ALSO: GRASSROOTSFESTIVAL IN UNION IS ALL ABOUT FAMILY FUN ARTS AND LEISUREMAGAZINE
SERVING UNION AND WALLOWA COUNTIES SINCE 1896
ASSeSSOf'S
oliceto erne hoststate rom gathering es e ear • About 150 assessors and tax collectors will attend conference next week in La Grande
surfaces during demolition
of old Imbler School
By Bill Rautenstrauch The Observer
By Dick Mason
for more than five decades The Observer after construction work IMBLER — A pair of sealedofFtheirentrances. unofficial time capsules An orange football helmet believed to be at were opened Monday in Im bier. least 60 years old was Two old locker rooms, uncovered during demoli tion process. The well possibly last used when Dwight D. Eisenhower preservedsportsartifact kicked ofF a buzz in Imbler. was president, were dug "People are asking me, up underthe Wade Hall 'Have you seen it? It' s gym as demolition of the old Imbler Elementary pretty cool," said Imbler School buildings contin School District Superin ued. The locker rooms had tendent Doug Hislop. been almost inaccessible SeeHelmet / Page5A
Dick Mason/The Observer
This football helmet, made by the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. many decades ago, was uncovered Monday in lmbler during the demolition of Wade Hall.
The Union County Assessor's OfFice holds a rare honor this sum mer, as it organizes and hosts the annual Oregon State Association of County Assessors and Oregon Association of State Tax Collectors joint summer conference. County Assessor Linda Hill said the event,slated forAug.13-16 at the Blue Mountain Conference Center, should draw about 150 partici pants,some accompanied by family members. She said she' s triedto putthe conference together in a way that gives attendees a chance to connect with the local scene. "I' ve tried to ofFera good infor mative conference, and at the same time highlight the community," Hill said. She said this is the first time the conference has been in La Grande since the 1970s. Organizing the conference is the responsibility ofthe state associa tion president, and Hill holds that position this year. The agenda she' s put together includes business meetings and break-out sessions aboutproperty tax policiesand assessmentpractices,forestry, agriculture and wildlife issues, ap praisal, tax bill mailings and more. See Assessors / Page8A
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GRANTS PASS iAPl — Fire fighters got permission Tuesday to use helicopters and chain saws to battle a bunch of small wildfires in a wilderness area along the Oregon-California border. Federally designated wilder ness areas are generally ofF limits to mechanized equipment such as ATVs and mountain bikes, but that restriction can be lifted by regional foresters. Under less volatile conditions, firefighters would use hand saws rather than chain saws, and no helicopters would be used. Crews wasted no time in tak ing advantage of the permission. U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Virginia Gibbons said five, 20-person hand crews were joined by smokejumpers and a crew rappelling from a helicopter to fight six fires ignited by lightning SeeFires / Page2A
Dick Mason /The Observer
Mych Wagner of Alpine Abatement of Tumalo works Tuesday morning at the site of Wade Hall, one of three old lmbler Elementary School buildings being tom down.
Bill aims toexemiIt loggers fromrainwater runoff iIermits 'Absent (the proposedlegislation), private and public forest
in aletterTuesday totheleader ship of the House Transportation Committee, a final decision could WASHINGTON — The House forced to stop be as far ofFas next summer. Committee on Transportation and deal of uncertainty about whether they will be sued, activities on their lands, or required to obtain complexfederal Infrastructure approved a bill last "Absentithe proposed legisla week that would release loggers tionl, private and public forest ChSCharge Permits. — Letter, signed by Rep. Greg Walden and others, from having to get permits for rain owners across the country will be to leadership of the House Transportation Committee waterrunofFfrom logging roads subjectedto an even greater deal under the Clean Water Act. ways. But in 2010, in response to a and sediment into streams and riv of uncertainty about whether they Historically, the Environmental ersand isa possible"pointsource" will be sued, forced to stop activities case that originated in the Tilla Protection Agency has made an ex mook State Forest in Oregon, the for pollution. on their lands, or required to obtain That case has been appealed to complexfederaldischarge permits," ceptionfor loggingroadrunofFand 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals notrequiredpermits asitdoesfor ruledthatbecause the runofFis the U.S. Supreme Court. But as states the letter, which was also otherpossible sourcesofpollution channeled through ditches and signed by 40 other members. Reps. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, and Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, wrote to the country's rivers and water culverts, it can dump harmful silt SeePermits / Page 8A By Andrew Clevenger
WesCom News Service
owners across the country will be subjected to an even greater
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Issue 139 3 sections, 36 pages La Grande, Oregon
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