A6
Business
wallowa.com
New sick leave rules leave some Oregon
business-owners feeling a bit queasy
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
The state Bureau of Labor
and Industries (BOLI) released
¿nal paid sick leave rules Dec. 9
that require companies with 10
or more employees to provide
¿ve days of paid sick leave and
unpaid leave for smaller com-
panies. Some agriculture and
business groups are upset by the
short response time available to
read, understand and implement
the new rules.
The new law (Senate Bill
454) pre-empts any e[isting or-
dinances pertaining to sick leave
established by Oregon counties
or municipalities.
Although the document e[-
plaining the law is only 15 pag-
es, the rules are quite comple[
and business groups have com-
plained that the task of reading,
understanding and implement-
ing the law before Jan. 1 is im-
possible to meet.
BOLI has scheduled train-
ing seminars for businesses, but
only one will take place before
the deadline and the seminars
cost $25 each to attend — an-
other sore point for business
leaders.
“Oregon is only the fourth
state in the nation with a state-
wide paid sick leave policy,”
said John Rakowitz, director of
public and strategic affairs for
Associated General Contractors.
“I think this speaks to the care
and consideration that should
have been taken when crafting
these rules.”
Key components of the new-
ly released rules include how to
calculate whether or not a com-
pany reaches the 10-employee
threshold count — a vital math-
ematic formula that results in
either paid or unpaid sick days
as well as notice and accrual re-
quirements.
“We have real concerns with
the calculation of employees
under these rules,” said Jenny
Dresler, director of state public
policy for the Oregon Farm Bu-
reau. “It appears our farmers will
have to double count temporary
laborers (both the contractor and
Happy 60 th Anniversary
Jim & Dona Elliott
We love you!
the farmer must count hours
toward sick leave), something
that was never the intent of the
Legislature. This will result
in thousands of farmers and
small business owners, many of
whom operate on slim margins,
being thrown into the new paid
sick leave requirements.”
State Sen. Bill Hansell
(R-Dist. 29-Athena) and State
Rep. Greg Barretto (R-Cove)
both called the rules “unfriendly
to business” during a Septem-
ber public meeting in Wallowa
County. In a recent interview,
Sen. Hansell called the bill “a
terrible bill to begin with” and
blamed Democrats for its pas-
sage.
“I voted against it when it
came up in the last session, when
it came to the Àoor and through
the committees and every
chance I had. It had unintended
consequences ... particularly for
agriculture. Now we’re seeing
our worst nightmares come true.
BOLI has implemented very
onerous restrictions (and) not
given us enough time to respond
to them. It was a bad bill to be-
gin with and BOLI’s actions
have only made it worse.”
BOLI has stated that it will
delay agency penalties until
2017. However, the law as ad-
opted in SB 454, will allow em-
ployees to seek private lawsuits
against employers as of Jan. 1.
“This is very concerning,
and employers should not be left
with the impression that they are
entirely protected from any legal
recourse should they not be in
compliance immediately Jan. 1,
2016,” said Betsy Earls, policy
manager for Associated Oregon
Industries. “We are disappointed
that a safe harbor and transition
period was not written into the
rules.”
T HE B OOKLOFT
AND
S KYLIGHT G ALLERY
Finding books is our specialty
541.426.3351 • 107 E. Main • Enterprise • www.bookloftoregon.com
ACROSS
DOWN
1. Teletype (Computers)
4. Loose-fitting sleeveless garment
7. They __
8. Extinct Turkish caucasian language
10. Tall N Zealand timber tree
12. Piedmont city on the River Gesso
13. Burl __, storyteller
14. Made up of 50 states
16. Not or
17. Given a monetary penalty
19. Unnilpentium
20. ISU town
21. Equality for everyone
25. A lyric poem with complex stanza
forms
26. Actress Farrow
27. Scottish caps
29. Gobblers
30. __ Lilly, drug company
31. Process an animal hide
32. Describe in perfect detail
39. 1000 calories
41. American National Bank (abbr.)
42. MN 55121
43. Everyone
44. Substitute
45. Rubber, marching or head
46. Dance Latin rhythm
48. Inside of
49. A way to let know
50. Morning moisture
51. Point midway between S and SE
52. Sales messages
1. Duty
2. Whatchamacallit
3. A citizen of Yemen
4. __ Dhabi, Arabian capital
5. Nickname
6. One seeded fruit (alt. sp.)
8. Fiddler crabs
9. Troughs of bricks
11. Exploiter
14. Atomic #104
15. Italian ice-cream
18. Algerian dinar
19. Consume
20. Macaws
22. Insignificantly small
23. Tooth caregiver
24. Direct toward
27. Bluish green
28. Caliph
29. Faucet
31. The bill in a restaurant
32. Capital of Tocantins, Brazil
33. Explosive
34. The most abundant of the rare-
earth group
35. Japanese sock
36. Kampala is the capital
37. Raged
38. Provides with property
39. Miniature racing vehicle
40. Signs
44. Express pleasure
47. Bridge-building degree
December 23, 2015
Wallowa County Chieftain
Repurposed, antique
offerings rival west side
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
When I go out to Oregon’s
west side to spend time with my
mother, we like to hit the sec-
ond-hand and antique stores —
and even Goodwill.
A couple of towns are well
known for their offerings in that
department — and Wallowa
County ought to be on the list
as well.
We’ve got an astonishingly
lengthy list of establishments
that carry upcycle, recycle, vin-
tage and antique goods in our
county:
• The newest is Dry Creek
Design, 110 E First Street, Wal-
lowa. The store, owned by Gar-
rett and Beth Lowe and staffed
by their sons Tyrel and Hadley,
opened Dec. 5 and is open just
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Their specialty is repurpos-
ing, restoring and reusing items,
and they carry everything from
light ¿[tures to buffets. They
intend to add Timber Bronze
hardware in the near future and
already carry seasonal consign-
ments and art by Dennis Rein-
ke. Call 541-263-2800 or visit
them on Facebook.
• Another Wallowa-area
upcycle/repurpose business is
Farm Fresh Pickins, operated by
Amy Johnson and her daughter-
in-law Brooke Johnson.
Amy sells out of her garage/
store on the Johnson Family
Farm, 77269 W Highway 82,
Wallowa. Amy prefers to be
contacted on her Facebook
page, or you can call her at 541-
263-0111.
• 1e[t up, still in Wallowa,
is Back-Achers Industrial Park
LLC at 801 N. Douglas Street in
Wallowa. Ben and JoAnn Deal
own and staff the shop, and
they’re open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday through Saturday.
Back-Achers identi¿es as a
wholesale and supply store, but
BIZ BUZZ
Kathleen Ellyn
you can ¿nd everything from a
storage shed to motorcycles to
building supplies to antiques
— even a chicken shed. Al-
though Back-Achers is more
the store you go to if you want
to ¿nd an item to repurpose,
they do repurpose a few items
themselves. They recycle old
refrigerators and freezers into
raised beds and Ben is thinking
of making insulated dog or cat
houses out of old refrigerators
as well. Find them on Facebook
or call 541-886-2166.
Enterprise has si[ places you
can shop for either the raw ma-
terial to do your own repurpose
project or ¿nd a vendor who has
done the work for you.
There are three second-hand
or consignment stores in Enter-
prise:
• Second Best Consignment
Shop, 204 W. Greenwood St.,
Enterprise is owned by Larry
Bowen, who has been stock-
ing that store for nearly 28
years. The store carries cloth-
ing, kitchen goods, furniture,
mattresses — all general mer-
chandise. Larry also purchases
things at estate sales, so if you
don’t see what you need in the
store, he may have it in one of
his containers or storage units.
The store is open 9:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday. You can call Larry at
541-426-4605.
• Soroptimist Thrift Shop,
105 NE First Street, Enterprise
is operated by Soroptimist In-
ternational of Wallowa County.
Regular hours are 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. to 3
p.m. Tuesday. It is open an e[tra
two hours the ¿rst Monday of
the month (closes at 6 p.m.). It
currently is closed until Jan. 13
for repairs.
The Soroptimist Thrift store
has been around since 1957 and
is a county favorite. You can
¿nd just about any general mer-
chandise, provided it ¿ts in the
small space the store occupies.
Antiques and collectibles are
sold by silent auction every oth-
er Tuesday afternoon.
• A new addition to the con-
signment market is R’s Con-
signment, 100 West Main, En-
terprise. Rene Garoutte opened
her store in September and
already has developed faithful
customers and consigners. The
store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday through Saturday. In
addition to high-end and e[cel-
lent condition consignments,
you will ¿nd deeply discounted
new items, art, handbags, jewel-
ry, pet clothing and more. You
can check it out on Facebook or
call 541-359-5474.
The ne[t two shops com-
bined their goods in a Christmas
pop-up store during Winterfest.
You can see their entire collec-
tions at their home businesses.
• Shabby Gypsies in Enter-
prise is owned by Cindy Craig
and Carol Martin. They don’t
have a storefront and preferred
not to list their address, but their
wares can be seen on Facebook
and you can call 541-426-3150
to set up an appointment to see
speci¿c products.
Cindy creates hand-crafted
artisan soaps (also available at
Bee Charmed Marketplace in
Enterprise), hand-painted cov-
ered cake plates and repurposed
furnishings in addition to carry-
ing vintage fashions, collectible
glassware and more.
• JingleBob’s Vintiques,
505 S. River Street, Enterprise.
Carla Fisher has her shop in the
garage behind the carport. Her
space is packed with eclectic
vintage clothing, accessories,
jewelry, hats, ties, books, re-
cords, salvage doors, windows,
hardware and yard art. Hours
vary depending on the season
so call ahead, 541-426-4712.
• Favorite Finds on Main
at 104 W Main St. is the big
¿sh in the pond in Enterprise.
Sondra Lozier’s huge shop of
antiques, collectibles and vin-
tage-style new items is located
right downtown. The store is
open 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Saturday and
by appointment. See more, in-
cluding ideas on upcycling, on
Sondra’s Facebook page, or call
541-263-0104.
• Stauffer’s Re¿nishing, 704
Residence St., is the place to go
for repair/re¿nishing/repurpos-
ing your valued furniture. Marc
and Teena Stauffer have built a
reputation so good that there is
a waiting list for restorations.
They sometimes have antiques
for sale. Call 541-426-3819.
Joseph has at least three
places where you can shop for
collectibles and more.
• Simply Sandy’s, 303 N.
Main St., advertises a “collec-
tion of uncommon goods,” from
furnishings to hardware to deco-
rative pieces to lawn art to ... we
don’t have enough space to list it
all. Sandy Warnock ¿lls both her
vintage cottage and a shed in the
winter and several more tents
in the back yard during good
weather. Her hours are 10 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. Monday through
Saturday. See her on Facebook
or call 541-432-3211.
• Copper Creek Mercantile,
15 S Main, is both an old-fash-
ioned Mercantile, a great shop
for home decor and gift ideas,
and a source of supplies (such
as chalk paint) for your own
upcycle project. Owner Tammy
Strampe carries antique and up-
cycle items as well. Her hours
are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days
a week until January. See the
shop on Facebook or call 541-
432-1001.
• Last but certainly not least
is Anton’s Home and Hearth, 6
S. Main St. in Joseph. You’ll see
the fun collectibles in the win-
dow as you approach. Inside
Judie Anton’s store, you’ll ¿nd
the local liquor store, a coffee
shop, a kitchen supply store
and more. The store is open 7
a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through
Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday until January. See more
on their Facebook page or vis-
it www.antonshomeandhearth.
com or call 541-432-2690.
Make a day of it and enjoy,
Wallowa Countians.
Please send your Biz Buzz
news tips to Kathleen Ellyn at
kellyn@wallowa.com.