INSIDE
~a hh
Inside
Terrific tomato ti s,lii History comes to ife, 7A
K4i,'Itt, Iif',
SERVING UNION AND WALLOWA CO U N T IES SINCE 1896
LititII ® Follow us on the web •
t
i
I
•
•
•
•
•
I
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
r
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
r
r
I
•
•
•
I
•
•
•
•
• Firefighters in Wallowa County get helping hand from rain, coolertemperatures By ChuckAnderson
Inside
ForThe Observer
•
•
•
. ••
•
•
•
•
I • .
By Cherise Kaechele The Observer
Jon Wright wants to ensure the othersideofthe medical marijuana story is told. Yet the Union resident said he is concerned his advocacy for medical marijuana will compel otherstorebuke hisefforts. Wright became a medical marijuana patient after years as a landscaper damaged his hands, feet and back, igniting chronic pain. "Recently, my hands, feet
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
and back are going," he said."I can't be on my feet for very long periods of time. So I decided to get a card." Wright said he does not like taking prescriptions, and never has. He said he feels more secure about using medical marijuana to help his ailments. "I'm much better off with taking marijuana than not," he said. Wright said in 2010 he began to grow medical marijuana to fill a need. ewe iWright's girlfiiend
Chantel Shafferl started helping out friends in need. We had the means to help them," he said. The chief reason people needed Wright's assistance,hesaid, revolvedaround the factthat other growers took advantage of them. Wright said while the search to find a grower willing to produce marijuana for patients may beeasy,fi nding someone who is trustworthy is difficult. "A lot of growers don't do what they say. iThe patients) don't get what they need as far as medi-
ForThe Observer
ELGIN — Where would a person go to find the oldest Elgin community? Librarian Cindy Chandler of
WE A T H E R
5 Heath Geranen photo
Elgin High School librarian Cindy Chandler, center, traveled all the way to Elgin High School in Elgin, Scotland, to visit librarians Alison Harding, left, and Eilidh Mclean, right, who she came to know through a website project called "The Elgin Project."
racking up college credits By Betsy Hammond
ik'~i
Tuesday
44 cow
81/50
Partly cloudy
Partlysunny
CONTACT US
HAVE A STORY IDEA?
541-963-3161
Call The Observer newsroom at 541-963-3161 or send an email to news@lagrandeobserver.com. More contact info on Page 4A.
Issue 103 2 sections, 20 pages La Grande, Oregon
WEDNESDAY IN GO! JUNIPER JAM RETURNS FQR SEVENTH YEAR
Meet Dr. Holly Cfowe. An expert in pediatrics. And patience. •000
I
t
Fu ll forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
More students Inside
•000
•
•
8
•
• •
•
I
0
•
51 1 53 0 0 1 00
•
I
• •
•
0
When the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office came to S.W. Kokanee Lane to tell residents to evacuate for a wildfire, Karen Waltz, 57, of Portland had to think quickly about what to grab from her dad's house. Page 12A
PORTLAND — Oregon high school students are on trackto complete a record number of collegeclassesthis school year, racking up free or low-cost undergraduate creditsbefore they are even admitted to college. More than one in four juniors and seniors will take and passatleastoneclass thatcarriescollegecredit,an analysis by The Oregonian/ OregonLive shows. That is in the same ballpark asthenational average, federalsurveysindicate,but SeeCredits / Page 5A
LIIIBI'("
Elgin High School found out, and together with her two daughters, Jillian Gray and Heather Geranen, she set out on a journey of a lifetime to Elgin, Scotland. Chandler became aware of Elgin SeeElgin / Page 5A
Home.............1B Opinion..........4A Horoscope.....5B Record ...........3A Letters............4A Sports ..........10A Lottery............2A State.............12A Obituaries......3A Sudoku ..........3B
-
Ask the
REAL PEOPLE
INDEX Classified.......4B Comics...........3B Community...6A Crossword..... 5B Dear Abby .....SB
cine," he said. Through trial and error, and with help from other like-minded growers, Wright learned how to grow medical marijuana. "I've been fortunate to learn from people who are up and coming in the marijuana industry. I'm always willing to learn," he said. Now, Wright is growing for him, Chantel Shaffer and eight other patients, including children, he said. SeeConcern / Page 5A
'< ~™~
unique pilgrimage By Tiish Yerges
•
The Oregonian
Elgin librarian makes • Cindy Chandler, daughters travel to Elgin, Scotland
•
•
A sense of relief could be detected in the voice of Shane Greer as he stood in front of about 20 people at a fire camp forthe Eagle Complex blazes Sunday. Page 2A
JOSEPH — Mother Nature intervened over the weekend to damp down two wildfires burning in Wallowa County, bringing rain and cooler temperatures that relieved firefighters and property owners. Authorities allowed some evacuated residents back into their homes in Troy and nearby areas, and reduced evacuation warning levels there and in the area of Hurricane Creek Road in rural Joseph. Further reductions are planned for today. The Falls Creek Fire, four miles southwest of Joseph, and the Grizzly Bear Complex fires, in the north county and Washington, were confined to their previous limits or nearly so, fire managers said. The Falls Creek Fire remains at 396 acres and the Grizzly Bear Complex SeeFires / Page 5A
• • • •
•
-
•
•
•
e
•
•
-'9
•' ®
•000
5