COVE — A portion of the Cove Highway, Oregon 237, was closed Tuesday afternoon when a gas leak was reported near milepost 13.5 in Cove. Travelers experienced minor delays during the time of the closure.

The highway was closed at approximately 11:30 a.m. and reopened at about 1 p.m. The gas leak was repaired, but additional work may be performed by utility crews.

Drivers are warned to watch for possible lane restrictions, flaggers, work crews and equipment.

Final senior meal of spring approaching

COVE — The last Cove senior meal before the summer break will be held June 3 at the Cove Baptist Church.

The indoor picnic will feature hamburgers, hot dogs and salads with cake and ice cream for dessert. Coffee and tea are served at noon followed by lunch at 12:30 p.m.

There is a $5 charge per meal. RSVP with Imie Bristow at 541-568-4545 by Monday.

Barn sale benefits Humane Society

The Wallowa County Humane Society is having a yard sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today through Sunday.

The sale will be held in a barn at the end of Wilson Lane between Enterprise and Joseph. Shoppers are advised to follow the signs.

For more information or to donate items for the fundraiser, call 541-263-0336.

Wallowa HS Alumni Banquet held Saturday

WALLOWA — The 96th annual Wallowa High School Alumni Banquet will be held Saturday in the Beth Johnson Room of the Wallowa Elementary School.

Registration begins at 5 p.m. and dinner is served at 7 p.m. Call Carol Jean Conrad at 541-963-8725 for more information.

Wyden holds trio of regional town halls

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, will hold town halls next week in Baker, Wallowa and Union counties. The trio of town halls will increase to 775 the number of town halls Wyden has held since his election to the Senate in 1996.

According to Wyden, the town halls “give all of us as Oregonians a chance to have face-to-face conversations about ways to make our state and country even better places to live and work.”

Wyden will first travel to Baker County for a 9 a.m. town hall Tuesday at the Baker High School Auditorium, 2500 E St., Baker City. That afternoon he will be in Wallowa for a 2 p.m. town hall at the elementary school, 315 First St. On Wednesday, Wyden will be on the Eastern Oregon University campus at 9 a.m. for a town hall in Room 210 of Ackerman Hall.

Union alumni invite all out to breakfast

UNION — The Union alumni reunion community breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m. Sunday at the EOLS Clubhouse.

Volunteers for cleaning up after breakfast will be appreciated. For more information call 541-562-5899.

Academic quality the focus Thursday at EOU

The Eastern Oregon University Board of Trustees will hold its next regular meeting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday in Inlow Hall, Room 201.

Trustees will hear from Amy Yielding, associate professor of math, and Travis Lowe, a senior math major, about research opportunities, internships and capstone work at EOU.

Jeff Dense, professor of political science, and Donald Wolff, interim vice provost, will give the featured presentation on measuring academic quality. They will focus on how faculty and administration are working together to ensure academic quality across the curriculum by articulating and directly assessing learning outcomes in courses, programs and the university as a whole. Finally, history faculty member Nicole Howard will share a day in the life of a professor, touching on the duties and responsibilities of faculty.

At the end of the agenda the board will enter executive session, pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(d), to conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to carry on labor negotiations. This executive session is open only to the individuals the board has invited for the purpose of conducting these deliberations on behalf of the board. All other portions of the meeting are open to the public and will be live-streamed at livestream.com/eou/governance.

Written comments to the board will also be accepted within 48 hours of the meeting. To access meeting materials or submit comments, visit www.eou.edu/governance/board-meeting-schedule and click the link for Thursday, June 2nd, 2016.

RSVP for Women’s Connection luncheon

The La Grande Women’s Connection Reunion Luncheon will be held at noon June 3 at the Flying J restaurant. RSVP by calling Gayleen at 541-786-0305.

Awareness, caution urged over holiday

VALE — The Vale District, Bureau of Land Management, is urging users and neighbors of public lands to be aware of the increasing fire danger this spring and especially with the long Memorial Day weekend. Spring rains have produced abundant grasses that are curing rapidly, creating an extremely heavy fine fuel load.

The BLM is asking the public to be cautious with campfires, burning debris, controlled burns and fireworks. Choose parking areas that are clear of fuels and beware of fine fuels collecting near exhaust systems of your vehicle. If you plan to have a campfire, never leave it unattended and ensure it is dead out before leaving it.

If controlled burning or debris burning is on your to-do list, please take the time to plan ahead, secure the proper permits, check weather forecasts before burning, create control lines to assist in the containment of the fire, have plenty of water on hand to extinguish a fire that is getting out of control, and never burn when it’s windy.

Forest users are also reminded that fireworks and exploding targets are prohibited on all BLM-managed public lands and U.S. national forests in Oregon and Washington. Igniting fireworks or using exploding targets on BLM-managed lands can lead to $1,000 in fines and one year in prison, and individuals found responsible for starting wildland fires on federal lands can be billed for the cost of fire suppression.

For further information, or to report wildfires, contact the Vale BLM Dispatch Center at 541-473-6295 or 1-800-982-0287.