As much as we apparently like, as a nation, to focus on our divisions, the reality is most Americans — really most people — have similar goals.

We want the best life for our children. We want good schools. We want safe towns. We want to see a strong economy.

These are fairly common goals and while we often see plenty of division rolling out of the vast mass media machine we’ve created, the facts are we all want the same things.

As an element of that media machine we have an obligation to tackle tough stories and to highlight problems that need to be solved.

Yet we also have a solemn responsibility to ensure we give time and attention to the things we have in common. Our system, thankfully, gives the nation the ability to be divided, yet at the same time to be united inside a common heritage and similar goals.

We are a politically divided nation and it is difficult to discover how we became so far apart. That we are is a clear indication that a lot more work need to be done to boost our democracy.

Across our great region we face serious and complicated problems. Problems that need the attention of every lawmaker and voter. Yet we are also all in this together, all with the same broad goals and hopes and dreams. We should focus from time to time on the themes and ideas that connect us and not on the rhetoric that divides.

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

In case you missed it, the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division is asking for the public’s help with a Union County poaching case. According to a Thursday, Oct. 6, press release, a branch antlered bull elk in the Wenaha wildlife management unit, north of Elgin, was shot with a rifle on the evening of Sept. 30, one day prior to the opening of the controlled rifle buck deer season. We’ll continue to follow the situation.

The Observer reporter Dick Mason took a big look at where local school district leaders stand on the results of state assessment tests recently released by the Oregon Department of Education.

Speaking of education, Dick also talked to officials and students about the new rules that limit student cellphone use at La Grande’s high school and middle school. So far, early in the school year, both teachers and students report that the rules have made a positive difference in the classrooms.

The Observer staff is busy working on election stories ahead of the Oct. 19 date for ballots to go out statewide. Dick looked at three candidates running for uncontested Union County positions. But more stories are coming, so look for those starting next week.

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