SPORTS
àáâãäå æçèéê ëìíîãïðñ
òóôõ ö÷øøùõó
úõóûü ýþÿù ü
Lillard, Blazers eliminate OKC
✁✂
✁✄☎✂
✆✝✞✟ ✠✡☛✡ ☞ ✌✝✟✟ ✠✡☛✡ ✍ ✎✏ ✑✒✏✓✔✕ ✖✗✘✙ ✎✗✚✒✏✒✛
✜✢✣✤ ✥ ✜✦✧✤✢✣✦★ ✩ ✪✫✬✦ ✥ ✜✦✧✤✢✣✦★★
✭✮✯ ✰✱✲✳ ✴✲✮✵✯✶✱✷✵ ✸✷✵✹✮✳✮✺✻
✼✱✲✯✽✾✿❀✽✸✷❁✮❂❃❄❄❅✱✳❁
❆✲✮✵✯✶✱✷✵❇ ❈✸❉❉ ❊✶❀✽✮❉❉✮ ❋✱✷❁ ●❂❍❃■ ❏❃❄❑❂❃▲▼
WEDNESDAY
➽ ➾➚➪➶➹ ➘➴➷ ➘➬➮➱ ➽ $1.50
LG work
session
focuses on
tourism,
BMCC
◆❖ ➲➳❚❲➵❚ ➸➺◗❯➻➼❱➵
❳❤❨ ❩❬❭❨❪✈❨❪
At Monday evening’s
work session, La Grande
City Council members met
with Union County Cham-
ber of Commerce Execu-
❡❞❵✐
➽❞❜✐➾❡❛❜
➩➫➭➭➫➯➲➳➫➵➸➺➻➯➻➼
✃❐❐❒❒❮❰Ï❐❐ÐÑÒ❮ÓÐÔ❒ÕÐÖÕ×ÑØÖÔÑÙ❰ÏÚÔÓÛÓ❒ÑØ×Ú✃ØÜÕ❐Ý❐ÞßÝØ❐Ý
➚➪♠❴♥♥❴❢
Moore-Hemann to review
the chamber’s annual re-
ports and budget propos-
als for both tourism and
the Blue Mountain Confer-
ence Center.
Moore-Hemann said in
order to boost tourism, the
chamber and the Union
County Tourism Promotion
See Chamber / Page 5A
Union
committee
to study
ranger
station
options
Banking services
return to Union
♦ ♣qr st✉✇ ①trt②③q ④②tr⑤✇ ⑥⑦⑤⑧⑦
⑨②③⑦⑩❶ ❶tqr ✉⑧❷✇ ⑧❸t⑦⑤⑦❹ ❺⑧⑦r③❻
◆❖ P◗❘❦ ❙❚❯❱❲
❳❤❨ ❩❬❭❨❪✈❨❪
The grand opening of
the Old West Federal
Credit Union branch in
Union is a month away,
but residents in need of
banking services already
have reason to celebrate.
A new branch opened
for business Monday at
539 S. Main St. The credit
union is being welcomed
enthusiastically by the
community, which has
not had a banking insti-
tution since 2016 when
Umpqua Bank closed its
Union branch.
“It is exciting, absolute-
ly,” said Jocelyn Jones of
Union.
The opening of the
branch means residents
will no longer have to leave
town to do their banking.
“This will be way more
convenient,” Jones said.
Michele Later of Union
expressed a similar senti-
ment.
“Now if I need cash, I don’t
have to go to La Grande,”
she said. “All I have to do is
walk down the street.”
LaVon Hall noted the
credit union will be partic-
ularly helpful for seniors.
The Union resident ex-
plained many seniors do
not like banking online,
something many Union
residents have likely done
more often since Umpqua
Bank closed.
“A lot of the elderly
don’t bank with comput-
ers,” Hall said.
She added many seniors
also do not like driving over
icy roads in the winter to
La Grande to bank.
❼❽❾❿ ➀➁➂➃➄➅➆➇➈ ➉➊➋➈➌➍➈➌
➎ ➏➐➑➒➓➔ →➣ ↔↕➙ ➛➜➝➞ ➟➜➙➜➐➑↕ ➠➐➜➙➡➞ ➢➒➡→➒ →➤➜➒➜➙ ➥→➒➙➑➦ ➡➒ ➢➒➡→➒➧ ➨➡➩➡➒➨
➐➜➝➡➙➜➒➞➝ ➑ ➫→➐➜ ➓→➒➩➜➒➡➜➒➞ ↕→➓➑➞➡→➒ ➣→➐ ➏➑➒➭➡➒➨➯
The new branch of Old
West Federal Credit Union is
in the old Community Bank
building. The interior of the
bank has a distinctly Union
and Grande Ronde Valley
❫❴❵❛❜ ❝❞❡❢ ❴❡ ❣✐❴❥❡ ❴ ❧❛♠✐♥
See Station / Page 5A
Museum, said Branch Man-
ager Cheryl Hargrove. The
images were converted into
prints by the Mitres Touch
Gallery in La Grande.
The photos are meant to
See Bank / Page 5A
Street tree planting brings
fresh air to urban areas
◆❖ ➲➳❚❲➵❚ ➸➺◗❯➻➼❱➵
❳❤❨ ❩❬❭❨❪✈❨❪
As Monday was Earth Day and Fri-
◆❖ P◗❘❦ ❙❚❯❱❲
❳❤❨ ❩❬❭❨❪✈❨❪
The Union City Council is
taking steps to determine the
future of the seven buildings
at the town’s old U.S. Forest
Service Ranger Station.
The city council agreed
at a work session Monday
to form a committee that
will evaluate options for the
ranger station and then make
a recommendation on which
course to pursue.
The ranger station, near
the northwest edge of Union,
was built in 1937 and deeded
to the City of Union in 1993.
The complex’s buildings in-
clude a four-bedroom house,
a three-bedroom house, a
two-bedroom house, an old
oil storage building and two
detached garages.
The city rents the houses
and two of the other build-
ings are used by the city’s
public works department.
large black-and-white prints
of local photos decorating
its walls. Many of the pho-
tos, which include those of
ranchers at work and World
War I veterans, were pro-
vided by the Union County
❧❴✃ ❞❥ ❐❜❒❛❜ ➽❴✃❮ ❞❡❰❥ ❛♥❣✃ ➴❡❡❞♥➬ ❡❢❴❡
❡❢❞❥ ❝✐✐Ï ❝❛➪❣❧ ❒✐ ➴❣❣✐❧ ❝❞❡❢ ❡❜✐✐➷
planting events in Union County.
In La Grande, the Urban Forestry
Division of La Grande’s Parks & Rec-
reation Department is selling trees
Ð❛❜ ÑÒÓ ❡❛ ➾❞❡❞♠✐♥❥ ❝❢❛ ❝❴♥❡ ❡❛ Ô➪❡
a tree in the city’s right-of-way area
near their home. These tree plant-
ing events happen twice a year, once
in the spring and once in the fall, to
meet a requirement for Tree City
Õ➚❐❮ ❴ Ô❜❛➬❜❴➱ ❜✐➾❛➬♥❞♠❞♥➬ ➾❞❡❞✐❥ Ð❛❜
Û➃ÜÝÞß➂à áâ➃Þ➃
ã➑ ä➐➑➒➙➜å➝ ➢➐➏➑➒ ➟→➐➜➝➞➐➦ æ➡➩➡➝➡→➒ ➔→↕➙➝ ➞ç→ ➞➐➜➜
➤↕➑➒➞➡➒➨ ➜➩➜➒➞➝ ➜➑➓➔ ➦➜➑➐➧ →➒➜ ➡➒ ➞➔➜ ➝➤➐➡➒➨ ➑➒➙ →➒➜ ➡➒
➞➔➜ ➣➑↕↕➧ ➡➒ →➐➙➜➐ ➞→ ➫➜➜➞ ➑ ➨è➡➙➜↕➡➒➜ ➝➜➞ ➏➦ ➞➔➜ é➐➜➜ ➠➡➞➦
➢ê➎ ➤➐→➨➐➑➫➯ ë➡➓➞è➐➜➙ ➔➜➐➜ ➡➝ ➑ ➨➐→è➤ ➣➐→➫ ➞➔➜ ê➤➐➡➒➨
ìíîï ➜➩➜➒➞ ➤↕➑➓➡➒➨ ➑ ➞➐➜➜ ➡➒ ➞➔➜ ➐➡➨➔➞ð→➣ðç➑➦ ➑➐➜➑ ➡➒
➣➐→➒➞ →➣ ➑ ➔→➫➜➯
“their excellence in urban forest man-
agement,” according to its website.
Teresa Gustafson, a tree care educa-
tor within the Urban Forestry Division,
said as of Monday, she still has 25 trees
for sale out of the 65 she has set aside
for the tree planting event, which will
take place on Saturday.
“The goal for (La Grande’s) urban for-
estry is to plant 100 trees a year,” said
Gustafson, adding that any remaining
trees may be purchased after Saturday,
and residents may add their names to
the list for her fall order. “We try to target
neighborhoods that maybe have lower
canopy cover because the goals for the
street tree planting program are to in-
crease the diversity of the trees that we
have to make the forest more resilient
and to increase overall canopy cover.”
Planting trees is important to a
community for a number of reasons,
according to Gustafson. First, they
❛➮✐❜ ❥❢❴❧✐ ❞♥ ➪❜❒❴♥ ❴❜✐❴❥ ❡❢❴❡ Ð✐❴➷
ture mostly concrete. Trees also raise
property values, motivate people to
spend time outside and, most impor-
tant, produce fresh air to breathe.
Ö×❢✐❜✐ ❴❜✐ ❴ ❝❢❛❣✐ ❢❛❥❡ ❛Ð ❒✐♥✐➴❡❥
people don’t think about,” she said.
“Trees make an area more attractive, and
people need nature. It’s good for us.”
La Grande’s Urban Forestry is also
❢❛❥❡❞♥➬ ❴ ➴✐❣❧ ❧❴✃ Ð❜❛➱ ♥❛❛♥ ❡❛ Ø ÔÙ➱Ù
Friday at Pioneer Park, where fourth-
❴♥❧ ➴Ð❡❢➷➬❜❴❧✐ ❥❡➪❧✐♥❡❥ ➾❴♥ ❵❞❥❞❡ ❥✐❵✐♥
❧❞➮✐❜✐♥❡ ❥❡❴❡❞❛♥❥ ❡❛ ❣✐❴❜♥ ❴❒❛➪❡ Ô❜❛Ô✐❜
tree care and planting techniques.
“One of our stations is the wildlife
biologist from Wallowa-Whitman Na-
tional Forest. She’s going to do a sta-
tion on native pollinators,” Gustafson
said. “We’ll also have a tree walk with
tree ID, and we’ll have a station where
kids are going to learn more about the
❒✐♥✐➴❡❥ ❛Ð ❡❜✐✐❥ ❞♥ ❴♥ ➪❜❒❴♥ Ð❛❜✐❥❡ÙÚ
Also in La Grande, Eastern Oregon
See Trees / Page 5A
EOU program helps disadvantaged students succeed
◆❖ ➶➼❚❲❘◗❯❘❚ ◆➺❲◗➹➺➘
❳❤❨ ❩❬❭❨❪✈❨❪
Student Support Services is a
program that has been at EOU
since 2016. Part of TRIO, a fed-
eral program, it helps students
who face barriers in college make
the most out of their time and feel
supported.
TRIO originally had three pro-
grams, hence the name. The pro-
grams were Upward Bound, Tal-
ent Search and SSS. The federal
program has expanded since its
inception in 1968 and now has
eight programs, but the name
TRIO stuck.
The EOU TRIO program is Stu-
dent Support Services, or SSS.
The program is for students who
❴❜✐ ➴❜❥❡➷➬✐♥✐❜❴❡❞❛♥ ➾❛❣❣✐➬✐ ❥❡➪➷
dents, are disabled, are lower-
income or are disadvantaged in
some other way.
➚➚➚ ❛➮✐❜❥ ➱❴♥✃ ❥✐❜❵❞➾✐❥ ❥➪➾❢
as seminars that teach about top-
ics like applying for scholarships
❛❜ ➴♥❴♥➾❞❴❣ ❴❞❧ ❴♥❧ ❢❛❝ ❡❛ ❥❡❴✃
mentally and physically healthy.
Other services include tutoring,
equipment rentals like calcula-
tors and laptops, and even print-
ing services. Students also get
academic advising and help plan-
ning what to do after college.
There is a room on the EOU
campus where students in SSS
can come and study, speak to an
SSS adviser, chat or just relax.
This provides an opportunity for
students to meet and support one
another.
The SSS advisers are there to
guide students in whatever way
they need, even if what they need
is just someone to talk to.
Michael Williams, EOU TRIO/
SSS advisor, brought the SSS
program to EOU in 2016. He has
a special connection to the pro-
gram, as he used it himself when
See EOU / Page 2A
✬✭✮✯✰✬✯
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➃➄➅➆
➇ ➎ ➈➉
➃➈➔→➣↔↕➙
✵✶✷✸✹✼✽✸✽✷✼✷
◗ ❥❋♠❇ ✾✾❇ ● ❄ ❀✾✾❤ ❧ ✾❤ ❇❀ ❤ ❬❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❃ ❁ ❣ ❣ ❱❋❅ ❭s❇ ❅ ❅ ❀ ✿ ❩ ◗❩ t❤ ❇ ❤ ❀ ❤ ✾❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❂❣ ❏ ❃ r r ✈P❋❩❅✾ ❬ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❏ ✇r
✺✑✒✲
✔✕✲ ✄ ✕ ✗✡✄☞✻✝✍✟✠✝✡☛✝✡
✒✔✒✍✡✠✝☞✻✄☞✝✎✄✖
☎ ✏✍
➊➋➌
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➏➐➑
➒
➓
■
✾
✾✿❀❁❂
☞✝✌✠♥☎
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❇
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●✾❍❏❁P◗❯❀✾
➛➜➝➞➟➠ ➡➟➢➜➤
➥➜➤➦➟➠ ➧➨➞➞➠ ❃✾❀❄❅
❱◗❳❩◗●❬❀❍❭❩❀❯❋● ▼✚✛✜✢✚✣✤✥✢✤✦✣✧✚ ✚✣★✥❛✜✩✪✫
FRIDAY
❙❊◆✳ ❊❘❑▲❊❨ ✁❖▲❉❙ ✂❖❲◆ ✁❆▲▲ Online at lagrandeobserver.com