Weekly Newsish Roundup, November 24, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 8 Minutes and 36 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for November 17 to 23, 2016!
In the news this week:
Shop Small: Small Business Saturday 2016
Grande Film Reviews: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Local Sports
Big thanks to our sponsors, Valley Realty, Marketplace Family Foods, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, and Direct Music Source!
I hate Black Friday. Maybe it’s the crowds of people shoved into small spaces. Maybe it’s the smell of sweaty nerds out for their once-a-year soiree. Maybe it’s the fact that the day that could have been a celebration of vibrant and deep ethnic culture groups is instead a day for peddling massive football-watching apparatus at the lowest prices. For whatever reason, I hate it, but when I can get on board with is Small Business Saturday. Small business Saturday is a nationwide celebration of small town businesses and spirit that happens every year after Black Friday. It’s complete with discounts, handouts, and open doors all along the downtown strip with sales for everyone at your local small-town businesses. And this week we had the opportunity to sit down with the planners and some local business persons and ask them why, exactly, people should head down and participate in small business Saturday.
But Small Business Saturday runs all day, so if you, like me, hate the noise and plasticy smell of the Black Friday frenzy, stay home that day and shop Saturday at small businesses instead. You may not get the best deal on your new 50 inch, but you also won’t get trampled by any angry ex quarterbacks eager to relive their Glory Days in 4K resolution.
And speaking of trying to relive the glory days, the newest JK Rowling film is out, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. And here to review it for LagrandAlive is Jeannie, Josh, and Bridger in this week’s Grand film reviews.
In sports,
The Eastern Oregon University mountaineers football team climbed their way to victory in their first-ever postseason game this weekend against Doane, Nebraska. According to the Observer, Zach Bartlow passed for 273 yards and four touchdowns, flying the Mountaineers to the 34-28 final victory. Because of this win, the Mounties will hike on to play–uh-oh!–the number 1 seed and defending chaps Marian this saturday after Thanksgiving, strangely resembling the LHS Tigers run in the playoffs in prep-football. Go Mounties! Please don’t die in Indiana…
The EOU Wrestling Mounties, on the other hand, were bested by their respective mountain, losing to Southern Oregon 28-11 Friday night here at home. Sophomore Mhar Caballa started off the matches strong, winning his match. But the slope from there was only down, the remainder of the night going straight into the pockets of Southern Oregon, winning eight matches and putting them finally draped on top of Eastern with a stranglehold. EOU will grapple with Spokane, Washington this Sunday for their next match.
Also a big hoo-ah for the mounties cross-country team who crossed the finish line and finished 13th in the NAIA national championship race. The team had 348 points total a large gap between them and the first-place finisher British Columbia’s 90. Nic Maszk sprinted into the finish line 12th overall with a time of 24 minutes 52.20 seconds.
And that’s your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Market Place Family Foods, Valley Realty, Northwest Furniture and Mattress and Direct Music Source. Please like and share this video and tune in for more local content. I’m Will Bowman.
This year there are over thirty businesses participating in small business Saturday, including Brent Clapp Media Services which will be taking fifty buck portraits from ten to four.
In this episode of Eastern Oregon Adventures, Will, Eric, and Jim talk about an essential part of any multi-day backpacking trip: stoves. I think Will and Eric may have a little bit of stove jealousy after this episode…
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!
Outdoors, Eastern Oregon, Eastern Oregon Adventures , Portable Stove, Camping, Hiking, Backpacking, La Grande Alive, LGA TV
Sports Spotlight November 17, 2016 – Sean And Alma Crow, LHS Cross Country Coaches
In this sports spotlight, Will interviews Sean and Alma Crow, the coaches of the La Grande High School cross-country teams about the team’s recent performances at state. Sean and Alma talk about their training strategies, their team dynamic, and why they are personally invested in these kids and their performance.
Big thanks to our sponsors Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, and Valley Realty!
La Grande, Cross Country, Local Sports, High School, Sports Spotlight
Weekly Newsish Roundup, November 17, 2016 – 4 News Stories in 12 Minutes and 7 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for November 17 to 23, 2016!
In the news this week:
La Grande Optimist Club: It’s For The Kids
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Around the Mountain (EOU Sports)
Big thanks to our sponsors, Valley Realty, Marketplace Family Foods, Northwest Furniture and Mattress and Direct Music Source!
Hey La Grande Alive, this is your Weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, and direct music source.
LG Optimist Club: It’s For The Kids
The members of The Grand Optimist Club are probably a little more optimistic after last week. What happened last week? Last week they won the Volunteer Service award in Portland for their distinguished service to the La Grande Parks and Recreation Department. Specifically, for building and helping to maintain Optimist field at Pioneer Park for over 50 years. The Optimist Club is a group of citizens here in La Grande dedicated to investing in the community. Casual handyman jobs, up keep on public lands, and just generally helping around the community are all things these guys and gals help with Both financially and practically. And here at Brent Clapp Media Services, we got to sit down and talk to them and make this movie celebrating the event.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the Optimist Club, you can visit them online at www.lgoptimist.com.
Upcoming Events
So, what’s going on in the valley this week? Well, if you’d like to be a little bit more pinky out then sweatpants, hot pockets, and a Netflix original this weekend, the La Grande Symphony is performing in Baker this friday. Their concert is titled magic, mystery, and majesty, and they’re holding it at 7 p.m. at Baker high school. And I’m just kidding about the sweatpants thing. Patty Sandoz, president of the Symphony Association, actually said you could wear them if you want, but leave your Hot Pockets at home. The tuba should be the only thing belching in this event. And if the symphony is your thing, maybe the orchestra will be. The Baker Community Orchestra is also performing just down the street at the South Baker Intermediate School, also at 7 o’clock on Friday at the same time as the symphony. The LaGrande High School is putting on the play “Almost, Maine,” Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the high school in La Grande. According To Go magazine, the play’s multiple storylines are about love and heartache, subjects we all know that teenagers snow infinitely more about than we do. Also, this Saturday there’s two holiday bazaars on 4th Avenue in LaGrande. One of them has homemade pie and the other has biscuits and gravy. So thank God you don’t have to pick one or the other to attend. Also on Saturday, after you’re done stuffing yourself with pie and gravy, go run it off at the Turkey Trot 5K period registration starts at 9 and the race starts at 9:30 at Mountain Valley Fitness.
Local Sports
In sports, but LaGrande High School track and field teams rocked it at State this year, the girls placing second and the boys placing 10th overall, both much higher than anticipated. And this week LaGrande alive got an opportunity to sit down and talk to Sean and Alma Crow, the coaches of the cross country teams, about this recent win for the LHS cross-country teams.
Around The Mountain
And now, EOU Sports, hold on and don’t soil your shorts, It’s Evan and Chris with around the mount in 90 seconds.
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics
This is Around the Mountain in about 90 Seconds!
Volleyball secured its 1st ever CCC tournament champion by defeating COI 3-1 Friday and rallying to beat Corban in the finals 3-2. Amanda Miller had a career high 20 kills while Rachelle Chamb. Dished out a program-record 68 assists. The No. 6 EOU heads to Sioux City, Iowa this week for Nationals.
The Mountaineer football team took to the road to battle Carroll in their 2016 regular season finale. The blue and gold remained undefeated in away contests as they rolled past Carroll 27-17. The football program also earned its first post-season appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series. The team takes to Crete, Nebraska this Saturday to battle Doane.
Men’s wrestling fell to GF 25-16 Thurs and 30-13 to MSU-Northern Friday. They will look to bounce back this Friday when they host a dual against SOU in Quinn Coliseum.
EOU’s men’s basketball team hosted Simpson in two games this weekend. Game 1 was played Saturday and saw the Blue and Gold win 95-73 for head coach Isaac Williams 100th win. Then for Game 2 on Sunday, EOU extended its winning streak to five games defeating the Red Hawks 83-73.
The No. 17 WBB took their talents to Florida and came out on top defeating J&W 88-67 and Warner 85-57. With a 4-0 record, they will travel to Walla Walla this Wednesday to face Whitman at 7 pm.
Good luck to the football and volleyball teams this week, however they aren’t the only Mounties competing in Nationals. We also want to wish good luck to Rachel Roelle of the EOU Women’s Cross Country team and the men’s cross country team as they also compete in Nationals on Saturday.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, stay tuned next week, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
Coffee With Will and Patty Sandoz – Patty Talks About Math, Music and Human Potential
In this Coffee With Will, Will sits down with Patty Sandoz, EOU mathematics professor and president of the Grande Ronde Symphony Association. In it, Patty and Will talk about music and teaching and how Patty got into them and how every human being has the potential to be both creative and logical in one and the same lifetime.
Big thanks to our sponsors, Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Valley Realty, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, and Sea Brite Dentistry!
In this Coffee With Will, I sit down with Hailey King Durrant and Lori Mack to talk about the Lori Mack fundraiser coming up this weekend, Sunday from 6 to 10 pm at Benchwarmers Bar & Grill. Lori has “terminal” cancer. But there is hope! A state-of-the-art treatment is available overseas. As such, she and Hailey, the branch manager at Community Bank, are hosting an event on Saturday to fund raise to get Lori out of town and to fund her treatment. It’s a silent auction, and they’re going to be auctioning (among other items) a puppy, a real live puppy!
Lori Mack, Community Bank, La Grande Service Projects, Cancer, state-of-the-art cancer treatment
Weekly Newsish Roundup, November 3, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 21 Minutes and 13 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for November 3 to 9, 2016!
In The News This Week:
Marketplace Opens Its Doors
Measure 97 – Yes or No?
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Around the Mountain EOU Sports
Hey LaGrandeAlive, this is your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Valley Realty and Direct Music Source.
Marketplace Opens Its Doors
Sometimes I think La Grande needs a facelift. And I know I’m not the only one. But, good news, one of the things that has been happening around here to make that happen is the construction of the new grocery store building on the corner of 4th and Adams which is now officially open.
Ballot Measure 97 – Yes or No
So, in less fun news, voting day is this week. November 8th is the big day. And one of the big issues on the ballot, for Oregonians at least, is ballot measure 97. And the last couple weeks, Brent has been investigating this issue, talking to knowledgeable people in both the yes and no camps, and has put together a little package presenting both sides of the issue back to back for you to understand just a little bit better than you did before you watched this video.
Both of the interviews that were in that package can be viewed in-full on the LaGrandeAlive Facebook page.
Upcoming Events
Anyways, what’s going on this week in the valley? Dracula is showing for another weekend. If you didn’t catch it last weekend, it’s showing again this Friday and Saturday, November 4th and 5th. Shows are at 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday and also a late night showing on Saturday at 10:30pm . All showings are in the Liberty Theater in La Grande. Also, just over the hill another play is showing at the Eastern Oregon Regional Theatre in Baker. ‘The Psychic’ is, according to Go Magazine, a “Murder Mystery, of sorts.” Tickets are available at Betty’s books on main street in Baker City. Also, the holidays are here: there are two Holiday Bazaars going on this weekend, one at Zion Lutheran Church and the other just down the street at First Christian Church, both in La Grande, both from 9am to 1pm on Saturday. And last, I’ve always thought that ballerinas are some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen. The precise control of their bodies, the way they curve and dance and jump, it’s amazing. Not something I could do without a lot of practice and stretching. And now, also according to Go Magazine, the new photography exhibit “The Ballerina Project” is coming to Cook Memorial Library. The ballerina project is pictures of ballerinas at familiar Eastern Oregon locations, and every ballerina featured has some connection to Eastern Oregon. All the photos can be viewed at Cook Memorial Library through January 31st.
Local Sports
In sports, the La Grande Tigers football team beat Molalla in an on-your-seat-to-the-end thriller last Friday right here in La Grande. The teams stayed close the entirety of the game, and late in the 4th quarter the lower-ranked Tigers pulled ahead of the 13th ranked Indians to win 29-22 and Molalla just couldn’t bring it back. The Tigers will head to North Bend to play the number 1 team in Oregon to see if maybe, just maybe, they can continue in the postseason. We will not, however, be covering this game live on LaGrandeAlive like we have covered the other games.
In other prep-football news, Union lost to Grant Union 18-48 and will play next Friday at 6:00 pm. Imbler beat Enterprise 36-24 and Elgin lost to Sherman 51-0, ouch, and will play Rosalia this Friday at 7:00 pm at Rosalia.
The Tigers’ cross country team also trashed their competition at district this weekend. According to the Observer, all of the Tigers Girls finished in the top six of the Greater Oregon League, finishing with a team score of 15. The boys finished with a score of 20, also polishing off their tournament and coming away behind baker, Ontario, and McLoughlin in the state. The cross country team will travel to Eugene for the state competition this Saturday and try their hand against the best of the best in Oregon.
EOU Sports
And now for collegiate sports, here’s the two guys who know the who’s who and the what’s what just up the hill on our friendly Eastern Oregon University.
Tags: La Grande, OR, Marketplace Family Foods, Measure 97, Local Sports, Eastern Oregon University
Brent Chats With Greg Baretto – Greg Talks About Measure 97 and His Opinion
Last week, Brent Clapp sat down with Union County representative Greg Barreto to talk about measure 97. It was a passionate interview by Greg in which he talks about his concerns about the measure and what effect, exactly, it will have on the business climate of his home state of Oregon.
Greg Baretto, Union County, Local Business, Measure 97
In this Coffee With Will, I got the opportunity to get to know Mark Davidson, local businessmen and incumbent candidate for Union County Commissioner for this year. He talks about how he got into politics, who he considers himself to be, and how, exactly, he deals with people not liking him as a politician.
Politics, Local Government, La Grande, OR, Mark Davidson
Coffee With Will and Donna Beverage – Donna Talks About Her Life in Union County
This week I got the opportunity to sit down with Donna Beverage, a local farmer and now candidate for county commissioner, and chat about her, not as a politician, but as a person.
Weekly Newsish Roundup, October 26, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 10 Minutes and 48 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for October 20 to November 3, 2016! In the news this week,
EOU In The Black
Local Politics
Local Sports
Around the Mountain EOU Sports
Hey La Grande Alive. This is your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Marketplace Family Foods, and Direct Music Source.
EOU In The Black
Here’s a little look into the behind the scenes of the writing process. Writers ever feel like writing when they sit down. When I started writing this week’s script, I wasn’t really in the mood to write. But I still did, and still out came this script. One of the tricks to getting into the mood to write is to just, well, write down how much you don’t want to write, like I did here. We’re tricky little creatures, us writers. And you want to know where I learned that trick? As an English Major at Eastern Oregon University. And speaking of EOU…
Well, I think everyone’s stinken glad to hear that. Because if EOU wasn’t around, where would I have gotten these fabulous writing and movie making skills? Who would have taught me how to write even when I’m not in the mood? Who would have systematically deconstructed my per-undergraduate belief system leaving me dazed and confused in the wake of postmodern nihilism? I should probably stop reading so many books.
Local Politics
Anyways, you want to know where you won’t find postmodern nihilism? Local politics. And over the last couple weeks, we’ve gotten interviews with both candidates for La Grande Mayor and Union County Commissioners including Mark Davidson, Donna Beverage, Steve Clemens, and John Bozarth. Now, I’ve urged this before: go watch them. Having an informed vote is very important, and you can begin to get informed about local politics and the personalities of the people behind their politics by watching some of these interviews on LaGrandeAlive.tv. We also have several live debates we streamed that featured not only the La Grande mayoral and County Commissioner Candidates, but also policies for Elgin, Union, and North Powder Races. Those and more can all be found on LaGrandeAlive.tv’s website.
Dracula In La Grande!
So, what’s going on in the valley this week? Well, this week we’re just going to talk about one event because I’m really stinking excited about it. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is coming to La Grande! Now if you haven’t ever read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this isn’t your pasty-white-sparkle-queen creature-meets-bad-actress and falls in love vampire story. It’s not your horribly overdone gore fest with sharp pointy teeth ripping people to shreds. It’s a deeply intellectual mind-bender and psychological thriller. This Dracula won’t kill you with lots of CG and effects–no, instead, he’ll slowly drain your lifeforce over the course of years, absorbing your vitality to regain his youth, as he’s done countless times over the ages, no traces left behind except the two tiny red spots on your neck, spots the doctor will look at and dismiss as bug bites or pimples or some other unimportant detail in regards to your lethargic ennui. And then he won’t just do it to you, he’ll do it to all of your family’s female members, until you’re driven insane by the tension and everyone in the village thinks you’re a bunch of crazy sangurophoriphobes that have gone off the deep end of the proverbial blood pool. Anyways, it’s really good. You should go see it. It’s at the Liberty Theater October 28, 29, 31, and November 4th and 5th. 7:00 and 10:30 pm. Come and get a scare.
Local Sports
In sports, the LHS tigers lost to Ontario last week 26-42. And as such, they’re heading to Molalla this Friday for their first post-season game of 2016. Steve Hendrix got the opportunity to chat with the coach of the LHS tigers this week about this could-be last game of the season.
Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds
And now, EOU athletics. I’m going to shut up and let the real experts talk: here’s your weekly EOU athletics in Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds.
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics
This is Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds!
The EOU football team collected another top-25 victory on Homecoming Weekend, taking down No. 21 Montana Western, 21-13. Alfred Gross rushed for 141 yards on 15 carries, while EOU’s defense held the Bulldogs to only 37 rushing yards.
The Mountaineer volleyball team collected victories over Warner Pacific and Multnomah in Portland last week to improve to 23-2 overall and 16-1 in CCC play. EOU returns to Quinn Coliseum this weekend for games against Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech.
The EOU men’s soccer team picked up a critical 1-0 victory over Northwest Christian on Saturday, while the women suffered a double-overtime heartbreaker to the Beacons in Springfield.
The EOU men’s basketball team’s annual Quinn Classic is scheduled for Oct. 28-29 here in La Grande. The Mountaineers kickoff the 2016-17 campaign on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against Bethesda.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, stay tuned next week, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
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.
Weekly Newsish Roundup, October 13, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 12 Minutes and 24 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for October 13 to 19, 2016!
In the news this week:
Save the Salmon!
Steve Carves Trees
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Around the Mountain
Hey LaGrandeAlive, this is your weekly newsish roundup brought to you by Valley Realty, Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, and Direct Music Source.
Save the Salmon
How do I cleverly say that I actually got out of the studio this week? Well, this week I made like a horse and got. I made like Zoolander at the end of the movie and left. I made like Gary Johnson and peeked, out into the world of La Grande that is, and what did I find? Well…
So, fun story, Sarah and I nearly got shot by a hillbilly while filming that piece. We were walking down the hill somewhere near 5 Points Creek and, out of the blue–bang-bang-bang!–bullets hitting off the rocks just feet from us. Of course, I guess I don’t really have anything to complain about–journalists in other countries get shot at a whole heck of a lot more than me and by a whole heck of a lot more dangerous troglodytes than some hillbilly that doesn’t know what a buck looks like. Whoever you are, mysterious gunman, just so you know, no matter how many camera operators you shoot, a tripod will still have just three points and won’t look very good mounted on your wall.
Anyways, in other news…Steve Carves Trees
That dude barely graduated with a high-school diploma. So for all you school slackers, hey, you’re still a human being and there’s still hope for you.
Just grab a stick, carve it into something pretty, and do it a million more times and you’ll be fine.
Upcoming Events
Alright, so what else is going on in the valley? Do you like Shakespeare? Do you hate Shakespeare? Well, either way, EOU is putting on the quote-unquote ‘Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged” and you should like it. This play is a comedic romp that would make the bard turn over in his grave, probably, at the prospect of his works being done through the medium of rap music, a cooking show, or finger puppets. That show is October 13-15 and 21-22 at 7 PM at the Mackenzie Theater. On Saturday night there’s a corn maze in Medical Springs going from 7 PM to midnight. I would make a joke about this but it would probably be corny. Also other fall festivities: there’s a floating pumpkin patch on Saturday night at the Veterans Memorial Pool in La Grande. And Pendleton is hosting Oktoberfest at the Pendleton Roundup Stadium this Saturday night. It’s an all-aged event and there’s going to be meat and sausages and beer and, as such, probably flatulence.
Local Sports
In sports….no, no I’m going to stop right there. I’m tired of doing sports because, to be honest, I don’t know a delay of game from a traveling penalty. So I’m going to step out of the way and let the professionals take it from here, starting this week, starting with local sports, a brief package from our LGA Sports Director about the La Grande Tigers. Steve?
In other prep football news, Elgin lost to Colton 78-14, Cove lost to Joseph 56-26. Cove will play Wallowa tomorrow, Elgin will play Adrian at Adrian, and La Grande will slug it up to Milton-Freewater to play and we’ll be there too streaming live from the 50(ish) yard line.
Around the Mountain In 90 Seconds
And now for our newest weekly segment with EOU’s sports media guys, “Around The Mountain in 90 seconds.”
I’m Evan House, and I’m Chris Duarte of EOU Athletics, This is Around the Mountain in 90 Seconds!
The EOU men’s and women’s cross country teams return to the course this weekend at the LCSC Inland Empire Challenge. The men’s team recently jumped six spots in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll from No. 22 to No. 16.
The sixth-ranked Mountaineer volleyball team will look to bounce back this weekend after being shocked at College of Idaho on Tuesday. EOU squares off against Evergreen and No. 24 Northwest this weekend in La Grande.
The Blue and Gold football team is on the brink of a 52-31 victory at MSU-Northern. However, the Mountaineers will face a much tougher opponent in No. 8 Southern Oregon on Saturday in Ashland at 6 PM.
The EOU men’s soccer team broke a 12-year old CCC record after scoring 16 times against Walla Walla on Sunday. Both the EOU men and the women’s soccer team take on College of Idaho and Rocky Mountain this weekend in La Grande.
That’s the latest news in EOU athletics, stay tuned next week, as we take you Around the Mountain in 90 seconds.
Stan Peterson Talks About the La Grande Outdoors and the Parks and Rec Department. Stan Peterson is a new employee at the La Grande Parks and Recreation Department. In this Coffee With Will, Stan and I talk about the outdoors, how he got involved in it, and what kind of outdoor activities La Grande and Eastern Oregon has to offer.
Stan Peterson, La Grande Parks and Rec, Eastern Oregon Outdoors
In this episode of Travel Tramps, Samantha LeBold and one of her fellow travel agents from Alegre Travel talk to me about their most-recent trip to Vietnam.
Vietnam, Alegre Travel, Buddhist Monks, Local Travel, Ankor Wat
Coffee With Will and Jack Howard – Will and Jack Talk About PoliticsIn this Coffee With Will, Jack D Howard, a personal friend and Union County Commissioner, and I sit down to talk about his political philosophy and how he tries to conduct himself as a public official. He ends in an impassioned reduction of the essentials of how he tries to conducts himself as a politician and, I think I can say this, a human being.
Union County Commissioner, Jack Howard, La Grande Politics
Coffee With Will and Steve Clemens – Steve Clemens Talks About “Servant Leadership”
Steve Clemens is a business professor at Eastern Oregon University and the mayor of La Grande. But that could not be the case very soon. Clemens is the incumbent candidate running against John Bozarth and in this Coffee With Will we discuss how he considers himself a “servant leader” and why he strives to lead that way.
Steve Clemens, La Grande Mayor, La Grande Politics, Leadership
Eastern Oregon Adventures With Jim and Eric – Footwear
In this episode of Eastern Oregon Adventures with Jim and Eric, we talk about one of the most important aspects of hiking and backpacking: footwear. If your feet go, you’re in bad shape, and in this episode we talk about some different options for keeping your feet safe, comfortable, and dry during hikes.
Weekly Newsish Roundup, October 6, 2016 – 5 News Stories in 7 Minutes and 24 Seconds!
Check out this the weekly Newsish Roundup for October 6 to 13, 2016! In the news this week,
Elgin Comes Home
Haunted House!
Upcoming Events
Local Sports
Hey LaGrandeAlive, this is your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Valley Realty and Direct Music Source.
Elgin Comes Home
For our first story we’re going to do something a little different than usual. Like a gopher chased by a falcon, this week for our lead story we’re going into the field.
Well, that was fun. To be honest, I need to get out more because, sometimes just standing here is a little boring. For everyone. Sometimes my writing is bad. This off-white screen behind me is worse. And sometimes my hair sometimes looks like Jeremiah Johnson dressed up in a suit and tie and decided to get into television. Seriously, I need to get out more. So that’s what I’m going to do, La Grande Alive, get out more. So why don’t you comment in the section below and let me know about some stories I could go cover coming up in the next couple weeks.
Haunted House!
The Maridell center is holding their next haunted house Friday and Saturdays all through October. And while I may be a bit of a girly boy, I went down and through the haunted house this week and got some interviews behind the scenes.
So for those of you with gonads for ghouls, head down to the Maridell center every Friday and Saturday from 7 to 10 pm. The Maridell center is located on the corner of Jefferson and Depot Street. I don’t know what other jokes to make here. Just don’t pee yourself, La Grande Alive. It does happen, they actually said so.
Upcoming Events
Alright, what else is happening this week? Well, the Grande Ronde Community Choir is singing up at EOU. I’m out of my groove and so I don’t have any snarky jokes about these guys, except if you want to hear penguins squeal, head up to EOU tonight. And speaking of squealing, there is also live music at Earth and Vine at 7pm on Friday. So join me in drowning your sorrows in a cup of wine and some blues. Plus if you see random chairs sitting around in businesses around town, you could own one. Art Center East is hosting the “Take A Seat” fundraiser all through October and these chairs will be up for bid on November 5th. So if you see a seat that would make your tush complete, be sure to head to Art Center East on November 5th from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Chair jokes are hard, chair transitions are harder.
Local Sports
And you know what’s hardest? Losing 5 straight games in a row. And thank God La Grande high school wasn’t quite skilled enough to do that. In fact they failed at losing 5 games in a row in spectacular fashion this weekend beating The Dalles 63 to 6. The River Hawks started with a touchdown, but after the first LHS touchdown it was only down hill, and the river is exactly where the hawks were, being tossed and turned all the way back home in a turgid confluence of shame and depression. I know. I’ve been on that bus before. But hey, our LHS tigers won, a novel concept this season. Their next game is coming up this Friday against Baker at home against whom they lost 20 to 18 earlier this season. Maybe this time with the home-field advantage and a lambast of an unfortunate 5a team in their wake, the Bulldogs will be the ones driving home staring out the windows of the bus in silence.
Anyways, in other prep football, Elgin lost to Colton 78-14, Cove lost to Pine Eagle 62-26, and Imbler beat Portland Christian 36-26.
The EOU soccer girls also couldn’t complete their herculean task this weekend. They lost to Southern Oregon 1-0 and dropped the ball on their would-have-been 7 game shutout streak Saturday afternoon. The boys had the exact same experience: 1-0, Southern Oregon wins, putting them at 6-4-1 to the girls 7-3-1 heading into this weekend against Rocky Mountain at home. The volleyball team, however, had a very different experience trashing first Oregon Tech 3 games to none and, second, Southern Oregon. The girls will head to Eugene this Friday and play at 7:00 pm. And check it out: next week I won’t be reading EOU sports. We will have a new segment from the EOU sports director Seth Dahle called “Around the Mount in 90 Seconds” and he will, in much better form and taste, give you the skinny about the past and future of EOU athletics.
Tags: Maridell Center Haunted House, Elgin Museum, La Grande Sports, EOU Sports, Events In La Grande
Your weekly Newsish Roundup brought to you by Grande Ronde Hospital, Marketplace Family Foods, Northwest Furniture and Mattress, Valley Realty and Direct Music Source.
I hate Black Friday. Maybe it’s the crowds of people shoved into small spaces. Maybe it’s the smell of sweaty nerds out for their once-a-year soiree. Maybe it’s the fact that the day that could have been a celebration of vibrant and deep ethnic culture groups is instead a day for peddling massive football-watching apparatus at the lowest prices. For whatever reason, I hate it, but when I can get on board with is Small Business Saturday. Small business Saturday is a nationwide celebration of small town businesses and spirit that happens every year after Black Friday. It’s complete with discounts, handouts, and open doors all along the downtown strip with sales for everyone at your local small-town businesses. And this week we had the opportunity to sit down with the planners and some local business persons and ask them why, exactly, people should head down and participate in small business Saturday.
The members of The Grand Optimist Club are probably a little more optimistic after last week. What happened last week? Last week they won the Volunteer Service award in Portland for their distinguished service to the La Grande Parks and Recreation Department. Specifically, for building and helping to maintain Optimist field at Pioneer Park for over 50 years. The Optimist Club is a group of citizens here in La Grande dedicated to investing in the community. Casual handyman jobs, up keep on public lands, and just generally helping around the community are all things these guys and gals help with Both financially and practically. And here at Brent Clapp Media Services, we got to sit down and talk to them and make this movie celebrating the event.
So, what’s going on in the valley this week? Well, if you’d like to be a little bit more pinky out then sweatpants, hot pockets, and a Netflix original this weekend, the La Grande Symphony is performing in Baker this friday. Their concert is titled magic, mystery, and majesty, and they’re holding it at 7 p.m. at Baker high school. And I’m just kidding about the sweatpants thing. Patty Sandoz, president of the Symphony Association, actually said you could wear them if you want, but leave your Hot Pockets at home. The tuba should be the only thing belching in this event. And if the symphony is your thing, maybe the orchestra will be. The Baker Community Orchestra is also performing just down the street at the South Baker Intermediate School, also at 7 o’clock on Friday at the same time as the symphony. The LaGrande High School is putting on the play “Almost, Maine,” Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the high school in La Grande. According To Go magazine, the play’s multiple storylines are about love and heartache, subjects we all know that teenagers snow infinitely more about than we do. Also, this Saturday there’s two holiday bazaars on 4th Avenue in LaGrande. One of them has homemade pie and the other has biscuits and gravy. So thank God you don’t have to pick one or the other to attend. Also on Saturday, after you’re done stuffing yourself with pie and gravy, go run it off at the Turkey Trot 5K period registration starts at 9 and the race starts at 9:30 at Mountain Valley Fitness.
In sports, but LaGrande High School track and field teams rocked it at State this year, the girls placing second and the boys placing 10th overall, both much higher than anticipated. And this week LaGrande alive got an opportunity to sit down and talk to Sean and Alma Crow, the coaches of the cross country teams, about this recent win for the LHS cross-country teams.
Volleyball secured its 1st ever CCC tournament champion by defeating COI 3-1 Friday and rallying to beat Corban in the finals 3-2. Amanda Miller had a career high 20 kills while Rachelle Chamb. Dished out a program-record 68 assists. The No. 6 EOU heads to Sioux City, Iowa this week for Nationals.
La Grande, OR, La Grande Optimist Club, Local Sports, Eastern Oregon University, EOU, LGA TV
Sometimes I think La Grande needs a facelift. And I know I’m not the only one. But, good news, one of the things that has been happening around here to make that happen is the construction of the new grocery store building on the corner of 4th and Adams which is now officially open.
So, in less fun news, voting day is this week. November 8th is the big day. And one of the big issues on the ballot, for Oregonians at least, is ballot measure 97. And the last couple weeks, Brent has been investigating this issue, talking to knowledgeable people in both the yes and no camps, and has put together a little package presenting both sides of the issue back to back for you to understand just a little bit better than you did before you watched this video.
In sports, the La Grande Tigers football team beat Molalla in an on-your-seat-to-the-end thriller last Friday right here in La Grande. The teams stayed close the entirety of the game, and late in the 4th quarter the lower-ranked Tigers pulled ahead of the 13th ranked Indians to win 29-22 and Molalla just couldn’t bring it back. The Tigers will head to North Bend to play the number 1 team in Oregon to see if maybe, just maybe, they can continue in the postseason. We will not, however, be covering this game live on LaGrandeAlive like we have covered the other games.
Here’s a little look into the behind the scenes of the writing process. Writers ever feel like writing when they sit down. When I started writing this week’s script, I wasn’t really in the mood to write. But I still did, and still out came this script. One of the tricks to getting into the mood to write is to just, well, write down how much you don’t want to write, like I did here. We’re tricky little creatures, us writers. And you want to know where I learned that trick? As an English Major at Eastern Oregon University. And speaking of EOU…
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.
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.
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. 
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. 
How do I cleverly say that I actually got out of the studio this week? Well, this week I made like a horse and got. I made like Zoolander at the end of the movie and left. I made like Gary Johnson and peeked, out into the world of La Grande that is, and what did I find? Well…
That dude barely graduated with a high-school diploma. So for all you school slackers, hey, you’re still a human being and there’s still hope for you. 
Alright, so what else is going on in the valley? Do you like Shakespeare? Do you hate Shakespeare? Well, either way, EOU is putting on the quote-unquote ‘Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged” and you should like it. This play is a comedic romp that would make the bard turn over in his grave, probably, at the prospect of his works being done through the medium of rap music, a cooking show, or finger puppets. That show is October 13-15 and 21-22 at 7 PM at the Mackenzie Theater. On Saturday night there’s a corn maze in Medical Springs going from 7 PM to midnight. I would make a joke about this but it would probably be corny. Also other fall festivities: there’s a floating pumpkin patch on Saturday night at the Veterans Memorial Pool in La Grande. And Pendleton is hosting Oktoberfest at the Pendleton Roundup Stadium this Saturday night. It’s an all-aged event and there’s going to be meat and sausages and beer and, as such, probably flatulence.
In sports….no, no I’m going to stop right there. I’m tired of doing sports because, to be honest, I don’t know a delay of game from a traveling penalty. So I’m going to step out of the way and let the professionals take it from here, starting this week, starting with local sports, a brief package from our LGA Sports Director about the La Grande Tigers. Steve?
And now for our newest weekly segment with EOU’s sports media guys, “Around The Mountain in 90 seconds.”
For our first story we’re going to do something a little different than usual. Like a gopher chased by a falcon, this week for our lead story we’re going into the field. 
Alright, what else is happening this week? Well, the Grande Ronde Community Choir is singing up at EOU. I’m out of my groove and so I don’t have any snarky jokes about these guys, except if you want to hear penguins squeal, head up to EOU tonight. And speaking of squealing, there is also live music at Earth and Vine at 7pm on Friday. So join me in drowning your sorrows in a cup of wine and some blues. Plus if you see random chairs sitting around in businesses around town, you could own one. Art Center East is hosting the “Take A Seat” fundraiser all through October and these chairs will be up for bid on November 5th. So if you see a seat that would make your tush complete, be sure to head to Art Center East on November 5th from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Chair jokes are hard, chair transitions are harder.
Anyways, in other prep football, Elgin lost to Colton 78-14, Cove lost to Pine Eagle 62-26, and Imbler beat Portland Christian 36-26.
