Having just returned from Branson, Mo., and the NAIA Division II Men’s National Basketball Tournament, I would like to pass on a few observations. My wife, Kay, and I were accompanied by former Eastern Oregon College all-conference basketball player and Northeast Oregon educator Mike Moor and his wife, Linda.

I was intrigued by the host school, College of the Ozark’s mission to serve the needs for a higher education for the students of the Ozark Mountain Region. It is one of six colleges nationally that was formed to serve low-income regions. Ninety percent of the students receive Federal Student Assistance dollars and in turn are required to work 15 hours per week to pay for their tuition.

Also, if a student elects to work 40 hours per week in the summer their room and board is furnished. The students do the maintenance and landscape work, provide security, do laundry and custodial work, operate an on-campus hotel convention center and even maintain a dairy herd.

Whether we realize it or not we are constantly evaluating our surroundings. We assess everything we do, everywhere we go or everyone we encounter as positive, negative or a neutral forgettable and toss it into a bin in our mind.

An example of the latter occurred just recently when we were returning from Portland. Having wondered what was on top of the great cliffs in the Columbia Gorge and seeing a sign for a winery at milepost 123 (Phillipi Canyon) pulled us off the interstate for an adventure. We drove up a dirt road about six miles until we came to a small house with several outbuildings. That was Wheatridge in the Nook Winery and it was closed. The experience was immediately tossed into the forgettable category, not because it was unpleasant but because it did not provide enough to make us want to return.

To the citizens of La Grande:

It has come to my attention that there is a controversy regarding my play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” which was to be produced at your local high school.

First let me compliment Mr. Kevin Cahill, the teacher who selected the play, on his excellent taste! The play has been performed, without incident, all over the world by professional and amateur companies, including many high schools.

There is little doubt that the current economic climate in Eastern Oregon and the nation has resulted in significant stress on individuals and businesses alike. Recent news from the Bonneville Power Administration is likely to only add to that stress.

On Feb. 10, BPA announced an initial wholesale rate increase on the power it sells to members like Oregon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative. That proposed increase of 9.4 percent will have a significant impact on OTECC if it is passed, but the problem for OTECC and OTECC’s members is that the proposed rate increase may be justified from a business perspective, but the timing is horrendous.

BPA identified four specific reasons for the initial rate increase proposal. These reasons include:

He was followed in August by state Sen. David Nelson and Rep. Mark Simmons discussing “Reflections on the 1997 Legislative Session.’’ In November of that year, Wayne Inman, retired Portland police officer and retired Sheriff of Yellowstone County, Montana, who had been featured in a documentary, “Not in Our Town,’’ spoke about racism in American society.

The first year’s programs had been planned by a local group that met for the first time on Feb. 6, 1997, at the home of Gary and Kate Hathaway to form an organization whose purpose was “to bring to this region informed and distinguished speakers to promote diversity and substance in public discourse.”

On behalf of all Eastern Oregon University students, faculty, alumni and staff, I would like to humbly thank this wonderful community for its support. As we prepare for Eastern’s next president to be named, I reflect on all this community has helped us accomplish.

Our challenges have been great, and the ways in which La Grande, Union County and the Eastern Oregon community has responded to assist us are many.

Financial giving to the EOU Foundation for increased scholarship opportunities has made a difference in whether some students attended at all, or were able to stay once admitted and enrolled — thank you...

As we watch the excitement building on television about the 2010 Olympics, hear that inspiring music theme and realize it is only an eight- or nine-hour drive from La Grande to Vancouver, B.C., isn’t it fun to envision yourself or your kids getting out on a rink and skating to cool music or your kids picking up a hockey stick and scrimmaging with friends?

Don’t you wish you or your kids could take part in some of the activities you see?

Maybe we have a future Olympian in our town, but without a skating rink no one would ever know. It’s time to change that and try to build an ice rink and events center.