Wondering how to close out a summer season of record high gas prices? How about a last “staycation”?  Why not stay home, enjoy the beauty of the Grande Ronde Valley and all of the delights of the brand new Crossing the Blues Festival in downtown La Grande.

 The first Crossing the Blues Festival, set for Friday and Saturday, promises to keep everyone entertained, fed and watered. The festival kicks off Friday evening with a repeat of the Third Thursday Art Walk beginning at 5:30 p.m. featuring many local galleries and artists including The Potter’s House, Back to Nature Gallery and the Mitre’s Touch. Satellite Gallery will premiere the Visual Arts Invitational featuring 24 regional artists.

While we endure the “dog days” of August in our air conditioned homes and vehicles, I sometimes think back to our Continental Congress who endured the hot, humid stuffiness of five months to hammer out our Constitution and Bill of Rights at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It brings a literal meaning to the term “heated arguments” when you consider how uncomfortable they must have been long before the days of air conditioning.

We tend to think that our freedoms were secured by the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July in 1776. Not so. The newly founded colonies had to fight a long, bloody war before they finally met and adopted our form of government 11 years later on Sept. 17, 1787.

The Observer’s thinking about parks needs some updating. It’s about as old as I am!

Most of the issues confronting our city need some fresh ideas on how to address them. It is good to hear that a Street Advisory Committee will make recommendations on sidewalks and streets; this suggests the possibility for varied ideas on new funding mechanisms.

We are voting yes on the proposed 3,669-acre Mount Emily Recreation Area, which is a yes vote for local control, for sustainable and managed natural resource production, for economic development and for keeping land open for the public for recreation.

Without a viable wood products industry in Union County, every economic and aesthetic aspect of our community suffers — housing prices, goods and services, recreation, quality of life, etc. Today more than ever, the viability of the wood products industry in Union County depends on sustainable production from private timberlands. By far the largest percentage of logs purchased by Boise Cascade comes from private timberlands — less than 10 percent comes from public lands.

There has been so much newspaper coverage of the proposed purchase of the Mount Emily property being considered by the Union County commissioners that it would seem no opposition prevails. Wrong! There are a great number of citizens of our county who do not favor such an endeavor on the part of Union County officials.

In simple and direct language, there are a number of reasons why there is opposition to involving the county in this supposedly beneficial endeavor:

For a number of years George was concerned that when he died no one would come to his funeral. On Thursday morning, April 30, it looked like he needn’t have worried.

The sea of faces that surrounded the family in love and concern as we left the First Christian Church sanctuary was a never-to-be forgotten tribute to the man who loved everyone on a one-to-one basis without anger or rancor.

Had I not known and loved George on such a personal level, I may have been amazed at such an outpouring of love by the whole community and from afar

The Union County Board of Commissioners is asking Union County voters whether they support pursuing the purchase of 3,669 acres commonly referred to as the Mount Emily Recreation Area (MERA). As part of the continuing effort to explain the proposed purchase, the following information is provided to educate county voters on what the purchase includes and how the property is proposed to be managed if purchased.