Not long-ago U.S. Sen Ron Wyden met with federal and state officials representing an array of agencies to discuss wildfire resiliency, water resources and forest thinning and while the session may appear to be just another routine conference the fact is forest blazes loom large in our collective consciousness.

That’s because for the past few summers we’ve seen massive blazes destroy millions of acres of forest and rangeland, threaten homeowners and kill.

This year it looks like central Oregon will be most at risk for wildfires but the entire state is in danger from out of control blazes.

While the reasons for our current trouble with fires are legion – drought, climate change, carelessness – the issue is one central to us all in terms of impact.

That’s why the newspapers of the E.O. Media Group will continue to keep our pulse on what is essentially a developing story. Each summer the prospect of another dangerous and destructive fire season looms large and we want to make sure our readers know all there is to know about how such blazes can affect their lives on a daily basis.

Hopefully we will not see a serious fire season in 2022. Yet if we do, I want to make sure our newspapers cover this story with determination to help readers.

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If you missed one or more issues of The Observer this week, here are a couple of items you might have missed.

The La Grande High School baseball team capped the 2022 season with a 10-1 rout of Hidden Valley in the OSAA Class 4A state championship game at Volcanoes Stadium. The Tigers capped the season at 28-1 on their way to a third state championship since 2007.

Ziply Fiber announced plans to acquire EONI, one of Oregon’s longest serving and most respected internet service providers. Details of the deal between the two companies were not announced, but the acquisition is scheduled to close later this year, pending regulatory approvals.

The La Grande School District’s budget committee voted to recommend that the La Grande School Board adopt a 2022-23 general fund budget of $29.65 million. The proposal calls for three teaching and six staff positions to be cut because of falling enrollment.

Next week, look for a story about the Lee and Jessie McDonald Memorial Pool at the Elgin Community Center getting its first major overhaul since it was built in 1970.

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As always, I want to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their support. We can’t do this work without you.