MORE IN GO!:ELWOODLAUNCHESTOUR, 4 AND INSIDE: THE SCIENCEOFELECTRICITY, 7A SERVING UNION AND WALLOWA COUNTIES SINCE 1896 Follow us on the web
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Changes coming
for pool, parks> rg~ Wh
• City looking at change in rate structure for pool
• Fish and Wildlife Commission meets Friday in Bend
By Kelly Ducote The Observer
Families may soon have a new option for how to pay for use of La Grande's Veterans Memorial Pool. The La Grande City Council and Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission are considering introducing a monthly membership fee that would automatically charge the user's credit card. The new system would eliminate the pool's 15- and 30day passes, which can now be used over any length of time. 'The difference is with the monthly membership. Each month it starts over whether you use it or not," said Stu Spence, La Grande Parks and Recreationdirector,of the proposed system at a work session Monday. ''We think this will give families a lower cost alternative" Spence said."This will SeeProposal / Page 5A
El n High Sc ool
By Katy Nesbitt The Observer
Ten years after the Oregon Wolf Plan was approved by the state's fish and wildlife commission, gray wolves have reached recovery goals and a process to remove them from the state's endangered species list is being proposed Friday in Bend. Russ Morgan, Oregon's wolfbiologist, said the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan prompts the agency to delist when five criteriaare met thathave to do with the species' ability to survive. This winter, eight of nine documented wolfbreeding pairs had two or more pups. The plan says that if SeePlan / Page 5A
La Grande Police Officer Matthew Duncan gives a lesson in bike safety to students from Willow Elementary School at the Blue Mountain Conference CenterTuesday morning. Photos by Tim Mustoe, The Observer
More than 1,200 students in kindergarten through third grade attended the annual Safe Kids Safety Fair Tuesday at the Blue Mountain Conference Center Students par.ticipated in many safety related activities, -including learning to safely cross a street, bike and seat belt -sa fety The fair, which ha.s been ongoing since 2001, is sponsored by Safe Kids Union County All major. Union County public schools participated as well as LighthouseApostolic Academy, Heidi Ho, the Marian Academy and a homeschool group
Results of water
study
names new leader • Thomas Grimes will succeed Wayne Herron as principal
positive By Pat Caldwell ForThe Observer
A recent water study conducted by the Oregon Department of Environmental
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Quality is shadowed by both
By Dick Mason An educator with strong ties to Northeast Oregon and a loveofhistory and education issettobecome the next principal of Elgin G irme s
5 Abby Stonebreaker of Mountain Valley Therapy gives kindergartner lan Wright from the Marian Academy safety instructions.
cs
High School. Thomas Grimes, a social studies and world history teacher at Riverside Junior/ Senior High in Boardman for 14 years, was named EHS's future principal by the Elgin School Board on Monday. "It is going to be a challengeand adventure.I'm eager to jump in and get going," Grimes said Tuesday SeeGrimes / Page 5A
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WE A T H E R Education ......7A Horoscope.....6B Lottery............2A Obituaries......3A Opinion..........4A
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Heather Stanhope shows students how to check both sides of the street before crossing.
Willow Elementary's Sam Fenn and Claire Broberg learn how to cross the street in front of a school bus safely at the annual Safe Kids Safety Fair at the Blue Mountain Conference Center.
INDEX Business........1B Classified.......4B Comics...........3B Crossword.....6B Dear Abby ... 10B
good news and bad news. The good news: Water quality in Oregon is generally good. The bad news: Some areas of the state showed levels ofchemicalsand pesticides abovethe state standard for human and aquatic life. "Water quality in Oregon overall is good. There are some areas where we have concern," Lori Pillsbury, a member of the Department of Environmental Quality Water Quality Monitoring Program, said. The study, released through the DEQ's Laboratory and Environmental AssessmentProgram, disclosed a number of significant discoveries. Forexample, SeeStudy / Page 5A
igttllllst sI
The Observer
Sports ............9A Sudoku ..........3B Record ...........3A Wallowa Life..6A Wonderword... 3B
Fu l l forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Thursday
27 Low
59/37
Colder
Sun and clouds
CONTACT US
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Issue 48 3 sections, 34 pages La Grande, Oregon
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