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OREGON HOUSE STAR WARS
is strong in the Grande Ronde Valley By Cherise Kaechele The Observer
The Force is awakening. With less than a week left before the highly anticipated premier of the next installment of the Star Wars series — "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"ticketsare already going fast. Grace Britt and Madelaine Koller, who both work at La Grande's Granada Theatre, saidthere are "a large amount of people" who have already purchased tickets to Thursday's 7 p.m. premiere. 'Thisisprobably thebiggest premierewe've had,"Brittsaid. Comparatively speaking, Britt said, "Twilight,""The Hobbit" and"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" all had big premieres at the Granada. But not as big as Britt thinks Star Wars will be. Theo Miller doesn't have to worry about the long lines — he already has his ticket. 'Thursday, my whole family is going," Miller said Saturday at the Cook Memorial Library, where his children were attending a Star Wars costume party. M iller said heremembers getting Star Wars Christmas toys when he was a child. "It was a huge thing to watch the movies on VHS," Miller recalled.' You could never get them to rent because they were always out." Born just a year after the first Star Wars movie, "Star Wars: A New Hope," came out, Miller saidhe'sbeen a fan ofthe series his whole life. With three older brothers, he grew up with the films. The first Star Wars movie he saw in the theater was "Return of the Jedi." Now, his children have Star Wars fever. "My 10-year-old really enjoys ithe movies)," Miller said. He has six children, but his oldest son is the one who's "obsessed" with the sci-fi series. Miller brought his daughters to the library Saturday, where they watched the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." The library offered the showing along with snacks and crafts. awe wanted to connect with people and bring them to the library," said librarian Rose Peacock."And the library has tons of fiction and nonfiction books about the series." A fan of the "old movies" See Movie / Page5A
• Republicans propose taking transportation plans up during 2016 short session By Taylor W. Anderson
SALEM — Speechesby
Cherise Kaechele/TheObserver
X Shaley andTrent Luen dressed the part to attend the Cook Memorial Library's Star Wars costume party on Saturday. The library offered crafts, food and the StarWars: The CloneWars animated movie to the children.
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I Adam Driver in "StarWars: The Force Awakens." Lucasfilm photo
top politicians at a meeting of statebusiness leaderstoday may sound familiar to attendees of this year's Oregon Leadership Summit. That's because, for the second straight time, lawmakers will focus on the importance of raising money to make a dent in a backlog of work on roads, bridges and other infrastructure to keep up with maintenance amid an influx of drivers on state roads in a booming economy. That's a repeat of what attendees heard nearly a year ago at the summit put on by the Oregon Business Council, a group of CEOs, directorsand otherbusiness people who work to shape
plans Already in the 2016 session, which begins Feb. 1 and runs through mid-March, lawmakers say they plan to try to increase the minimum wage, create a carbon capand-trade system, and find more money to help with Oregon's affordable housing CI'ISIS.
public policy. awe are at the point in our SeePlans / Page5A
Council refers Measure 91 toci 'svoters • North Powder voters will decideon potissuein 2016 By Dick Mason The Observer
NORTH POWDERMarijuana will likely be a hot election topic in North
G j Vg
YP U I Powder next fall. The North Powder City p p j njpn
Tim Mustoe/TheObserver
X Chuck Peters from Hobby Habit holds up a RC/smartphone-controlled BB-8 Droid from Star Wars Episode 7. Peters says that since the movie was first introduced, there have been more customers looking for StarWars merchandise.
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F ull forecast on the back of B section
22 covr ~
Tuesday 35/27
Mainly clear
Partly sunny
Tonight
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Council voted 5-0 Friday toreferMeasure 91 tothe city's voters in the Novern ber 2016general election. Measure 91, approved by voters in 2014, legalized the sale and production of marijuanaforrecreational See Measure / Page5A
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Issue 147 3 sections, 24 pages La Grande, Oregon
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