/The Observer

The La Grande City Council is looking into raising building permit and inspection fees to sustain the city’s building division.

Carol Rudolph gives 10-month-old Ellyana Hovingh a free kiss with her free hug during Blue Monday at Willow Elementary School in La Grande. The annual event highlights Child Abuse Prevention Month. (Chris Baxter/The Observer)

Annual ‘Blue Monday’ event offers family-friendly activities 

by Dick Mason/The Observer 

The pizza was free and the hugs were priceless. 

Free pieces of pizza and warm embraces were just the beginning for many attending Blue Monday in the Willow Elementary School gym. 

by Richard Cockle/The Oregonian 

HALFWAY — Two masked men wearing hoodies and wielding handguns burst into the Pine Eagle Charter School last Friday in Halfway. Students were at home for an in-service day, so the gunmen headed into a meeting room full of teachers and opened fire.

Union native Kevin Sheehy, pictured with his wife, Susie, is a colonel in the Oregon Army National Guard and is preparing for his third overseas deployment. (Courtesy photo)

by Pat Caldwell/For The Observer

UNION — In terms of service to his country, one could say Union’s Kevin Sheehy is pretty generous.

Sheehy, a colonel in the Oregon Army National Guard and a Union native, is also very familiar with deployments to combat zones. Sheehy deployed to Iraq as part of Eastern Oregon’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment in 2004 and again in 2010 with Idaho’s 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team.