Weekly Newsish Roundup, October 20, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 14 Minutes and 27 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for October 20 to 26, 2016!
In the news this week:
- Veterans Heal at Hot Lakes
- Urban Renewal On The Block?
- Upcoming Events
- Local Sports
- Around the Mountain EOU Sports
Hey LaGrandeAlive, this is your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Valley Realty, Northwest Furniture and Mattress and Direct Music Source.
Veterans Heal at Hot Lakes
I went out to Hot Lakes this week. And other than almost getting attacked by a goose in the parking lot, I had quite a good time wandering around, learning about all the new changes going on at this Eastern Oregon retreat, and talking to Lee Manual about her 13 year investment in this previously dilapidated property just miles outside Union and La Grande.
Now, if you’ve never been in Hot Lakes and looked, you should, it’s pretty cool. They have the oldest x-ray machine in the world, according to Lee, plus a bronze foundry, many spas and hot tubs and dozen little critters wandering around that will make you stop and stare and, maybe, stay in your car for fear of being goosed. Just kidding. I didn’t get attacked, except by the wonder bug and the coolness cold as I wandered around inside and gawked at all the interesting memorabilia. That was really, really bad. The coolness cold? Really Will?
Urban Renewal On the Block?
Anyways, moving on, the La Grande mayoral debate is coming up. And we finally we got to sit down and talk with the other candidate for mayor, John Bozarth, this week. And it seems one of the biggest issues separating him from his competitor, Steve Clemens, is what the heck to do about the Urban Renewal district, if anything.
If you haven’t registered to vote, too late. Sign up next year. For those o you who have, voting day is Tuesday November 8th. You will get your ballots in the mail and you can drop them off at the Treasurer’s drop box on 4th street in La Grande or at your local receptacle. Both of these mayoral candidate interviews can be viewed in-full on LaGrandeAlive’s Facebook page and I encourage you to do so. Democracy only works with an informed citizenry, and a little conversational peek into the lives of these two small-town political candidates is available at your fingertips through LaGrandeAlive. No pressure or anything, just the exhortations of a small-town pretty face and beard that wants you to know what the heck you’re voting about rather than tossing off your ballot like a bad Facebook rant.
So, what’s going on in the valley this upcoming week? Well, first off the Eastern Oregon Film Festival is happening all this weekend from Thursday until Saturday. So if you’re into pretentious artsy films and esoteric bands, this is your digs. Full festival passes can be purchased for sixty bucks online and single-session passes can be purchased at the door–provided there’s still seating left, that is. For a full schedule of their films and events, see their website. Also, the Haunted House is still scaring at the Maridell Center Friday and Saturday nights until the end of the month. This weekend there’s several fall festivities available including a pumpkin patch at Johnson’ Family Fruit’s, a harvest festival in Haines on Saturday morning and early afternoon, and several live music groups including The Grande Ronde Community Choir, HoneyHoney, a rock country duo, Keith Taylor a ragtime pianist, plus a junk ton with the Film Festival. If you’re interested in the times and locations of any of these events, pick up a Go! Magazine with the Wednesday Observer or visit the Go Magazine website. They have a fantastic spread with specific times, dates, and a more in-depth look at these and other events.
Local Sports
In sports, last week the LHS Tigers football team trashed Milton Freewater 68-20 in their second to the last game of the season. You know that moment in a sports game when you stop rooting for your own team to score more points? Yeah, we hit that point late in the first half of the game. The game started out even with a touchdown either way. But after that the pigs just weren’t flyin’ for the Pioneers. By just over half-time La Grande was over fifty points up and the clock was running down nonstop. And that’s how it ended–a heavy at-home loss for McLoughlin, and La Grande driving home wondering if they weren’t just a little bit too rough on the Northern Oregon team. La Grande will play Ontario Friday the 21st for their final game of the regular season and then head into post-season playoffs. They are guaranteed at least one game at this point and maybe more.
A couple other scores for you, Cove lost to Wallowa 78-12–ouch! Elgin lost 22-26 against Adrian–double ouch! Imbler lost against Grant Union 22-32, and–dear God finally–Union beat Enterprise by a hair 31-29. Quick, simple, to the point, that’s how I like my sports.
Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds (EOU Sports)
And speaking of to the point, here’s what’s going on up at EOU as told by somebody not me.
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics:
This is Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds!
The EOU men’s cross country team is ranked 16th in the country and earned a third-place finish at the Inland Empire Challenge over the weekend. Nic Maszk took fourth en route to earning CCC Runner of the Week!
The sixth-ranked Mountaineer volleyball team bounced back from its first conference loss with a top-25 victory over #24 Northwest. Makayla Lindburg led the way with 15 kills and 18 digs.
The EOU football team completed the season sweep over #8 Southern Oregon on Saturday. The Mountaineers jumped four spots in the poll to #12 and host #21 Montana Western on Saturday for Homecoming at 1 p.m.
The EOU men’s soccer team took down College of Idaho, 2-1, over the weekend for its fourth conference win of the season, while the women’s soccer team carded its third tie of the 2016 campaign.
While it may’ve been a scrimmage, the EOU men’s and women’s wrestling teams made history on Wednesday evening, as they duked it out at the Blue and Gold Wrestle-Off at Quinn Coliseum.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, stay tuned next week, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
For more information, visit EOU Sports!
Urban Renewal, La Grande Mayor, Hot Lakes, Hot Lake Springs, EOU Sports, Local Sports, La Grande High School, La Grande Tigers
