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SERVING UNION AND WALLOWA COUNTIES SINCE 1896 Follow us on the web
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NORTHEAST OREGON LA GRANDE
McClure totesti
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By Kelly Ducote The Observer
More than two years after the U.S. Forest Service withdrew a Travel Management Plan for the WallowaWhitman National Forest, Union County Commissioner Steve McClure is heading to the U.S. Capitol to testify on the matter. The chair McClure of the Union County Board of Commissioners has been invited by the House Natural Resource Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation to testify in favor of Rep. Greg Walden's Forest Access in Rural Communities Act Tuesday. 'The reason I've been invitedisbecause ofthe issue with the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest," McClure said."They've asked me to come back and relate our experience and how local officials viewed how that went down. SeeTestify / Page 5A
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Phil Bullock/TheObserver
Phil Bullock/TheObserver
Lynn Harris, right, speaks at a forum on June 2 on proposed rules regarding medical marijuana dispensaries in La Grande as his wife, Jan, looks on.
Dorene Johnson andher husband, Michael Daughtry, discuss the benefits of medical marijuana. Johnson uses medical marijuana to reduce the pain caused by multiple surgeries.
• Community-active couple has witnessed firsthand the perils of marijuana By Dick Mason The Observer
La Grande dentist Lynn Harris speaks not of toothaches but ofheartache when discussing the 21 months he recently spent treating inmates at state prisons in Baker City and Pendleton. Harris provided dental care and voluntarily counseled many inmates from 2011 through 2013. Harris said these were men trying to rebuild shattered lives, that often had crumbled because of the use ofhard drugs like heroin and meth, substances the inmates often told Harris that marijuana led them to. "Most of their medical histories included drug abuse. Many said marijuana was the gateway drug that got them started," Harris said."A 1,000-mile journey starts with a first step and for many of these people that first step was marijuana." Listening to inmates share their tales about drug abuse was sobering for Harris. "It was heart-wrenching to hear their stories. They didn't like their lives, they really wanted to change," SeeHarris / Page 5A
• La Grande couple says medical marijuana canboostone'squality oflife By Dick Mason
La Grande's first dlspBnsaQ
The Observer
The owner of Green Apothecary, Rona Lindsey, was granted a business permit to operate a medical marijuana dispensary at 1709 Adams Ave. last month by City of La Grande Planner Michael Boquist. According to state law, the site is appropriate for a medical marijuana dispensary, because it is not within 1,000 feet of a school for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Chronic pain and nausea are round-the-clock companions of Dorene Johnson of La Grande. Johnson, however, succeeds in keeping these foes at arm's length for at least a portion of each day thanks to the medically prescribed marijuana she uses. "I can't imagine my life without it," Johnson said. uiNot having it) would deny me a quality oflife existence. It gives my mind reliefby helping me escape the pain." Johnson uses cannabis to reduce pain caused by four back surgeries and severe nausea brought on by stomach surgery and"wasting disease." Years have passed since Johnson last felt normal, but she feels close to it briefly each morning after taking her dose of cannabis. "It is my best time," said Johnson, who has been taking marijuana for medicinal reasons for years. Johnsonisabig advocate ofthe statelaw passed in 2013 that allow medical marijuana dispensaries to SeeJohnson / Page 5A
OREGON ARTS
Taylor appointed to state
arts board By Katy Nesbitt The Observer
NORTHEAST OREGON
Anne Taylor of La Grande was appointed to the Oregon Arts Commission by Gov. John Kitzhaber last week. Taylor said her participation in the American Leadership Forum linked her to the appointment. She graduated from the two-year Taylor pro g ram, which includes intensive training and working on a group project, in 2010. The American Leadership Forum is a national network ofchapters,each dedicated to building stronger communities by joining and strengtheningleadersto serve the public good. It enhances leadership by building on the strengths of diversity and by promotingcollaborative problem solving within and SeeTaylor / Page 5A
Nalonalluardhracesforhusylrainingsum mer In reality, the two-day conflict occurredinsidea virtualworld and not a single Guardsman suffered a scratch during the May drill weekend. Yet the event — dubbed a Command Post Exercise — married high-tech gadgetry with real-time By Pat Caldwell decision making by officers and WesCom News Service troopersofthe battalion to prepare them for a real war and set the stage Last month, Eastern Oregon's Oregon Army National Guard outfit for one of the unit's busiest summers fought an enemy force in a number in years. "It's practiceforthe realthing," of running battles where tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles were said Maj.J.W. Lundell, the operations officer for the 3rd Battalion, destroyedand trooperswere killed 116th Cavalry Regiment and a La or wounded. The fight inside a foreign country Grande resident. The exercise revolved amund the lasted all weekend. Then, on Sunday, battalion troopers packed up their U.S.Army's Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation Enhancement — or gear and pulled down a large lightbrown interconnected tent from the JCATS — thatis essentially a big, drill floor at the La Grande Armory virtual video war game. The training and went home. SeeGuard / Page 5A
• 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment easing back into its more traditional role
INDEX Classified.......4B Comics...........3B Community...BA Crossword..... 5B Dear Abby ... 10B
WE A T H E R Home.............1B Obituaries......3A Horoscope.....5B Opinron..........4A Letters............4A Sports ............1C Lottery............3A State...............7A Record ...........3A Sudoku ..........3B
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Pat Caldwell/VvesCom News Serv!ce
A Bradley Fighting Vehicle assigned to The Dalles'Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment rolls off a gunnery range in this July 2013 photo. The 3rd Battalion — Eastern Oregon's largest citizen-soldier outfit — will kick off a busy summer training schedule this month.
Fu l l forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
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Mostly sunny
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Issue 69 3 sections, 22 pages La Grande, Oregon
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