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

The rough winterlike weather we’ve experienced for what seems like an eternity has impacted a lot of things, but none more drastically than our streets and roads. Potholes have sprung up everywhere. They need to be patched.

Granted, local government road budgets were stretched to the max because of the months of snow removal and sanding that had to occur this past winter. In fact, The Observer ran several stories about how county and city road budgets were being maxed out and how that would reduce maintenance budgets through the remainder of the year.

A sense of community seems to be lacking in much of the modern world. But thanks to groups like Impact 100, Northeast Oregon may be bucking the trend.

The goodness of neighbors and the importance of investing in the community was much in evidence at the fifth annual meeting of the group. That meeting held in early April helped net more than $19,000 to disburse to area residents with pressing needs. And the needs are out there. Many aren’t well publicized, but with such issues as the rising cost of health care, requests for help are flooding in. The involved citizens in Impact 100 also assisted with urgent needs revolving around dental care, education, groceries, winter clothing, transportation and more.

For many of us, hunting and fishing are considered a birthright. That’s why there is much concern over the trend toward fewer hunters taking to the woods, and thereby fewer people to support wise stewardship and management of the resource as implemented by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A lot of people have scratched their heads over this trend. After all, Northeast Oregon is prime hunting country. But let us throw out a few possibilities.

Contrary to popular opinion, it does not take guts to run for public office. What takes guts is running for public office and telling voters where you really stand on important issues. By this standard, about 85 percent of legislative candidates suffered from a courage deficit in 2006, as did 42 percent of Oregon congressional candidates.

That’s our take, anyway, on statistics provided by Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan group that regularly asks candidates to fill out its Political Courage Tests. The tests, as the name suggests, have two purposes. The first is to determine candidates’ positions on the issues of the day, including taxation, spending priorities, immigration and campaign finance regulation. By collecting such information, Project Vote Smart can help people, um, vote smart.

The prices of gas and diesel are shooting into uncharted territory in the United States. The high prices are taking a bite out of everyone’s budget and having a ripple effect through the entire economy. It’s easy to get angry, or at least frustrated, over the fact that the cost for fuel is impacting everything we do.

It’s important for all of us to remember, though, that the surge in prices isn’t the fault of local gas dealers or the truckers who deliver the liquid gold. The forces at work in these days of escalating gas prices are well beyond local control.

At long last, Oregon will get a chance to vote in the presidential primaries, and for perhaps the first time since 1968, that vote might count for something. Ballots will go out in early May for mail voting. The actual primary date is May 20.

The Observer, as always, will weigh in with an endorsement of candidates as decided after deliberation of the editorial board.

Economic development wears many hats. The term has become a catch-all phrase for bringing more jobs and economic growth to an area. Rural communities throughout the country are all competing for the same thing, though their playing fields can be very different.

Union and Wallowa counties are no exception. Most folks realize that for our region to ensure its future success, we must stimulate more economic growth. But being able to do so while competing against all other rural communities requires some essential ingredients — good infrastructure, quality schools and accessible health care.

We have all three, though in recent years our schools have been  challenged by declining enrollments and crumbling infrastructure and doctors have been hard to find — and to keep once they get here.

Election season is upon us. The May 20 primary is just a few weeks away. In the coming days local campaigns will be ramping up and with it will come letters to the editor touting candidates and issues.

The Observer is imposing a letters limit on campaigns and candidates this election. With five candidates for county commissioner positions in Union County, contested races in Wallowa County, a contested race for judge and a controversial advisory vote on the Mount Emily Recreation Area, a limit on the number of letters is necessary.

A sense of community is often sadly lacking in much of the modern world. The Underground Network, envisioned by Marilyn Jones a year ago as an additional resource for local families in need, helps defy that trend.

Then community development coordinator for Union, Wallowa and Baker counties for the Oregon Department of Human Services, Jones developed a mass e-mail list of people willing to answer calls for help. The idea has been a tremendous success. She has reached her one-year goal of getting 250 people involved in the tri-county area so people to act altruistically in the finest traditions of anonymous giving.