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UNION COUNTY DOWNTOWN LA GRANDE
• Union County lags behind neighboring counties in transient room taxdollars For The Observer
Bouncing back
If transient room taxes are a primary indicator of the health of a regional tourism industry, Union County appears to be an underachiever — though things might be looking up. According to figures from the Oregon Department of Revenue, annual lodging tax receipts increased in Baker, Grant, Umatilla and Wallowa counties during the seven-year period 2004-2011, but in Union County they decreased. What's more, Union County is one of only three counties statewide to show SeeTRT / Page5A
Wallowa, Umatilla, Baker, Grant and Union counties all had decreases in lodging receipts either in 2008 or 2009, or both years. But from 2009 to 2010, all the Northeast Oregon countiesexcept Union — trended upward.
By Bill Rautenstrauch
Chris Baxter /The Observer
GrocerTroy Berglund stands in front of the vacant Blockbuster building on the corner of Fourth Street and Adams Avenue Thursday. Berglund and developer Al Adelsberger is seeking $500,000 in Urban Renewal funds from the City of La Grande to help establish a $1.5 million Market Place Family Foods store on the site of the former video store.
CAN JOSEPH GROCER CREATE LAGRANDE
• Troy Berglund hopes to expand to with help of Urban RenewalAgency
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back to Pomeroy, the small town of about 1,100 where he attended high
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By Kelly Ducote and Katy Nesbitt
JOSEPH — A decadeago the building at 208 N. Main St. sat vacant in downtown
Joseph. Two operators had attempted toestablish a grocery store at the location to no avail. Developer and owner of the property,AlAdelsberger, and his business concierge, Terry DeSpain, were about to lease the property for another use but changed their minds at the last minute, Adelsberger sald. "Terry DeSpain exhausted the local operators,"Adelsbergersays,and afterfinding none, they contacted grocery co-op URM Foods, previ-
Katy Nesbitt /The Observer
Berglund stocks a freezer case at Mt. Joseph Family Foods. The Mt. Joseph owner is looking at the possibility of expanding to La Grande. ously known as United Retail Merchants. That's how they met Troy Berglund. For Adelsberger, Berglund was the most sensible choice oftheoperatorsrecommended by URM. His speciality is meat cutting, a skill that Adelsberger and DeSpain
DICK MASON
Adeisberger SChOO1, Seemed
"itrcIz
The Observer
ANSWER MAN
likea good start. Berglund had visited Joseph — and even that small-town grocery — while mountain climbing in the Wallowas. "About five years later, low and behold, I was moving down there," he said. As a result, Mt. Joseph Family Foods will celebrate nine years of business in June and appears to have established itself as a community staple. Sandy Warnock, owner
could not overlook in the cattle country of Northeast Oregon. of Simply Sandy's gift shop Berglund had recently sold and a member of the Joseph his grocery in Pomeroy, Wash., Chamber of Commerce, said which he owned and operated Mt. Joseph Family Foods is an for 13 years. integral part of the city. "It's super important and "I wanted to get my start as an independent grocer," a lot oflocals are supportive Berglund said, and going SeeStore / Page5A
Was there controversy over a monument
proposal in the 1980s? Yes. A large $14 million patriotic monument was once set to be built on a hillside near Hilgard State Park, 10 miles west of La Grande. The monument was to have been built in the late1980s on a 210-acre site from 67,460 man-made stones. Each of the stones would have weighedmore than 700 pounds.On average 2,000 stones would have been used to form 36 individual letters spelling out: "The United States of America — In God We Trust." The monument would have covered 6-V2 acres, according to storiesin 1985 editions of The Observer. The project would have been fi nanced by the sale of stones for the monument. Most of SeeMason / Page5A
Transgortationfundingcouldfall 500M • Decline in gas-tax revenue could lead to less spending by 2020 Observer file photo
The Oregon Department ofTransportation says it is on track to spend about $500 million less on construction in 2020.
INDEX Classified.......BB Home.............1B Obituaries......3A Comics... ........5B Horoscope.....7B Opinion..........4A Community...BA Letters............4A Sports ............BA Crossvvord.....7B Lottery............2A State...............7A DearAbby...10B Record ...........3A Sudoku ..........5B
EDNESDAY •000
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — People are driving less, and their vehicles
WE A T H E R
OREGON have become more fuel efficient. While these might be consideredpositivetrends,a potential decline in gas-tax revenue is one reason the Oregon Department of Transportation says it is on
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track to spend about $500 million less on construction in 2020 than during the peak of the stimulus in 2009. Five years ago, the department's construction programs totaled about $800 million. That's projectedtoplummet to$300
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Issue 45 2 sections, 20 pages La Grande, Oregon
WALLOWA ARTISTSFEATUREDIN PORTLAND •000
million in 2020, the agency says. The decline would hit all aspectsofOregon transportation, including roads, rail, bridges, bicycle lanes and pedestrian-safety projects. "As a result of a whole variety SeeOregon / Page5A
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