A woodstove is thought to have triggered a fire that burned the Micka family’s home on Eggleson Lane. The Enterprise Fire Department responded to the blaze and the Joseph Fire Department assisted with water tenders. - Katy Nesbitt / The Observer

None of the family was home when a neighbor drove by and reported flames shooting out of the roof at approximately 1 a.m. The Enterprise Fire Department responded and the Joseph Fire Department came to assist with water tenders.

Bundle up. Temperatures at La Grande averaged much colder than normal during December.

According to preliminary data received by the National Weather Service in Pendleton, the average temperature was 25.6 degrees recorded at the La Grande Airport. That’s 5.9 degrees below normal.

High temperatures averaged 33 degrees, which was 5.4 degrees below normal.

Oregon State Police drug detection dog Maree aided in a search of a vehicle New Year’s Eve that resulted in the seizure of marijuana valued at $125,000, according to OSP reports.

Aided by Maree, a drug detection dog recently added to the staff at the OSP’s

La Grande station, a trooper found and seized about 50 pounds of marijuana, the OSP said.

La Grande High School freshman Molly Witten carries one of the Christmas trees dropped off at LHS Saturday for recycling. Witten is a member of the LHS swim team, which collected Christmas trees as part of a fund raiser. Boy Scout Troop 511 also collected Christmas trees for recycling this weekend. The trees were all taken to the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area. DICK MASON/The Observer

They are the Grande Ronde Valley’s wind breakers, members of Boy Scout Troop 511 and the La Grande High School swim team.

The youths helped halt the wind at Ladd Marsh by participating in an annual Christmas tree recycling program Saturday and Sunday. They collected several hundred Christmas trees brought to sites at LHS and Walmart. They then, with the help of adult volunteers, brought them to portions of the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area. At Ladd Marsh the old Christmas trees will provide windbreaks and habitat for birds.

I must make a last mention of Christmas Day doings before it gets too far into the New Year.

My day started a bit later than most and the fog hung in all day and into the afternoon as my driver expertly wended his way down the road with yellow and white lines still visible into Summerville territory and a warm home of special decorations and excellent home-cooked meal. It was Christmas in the country, red barn and all, and a place ready to make welcome by Cousin Ronnie and Carol and their out-of-town visitor son, Mark.

They had a real live green tree, beautifully decorated with the usual lights and ornaments, but special in its own way. It got me to thinking about its comparison to the tumbleweed tree we had used as an unsuccessful experiment and how I learned it wasn’t as rare an idea as we had thought.

Two people were arrested Wednesday night following a wild chase along icy Highway 204 outside of Elgin.

Elgin Police Department Sgt. Nick Pallis and Union County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Miller arrested Michael Dean Bruse, 42, of Walla Walla, and Amber Anne Diederich, 30, of Joseph, after a pursuit that ended in deep snow along Lincoln Mountain Road in Umatilla County.

Bruse was wanted on a felony failure to appear in court warrant out of Washington County, and Diederich was wanted on a felony failure to appear warrant in Union County.

Wade Bissonnett discusses the features of his new custom-made wheelchair about an hour after receiving it Thursday morning. CHRIS BAXTER

“I can do anything I want to, I just do it differently,’’ said Bissonnett, who has been in a wheelchair the past 26 years after being paralyzed in a car accident.

The daily hurdles the Island City resident confronts were lowered significantly Thursday morning when he received a new top-of-the line, custom-made, $3,000 manual wheelchair. The wheelchair was purchased with funds raised via a Summerville Baptist Church drive.

The Wallowa County Commissioners created the Natural Resource Advisory Commission to assist the Forest Service in prioritizing projects funded under Title II of the Secure Rural Schools Act of 2000. 

NRAC is comprised of representatives from the timber, ranching and farming industries as well as regulatory agencies and conservation organizations.

Gabe O'Reilly (15) of Union defends Trevor Lewis (23) as he shoots and scores for Joseph during the Wallowa Lions Christmas Basketball Tournament Monday. Union won 66-32, setting up a game with Wallowa for the tourney title. Wallowa won that contest 77-58. KATY NESBITT

Children, college students and adults alike may grow tired of leftovers, video games and rented movies.

For the past 15 years, though, the Wallowa Lions Club has sponsored two days of entertainment with its Christmas Basketball Tournament at the Wallowa High School gymnasium.

The Wallowa County Gamblers snowmobile club will host its sixth annual WinterFest Jan. 5-9. Much of the proceeds will go to maintenance of the snowmobile trail groomer’s shed at Salt Creek Summit Snow Park and help fund trail grooming in that area.

“We wanted to make fun for people and bring them to town in the winter,’’ said Gary Bethscheider, president of the club said. “It’s hard in the wintertime and we wanted to generate money for the businesses.  Every year we are trying to get more for people to do and get them involved even if they don’t have snowmobiles.”