2A — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
LOCAL/REGIONAL
DAILY
PLANNER
TODAY
Today is Saturday, May
30, the 151st day of 2020.
There are 215 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On May 30, 1989, student
protesters in Beijing erected
a “Goddess of Democracy”
statue in Tiananmen Square
(the statue was destroyed in
the Chinese government’s
crackdown).
ON THIS DATE
In 1431, Joan of Arc,
condemned as a heretic,
was burned at the stake in
Rouen, France.
In 1911, the fi rst Indy 500
took place at the Indianap-
olis Motor Speedway; the
winner was Ray Harroun,
who drove a Marmon Wasp
for more than 6½ hours at
an average speed of 74.6
mph and collected a prize of
$10,000.
In 1912, aviation pioneer
Wilbur Wright, 45, died in
Dayton, Ohio, more than
eight years after he and his
brother, Orville, launched
their fi rst airplane.
In 1922, the Lincoln Me-
morial in Washington, D.C.,
was dedicated in a ceremo-
ny attended by President
Warren G. Harding, Chief
Justice William Howard Taft
and Robert Todd Lincoln.
In 1935, Babe Ruth played
in his last baseball game for
the Boston Braves, leaving
after the fi rst inning of the
fi rst game of a double-head-
er against the Philadelphia
Phillies, who won both
games.
In 1943, during World War
II, American troops secured
the Aleutian island of Attu
from Japanese forces.
In 1972, three members
of the Japanese Red Army
opened fi re at Lod Airport
in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26
people. Two attackers died;
the third was captured.
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Win for Life: May 27
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• 1 p.m.: 5-2-6-3; • 4 p.m.: 8-6-0-2
• 7 p.m.: 8-8-7-2; • 10 p.m.: 1-5-2-7
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• 1 p.m.: 1-0-1-2
• 4 p.m.: 6-9-4-7
• 7 p.m.: 9-4-1-8
• 10 p.m.: 8-6-8-8
DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer, call
the offi ce at 541-963-3161.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“There are two state-
ments about human beings
that are true: that all human
beings are alike, and that all
are different. On those two
facts all human wisdom is
founded.”
— Mark Van Doren, Amer-
ican poet (1894-1972)
Suspects identifi ed in 2018 homicide
By Steven Mitchell
EO Media Group
JOHN DAY — Closure may
be coming almost two years after
a couple vanished after their cabin
became engulfed in fl ames in the
Laycock Creek Road area.
Grant County District Attorney
Jim Carpenter said he planned to
prosecute suspects in the murder of
Terry and Sharon Smith.
“There are suspects in the case,”
Carpenter said, “and a substantial
amount of evidence that points to
the suspects, such that, I will be
taking it to the grand jury.”
Carpenter said he plans to do
that as soon as grand juries can
meet without social distancing
restrictions, and he anticipates an
indictment.
The couple and their pickup
were not found after their home
on Nan’s Rock Road between John
Day and Mt. Vernon burned in the
early morning hours of July 18,
2018.
The case evolved into a homi-
cide after investigators confi rmed
DNA samples from remains in the
residence belonged to Terry and
Sharon Smith. The pickup was
later located in Boise.
Carpenter said the Oregon
Department of Justice was brought
in as a special prosecutor for Grant
County, and the DOJ had been
directing the investigation and
working toward prosecution.
Carpenter said, several months
ago, Grant County Sheriff Glenn
Palmer requested the case back
from the DOJ for prosecution in
Grant County.
Because of limited resources,
Carpenter said, he attempted to
bring in a special prosecutor, a
local attorney whom he declined to
name, who initially agreed to take
the case but then backed out after
receiving the materials from the
justice department.
“It was initially assigned to the
Department of Justice because I
simply didn’t have the resources
to take care of it,” Carpenter said.
“I still don’t, but there are no other
options. The Department of Justice
isn’t going to take it back.”
Oregon State Police and Grant
County Sheriff’s Offi ce are investi-
gating the case with the assistance
of the FBI Bend offi ce.
“I’ve discussed the case recently
with the FBI, and they are assisting
the sheriff’s offi ce with a few fi nal
steps in the investigation,” Car-
penter said.
Palmer declined to comment
in an email on May 14, stating
it was “an ongoing criminal
investigation.”
Family and friends talked about
the social nature of Terry and
Sharon Smith and how unusual it
would be for them to disappear for
any length of time without com-
municating with their friends and
family.
“The Smiths’ friends and
acquaintances all would like to
know if there has been any prog-
ress in solving this heinous
murder,” Lisa Roach, a friend
of the Smiths, said in an email.
“Any news would be greatly
appreciated.”
EO Media Group fi le photo
The disappearance of Terry and
Sharon Smith evolved into a ho-
micide investigation after the
discovery of their DNA in their
Grant County home that burned
down in 2018. Now Grant Coun-
ty District Attorney Jim Carpen-
ter said he is ready to present
evidence to a grand jury to ob-
tain an indictment as soon as
social distancing restrictions ease.
Fish eyes plans as Wallowa County sheriff
By Bill Bradshaw
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE —
He’s looking forward to
a “smooth transition” to
becoming Wallowa County
sheriff, but Enterprise
Police Chief Joel Fish is
cautious to “not count my
chickens before they hatch,”
he said.
Preliminary results from
the May 18 primary elec-
tion gave Fish a 55.4% vic-
tory over incumbent Sheriff
Steve Rogers’ 38.84%
and Enterprise police
offi cer George Kohlhepp’s
5.68%, according to Wal-
lowa County Clerk Sandy
Lathrop.
The vote breakdown
was 2,088 for Fish, 1,464
for Rogers and 214 for
Kohlhepp.
Lathrop said the primary
vote isn’t fi nal until June 2,
the deadline for “challenge
ballots” to be confi rmed.
Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group
Enterprise Police Chief Joel Fish will be the sheriff of Wal-
lowa County as long as he gets a single vote in the No-
vember election and does not lose to a write-in candidate.
Those are ballots where
the voter either did not
sign it or the signature did
not match the signature on
record.
Since Fish received more
than 50% of the vote, he
will run unopposed — other
than by a possible write-in
candidate — in November
under the Oregon consti-
tution. All he needs is one
vote to become sheriff-elect.
“I’m humbled and
extremely honored to have
people who have so much
trust in (me),” Fish said.
“The position of sheriff is a
great honor.”
As Fish ponders his
future role as sheriff, he
said, “It’s still sinking
in.” He said he’ll start
making plans over the
coming months. Many of
those plans will be colored
by the restrictions sur-
rounding the COVID-19
pandemic and how they
play out by January 2021,
when he is sworn in as
sheriff.
Fish said the coming
year’s budget will be in
place, so he’ll be limited
on changes he can make in
purchasing.
As for personnel, “The
deputies all know me and
how I expect things to be
done,” he said. “I’d like to
encourage them to keep up
their training.”
He said he has some
ideas on “restructuring”
the sheriff’s offi ce, though
he declined to give details.
Fish said he and Rogers will
“work together to have a
smooth transition.”
Rogers has offered to
attend the next Oregon
State Sheriff’s Association
meeting, likely in the fall.
For now, Fish remains
Enterprise police chief
until Jan. 1, then soon after
comes the oath of offi ce for
sheriff. He said he hopes
the Enterprise City Council
will let him help select his
successor.
As for Rogers, he has
no intention of pursuing a
write-in campaign against
Fish in November. He has
more than seven months left
as sheriff, after which he’s
not yet decided what he’ll
do.
“I really don’t know yet,”
he said. “It’s time for the
next chapter. Time to do
something new.”
Wolves injure calves in Union, Wallowa counties
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
State biologists reported
wolves from a pack in the
northern Wallowa Moun-
tains injured a 200-pound
calf on private land in
Union County this week.
According to a report
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife,
a rancher found the injured
6-week-old calf Monday
evening. The rancher took
the calf to a veterinarian for
treatment and reported the
case to ODFW.
Biologists examined
the calf on Tuesday and
found puncture wounds,
tooth scrapes and areas of
missing muscle tissue and
hide.
“The location, size and
severity of injuries are con-
sistent with confi rmed wolf
attacks,” according to the
state wildlife department
report.
The attack happened
two to three days before the
examination, according to
the report.
The agency attributed
the attack to the Clark
Creek Pack, which pro-
duced at least two pups in
2019.
According to fi sh and
wildlife, the pack lives
in the northern parts of
the Catherine Creek and
Minam units.
ODFW also reported a
livestock producer gath-
ering cattle May 21 in
large public land grazing
allotment in Wallowa
County’s Swamp Creek
area found an injured
2-month-old calf. The 130-
pound calf “had a large
area of missing hide and
muscle tissue from the
back of the right rear leg,”
the report stated.
Fish and wildlife
reported the depreda-
tion occurred within the
Chesnimnus Pack area.
Former La Grande woman
faces new federal theft charges
The Observer
together on this case.
PORTLAND — Former
She made her initial
La Grande resident Ann-
appearance Thursday on the
drea D. Jacobs turned her-
charges before U.S. Magis-
self in Thursday to the U.S. trate Judge John V. Acosta
Marshals Service on
in the U.S. District
an outstanding war-
Court in Portland.
rant for bank fraud.
The judge ordered
The FBI in a press
Jacobs remain in
release reported the
custody pending a
underlying criminal
hearing on the gov-
Jacobs
complaint alleges
ernment’s motion
Jacobs stole checks
to revoke her pre-
payable to a Hood River
trial release in an older case
dental practice worth more
against her. For now, she is
than $22,000 between
in the Multnomah County
August and October 2019.
Jail, Portland.
Jacobs, 49, worked as a
Jacobs faces similar
contractor for the clinic
charges in a La Grande
until her termination in
case.
May 2020. FBI and the
The former offi ce man-
IRS Criminal Investigation
ager and bookkeeper for a
Division agents are working La Grande medical prac-
tice, she was indited by fed-
eral prosecutors in 2018
on 15 charges: four counts
of wire fraud, fi ve counts
of fi ling of false income
tax returns, four counts of
aiding and assisting in the
fi ling of false income tax
returns, one count of false
impersonation of a U.S.
government employee, and
one count of aggravated
identity theft.
According to the indict-
ment, the government
accuses her of embezzling
more than $1 million from
the La Grande medical
practice and impersonating
an IRS offi cial to try to con-
ceal the crimes.
That case is scheduled to
go to trial in August.
Avista Utilities warns of scammers
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Avista
Utilities reported scam-
mers are on the prowl in the
region and targeting res-
idential and commercial
customers.
Avista Utilities in a press
release reported scam-
mers fi gured out ways to
duplicate the Avista logo
and contact information,
according to the release,
perfected impersonation
skills and are becoming
increasingly convincing.
Tell-tale signs of a scam
include threatening imme-
diate service disconnection
or requesting payment via
prepaid cash cards. Scam-
mers also may come to your
door demanding attention
to a past due bill or entry
into your home.
Customers who suspect a
scam can call Avista at 800-
227-9187 or go to myavista.
com to verify the status of
their account, get answers
to questions or learn about
payment and assistance
options.
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Kevin Reed