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'250 IN COUPONS PLUS: TV listings
HEALTH AR E NEW FOOD INGREDIENTS SAFE?
THE SERVING UNION AND WALLOWA COUNTIES SINCE 18SS
e st i e Two human cases of the West Nile virus have been confirmed in Oregon this week, prompting health officials to remind people to protect themselves during the upcoming Labor Day weekend. One individual each in Coos and Malheur counties
a r esu i n r e o n mals in Oregon, including a horse in Klamath County; a mosquito pool in Jackson County; two mosquito pools in Morrow County; and 55 mosquito pools and a bird in Malheur County. A mosquito poolisa sample ofup to 50 female mosquitoes of the same species collected
has tested positive for the virus, health officials said Thursday according to a Center for Human Devel opment press release. The individuals — a man and a woman, both 50 or older are recovering. Until this week, the virus had beenfound onlyin ani
at one site. West Nile virus is a poten tially serious illness spread by mosquitoes. Most infec tions are mild, with fever and flu-like symptoms, but severe infections may cause encephalitis iinflammation of the brain), and See VIRUS, 10A
By Bill Rautenstrauch
private lands during the hunting and recreating sea The Union-Wallowa Drug sons should watch for large Task Force is warning that amounts of plastic irrigation outdoor marijuana grow sites pipe, large quantities of fertil izer in bags, propane tanks can pose hazards to people and anything else that looks encountering them. A pressrelease saidthat out of place in the setting. The taskforce said people the past several years have seen an increase of such grows should not place themselves on public lands and adjacent in a dangerous situation private lands. 0$cers are con in an attempt to gather cernedforpublicsafety due information for law enforce to the possibility of confronta ment, but GPS coordinates tion between the public and and license plate numbers members of the drug organi are helpful if they can be zations that are tending the obtained withoutrisk. marijuana gardens. Anyone with information The taskforce said it regarding marijuana grow believes the drug traflicking sites should call the task organizati ons involved are force at 541-523-5867, ext. actively living and working in 4153, during business hours, their growing areas, and, in or a local law enforcement many cases, are armed. Each agency. of the grow operations the The Union-Wallowa taskforceinvesti gated over County Drug Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics the past severalyears had some evidencethat thepeople task force supported by the workingthem had firearms. La Grande Police Depart The task force said the ment, Union County SherifFs gardens represent a large 0$ce, Enterprise Police De financial asset to the drug partment, Wallowa County organizations and they will SherifFs 0$ce, Oregon State Police and the Union and take extreme measures to Wallowa County District protectthose assets. People on public and Attorney offices. The Observer
With new deportation policy, education is within reach • Deferral program gives two Oregon high school students a college start at EOU
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ByAlandra Johnson and Sheila G. Miller WesCom News Service
Last December, the future seemed uncertain for Culver High School seniors Jesus Rotano and Georgina Mendoza. They were brought to the United States illegally from Mexico as in fants. Because of that, their
high grade point averages and resumes full of extra curricular ac t'~t'es d'd 't mean much. / They Rob Kerr / Wescom News Sennce wanted to go to college, EOU-bound Rotano hoping Georgina to play football Mendoza, 18, and Menharv e sts onion doza eager see d near Culver. to become a dentist. But without citizenship, they couldn't get driver's licenses, let alone qualify for federal financial aid and many other scholarships and funding for school. They also faced the frightening possibility of deportationback to Me xico— a place neither knew nor considered home. Now Rotano and Mendoza are headed to Eastern Oregon Univer Brad Mosher /The Observer sity in La Grande, and although Jesus Rotano, 18, is applying for a deportation waiver. He is now at See Students, 3A Eastern Oregon University, where he' ll play for the football team.
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Remembering soldier killed, Mabry Anders By Devan Schwartz dschwarjz©bakercityherald.corn
oWe were 14 when we met," Tineeka Kay Fletcher said about her fiance, Mabry Anders of Baker City — an army specialist killed in Afghanistan. Anders died at 7:35 a.m. M onday near Kala Gush in Laghman Province, north east of Kabul. "He's been my best friend my whole life," Fletcher said. "He could always make me laugh when I was down."
The two attended high school together, but when he served in Afghanistan they grew even closer. She said that one day he emailed her and told her how he felt, and she felt the same. They planned to marry in December when Anders would return from Afghani stan; they planned to live in Carson City, Nev. The last time she saw him in person, Fletcher said, was two years ago. "I will miss you so much,"
INDEX Calendar........7A Classified....... 4B Comics...........3B Religion .........6A Crossword..... 6B
WE A T H E Dear Abby ...10B Obituaries......5A Health ............1B Opinion..........4A Horoscope.....SB Outdoors .......1C Lottery............2A Sports ............SA Record ...........5A Television ......3C
Fletcher wrote in a letter to the 21-year-old Anders, which she gave to the Baker City Herald. 'You will always be my hero, friend, boyfriend and fiance. I will miss your sweet smile, your laugh and our long talks every night. 'You will always be in my heart. I know you will be my guardian angel, with me forever." Gail Lemberger, Baker High School counselor, remembered Anders as a
fun-loving boy. "This kid had a great sense of humor," she said. "And he was quite bright intellectually." And though Anders didn't graduate from BHS, Lemberger said he had goodfriends atthe school. Instead, he graduated from the Baker Alternative School at Haines in 2009. Lembergerrecalled that Anders was eager to enter the military. See SOLDIER, 2A
Romney asks US to 'turn page,' Obama
pans GOP plan TAMPA, Fla. iAPl — Mitt Romney is making the first stopofhisfallcampaign for the White House a visit to hurricane-damaged Loui siana, hoping to convince Americans he is not just the right man to fix the economy but an all-around leader for the nation. President Barack Obama,forhispart,served notice that he will use his powers of incumbency to make Romney's mission hard. Fresh from the Republi can National Convention, Romney scheduled a surprise visit to Lafitte, outside New Orleans, where he was to tour storm damage with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Romney was joining part of Jindal's scheduled day. GOP runningmate Paul Ryan was headed for the battleground state of Virginia solo, rather than in tandem with Romney. Isaac left a wake of misery
in Louisiana, leaving dozens of neighborhoods under deep floodwaters and more than 800,000 people without power. While New Orleans was spared major damage, the storm walloped sur rounding suburbs, topping smaller levees with days of rain and forcing more than 4,000 from their homes. The Romney campaign has been considering a trip to the Gulf coast for days and scrapped a plan to visit earlier in the week because weather conditions on the ground were considered too
dange rous.
Romney, who canceled the first day of his conven tion due to Isaac, is plunging into the presidential cam paign's final 67 days with his primary focus on jobs and the economy, and depicting Obama as a well-meaning but inept man who must be replaced. See RACE, 5A
CONTACT US
R F u ll forecast on the back of B section
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
45 bOW
79/42
81/45
Mostly clear
Sunny
Sunny
ONDAYI SPQRTP EOU FOOTBALL TEAM KICKS OFFSEASON • 0 • • 0 •
541-963-3161 Issue 149 4 sections, 42 pages La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas to newsC~lagrande observer.corn. More contact info on Page 4A.
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