❤✐❥❦❧♠♥ ❤❧♣qr ss♥ t✉s✈
The Observer
Know when to fold ’em: Be aware of
the dangers of gambling addiction
and 5,900 youth experi-
ence serious problems
with their gambling. Ac-
cording to the 2017 Or-
egon Adolescent Gam-
bling Prevalence Study,
40 percent of Oregon
teens gambled in the
last year. The most com-
mon forms of gambling
reported by youth were
internet with no money,
sports, charitable games,
games of skills, and
cards. Entertainment/
fun was the No. 1 reason
youth reported that they
gambled.
Smartphones, tablets
and other electronic de-
vices have dramatically
increased access to inter-
net gambling for those
who are underage. The
internet is as close as any
public Wi-Fi. Although it
is illegal for teens to gam-
ble online, the safeguards
are easy to overcome —
many are as simple as a
check box or the insertion
of a birth date.
Also of concern is youth
gambling is often accom-
panied by other risky
behaviors.
Forty-three
percent of Oregon 11th
graders who reported
they engaged in gambling
also stated they were
drinking alcohol.
Teens who gamble may
experience
increased
risk for substance use
and abuse, developing
gambling disorder, de-
linquency
behaviors,
damaged relationships,
problems at school and
mental health issues such
as depression and anxi-
✇① ③④⑤⑥⑥④ ⑦⑧⑥⑨⑩④❶❷
❸❹❺❻❼❽ ❾❿➀❽❺➁❽❺
Did you
gambling
addictive?
know that
can
be
March is
nationally
recognized
as Problem
Gambling
Awareness
Month, with
the goal being
➛➜➝➞➟➠➡➢
to increase
public awareness of
problem gambling and the
availability of prevention,
treatment and recovery
services.
➂➃➄➅➆➇➈➉
➇➊
➋➌➍➈➌➋
as risking something of
value in the hopes of get-
ting something of greater
value.
For many people, gam-
bling is a form of enter-
tainment that doesn’t
➎➃➏➏➐
➃➈➐
➊➇➉➈➇➍➎➃➈➑
consequences. However,
some people reach the
point of addiction where
they can no longer con-
trol their need to gamble,
much like addiction to al-
cohol or other drugs.
Youth who start gam-
bling early in life are
much more likely to de-
velop a problem when
they’re older.
Gambling
activates
the reward system of the
brain the same way a drug
or alcohol does. Since
neural pathways are still
forming during the teen-
age years, this activity
can essentially prime the
brain for future addiction
issues.
In Oregon, approxi-
mately 85,000 adults
ety.
Gambling problems can
be easy to hide, but here
are some signs:
➒ Borrowing or stealing
money to play.
➒ Irritation or restless
when not able to play.
➒ Unexplained absenc-
es from school or sud-
den drop in grades.
➒ Using gambling as a
way of escaping prob-
lems.
➒ Saying gambling is a
good or easy way to
make money.
➒ Missing
important
events.
➒ Frequent
mood
swings — usually high
when winning and
lower when losing.
➒ Lying to people or
arguing with them
about gambling.
➒ Spending more time
(and money) online.
➒ Trying to win back
lost money or prizes.
If you or someone you
know is experiencing
problems with gambling,
➓➏➌➌ ➎➔➈➍➋➌➈➑➇➃➆ →➌➆➣ ➇➊
available from several dif-
ferent sources.
In Union County,
the Center for Human
↔➌↕➌➆➔➣➄➌➈➑
➊➣➌➎➇➍➎➃➆➆➐
→➃➊
➊➑➃➙
➑➏➃➇➈➌➋
➑➔
help people with their
gambling problems.
Help is also available
and free for friends and
family members of those
with a gambling problem.
Additional assistance is
available 24/7 at www.
opgr.com or by calling
1-800-695-4648
(MY
LIMIT).
Local high school artists
take home top awards
❾❿➀❽❺➁❽❺ ➀➤➥➦➦
LA GRANDE — The
2019 Eastern Oregon Re-
gional High School Art
Exhibition featured more
than 300 works by region-
al high school students in
the Nightingale Gallery at
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity.
Nathan Lowe, Dean of
EOU’s College of Arts, Hu-
manities & Social Scienc-
es, gave a brief welcome to
visitors and awards were
presented by Gallery Di-
rector Cory Peeke. Awards
were presented for exem-
plary work by students in
grades 9 through 12.
Best of Show
Two Union High School
students won Best of Show
honors. Ruby Ferguson
(12th grade) was recog-
nized for her mixed media
mask sculpture “Alpaca,”
and Saira Davis’ mixed me-
dia mask sculpture “The
Beast” was chosen from
among the ninth-grade
submissions. The 10th-
grade Best of Show was
awarded to Joseph Charter
School’s Jacob Gross for
his mixed media painting
“Dusk to Dawn.”
Honorable Mention
Cove: Hannah All-
dredge, 10th grade, pho-
tograph, “Entangled Egg”;
Rachel Baird, 9th grade,
photograph,
“Melting
Away.”
Enterprise: Arian Latta,
10th grade, mixed me-
dia painting, “9 Brains 3
Hearts.”
La
Grande:
Owen
Kreutz, 12th grade, graph-
ite drawing, “Abby Crews”;
Lian Moy, 11th grade,
acrylic painting, “My Bro”;
Tulea Setser, 11th grade
(home school), acrylic
painting, “Nana.”
Powder Valley: Dal-
lon Arvidson, 9th grade,
mixed media painting,
“Drawin’”; Autumn Da-
vis, 11th grade, mixed
media sculpture, “Lion’s
Mane”; Rylee Richman,
12th grade, untitled mixed
media painting; Viri Ro-
ÚÛÜÝÞßàá âãÛÞÛ
driguez, 9th grade, mixed
sculpture, “Fungi Tea- äåæç èéêëåìíîïìð ñîòíî
Cup”; Shelby Sieckman, óòëô õöôíí÷ð øù÷úûöûü
12th grade, untitled mixed ýòþéÿ ▼ éÿòû ▼ ûì ìöå÷ú ✲
t åêé ✁✷t ô ✂ êûÿé ✄ éì t í ☎
media sculpture.
Union: Hannah Bello, õôí ❙ ù ❙ ûêÿ ❛
11th grade (two pieces),
mixed media mask sculp- mission: Best of Show
ture, “The Panther,” and was awarded to Kennedy
graphite drawing, “High- Kruse (home school) for
way 203”; Hunter Coon, her acrylic painting “Ice
11th grade, mixed media and Frost,” and Honorable
mask sculpture, “Squid”; Mention went to Annabel-
Ruby Ferguson, 12th la Fager (La Grande High
grade, acrylic painting, School) for her untitled
“San Francisco”; Riley watercolor painting.
Art Center East: Anna
Later, 10th grade, reduc-
tion print, “I Sea”; Israel Kreutz, a 9th grader from
O’Reilly, 10th grade, un- La Grande High School,
was named Union County
titled linoleum block.
Rising Young Artist for her
Special awards
gouache painting “Three
Four art centers also Sisters.”
presented special awards
➧➨➩ ➫➭➯➲ ➳➵➸➺➩➻➼ ➽➻➩➾➚➼
to student artists from
➪➩➾➶➚➼➵➹ ➘➶➾➨ ➴➷➨➚➚➹
their areas. In addition to
➳➬➨➶➮➶➺➶➚➼ ➻➱➼➸ ➺➨➻➚➱➾➨
Baker City’s Crossroads
✃➵➻➷➨ ➯❐❒➧➨➩ ❮➶➾➨➺➶➼➾➵➹➩
Carnegie Art Center and ❰➵➹➹➩➻Ï ➶➸ ➹➚➷➵➺➩Ð ➶➼ Ñ➚➸➚ ➘➵➹➹
Pendleton Center for the
➚➼ ➺➨➩ ➷➵ÒÓ➱➸ ➚Ô ➳➵➸➺➩➻➼
Arts, La Grande organiza-
➽➻➩➾➚➼ Õ➼➶Ö➩➻➸➶➺Ï ➶➼ Ñ➵
tions gave the following
❰➻➵➼Ð➩❒ ❰➵➹➹➩➻Ï ➨➚➱➻➸ ➵➻➩
awards.
➯➯ ➵❒Ò❒ ➺➚ × Ó❒Ò❒Ø ✃➚➼Ð➵Ï
La Grande Arts Com-
➺➨➻➚➱➾➨ Ù➻➶Ð➵Ï❒
UCCC announces grant recipients
IHS students earn academic honor
❾❿➀❽❺➁❽❺ ➀➤➥➦➦
❾❿➀❽❺➁❽❺ ➀➤➥➦➦
to be published later in
2019; Sarah West, who
will attend the Grain
Gathering, where she’ll
continue her study of
whole grains and tradi-
tional baking to supple-
ment the courses she of-
fers at Art Center East;
and Eden Kruger, who
plans to use grant funds
to purchase supplies and
maintain her public stu-
dio as part of the newly
established Momentum
Artist Residency at the
Underground
Market-
place.
Organizations receiv-
ing awards include the
Northeast Oregon Folk-
lore Society and their
SpringAlive 2019 event,
tentatively scheduled for
LA GRANDE — The
Union County Cultural
Coalition is proud to an-
nounce the recipients of
its 2019 Cultural Enrich-
ment Grants Program
last month.
According to a press re-
lease from UCCC, from il-
lustrated books to student
symphonies, local festi-
vals and an annual wow-
wow, this year’s grant
recipients are among the
most culturally diverse in
the UCCC’s history.
Individual awards went
to Suzanne Achilles, who
will use UCCC funds to
complete work on her
illustrated juvenile, non-
➍➎➑➇➔➈ ➅➔➔ ✓ ✔✕ ➎➏➔ ✍ ➈➉➌ -
man, The Fisherdog,”
May 2019. EOU’s Speel-
Ya Native American Club
☛ ➇➆➆
➔➙➌➏ ➃ ➎→➇➆➋➏➌➈ ✖ ➊ ➃➏➑
table at its 49th annual
Pow-Wow and Indian
Arts Festival, also sched-
uled for May.
La Grande’s downtown
hq Venue will use UCCC
➓ ✍ ➈➋➊ ➑➔ ➍➈➇➊→
☛ ➃➆➆➊
➃➈➋
install lighting, turning
one side of its interior
into an art gallery.
The Grande Ronde
Symphony will purchase
music and materials for
its Student Symphony,
and the Eastern Or-
egon Film Festival will
✍ ➊➌
➉➏➃➈➑ ➓ ✍ ➈➋➊ ➑➔ ➔➙➊➌➑
costs to audiences and
support programming
for its 10th annual event
this fall.
IMBLER — Imbler High
School released the names
of students who earned a
➣➆➃➎➌ ➔➈ ➑→➌ ➍➏➊➑ ➊➌➄➌➊➑➌➏
honor roll for the 2018-29
academic year. The follow-
ing students earned a 3.25
GPA (on a 4.0 scale).
4.00:
Jared Allen, Claira Bin-
gaman, Jake Bingaman,
Kale Bingaman, Nathan
Bingaman, Chloe Birk-
maier, Sidney Bowman,
Jayce Burnette, Brendan
Colwell, Erin Coston, Will
Coston, Kendra Coun-
sell, JW Dippold, Jack
Fisher, Blake Frost, Anika
McDonald, Wade McDon-
ald, Caysie McGinness,
Ryan Patterson, Dallin
Rasmussen, Sadie Royes,
✗ ➅➇➉➃➇➆ ✕ ➃➙➌➆➆ ✘ ↔➃➈➇➃ ✕ ➃➑→ -
er, Grant Slater, Aspen
Smith, Gracey Smith, Al-
lison Stirewalt, Karrington
Troyer, Austyn Turner,
Ben Wagner
3.60-3.88
Kylie Barry, Wyatt
Burns, Devin Colwell,
Harvest Coston, Avon-
lea Crook, Parker Deal,
, Justin Frost, Madeline
Hale, Gracie Howel, Stein
Long, Jeremiah Martin,
Jared McKaig, Eli Mola,
Aidan Patton, Charlotte
Rieke, Blake Schwabauer,
Hutch Wagoner, Wyatt
Whitaker, Kenna Whit-
more, Myer Whitmore,
Brandon Wyland, Madi-
son Young
3.40-3.57
Hedda Andersen, Nich-
olas Arnoldus, Isaac Bin-
gaman, Gwynn Corco-
ran, Carter Crook, Millie
Fisher, Wyatt Frost, Shay
Goodman, Isaac Herron,
Charlie Monger, Sarah
Nolten, Alex Patton, Hen-
ry Royes, Luke Sather,
Caleb Sieders, Bryce Sulli-
van, Clinton Tarvin, Joelle
Treat, Sydney Treat
3.25-3.30
Alyssa Jennings, Kaden
Lee, Robbie Monger, Lilly
Nolten, Wyatt Rankin,
Trevor Treat, Gracie Tur-
ley
Cook Memorial Library reminds community to ‘Read Together’
The La Grande Literacy
Alliance, composed of the
La Grande School District,
Mountain Valleys Reading
Council, OTEC and Imagi-
nation Library, IMESD
and the Cook Memorial
Library, is challenging ev-
eryone in the community
to read for 20 minutes a
day.
The goal of the city-wide
reading challenge, “Read
Together La Grande,” is to
reach a shared goal of one
million minutes of read-
➇➈➉ ✆ ➂➔ ➑➔ ➎➇➑➐➔ ✝ ➃➉➏➃➈➋➌ ✆
or iOS.
Cook Memorial Library
also supports children’s
development with a week-
ly Toddler Time, Mon-
days at 10:20 a.m. Ages
14 months to 4 years and
their caregivers are invited
to sing, dance and play.
Children’s clubs for ages
✞✟✠✡
➃➏➌
➈➔ ☛
➔➙➌➏➌➋
➔➈
Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 4
beanstack.org to sign up or
download the Beanstack
Tracker app for Android
➣ ✆ ➄ ✆
☞ ➔➉➃ ✌ ➆ ✍ ➅
➇➊ ➑→➌ ➍➏➊➑
Tuesday of each month,
LEGO Club the second and
fourth Tuesdays, and Art
Club the third Tuesday.
Children’s Storytime and
craft is held Thursdays at
10:30 a.m. Baby Tot Bop, for
those 3 years old and young-
er, is Fridays at 10:30 a.m.
All children’s events are in
the Community Room.
Children ages newborn
to 5 years may be signed up
for the Dolly Parton Imagi-
nation Library online or
at the library. Participants
receive a free book in the
mail each month through
➑→➌➇➏ ➍➓➑→ ➅➇➏➑→➋➃➐ ✆ ✎ ➌➃➋➐ -
2Learn library cards are
available for children age
➍↕➌
➃➈➋
➐➔ ✍ ➈➉➌➏ ✆
✏ ↕➌➏➐
❑❳◗❑❨❨❑❩❯ ❖❑❲❬❘◗❑ ❭❪❫◆❭❭❴❵
✡☛✡☛☞ ✌✍ ✎✏✑ ✒ ✓✔✕✖✗✘ ✏✙✚✛
➑→➌ ➍➏➊➑
✑ → ✍ ➏➊➋➃➐
➔➓ ➑→➌
month, the middle school
club at 3:30 p.m. and the
high school club at 4:30
p.m. Contact Celine for de-
tails. Teen events are open
to those in middle and high
school.
Gentle Yoga for adults,
led by Kitia Chambers,
❆ ✁ ✂✄☎✄ ✂✄ ✆
✁ ■✝✞❛ ✟✄ ❆✠✄ ✟②
❏❑❑▲ ▼ ◆❖❖P◗❘❙❯❑❖ ❱P❲
✼✽✾✿❀❁ ❂❃❄❅❁❇
month the card is used, the
child is automatically en-
tered into a prize drawing.
This month, Teen Writ-
ing Circle meets from
4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the 14th
and 28th. Teens are in-
vited to make stress reliev-
ers at iCraft on March 15
at 4 p.m. Book clubs meet
meets Wednesdays (ex-
cept the second Wednesay
of the month) from noon
to 1 p.m. Participants
should wear comfortable
clothing. Some mats and
chairs are provided. Be-
ginners are welcome and
there is no charge.
Also for adults, Page
Turners book club meets
on the second Tuesday of
the month at 1 p.m. in the
Archives Room. The book
for the March 12 meet-
ing is a memoir, “All You
Can Ever Know” by Nicole
Chung. Recounting her
struggles of identity as an
Asian American and as a
writer, Chung explores the
meaning of family, culture
and belonging.
The Literacy Center
➃➑ ➑→➌ ➆➇➅➏➃➏➐ ➔➙➌➏➊ ➓➏➌➌
tutoring to all ages. The
center is open from 2:30
p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday.
Drop-ins are welcome.
Library hours are 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
through Thursday, noon
to 6 p.m. Friday, and 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
For more information,
visit the library at 2006
Fourth St., La Grande,
call 541-962-1339, or go to
➎➇➑➐➔ ✝ ➃➉➏➃➈➋➌ ✆ ➔➏➉ ✒ ➆➇➅➏➃➏➐ ✆
❜❑▲❘◗❙❲❑❝ ◆❞❯P❝ ❢P❣❑
❘❩❖❞❲❙❩◗❑ ❙❩▲ ◆❩❩❞❘❯❘❑❖
✺✜✢✣✤✥✺✣✢✦✧✜
❚♦★★ ❋✩❡❡ ✪✫✬✭✭✫✮✬✮✫✪✯✮✰
✱✱✱✳✩❡❡✲✫✴✵✶✷✩✸✵✹❡✳✵❡✻
❈❁❉✽❊ ●❁❁❍