WEDNESDAY • JULY 11.2012 •
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SERVING UNION AND WALLOWA COUNTIES SINCE 1896
Fire grows Oregon's most famous mule 1010.1 square miles
Tuff Stuff continues to bring home the hardware By Mike Shearer
The Observer
COVE - So how do you get to be Oregon's most famous mule? Well, for starters, you can fill up the home of Ron and Brenda Overton's Cove home with trophies, saddles and belt buckles. Tuff Stuff, usually called Tuffy by the Overtons, recently returned from the 2012 Bishop Mule Days in Bishop, Calif. as the Champion Western Pmfonnance Mule. And it wasn't the first time. He was inducted into the Bishop Mule Days Hall of Fame in 2007 and has continued to win top awards there every year. The Bishop Death Valley show has taken place for 43 years and occurs every Memorial Day and lasts for six days. Tu:ffy has frequently won the Tony Lama High Point award there. Over the years, the Overtons have shown Tuffy at many venues throughout the West, but they say he may be reaching the end of his long career, at least in the perlonnance categories. He has, after all, been at it since 1994.
Well known trainer That was the year the Overtons sent him to Tim Phillips of Caldwell, Idaho, for training. Phillips is well known in mule circles as a trainer, and the Overtons had sent him another mule named Johnny Rebel the year before, but Reb didn't have what it took. Tuffy did. And then some. In fact, the Overtons say some people have suggested it would be fairer to give other mules a chance at the top awards that annually have gone to Tuffy. It will be a long time before any mule breaks Tuffy's record number of vvins, "if anyone ever breaks Tuffy's record," Brenda says. "Since Tu:ffy," Brenda says, "the level of competition has come up. It has increased the type of pe1fonnance we get at the show and the type of mule." The Overtons credit trainer and rider Phillips with much ofTuffy's national success. Ron notes mules have long been bred for all kinds of task, like hauling borax, and the U.S. Cavalry used them because they were strong. Pictures of early pioneer wagon trains show plenty of mules too, so we know they have been part of the western culture for a long time. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. But modem breeders don't use just any donkey or horse. They are as meticulous as any purebred horse breeder, documenting lineage ofboth the donkey and horse. The Overton mules are registered with the American Mule Association.
• Miller Homestead fire fanned by erratic winds prompts evacuation of area
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Tuff Stuff, above, is being put through his paces at the Bishop Mule Show.
Fire season has begun in Eastern Oregon. With five fires now reported, several highways were temporarily shut down in Southeast Oregon on Tuesday and today, and residents were asked to evacuate as crews worked to contain fires. The Miller Homestead fire located about 12 miles west of Frenchglen on the west slope of Steens Mountain, is burning 70.1 square miles. This morning, officials issued an evacuation notice to residents in the Frenchglen area soon after Highway 205 was closed about one mile norfu of Frenchglen between mileposts 58 and 66. The fire destroyed a previously abandoned structure and firefighters continue to be challenged by the rocky terrain and erratic winds. Burnout operations have been hampered by cattle in between the fire and roads. The largest fire, the Longdraw fire, is burning approximately 6 miles west of Basque, and shut down U.S. Highway 95 for most of Monday and Tuesday. The road is currently SeeFIRE,3A
Imbler school step closer to opening By Dick Mason The Observe r
Mike Shearer photo
Brenda and Ron Overton show two of their show mules at their home in Cove while famous Tuff Stuff was off in Idaho being shown by his trainer, Tim Phillips. The Overtons, left, made the cover of Western Mule M agazine in 1997.
"Since Tuffy, the level ofcompetition has come up. It has increased the type ofperformance weget at the show and the type of mule." - Brenda Overton
See TUFFY, 3A
IMBLER - The Imbler School District is a major step closer to getting its new $4 million elementary classroom building open before the start of the 2012-13 school year. The district received approval on Thursday from the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for a plan for the installation of a tank-based septic system. "This is great news," said Imbler School District Superintendent Doug Hislop. Hislop said this greatly improves the chances that the new school will be open when classes begin Aug. 27. The tank-based system would use a 14,000-gallon tank for wastewater. The wastewater flowing into the tank would be truCked to a certified sewage treatment facility. The tank system would be installed instead of a much more expensive standard leach system. The elements of a leach system are a tank that catches waste solids and an See IMBLER, 3A
Blue Pine Motorcvcle Rallv returns to la Grande • Second annual rally moved to coincide with Crazy Days this weekend
By Bill Rautenstrauch The OJserver
The Blue Pine Motorcycle Rally is corning back to La Grande for a second year, but with some differences. For one thing, the sec-
INDEX Business ........ lB Classified ....... 58 Comics ...... ..... 4B Crossw ord ..... 7B Dear Abby ... 108
WEATHER Ho roscope .. ... SB Lottery............ 2A Movies ........... 3A Obituaries...... SA Opi nio n .......... 4A
Record ........... 5A Sports ............ SA Sudoku .......... 7B Wallowa ......... 6A Wonderword ... 78
FRIDAY IN OUTDOORS
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ond annual rally, held by American Legion Riders from Post 43 in La Grande, is taking place not on Labor Day weekend as before but on July 13-15, in conjunction with La Grande Main
Street's Crazy Days celebration downtown. For anothe1; proceeds from the event will benefit local veterans and their families, rather than the nationwide scholarship program it sup-
ported last year. Organizer John Craig said money raised from the rally will go to the Eastern Oregon Military Veterans and Families Fund that helps local military families. Last
Full forecast on the back of B section
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Issue 127 3 sections, 38 pages La Grande, Oregon
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year, money collected went to the Legacy scholarship fund, a national program. ''With recent deployments, the local fund is depleted and we decided to help with See RALLY, 2A
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