In the first episode of our newest show, Gun Talk, Brent Clapp sits down with Clay Winton to talk about Crosshair Customs and the AR-15 he brought into the studio. They talk about why, exactly, an AR-15 is a legitimate weapon and why the myths surrounding the AR-15 are unwarranted.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, and Anything2Digital.com!
Coffee With Will and Patrick Flynn – Patrick talks about his life and his position in La Grande
In this episode, Will talks to Patrick Flynn, the foundation director of Grande Ronde Hospital, about why he returned to La Grande, what, exactly, the GRH foundation is and does, and why it’s important. They also touch on the upcoming Foundation Gala to be held at the EOU Gilbert Center on March 18.
Big thanks to our sponsors, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything2Digital.com, and SeaBrite Dental P.C.
In this episode of Coffee with Will, Heather Rekow joins Will in the studio. Heather is a local self published author who writes spiritually driven fantasy. Her latest book, “Hearts of Glass: Shattered Lives” is currently available for purchase on Amazon and at the La Grande Grocery Outlet.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything2Digital.com and SeaBrite Dental P.C.
The Opera House Shows its True Colors, Austin Saunders Stops by the Studio
Weekly Newsish Roundup 6 News Stories in 13 minutes and 25 seconds!
Check out your weekly Newsish Roundup for February 16 – 22 In the news today:
Elgin Opera House Shows its True Colors
Coffee with Will and Austin Saunders
Get out and Go!
Grande Film Reviews – Moonlight
Local Sports
Around the Mountain
This video was brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything2Digital.com, and Direct Music Source.
Hey La Grande Alive! It’s b-e-a-utifully warm outside, and this is your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Anything2Digital.com, and Direct Music Source.
Elgin Opera House Shows its True Colors So, many of you know the story of Joseph. Joseph is one of twelve brothers who is, let’s be real, a little bit of a spoiled brat. He’s daddy’s favorite son who gets a fancy coat and, not only that, gets dreams of ruling over his brothers directly from God and, what does he do, well he tells them about it. He tells his brothers and, if Dreamworks movies have any historical credibility to them, goes on a musical tirade about how great he and his awesome new coat are.
Seriously, Joseph, are you asking to get sold into slavery, because, well, that’s exactly what happens in the story. Now, it’s a good thing that God’s favor for this little brat isn’t contingent on him not being a little brat because everything turns out alright. He ultimately becomes second most powerful man in Egypt and is reunited and restored with his family who are then, couple hundred years later, enslaved themselves. Guess what goes around comes around, guys. Anyways, all this to say that Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat is coming to the Elgin Opera House and for this show they’re hosting a guest director.
The shows start this Friday, February 17, and run every weekend through March 4th. Showtimes are Fridays at 7:30 pm and Saturdays 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm every weekend. So if you like old Bible stories with a fun new musical twist, head out to Elgin Opera House next couple weekends. Visit their website at elginoperahouse.com for more information and to buy tickets. And remember, younger siblings, if you get a fancy new coat from Daddy and God promises you power over your brothers and sisters, don’t brag about it. You may just find yourself on a one-way train to Burma to become a piss-pot slave to some southeast Asian monarch. Not that I tried doing that to my sibling or anything.
Brought To You By This lead story was brought to you by Direct Music Source. Want your singing to go from this…to this…
Head down to Direct Music Source where they have instruments and music lessons for anyone from kids to adults that will bring your vocal prowess to the next level.
Coffee With Will and Austin Saunders This week in Coffee With Will, I sat down with Austin Saunders, the local representative for Oregon Rural Action. Austin is a EOU graduate. He graduated with a history degree and got a job right here in La Grande at the local social and environmental justice agency that is ORA.
Now, I asked Austin how people can help with social justice, and he said the best way that people can is by getting involved with ORA.
Overall the conversation was a serious chat about Austin and the Oregon Rural Action and it’s mission and purpose here in the Grande Ronde Valley. The rest of this video is available on LaGrandeAlive.tv.
Get Out and Go! And here’s all your upcoming events in this week’s Get Out And Go!
Grande Film Reviews And here’s Josh, Jeanie, and Bridger here to bring you this week’s Grande Film Reviews. This week they review Moonlight which could be, in their opinion, the one to win this year’s best picture at the Oscars.
Local Sports In sports, the LHS Tigers girls basketball team trashed the Ontario Tigers 62-33. Elgin girls, on the other hand, while the La Grande gals were trashing, were being trashed. Two games, two losses, both against valley teams Union and Imbler. 27-51 was the score v.s. Union, and Imbler handed them their tails 31-57. Union had their win against Elgin, but that was their only win of the weekend because, well, that was their only game! Imbler had only had one game, but that was a win 62-33 against Ontario.
Boys Tigers also had a weekend of wins, beating first McLoughlin again 49-31. And as if that wasn’t enough, the next day they smacked down Ontario 71-48 in one of their highest-scoring games of the season. Elgin boys, like their girl counterparts, also lost two versus their valley fellows, first v.s. Union 51-68 and second v.s. Imbler 25-54. Union, as I said, won their only game v.s. Elgin and Imbler had an additional game v.s. Enterprise which they also won with a close game, 55-43.
Around The Mount And last but not least, here’s your EOU sports with Evan and Christ in Around the Mount in 90 Seconds.
Behind the Streams And last, but certainly not least, the next iteration of our behind the streams look at La Grande Alive’s inner workings, this week we feature Jonathan Marvel, our Anything2Digital worker who has a unique experience starting at Brent Clapp Media Services.
And that’s your weekly Newsish Roundup. This roundup was brought to you by Grande Ronde Hosptial, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Anything2Digital.com and Direct Music Source. Please like and share this video and tune in for more local content. I’m Will Bowman.
This video was brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything2Digital.com, and Direct Music Source.
In this week’s Grande Film Reviews, Jeanie, Josh, and William talk about Hell or High Water, a film they all agree is a top-notch contender for this year’s Best Picture at the Oscars.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, @Grande Grande Ronde Hospital, and Anything2Digital.com!
Be sure to tune into La Grande Alive TV for more local content!
Tags: Film, Hell or High Water, Western, Oscar Nominee
Weekly Newsish Roundup, January 19, 2017 – 6 News Stories in 11 minutes 56 seconds!
Check out your weekly Newsish Roundup for January 19-25. In the news today,
Know Your Snow
Adopt A Hydrant
Upcoming Events
Grande Film Reviews – Fences
Local Sports
Around the Mountain
This video was brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything2Digital.com and Direct Music Source
For more local content, visit our website at http://lagrandealive.tv! La Grande, OR, Wallowa Avalanche Center, Back Country Festival, Skiing, Back Country
This is your weekly Newsish Roundup, brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Anything2Digital.com and Direct Music Source!
Know Your Snow And here we are, just thinking the worst of it was over when, bam!, the worst storm since the movie Twister! The worst storm since the storm troopers in Star Wars! The worst storm since Halle Berry in Xmen, and that was bad! And while we’re talking about cold things not conducive to your health or comfort… Avalanches! Let’s talk about those! Last year 6 people died in avalanche-related accidents, according to the American Avalanche Association. It’s very easy to get caught in one, especially if you don’t know what signs to look for. But if you’re one of those avalanche-ignorant ice lovers that subsist off of powder days and downhill thrills, this weekend, at the annual Back Country Festival, like us, you’ll get the opportunity to learn why, exactly, being in the snow about avalanche and winter safety is so important plus some helpful tips about how to stay safe while out in the snow.
The back country festival is this Thursday through Sunday. There’s gonna’ be Ski-films, Avalanche safety Clinics, a Back Country Tour day, drinks, raffles, and an up-down hill ski race at Anthony Lakes in remembrance of Kip, the ex-director of the Wallowa Avalanche center, who recently died in a mountaineering accident. The winners get two full-season passes to duh-duh-duh-dah-dah! Anthony Lakes! At which, if they so choose, they can utilize their newly acquired avalanche safety knowledge to, you know, not die from a snow accident. Passes are five bucks a pop and the festival kicks off at 7pm Friday night. So strap on your skis and pull out your pocketbooks, please, and head over to the Back Country Festival in La Grande only this weekend. The rest of the times and more information can be found on their website located in the description of this video.
This title story was brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress. Want a couch? How about a chair or a mattress? At Northwest Furniture and Mattress in La Grande, they have them. Just don’t die trying to carry it to your car on the ice. On second thought, maybe buying a couch right now isn’t the best idea. This just in: Northwest Furniture and Mattress is now open on non-stormy days in La Grande, if we ever get another one of those again…
Adopt-A-Hydrant So you know those things you pass by and never see these days because, well, because they’re covered with snow? Fire-hydrants. And here’s some insider knowledge about those hydrants: they’re useless when they covered in snow. And even if they’re partially exposed, according to the Observer newspaper, when a firefighter attaches a hose to it, if the hose has any sort of bump or incline because of the snow, the water pressure is severely reduced and the ability of the fire-fighter to fight is inhibited. But you, you La Grande Alive, can do something about this! Strap on your parkas and tie your comforter around your neck like a cape, La Grande Alive, you can be a bon-e-fied local winter superhero if you choose to adopt one of these poor little buggers and rescue them from the clutches of the evil winter! Here’s what you do. Just grab a shovel, tromp out to the location under the snow where you know a hydrant exists, and dig it out. It’s a great service to do for our local firefighters and ultimately, in a game such as fire-fighting where seconds matter when they’re trying to put a fire out, you may end up saving your own life or livelihood or that of someone else. That being said, after you’re done with fire hydrants, stop there. Don’t go around and start trying to dig-out anything else. Vigilantism only goes so far. Nobody wants to find you buried beneath, say, a windmill or something, dead with a broken shovel in your hand.
Upcoming Events So what else is going on this weekend? Well, the Eagle Cap Extreme dog-sled race is going on just outside of Joseph in Wallowa County. Now, the start of the race is done. You missed it. It was Thursday at 1pm. But, if you’re interested in seeing some tired, hungry doggies and their icicle-bearded mushers cross the finish line, some, head up to Fergie Ski Area just south of Joseph for the crossing the finish line this Friday and the banquet at the Joseph Community Center on Saturday night at 5:30 pm.
Grande Film Reviews – Fences And back after almost a month of winter weather automobile catastrophies (and a few films thrown in here and there), here’s this week’s Grande Film Reviews with Jeanie, Josh, and Bridger.
Local Sports In sports, the high-school basketball teams snuck in between storms this weekend to actually play some basketball! The result was only meh, however, the La Grande boy tigers losing their first game against Hermiston last Saturday to Hermiston 54-62. It was a close game all the way up to the final half-court shot, the score going back and forth until the final minutes in which the Hermiston bulldogs pulled ahead and finished strong at home, giving the tigers their first taste of long, quiet bus-rides home of the season. The tigers are still 2-0 league games, however, as their game against Hermiston was non-league. The tigers rallied themselves several days later, though, beating Nyssa 44-32. Their next game is this weekend against the Dalles. If the weather lets us through the pass, that is. Elgin boys didn’t have such a great weekend, taking two to the teeth against, first, Grant Union 32-49 and then, second, Enterprise 42-54 the next day. Union did a little better, winning one out of two, their loss against Imbler 24-50 followed by a rebound win against Grant Union 40-29 the next day. Imbler only had their one losing game against Union and so came out of the weekend a big-fat one and zero.
The ladies tigers had only one game this weekend, the other one—eeh!—cancelled because of the weather. They beat Ontario at home 52-32. The Elgin ladies dropped two against Grant Union 18-51 and Enterprise 21-50. Ouch. Union girls also sunk it, and not as in a lot of points, losing first to Imbler 27-49 and then Grant Union the next day 18-47. Double ouch. And as with the boys, Imbler had only one game against Union though, for the girls, it was a winning game. Overall the girls are, as of this weekend, still cold and hungry for wins, waiting in their hometowns for the cold spell to pass.
Around the Mountain And, yes, you know what time it is, time for the big ATM, around the Mountain with Evan and Chris, EOU Sports in 90 seconds, more or less!
And that’s your weekly Newsish Roundup! This roundup was brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Anything to Digital, and Direct Music Source. Please like and share this video and tune in to LaGrandeAlive tv for more local content. I’m Will Bowman.
Weekly Newsish Roundup, January 11, 2017 – 6 News Stories in 11 minutes!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for January 11 – 18!
Snow Says No! To the Valley
Coffee with Will and Olivia Westenskow
Eagle Cap Extreme
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Around the Mount in 90 Seconds
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Direct Music Source, and Anything to Digital.Com!
Pull up your covers and break out your space heaters, La Grande Alive, it’s your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Northwest Furniture, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything to Digital and Direct Music Source.
Snow Says No! To The Valley
Monday this week I was running down Cove Avenue–yes, people training for marathons still have to run in this weather–and the berms were so bad they had closed the road down. Some poor DOT SOB had a big-old industrial sized snow blower and was clearing off the road. Poor guy looked like he had snow in every single crevasse of his body, and I mean every one. And then today I saw a man in overalls spreading gravel on a sidewalk. This weekend, a pipe burst in the Underground Marketplace and spread two inches of water throughout the entire place, ruining many of the hand-painted floors. Monday, with the post-weekend thaw, I opened up the doors of Brent Clapp Media Services to find, what’s this?, half the office sopping wet from a drain leak on the outside of the building. And these are just a few of the cold-weather-caused catastrophes that have been plaguing the valley these last weeks. According to the Observer, dozens of people were stuck in Imbler, Cove, and elsewhere when the roads closed this weekend. One man had his barn collapse. One five-decade resident of La Grande said this is the worst he’s ever seen it in the valley. Last Thursday La Grande had a record -9 degrees for January 5th, only 16 degrees colder than the all-time low at -25 in 1990. And in all of this, County Commissioner Jack Howard to the position of impromptu weather reporter and fed us some videos of the weather off the street.
Now, according to the National Weather Service, the ice-age is gonna last all week. Temperatures are supposed to remain below freezing until Sunday at least, coupled with some spickle-spackling of snow over the course of the week. So pull on your snow boots and pull out your wallets for the hefty heating bill, La Grande Alive, it’s gonna be a cold one for at least a week.
Go Live For Alive
And by the way, have you heard of Go Live For Alive? Go Live For Alive allows you to be a live reporter for LaGrandeAlive, like Jack Howard was in that last story, anywhere in the Grande Ronde Valley. Just pull out your phone, click off a quick video or photo and send it with some text to LaGrandeAlive via Facebook Messenger. Or you can just send us a news update through the same medium.
This title story was brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital. Grande Ronde hospital is a small-town hospital that, actually, has surprisingly short emergency room waiting times. I would know. I’ve been there several times since I moved here when I did silly, silly things. Grande Ronde Hospital. Big city medicine. Hometown care.
Coffee With Will and Olivia Westenskow
Okay. Full disclosure time here. Brutal honesty. Total vulnerability time. I’m going to trust you, La Grande Alive, that you’re open-minded enough not to send me cruel emails and make mean memes ridiculing me for my effeminate silliness based on the fact I’m going to reveal here. I do Zumba. Yes, I do. Big-bearded Will, Will-the-Alaskan-Bear-Man Will, Will that gets up every morning and goes and reads philosophy in the second-floor of the new Marketplace, this Will, shakes his butt to bad pop music in Zumba Class every week. And I love it. It’s a fantastic way to just let go and goof off and burn some extra calories in the process. Yes, the music is terrible and I look like a robot with body hair doing it, but I love it. And this week my long-time Zumba instructor Olivia Westenskow came in for a chat on Coffee With Will. Now Olivia is an exercise enthusiast of the highest caliber. And she has a very interesting story of how, exactly, she came to like exercise so much.
Now, it’s 2017. And I know many of you New-Year’s-Resolvers have nice idealistic exercise routines you’re just getting into. And probably starting to doubt. But have hope! Liv has a tip for you so that you can successfully get into long-term exercise instead of just puttering out after six visits to the gym.
Overall the conversation was a fun-filled back-and-forth for all people interested in fitness and exercise. If you’re interested, Olivia teaches many more classes than Zumba and all her class information can be found on her website. The rest of this interview is available on our Facebook page and on our website at LaGrandeAlive.tv.
Eagle Cap Extreme
Have any of you ever been to a sled dog race? It’s an extremely visceral experience. Announcements blaring over the speakerphone, the smell of hay and fur, the cacophony of dogs. Being from Alaska I used to go and watch these events. And next weekend, the Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog race is bringing the dogs to Eastern Oregon.
The Eagle Cap Extreme is the west coast’s only Iditarod qualifying dog race. It’s a big deal. It’s held every year just outside of Joseph, Oregon. It has races of 200 miles, 100 miles, 31 miles, and a 20 mile sprint. The race starts next Thursday at 9 am at the Fergi Ski Area 9 miles south of Joseph.
So if you love the poochies and don’t mind a little drive in the snow, seriously, sled on over to Wallowa county next Thursday to Saturday to experience the Eagle Cap Extreme. It’s an experience like none you’ve ever had. Watch your feet, though. Those doggies have to eat quite a bit to keep up the calories to race 200 miles.
Upcoming Events
So, what else is going on this upcoming weekend? Well, just one thing new. Starting next Wednesday if you feel like getting a little English (who doesn’t?), according to Go! Magazine, there will be eight sessions of English Country Dance to teach you how to hold your tea and dance with the highest British regality. There’s going to be professional dancers and professional musicians to play music to accompany the dance. Contact the Art Center East for more information.
Local Sports
In sports, cancelled, cancelled, cancelled! That’s what the diagnosis has been for many of the valley’s basketball teams this week. The La Grande Tigers boys beat the Baker Bulldogs last week 51-36. But that was their only game this weekend, their other TWO the first v.s. Pendleton and the second v.s. Hermiston both were swallowed up by the snow. The other teams in the valley were little different: Imbler boys beat Pilot Rock 51-37 last Friday but then lost their game v.s. Stanfield to the snow. Union lost to Heppner 34-58 and then didn’t have any other games this weekend.
In girls basketball, La Grande also had three games but won only one. While the boys were winning, the girls were losing to Baker by a slim margin 36-51 last Friday. They beat Nyssa the next day 59-54. Then the weather had their way with their game against Pendleton and it was Ehhh! cancelled. Imbler gals beat Pilot Rock 45-39 then lost v.s. mother nature in their game against Stanfield. Ehhhh! Canceled. And lastly, Union gals lost their game against Heppner 31-45.
Around the Mountain
And now, after a several-week holiday hiatus, here to warm your hearts and toast your sportsy sense is Evan and Chris with EOU sports in Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds.
And that’s your weekly Newsish Roundup. This roundup was brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Anything to Digital, and Direct Music Source. Please like and share this video and tune in for more local content. I’m Will Bowman.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Direct Music Source, and Anything to Digital.Com!
Nicole talks about being in the music industry and songwriting In this Coffee With Will, Nicole Lewis is in the studio to chat about what it’s like being a singer and songwriter and how she got started in the music industry.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, and Seabrite Dental!
Hey La Grande Alive! It’s freezing cold outside, so cuddle up around your computer screen and watch this your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Direct Music Source, and Northwest Furniture and Mattress.
Barreto Boosts La Grande High School
You know, back in the day, (and this is just one of my personal observations) big-businesses often cared a lot about social projects. I recently read a billboard at the Columbia Gorge Hotel about a timber tycoon who donated millions of dollars to make the Columbia River Highway a reality. But it seems to me that these days businesses and social projects don’t seem to be on as good of terms. Social services like roads, schools, and libraries are instead largely taken care of by the state. But recently, according to the Observer, Barreto Manufacturing, a local multi-million dollar company, stepped up to the plate for the new high school career technical education building being added to the La Grande High school. The Tech Education building is a big-honkin complex being added to the high-school in which kids are going to be able to study trades like welding, drafting, and construction. Barreto Manufacturing is a local multi-million dollar company that manufactures landscaping equipment that has their headquarters right here in the Grande Ronde Valley. And over the break, they actually opened up their doors, facilities, and personnel to the kids to use over the break to construct welding booths for this new building, free of cost. They also got materials donated for the booths from companies from companies in Eugene to Idaho. The result: a bunch of high-school kids with life skills in their belts, a reduction of the high school’s budget from about 16 thousand to 4.5 thousand, and hopefully a small step in returning social services like education into a genial relationship with local public education providers.
Our title story today was brought to you by, first, the Observer who published it first. It was in their Wednesday paper. And second by Direct Music Source. Direct Music Source is a positively quaint little music store on the strip in La Grande owned by Margaret and Tony. Head there if you need lessons, parts, or just a good conversation about all things musical.
Coffee With Will and Nichole Lewis
It’s not often that I get an opportunity to sit down with big stars and chat about, well, anything on Coffee With Will. I’m a bit goofy and awkward, and I think the peace lily reminds them too much of between two ferns with Zach Galifianakis. But that’s exactly what happened last week. I got a one-time, red-hot shot at an interview with a small-town-star who probably has more followers on Facebook than I have dollars in my bank account. (It’s not true, I checked, but not by much, I’m sorry to say…) Nicole Lewis grew up in La Grande. She’s the daughter of Susan Lewis, a close friend of mine, and she recently moved to Nashville to get serious about her music her writing. And over Christmas break, she came in and did three songs with us including a new song she recently wrote called “Cuddle Up”, a song perfect for all you lovebirds sick to death of snow.
Nichole and I talked about many things in our interview including writing, a shared passion of ours. Nicole writes country-western music, a genre that is well-known for it’s simple and plain-spoken lyrics. But, she said, writing simple is anything but. Writing things tersely and not wasting words is a discipline, she said, that she’s learning more about in Nashville.
It’s not often I get the opportunity to sit down with a quality musician and pick their brains, especially one of the caliber of Nicole Lewis. The rest of this interview is available our our website as are the three songs she performed for us.
Upcoming Events
A new art gallery is opening up at Art Center East, according to GO! Magazine. Hiroko Cannon paints local wildlife from the Plateau region near her home in Pendleton. Her show will be open January 6th at 6pm for the reception, and will remain open until February 24th. And speaking of skiing, Anthony Lakes is having a free nordic skiing and snowshoeing day this Sunday 8am to 4pm. Also, Lonni the Eclectic Cowboy is playing next thursday night at 6pm at Local Harvest Eatery. Lonni’s a small-town, cowboy-boot-wearin’ Mormon who’s gig is writing and reading cowboy poetry and some of it’s pretty dang-tootin’ good.
Local Sports
In sports, the La Grande Tigers cooked it this weekend in the SCTC Holiday classic, taking two against stayton 55-40 and Amity 62-45. That puts them at 9-0 entering into this weekend’s league game against Baker. And this week, we here at LaGrandeAlive got a chance to talk to them about the upcoming season.
Their first game is tomorrow against Baker City at Baker City, leading off the season with their big rivalry against the dogs from across the hill. In other boys basketball news, Elgin went one and one this weekend, beating Cove 42-33 at the La Grande Optimist Tourney. But they couldn’t keep it up. Powder Valley stomped them 29-49 the following day. Union boys also split their weekend, beating Baker JV 52-33 but losing to Imbler 34-52 the following day. And Union wasn’t the only team Imbler beat this weekend: the day before they cruised by La Grande JV 48-33 at the Optimist tournament, putting them one up one down overall for the weekend.
In ladies basketball, if the La Grande boys dunked, the ladies sunk. The lady Tigers lost both of their games by pretty large margins this weekend, first v.s Molalla 39-75 and then versus Hermiston 25-53. The Union ladies did slightly better, winning one losing one, their win against Wallowa 43-28 and their loss against Cove by a hair of 37-40. So La Grande won zero, Union won one, but the Imbler girls took two. They won both their games against Elgin and Powder Valley this weekend, beating Elgin by a double-up score of 60-30 and Powder Valley by a smaller margin–but still quite the margin nonetheless–40-25.
Now let’s jump up to EOU for their first games of 2017. The men’s basketball team picked up twin wins against Northwest University and Evergreen State. They beat Northwest 92-71 and then Evergreen State with the ever-so-slightest of margins 98-92. And the ladies were right there with them. The lady Mountaineers took the same teams, same result, Northwest 67-66 and Evergreen State 70-38. Both men’s and women’s teams will play against Warner Pacific and Multnomah this weekend 5:30 pm Friday and Saturday respectively at home in Quinn Coliseum.
And that’s your weekly Newsish Roundup. This roundup was brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, and Direct Music Source. Please like and share this video and tune in to La Grande Alive for more local content. I’m Will Bowman.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, and Direct Music Source!
Weekly Newsish Roundup, December 21, 2016 – 2 News Stories in 5 minutes and 55 seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for December 21 to 28, 2016!
In the news this week:
Baby Jesus in La Grande: La Grande’s Living Nativity Frosting!
La Grande Weather Report
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Big Thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital and Direct Music Source! For more local content, visit our website at http://lagrandealive.tv! La Grande, OR,
Hey La Grande Alive This is your Weekly Newsish Roundup, brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde hospital, and Direct Music Source.
Musical Messiah: Handel’s Messiah Comes to La Grande
Handel’s Messiah is coming to La Grande. Handel’s Messiah is a piece of Baroque music that was written around 1750 by George Frederick Handel. And when you mix one choir, one grand Rond Orchestra, a bunch of soloists plus a 250 year old oratorio, you get a 30 years of Christmas classical coming back to La Grande for yet another year. Now, Messiah is a religious work of art, all of the text is taken directly from the King James Bible. So for those of you who melt At The Mention Of Jesus or God or any other religious subjects, you should probably stay home. But for everyone else, religious or not, anyone with a heart open to experiencing the beauty of music, the organizers of the event said you can appreciate and take part in this beautiful piece.
As I said, 7 p.m., this Sunday, December 18th, at the La Grande High School auditorium, which is Beautiful, by the way. La Grande Alive will be streaming the performance live on our Facebook and on our web page at LaGrandealive.TV.
Fashion in La Grande
And speaking of classy stuff in La Grande, fashionable isn’t exactly a word you would use very often to describe our little town. But leave it to the New Town Square to, once again, class up our streets with their first-ever fashion show in the Underground Market Place last week at which La Grande Alive grabbed the highlights.
Now, the Fashion Show is part of the greater mission of the New Town Square to give artists and Artisans a place to make money with their craft. They have studio space for rent at really cheap prices, and the entirety of the market is an architectural testament to the quality of local artists and tradesmen. If you’re interested in the marketplace, just walked downstairs and see it. It will blow you away in the best possible way, unlike the frigid winds we’re getting here in the Valley these days.
Coffee With Will and Jason Link
Now, religion and art or two of my most favorite things in the whole wide world. And this week I got to talk to someone who shares my obsessions, local writer and youth pastor, Jason Link. And boy, was the conversation good! Rather than, like many other religious writers, putting his faith overtly in his works of art, Jason prefers not to purposefully evangelize and his work. Instead, he’d rather write stories with no explicit religious agenda and simply let the story speak for itself.
Jason thinks that, instead of having any sort of agenda, good art makes you feel things and stimulates discussion.
Overall, the conversation was a quirky, quick, goofy and occasionally profound back and forth on the nature of Art and how religion fits in. For the entirety of this discussion, visit our Facebook page or LaGrandealive.TV.
Brent Chats with Clay Winton
But I wasn’t the only person chatting it up this week in the studio. Brent also got into the chat act with Clay Winton, owner of Crosshair Customs in Baker City, Oregon, a local gun manufacturing company up and coming in our little valley. Now, Clay is into AR15s which I personally know nothing about. But he certainly does.
The conversation was a shop-talk-turgid back and forth about guns, the gun manufacturing business, and other gun topics which are sure to be interesting to firearm nuts far and wide. The rest of this discussion can be found on our Facebook or on our website at lagrandealive.tv.
Upcoming Events
Alright, what else is happening in the valley? The next two weekends are the last for the acclaimed Elgin Opera House show, a Christmas Story. Currently shows are sold out, according to Steve Hendrix, one of the lead characters in the play, but the Elgin Opera House has added another show next Thursday December 22nd at 7:30 pm. On Saturday, there’s what’s called a “Country Christmas Celebration” at the Art Center at the Old Library in La Grande. Not sure what a “Country” Christmas celebration is, other than a bunch of hillbillies with big hats to catch the snow square dancing to all your favorite Christmas songs, but I guess you’ll have to go to find out. And in other odd musical gathering news, there’s a Coalition of Union County Ukuleles Strum Circle, 7pm at 1802 Adams Avenue. In related news, the strum circle has now officially tied last week’s pipers circle for weirdest musical gathering award of the year.
Local Sports
In sports, high school basketball has continued into non-league play before the holidays, or tried to at least. For the boys, two games were cancelled because of the weather. Too darn cold, the coaches said in much more sportsy ways. Elgin, on the other hand, and a game closer to home that wasn’t blocked by snow and won 43 to 60 last Friday against La Grande’s junior varsity team at the Enterprise Winter Classic Tournament. The next day, Elgin, down but not out, went on to beat Pine Eagle 55 – 33. The Union boys went 1-2 last weekend, first winning against Echo, 59 to 33 then losing against Umatilla, 45 to 57, and Pilot Rock, 36 – 51. Imbler got one and one, losing vs Baker 52 to 55 but winning against Powder Valley 49 to 39.
For the girls, Elgin lost Enterprise Saturday 29 – 62 and then lost against the La Grande JV 48 to 39. The Union girls, on the other hand, doubled up on the wings, beating McLoughlin 49 to 27 and Arlington 42 to 29. And lastly, Imbler lost two, the first versus Baker 41 – 51 and the second against Powder Valley 56 to 60.
Around The Mount (EOU Sports)
And now for your eou sports with our favorite sports guys, Evan and Chris, who, this week, have been downright taken by the festive spirit of the holidays.
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics
This is a special, holiday version of Around the Mountain in about 90 Seconds!
Coming off an upset win over No. 8 College of Idaho last week, the EOU Men’s basketball team took to Walla Walla to take on the Wolves. The Blue and Gold started off slow, shooting only 34 percent from field goal range in the first half. However, the Mountaineers got things going in the second half, scoring 61 points in the last 20 minutes while shooting 66 percent. The win not only is the fourth in a row for EOU, it also cards Bryan McGriff his fourth double-double of the season as the senior scored 23 points. The Mounties host CCC-foes Corban this Friday evening at 7:30 and Northwest Christian on Saturday at 7:30.
The EOU WBB defeated WALLA WALLA Saturday 109-45! Junior guard Payton Parris scored a season-high 25 pts while freshman Kate Hogan tallied a career-best 24 pts making 11 of her 13 shots. The Mountaineers improved to 8-2 on the season and 2-0 in CCC play. They Blue and Gold will face Corban this Friday and NCU Sat. Both games are scheduled for 5:30 pm
The EOU men’s wrestling team took on historic powerhouse North Idaho College on Friday.
Facing the pesky foe on the road was tough, however the Mountaineers showed some strength securing four wins. However, EOU would eventually fall to the Cardinals 30-12. The Mounties notched wins from Mhar Caballa at 125, Brendon Vladic at 141, Ryan Middleton at 157 and Brandon Davidson at 165. The men compete again this weekend, traveling to Reno, Nevada for the Tournament of Champions.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, we hope you all have a great holiday season and that you’ll join us again in January, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, and Direct Music Source!
For more local content, visit our website at Lagrandealive.tv!
Brent Chats With Clay Winton, Crosshair Customs – Baker City, Oregon
Clay talks about his business, Crosshair Customs.
This week, Brent sat down with Clay Winton, a local gun manufacturer who has plans to bring his business to Baker County. Clay talks about how he got started in the gun manufacturing business as well as his plans for the future of Crosshair Customs.
Jason Talks about Faith, Art, and How They Intersect
In this Coffee With Will, local author and youth pastor Jason Link talks to William about how art and faith intersect and how, as a Christian, his religion informs his craft.
A thoughtful page-turner, The Legeneder draws the audience into a fantastical new world where the elements speak and strange creatures roam. Beyond the excitement invoked by adventure and political intrigue, the story at its core resounds with identities redeemed and courage found, arguing that there is more to us than we ourselves would believe.
Eastern Oregon Adventure – Snow Safety December 2016
In this episode of Eastern Oregon Adventures, Will and Jim talk to Victor McNeil, a Mount McKinley guide, about ways to stay safe while enjoying your winter outdoor activities.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Valley Realty, Market Place Family Foods and Blue Mountain Outfitters for their excellent support!
Weekly Newsish Roundup, December 8, 2016 – 6 News Stories in 11 Minutes and 15 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for December 8 to 14, 2016!
In the news this week:
Powder Crazy: Anthony Lakes Opens
Move Left and Do Right!
Grande Film Reviews: Moana
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Around the Mountain (EOU Sports)
Hey LaGrandeAlive, this is your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Direct Music Source, Grande Ronde Hospital and Northwest Furniture and Mattress.
Powder Crazy: Anthony Lakes Opens
Snow Sports can be a religion for some people around here. Every year, after pining away and saving all of their extra cash all summer, as soon as those hallowed wooden doors open and the lift creaks to a start, these devout flood in droves to to give their tithes and receive their annual season pass, hit the slopes every possible weekend at their Mecca, Anthony Lakes, rince and repeat until the season ends. But it’s not grace or bad potluck food that retains these snow worshippers, it’s the small close-knit community at the resort and the blissful experience of hitting the slopes that keeps them coming back year after year after year.
Anthony Lakes opens up this Friday for pass holders at 9 a.m. Then Saturday at 9 a.m., it will open up for the rest of us non-pass-holding folk. Season passes can be purchased at the resort or online at their website.
So board or skis, Bunny Hill or doing back flips over trees, head up to Anthony Lakes this weekend to enjoy all your snowsports right here in East ern Oregon.
Move Left and Do Right!
So, here’s a story for you: Last December Cindy and Jeff Martin are standing on the side of the road near Ladd Canyon doing a good deed — helping a trucker put on their chains — when suddenly, another massive truck slams into their car. The car slides quickly and hits Cindy straight on. Jeff has to jump out of the way to avoid injury. Cindy is severely injured. And this isn’t the only time this kind of thing has happened. This is just the story The Observer used this week in their story to highlight the danger the truckers are facing during this season of putting on their chains on the highway. And we thought it was a good enough message to repeat it, so here’s a fact for you: it is illegal not to pull over to the left lane if a police or tow truck is parked on the side of the road. Here’s another fact: it’s not illegal to not pull to the left when a truck is pulled over. But you know what it is? Common courtesy. Especially, also according to the Observer, when snow is built up on the road margins, forcing the trucker’s further out into the highway when changing their chains. So here’s La Grande alive weekly PSA: if you pass a trucker chaining up, slow down, merge left, and you’ll be doing right! For the full story, see the Observer’s Wednesday paper.
Grande Film Reviews
And now here’s our titular trio Jeannie, Josh, and Bridger to bring you this week’s Grande film review trailer on Moana, Disney’s most recent princess movie.
Upcoming Events
So what else is going on in the valley? Well, Aubrey Slaughter will be singing Christmas songs with other eou students for this year’s annual Lanetta Paul and Friends concert, this Saturday, 3 p.m., at the Legrand Methodist Church. Some of the song being sung, according to Go Magazine, will be “Rejoice and sing” and “What Child Is This?” And because it would be in bad taste for me to use Aubry’s last name in any sort of musical joke, I’m just going to end this story by just saying the concert is free but donations are accepted. But you know what joke isn’t off limits? A Christmas story is still playing at the Elgin opera house and Steve Hendrix, our sports director, was very excited after seeing our video last week!
Shows are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday for the matinee. And don’t worry. Steve’s a good-natured guy. He’ll probably only get slightly angry at me for posting that clip. He might shoot me with that BB gun, I don’t know. But speaking of performances, Becky Studio of Dance is hosting their “spreading the joy” holiday recital December 11th. All proceeds from this dance recital will go to helping her dancers buy dancing equipment. The concert will include, Jazz, ballet, tumbling, and acrobatics. Event is 6:30 p.m. at the La Grande High School and it’s tickets are 10 bucks for adults. And coming in first for this week’s oddest event, the Eastern Oregon Celtic Society is hosting a pipers gathering at 1pm on Saturday at The Old Meeting House in La Grande. No, this is not a celtic pot circle, millennials, pipers are a type of musician. Musicians that play pipes. A two dollar donation is appreciated both for using the building and being awesome enough to host a pipe gathering. I may or may not have added that last bit myself.
Local Sports
In sports, the La Grande boys and girls basketball teams had their first games this last week. The boys came home with an early Christmas present, but the girls went home with coal. The boys played Vale Saturday, winning 58-35, pulling ahead early in the game and never falling behind. THe girls, played Tuesday and, even though they came home with black on their hands, it wasn’t because they were bad by any stretch of the mind. The game was close right up to the end, going back and forth, back and forth before a late-fourth period loss of Lacy Miles to injury put them down and out by several points at the end of the game. Final score, 42-40. THe girls next game is against Vale January 3rd at home. The boys will travel to Baker City for their first game of 2017 on January 6th. Both games will be broadcast live on lagrandealive.tv.
Around the Mountain (EOU Sports)
And here’s our favorite EOU sporties, Evan and Chris, bringing you EOU sports with speed and smarts and class.
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics
This is Around the Mountain in about 90 Seconds!
EOU VB was in SIOUX City, Iowa last week for nationals. The team won all three games in pool play to advance to the knockout rounds. In the round of 16, the Mounties defeated #12 OKC in straights sets, but lost in the 1/4 finals to No. 3 Hastings in 3 sets. The historic season finishes with a program-best 32 wins with seniors Makayla Lindburg, Rachelle Chamb, Kassy Tuma and Sierra Linke playing their finals games for the Blue and Gold.
The historic season for EOU football came to an end on Saturday with a heartbreaking, 45-41 loss in the FCS Semifinals coming to the hands of No. 2 Baker. The 2016 campaign was highlighted by a program record 10 wins, the team’s first NAIA Playoff appearance and a shutout upset victory over defending National Champion and then undefeated No. 1 Marian in the quarterfinals.
EOU WBB started off conference play this past weekend defeating COI 72-64. Darian Gasseling led the way dropping 22 points as she paced 3 Mountaineers that scored in double figures. The team heads to Walla Walla this Saturday for its second conf game. Tipoff is set for 6 pm.
In their first game of Cascade Conference play, the EOU men’s basketball team hosted No. 8 College of Idaho on Saturday. Despite playing a Top 10 opponent, the Mountaineers showed no fear, upsetting the Yotes 83-79 inside Quinn Coliseum. Bryan McGriff scored 27 points while grabbing 13 rebounds in route to being named Red Lion CCC Player of the Week.
The EOU men’s wrestling team took home 9th in the Battle of the Rockies Open this weekend. The Mounties had three placers, Matt Nguyen 3rd at 133, Jared Neiss 5th at 149 and Brandon Davidson 4th at 165.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, stay tuned next week, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
In this sports spotlight, Will talks with Tim Camp, EOU football head coach who has lead the mountaineers deep into the nationals this year. In this interview, we talk about how, exactly, Tim has gotten them to this point and what strategy they will use going into the game this weekend against the Baker Wildcats in Kansas.
Big thanks to our sponsors Grande Ronde Hospital and Northwest Furniture and Mattress!
Weekly Newsish Roundup, December 1, 2016 – 7 News Stories in 10 Minutes and 10 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for November 17 to 23, 2016!
In the news this week:
You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out!
Elk Poacher On The Lam!
Coffee With Will and Father Saji Thomas
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Hey La Grande Alive, this is your Weekly News is Roundup, brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, and direct music source.
You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out! Elgin Opera House Presents A Christmas Story
The holiday season has begun. The season of exorbitant Christmas lights on houses and trees. The season of Christmas tunes on every business playlist and radio station. The season of anxious present lists and really bad holiday sales to satisfy them. And, first and foremost, the season of everyone’s favorite love-hate Christmas movies. And for the next 3 weekends, Elgin opera house is going to be commemorating the season by taking one of these holiday favorites and converting it to the stage.
Now, if you didn’t catch that last slide, the show runs the first 3 weekends of December. Times and specific dates can be found on the Elgin Opera House website. Cost is 8 or 17 bucks plus having to sit through two and a half hours of that god-awful leg lamp through a different medium.
Elk Poacher On The Lam!
In other news, an elk poacher is on the lam after killing and de-antlering two bulls in Elgin last month. Two suspects in the crime have been detained, but one, Nathan Crouch, is still running from the cops. Now, for those of you who don’t know, poaching elk is essentially killing an elk for its antlers, which makes just about as much sense as throwing away a Happy Meal once you get the toy. And Elgin residents are not happy. According to the Observer, one Elgin resident wants to make a statement to the young people by putting the perpetrators away for a long, long time. This is not to be tolerated here, he said. So if you see this guy, Nathan Crouch, running around or have any information about his whereabouts, contact the Oregon State Police. And eat your happy meals, kids! If you want the prize, you’ve got to eat your fries!
Coffee With Will and Father Thomas
And speaking of being a good person, this week I got to sit down and talk to a Catholic priest. Specifically, father Saji Thomas, priest of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in LaGrande. And, I’ve got to say, for being a membe of the Carmelites, a Catholic order dedicated to Simplicity, quietude, and service, this guy had one impeccable sense of style.
Father Thomas is originally from India, and it’s not very often that I find someone like myself firmly rooted in the Christian tradition yet still interested in eastern spirituality.
Ultimately, father Thomas is here to listen and serve the community, he said. The conversation was pleasant as tea and the rest of it can be viewed on our Facebook page or on lagrandealive.tv.
Upcoming Events
So, what else is happening this week in the valley? Well, if you’d like to see some suits in Santa hats playing great music, head to the 25th Annual holiday music festival at EOU this Saturday and Sunday. According Go! magazine, more than 250 area performers will play this weekend. Events are 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, 3 o’clock on Sunday. Also, the Festival of trees start this weekend in Baker. Now, the Festival of trees isn’t just some Hippy Dippy tree-hugger Forest Circle in eastern Oregon. Actually, it’s a three-day extravaganza including a bizarre, a parade, Choir concerts and – – you guessed it! – – trees for sale. All proceeds go to the Baker City Hospital to purchase new endoscopic equipment. More information and the times for events are available in GO! Magazine’s spread either in print or online. Also in Baker, the 4-H Christmas bazaar will run Friday noon to 5:30 p.m. at the fairgrounds show Barn. Then Saturday the 4-H folk will hop skip their happy butts over to Union for the 4-H holiday Craft Fair, 9 a.m. at the Union County Fairgrounds. So if Christmas and critters are your cup of tea, keep your eye out for the 4-H events this weekend in Union and the Baker County.
EOU Sports
In sports, EOU beat the number one–one more time–the number one team Marian last week 17-0. Again, they not just beat but shut out the first-ranked team in the nation. Upon hearing about this event, I took the initiative to talk to Tim Camp, eight-year EOU head coach, about the season so far and what’s coming up this weekend for the game.
The rest of this interview is available on our Facebook page or lagrandealive.tv.
EOU men’s basketball also dunked their opponents this weekend, picking up two wins in the Idaho Domino’s Classic against Montana Western 100-84 and Rocky Mountain 80-76. The ladies didn’t quite hit it so hard, splitting two games in the Lady Yote Classic. THey lost to Montana Western 60-47 but won the next day against Rocky Mountain 68-54.
Also, the EOU volleyball team smacked their first three games against Coastal Georgia this weekend at nationals in Indiana, winning all three 28-26, 25-17, and 25-20. According to the EOU sports website, Makayla Lindburg spiked it with 15 kills and Amanda Miller with13. Then, as if that wasn’t impressive enough, the ball kept right on rolling right through Montana Tech Wednesday with another 3 game sweep 25-21, 25-22, and 25-13. And the damage? 45 kills, seven team blocks, hitting .280 with Lindburg and Miller sharing 12 kills apiece.
Big thanks to our sponsors Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, and Direct Music Source!
La Grande, OR, Theater, A Christmas Story, Local Sports, Eastern Oregon University
Grande Film Reviews – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
In this week’s Grande Film Reviews, William, Jeanie, and Josh review the newest JK Rowling film, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Fantastic Beasts is showing at La Grande Theaters for the next several weekends.
Big thanks to our sponsors, Northwest Furniture and Mattress?, Grande Ronde Hospital, Valley Realty, and Market Place Family Foods!
This week in Coffee With Will, I sat down with Austin Saunders, the local representative for Oregon Rural Action. Austin is a EOU graduate. He graduated with a history degree and got a job right here in La Grande at the local social and environmental justice agency that is ORA.
Adopt-A-Hydrant 
Monday this week I was running down Cove Avenue–yes, people training for marathons still have to run in this weather–and the berms were so bad they had closed the road down. Some poor DOT SOB had a big-old industrial sized snow blower and was clearing off the road. Poor guy looked like he had snow in every single crevasse of his body, and I mean every one. And then today I saw a man in overalls spreading gravel on a sidewalk. This weekend, a pipe burst in the Underground Marketplace and spread two inches of water throughout the entire place, ruining many of the hand-painted floors. Monday, with the post-weekend thaw, I opened up the doors of Brent Clapp Media Services to find, what’s this?, half the office sopping wet from a drain leak on the outside of the building. And these are just a few of the cold-weather-caused catastrophes that have been plaguing the valley these last weeks. According to the Observer, dozens of people were stuck in Imbler, Cove, and elsewhere when the roads closed this weekend. One man had his barn collapse. One five-decade resident of La Grande said this is the worst he’s ever seen it in the valley. Last Thursday La Grande had a record -9 degrees for January 5th, only 16 degrees colder than the all-time low at -25 in 1990. And in all of this, County Commissioner Jack Howard to the position of impromptu weather reporter and fed us some videos of the weather off the street.
Have any of you ever been to a sled dog race? It’s an extremely visceral experience. Announcements blaring over the speakerphone, the smell of hay and fur, the cacophony of dogs. Being from Alaska I used to go and watch these events. And next weekend, the Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog race is bringing the dogs to Eastern Oregon. 
So if you love the poochies and don’t mind a little drive in the snow, seriously, sled on over to Wallowa county next Thursday to Saturday to experience the Eagle Cap Extreme. It’s an experience like none you’ve ever had. Watch your feet, though. Those doggies have to eat quite a bit to keep up the calories to race 200 miles. 
You know, back in the day, (and this is just one of my personal observations) big-businesses often cared a lot about social projects. I recently read a billboard at the Columbia Gorge Hotel about a timber tycoon who donated millions of dollars to make the Columbia River Highway a reality. But it seems to me that these days businesses and social projects don’t seem to be on as good of terms. Social services like roads, schools, and libraries are instead largely taken care of by the state. But recently, according to the Observer, Barreto Manufacturing, a local multi-million dollar company, stepped up to the plate for the new high school career technical education building being added to the La Grande High school. The Tech Education building is a big-honkin complex being added to the high-school in which kids are going to be able to study trades like welding, drafting, and construction. Barreto Manufacturing is a local multi-million dollar company that manufactures landscaping equipment that has their headquarters right here in the Grande Ronde Valley. And over the break, they actually opened up their doors, facilities, and personnel to the kids to use over the break to construct welding booths for this new building, free of cost. They also got materials donated for the booths from companies from companies in Eugene to Idaho. The result: a bunch of high-school kids with life skills in their belts, a reduction of the high school’s budget from about 16 thousand to 4.5 thousand, and hopefully a small step in returning social services like education into a genial relationship with local public education providers.
It’s not often that I get an opportunity to sit down with big stars and chat about, well, anything on Coffee With Will. I’m a bit goofy and awkward, and I think the peace lily reminds them too much of between two ferns with Zach Galifianakis. But that’s exactly what happened last week. I got a one-time, red-hot shot at an interview with a small-town-star who probably has more followers on Facebook than I have dollars in my bank account. (It’s not true, I checked, but not by much, I’m sorry to say…) Nicole Lewis grew up in La Grande. She’s the daughter of Susan Lewis, a close friend of mine, and she recently moved to Nashville to get serious about her music her writing. And over Christmas break, she came in and did three songs with us including a new song she recently wrote called “Cuddle Up”, a song perfect for all you lovebirds sick to death of snow.
In sports, the La Grande Tigers cooked it this weekend in the SCTC Holiday classic, taking two against stayton 55-40 and Amity 62-45. That puts them at 9-0 entering into this weekend’s league game against Baker. And this week, we here at LaGrandeAlive got a chance to talk to them about the upcoming season.
Winter, Nativity, Weather, Christmas, Holidays
Handel’s Messiah is coming to La Grande. Handel’s Messiah is a piece of Baroque music that was written around 1750 by George Frederick Handel. And when you mix one choir, one grand Rond Orchestra, a bunch of soloists plus a 250 year old oratorio, you get a 30 years of Christmas classical coming back to La Grande for yet another year. Now, Messiah is a religious work of art, all of the text is taken directly from the King James Bible. So for those of you who melt At The Mention Of Jesus or God or any other religious subjects, you should probably stay home. But for everyone else, religious or not, anyone with a heart open to experiencing the beauty of music, the organizers of the event said you can appreciate and take part in this beautiful piece.
And speaking of classy stuff in La Grande, fashionable isn’t exactly a word you would use very often to describe our little town. But leave it to the New Town Square to, once again, class up our streets with their first-ever fashion show in the Underground Market Place last week at which La Grande Alive grabbed the highlights.
Now, religion and art or two of my most favorite things in the whole wide world. And this week I got to talk to someone who shares my obsessions, local writer and youth pastor, Jason Link. And boy, was the conversation good! Rather than, like many other religious writers, putting his faith overtly in his works of art, Jason prefers not to purposefully evangelize and his work. Instead, he’d rather write stories with no explicit religious agenda and simply let the story speak for itself.
But I wasn’t the only person chatting it up this week in the studio. Brent also got into the chat act with Clay Winton, owner of 
Coming off an upset win over No. 8 College of Idaho last week, the EOU Men’s basketball team took to Walla Walla to take on the Wolves. The Blue and Gold started off slow, shooting only 34 percent from field goal range in the first half. However, the Mountaineers got things going in the second half, scoring 61 points in the last 20 minutes while shooting 66 percent. The win not only is the fourth in a row for EOU, it also cards Bryan McGriff his fourth double-double of the season as the senior scored 23 points. The Mounties host CCC-foes Corban this Friday evening at 7:30 and Northwest Christian on Saturday at 7:30.
Snow Sports can be a religion for some people around here. Every year, after pining away and saving all of their extra cash all summer, as soon as those hallowed wooden doors open and the lift creaks to a start, these devout flood in droves to to give their tithes and receive their annual season pass, hit the slopes every possible weekend at their Mecca, Anthony Lakes, rince and repeat until the season ends. But it’s not grace or bad potluck food that retains these snow worshippers, it’s the small close-knit community at the resort and the blissful experience of hitting the slopes that keeps them coming back year after year after year.
So, here’s a story for you: Last December Cindy and Jeff Martin are standing on the side of the road near Ladd Canyon doing a good deed — helping a trucker put on their chains — when suddenly, another massive truck slams into their car. The car slides quickly and hits Cindy straight on. Jeff has to jump out of the way to avoid injury. Cindy is severely injured. And this isn’t the only time this kind of thing has happened. This is just the story The Observer used this week in their story to highlight the danger the truckers are facing during this season of putting on their chains on the highway. And we thought it was a good enough message to repeat it, so here’s a fact for you: it is illegal not to pull over to the left lane if a police or tow truck is parked on the side of the road. Here’s another fact: it’s not illegal to not pull to the left when a truck is pulled over. But you know what it is? Common courtesy. Especially, also according to the Observer, when snow is built up on the road margins, forcing the trucker’s further out into the highway when changing their chains. So here’s La Grande alive weekly PSA: if you pass a trucker chaining up, slow down, merge left, and you’ll be doing right! For the full story, see the Observer’s Wednesday paper.
And now here’s our titular trio Jeannie, Josh, and Bridger to bring you this week’s Grande film review trailer on Moana, Disney’s most recent princess movie.
In sports, the La Grande boys and girls basketball teams had their first games this last week. The boys came home with an early Christmas present, but the girls went home with coal. The boys played Vale Saturday, winning 58-35, pulling ahead early in the game and never falling behind. THe girls, played Tuesday and, even though they came home with black on their hands, it wasn’t because they were bad by any stretch of the mind. The game was close right up to the end, going back and forth, back and forth before a late-fourth period loss of Lacy Miles to injury put them down and out by several points at the end of the game. Final score, 42-40. THe girls next game is against Vale January 3rd at home. The boys will travel to Baker City for their first game of 2017 on January 6th. Both games will be broadcast live on lagrandealive.tv.
The holiday season has begun. The season of exorbitant Christmas lights on houses and trees. The season of Christmas tunes on every business playlist and radio station. The season of anxious present lists and really bad holiday sales to satisfy them. And, first and foremost, the season of everyone’s favorite love-hate Christmas movies. And for the next 3 weekends, Elgin opera house is going to be commemorating the season by taking one of these holiday favorites and converting it to the stage.
In other news, an elk poacher is on the lam after killing and de-antlering two bulls in Elgin last month. Two suspects in the crime have been detained, but one, Nathan Crouch, is still running from the cops. Now, for those of you who don’t know, poaching elk is essentially killing an elk for its antlers, which makes just about as much sense as throwing away a Happy Meal once you get the toy. And Elgin residents are not happy. According to the Observer, one Elgin resident wants to make a statement to the young people by putting the perpetrators away for a long, long time. This is not to be tolerated here, he said. So if you see this guy, Nathan Crouch, running around or have any information about his whereabouts, contact the Oregon State Police. And eat your happy meals, kids! If you want the prize, you’ve got to eat your fries!
And speaking of being a good person, this week I got to sit down and talk to a Catholic priest. Specifically, father Saji Thomas, priest of Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in LaGrande. And, I’ve got to say, for being a membe of the Carmelites, a Catholic order dedicated to Simplicity, quietude, and service, this guy had one impeccable sense of style.
