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

Observer news Yellow Pages Classifieds Web
web powered by Web Search Powered by Google

Today's front page

Image of The Observer's Front Page

Get home delivery of The Observer for only $8.50 a month by clicking here. After filling out one simple and secure online form you could be on your way to learning more about your city, state and world than you ever have before.

Home arrow Opinion

Super Delegate to the rescue

The big blockbuster movie of the summer of 2008 is not “Spiderman does St. Paul” or even “Godzilla eats Denver.”

The sites of the upcoming political conventions are not in jeopardy.

It’s “Super Delegate to the Rescue.”

Yes, for the first time since gas cost 34 cents a gallon and the only man on the moon was made of cheese, the Oregon primary this spring played a role in the race for president.

 

Scaled back bond measure has better chance of passing

Most of us agree that we need a commitment to excellence in our schools. And to do that the school environment needs to be first rate.

That’s why we salute the La Grande School Board Facilities Committee’s common sense solution to put a $20 million ceiling on a bond measure for maintenance and construction in November. In this time of nearly $4 per gallon gas, and rapidly rising costs for milk and bread, pocketbook issues are becoming all the more important.
 

City keeps water, sewer rate hikes modest

In a perfect world, the cost of living would always stay the same and rates for such basic services as water and sewer would never go up.

But since the perfect world has yet to be invented — and likely never will be — some sharp-toothed little thing is always going to come along and nibble at the edges of our disposable income. It’s just the nature of things.

Yes, water and sewer rates in the City of La Grande are going up this year. The decision was cemented last week when the 14-member La Grande budget committee wound up its deliberations on the 2008-2009 budget.
 

Out from dormancy

Warm weather brings strange pleasures like hanging the laundry to dry outside on the line. The same antiseptic qualities of the sun that dries our denim and other cottons stiff inspire us to pursue small joys whether it be yard saling, fishing, sunning or preparing a jar of sun tea.

My dad once told me that people don’t wake up until they are outside under the sun. “You mean the sun comes through our windows and wakes us up?” I asked. No, he said, it was more than that — a strict step required for living bodies to start their day. Going outside was necessary or else people would be asleep even though they were moving around.

 

Why not La Grande?

A wave of excitement surged through Northeast Oregon recently with the campaign visits of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Former President Clinton visited Baker City on Mother’s Day to campaign for his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. The other leading contender in the Democratic race for president, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, visited Pendleton Sunday as the Oregon primary hit the home stretches.

We’re delighted that Oregon’s primary vote finally mattered for something in a presidential election. It’s perhaps the first time since 1968 that has been true. But we are scratching our heads over something else. Why didn’t the Clinton and Obama campaigns pick centrally located La Grande for the visit?
 

Turn in those ballots

Tuesday is primary election day in Oregon. Ballots are due at the county clerk’s office by 8 p.m.

The Observer editorial board’s endorsements for the primary follow. The board did not make endorsements in every race and does not make endorsements in uncontested races.
 

Letters and comments for the week ending May 17, 2008

Pettit, Slater, Bare, Savage, Hurd, Samples, Ault, Byron, Terry, Lamoreau, Hibbert, Hills, Britton, McDaniel, Costigan, Hassinger, Clements, Shaw, McFetridge, Bozarth, Jones, Beith, Maxwell, Bartel, Fund, Knox, Barber, Erwin, Mendiguren, Ousley, McClure, Burke, Smiley, Clapper

 

Fowl play

Most often dog walks are a commune with nature. We overlook the scenery. The dogs race in circles while I stop frequently, professing a sudden fascination with plants.

“Look, a blossoming yellow-bellied craberosa,” I’ll exclaim between panting.

“Sure, Dad,” the dogs seem to say, rolling their eyes. “You’re just old.”

 

Keep Mt. Emily a working forest

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.

 

Vision of culture center takes step toward reality

More than 2,500 Carnegie libraries were built around the world between 1883 and 1929. Their benefactor, Scottish-American businessman Andrew Carnegie, was known as the patron saint of libraries.

If Carnegie were alive today, he’d be proud to know that many of these libraries are being converted into arts and culture centers. One that got a major boost forward is the 1909 La Grande building, vacated a few years ago when the Cook Memorial Library was built. Sure, the old library needs some serious sprucing up. But it does hold great potential.

 
<< Start < Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next page > End >>

News
Local / Sports / Business / State / National / Obituaries / Public Notices
Opinion
Editorials / Letters / Guest Columns / Columnists
Features
Outdoors / Ag / Spiritual / Go Magazine / Portraits
Classifieds
Classified Listings / Jobs / Place an Ad
The Observer
About / Contact / Commercial Printing / Subscribe / Terms of Use / Site Map
Also Online
Photo Reprints / Slideshows / Weather and Valley Cam / RSS Feed

© Copyright 2001 - 2008 Western Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. By Using this site you agree to our Terms of Use

LaGrandeObserver.com works best with the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer or Apple Safari