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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER Daily Planner TODAY Today is Tuesday, Dec. 29, the 364th day of 2020. There are two days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On Dec. 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them. ON THIS DATE: In 1845, Texas was admit- ted as the 28th state. In 1916, James Joyce’s first novel, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” was first published in book form in New York after being serialized in London. In 1939, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” starring Charles Laughton and Mau- reen O’Hara, was released by RKO Radio Pictures. In 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incen- diary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.” In 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, crashed into the Everglades near Miami Inter- national Airport, killing 101 of the 176 people aboard. In 1975, a bomb exploded at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people (it’s never been determined who was responsible). In 1992, the United States and Russia announced agreement on a nuclear arms reduction treaty. In 2006, word reached the United States of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. In a statement, President George W. Bush called Saddam’s execution an important milestone on Iraq’s road to democracy. In 2017, Puerto Rico au- thorities said nearly half of the power customers in the U.S. territory lacked electric- ity, more than three months after Hurricane Maria. LOTTERY Megabucks: $6.2 million 10-14-24-30-36-37 Mega Millions: $352 million 17-23-36-69-70 — 19 x2 Powerball: $341 million 10-24-27-35-53 — PB 18 x2 Win for Life: Dec. 26 4-23-36-68 Pick 4: Dec. 27 • 1 p.m.: 4-1-7-4 • 4 p.m.: 0-8-3-1 • 7 p.m.: 8-8-0-4 • 10 p.m.: 7-0-1-4 Pick 4: Dec. 26 • 1 p.m.: 3-5-8-6 • 4 p.m.: 6-6-3-0 • 7 p.m.: 5-5-2-3 • 10 p.m.: 7-7-7-2 Pick 4: Dec. 25 • 1 p.m.: 9-9-9-4 • 4 p.m.: 6-6-3-0 • 7 p.m.: 5-8-4-5 • 10 p.m.: 0-4-4-9 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, please call 541-963-3161. TuESday, dEcEmBER 29, 2020 LOCAL/REGION Cove fence may have been built by pioneer By Dick Mason The Observer COVE — Northeast Oregon pioneer Anderson C. Smith was a man of short stature whose life story gave rise to tall tales. It was said Smith once killed a 900-pound grizzly with a single shot near Minam and was such an accurate marksman he could knock a eye out of a grouse with a round from his Henry Rifle. “He was the man of the mountains and the Kit Carson of the Pacific Coast,” the Mountain Sen- tinel, an old Union County newspaper reported in its July 6, 1872, edition. On a less embellished note, Smith reportedly built many stone fences in Northeast Oregon that were used to con- tain horses and cattle. The total may include one in Cove that still stands, but Smith has been denied credit for building it by historians because of geo- graphic confusion. This is the belief of Jack Johnson of Cove, a retired National Guardsmen who studies local history. The fence is on farmland two miles west of Cove and is close to 100 yards long. “I believe it is possible that this fence was built by Dick Mason/The Observer A rock fence that stands near Cove may have been built by Oregon pioneer Anderson C. Smith, who reportedly built many stone fences in Northeast Oregon that were used to contain horses and cattle in the 1800s. A.C. Smith,” Johnson said. The Cove resident thinks that a number of historical documents mistakenly list this fence as being built in the Imnaha area. This is understandable, Johnson said, because early in Cove’s history it may have been referred to by some as the Imnaha area. He cites an 1864 township map from the 1800s that appears to indicate the Cove area was on the edge of what was then known as the Imnaha Forest Reserve. Johnson is searching for verification indi- cating that the fence in Cove indeed was made by Smith. His case is strengthened by docu- mented ties Smith had to Cove. According to the book “Gateway to the Wallowas” by Irene Locke Barklow, Smith and his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah A. Whittington, lived in Cove from 1862- 1872 before moving into what is today Wallowa County. This was when Union County included all of the land that in 1887 became Wallowa County. A.C. Smith, a Civil War veteran, took a big step toward opening Wal- lowa County to settlers in 1872-1873 when he built a toll bridge over the Wal- lowa River near Minam. The bridge opened in Feb- ruary 1873, an event so sig- nificant it was reported in The Oregonian newspaper in Portland. John Harland Horner, who documented much of Wallowa County’s history in what is known as the Horner Papers, wrote this about Smith and the toll bridge according to Barklow: “The way into the Wallowas was practically opened by Captain A.C. Smith, the Daniel Boone of Wallowa.” Smith, who was born in Franklin County, Illinois, in 1831, studied law for many years and in 1888 was admitted to the Oregon bar. He then began practicing law in Enterprise. “This was remarkable considering that he never had any formal education,” Johnson said. Smith came to the West during the gold rush in the 1850s before traveling to Northeast Oregon in 1858 where he lived in Cove and what is today Wallowa County. Smith later trav- eled east and served in the Union Army as an officer for a short time during the Civil War before he was slightly wounded. He then returned to the Northwest. Johnson said Smith, who died in Enterprise in 1911, is a fascinating historical character, one he would have enjoyed meeting. “He was very colorful and influential,” Johnson said. Baker City prison reports 18 COVID-19 cases By Jayson Jacoby Baker City Herald BAKER CITY — The Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City has had 18 inmates test positive for COVID-19. The minimum-security prison, which houses about 320 inmates, had until ear- lier this month avoided the virus among the inmate population. Powder River reported its first positive test of an inmate on Dec. 13, Debi Geddes, the prison’s cor- rectional rehabilitation manager/administrative services manager, wrote in an email to the Baker City Herald. Two employees also tested positive recently. Those cases were reported on Dec. 20. That also was the day with the largest number of positive tests among inmates, with six. In a September inter- S. John Collins/Baker City Herald, File Scenes in the dining hall look much different these days at the Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the number of chairs in the hall has been cut in half. view, Powder River Super- intendent Tom McLay said all inmates who are sched- uled to be transferred to another prison or released in their home county are tested prior to the move. In her email, Geddes wrote “it would be difficult to confirm that (an inmate transfer) is how COVID was introduced into the facility.” Geddes wrote no inmates who tested positive have required hospital treat- ment. Each inmate, on the day he tested positive, was transported to a different state facility that, unlike Powder River, has 24-hour medical care, Geddes wrote. Until Dec. 13, Powder River’s only positive case was an employee who tested positive Aug. 24. In September, Geddes said that employee was infected while on vacation outside Baker County and was never exposed to other workers or inmates. Powder River now is listed as a Tier 4 facility, meaning the prison is quar- antined for 14 days. Geddes said in addi- tion to typical prevention measures such as frequent hand-washing and use of face coverings, employees are screened for symptoms, and inmates are screened daily. “Furthermore, move- ment is being limited as much as possible with the AIC (adults in custody, the term the Oregon Depart- ment of Corrections uses for inmates) population to decrease the likelihood of cross contamination,” Geddes wrote. “Each unit is being treated as its own ‘household.’” Powder River employs about 100 people, most of them corrections depart- ment employees but also some contractors, pri- marily employees from New Directions Northwest in Baker City. New Direc- tions operates the drug and alcohol treatment program that more than 125 inmates participate in. Geddes also reported New Directions employees continue to operate the treatment program inside the prison, subject to the same COVID-19 screening that other employees go through before they enter the facility. Baker City man faces charges for misusing COVID-19 aid money The Observer BAKER CITY — The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Oregon has accused a Baker City man of setting up a fic- titious company to receive a federal COVID-19 loan and then using the money for personal purposes, including buying a $50,000 car. Jeremy Clawson, 31, faces a federal charge of theft of government property. Clawson took advan- tage of the the Small Busi- ness Administration’s eco- nomic relief programs through Economic Injury Disaster Loans and the Pay- check Protection Program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Billy Williams. According to court documents, on Aug. 11, the proceeds of an EIDL totaling $145,200 were deposited into an Umpqua Bank account that Clawson and his girlfriend owned. Shortly after receiving the deposit, Clawson began making multiple large cash withdrawals at the drive-thru window of the Umpqua Bank in Baker City. On Aug. 17, Clawson withdrew $49,905 in the form of a cashier’s check to purchase a 2016 Dodge Challenger. Umpqua Bank investigators detected the unusual activity and reported it to the SBA. SBA loan documents showed the loan was for the benefit of Halp- erin Manufacturing Com- pany in San Diego, Cali- fornia. Though there is no record of any such com- pany, the loan application listed the company’s owner and claimed it employed 350 people, according to the press release. Investi- gators contacted the person listed as the owner, but that person denied owning or being affiliated with any such company. The pur- ported owner further stated the company’s supposed address in San Diego was that individual’s personal residence and not a com- mercial property with 350 employees. In early September 2020, investigators learned the Baker City Police Department in late August arrested Clawson for driving under the influ- ence of intoxicants, reck- less driving, driving with a suspended license and attempting to elude police. Clawson was driving the 2016 Dodge Challenger at the time of his arrest. Clawson later told authori- ties he had received a large inheritance from his father, including $30,000 in cash he had on his person during a subsequent arrest. On Sept. 11, investiga- tors interviewed Clawson at the Baker County Jail where he was incarcerated on an unrelated charge. Clawson claimed to have received the $145,200 from a woman with whom he had an online dating rela- tionship, the press release stated. He further claimed he didn’t know what to do with the money and, after he stopped communi- cating with the woman, he began spending the money. Clawson admitted to using the SBA money to purchase the Dodge Challenger and several other vehicles. The United States Dis- trict Court issued a warrant for Clawson’s arrest, seized the Dodge Challenger and approximately $50,000 in cash derived from the fraudulent EIDL pursuant to seizure warrants issued by the federal court and voluntary abandonment of funds in third parties’ pos- session. The SBA and the U.S. Secret Service investi- gated the case. Meanwhile, Clawson began serving a prison sen- tence in mid-October at Snake River Correctional Institution, Ontario, fol- lowing his convictions for felony driving under the influence and attempting to elude the police stem- ming from his August 2020 arrest. Oregon Depart- ment of Corrections records show his release date is in December 2021. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian A power outage left the east side of Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla largely in darkness for more than a week starting Dec. 16, 2020. Power ‘up and running’ at Umatilla prison, officials say By Bryce Dole East Oregonian UMATILLA — After a power outage at Two Rivers Correc- tional Institution, Uma- tilla, left approximately 600 inmates largely in darkness on the prison’s east side for more than a week during a surge in COVID-19 cases, the power is “back and run- ning as normal,” Jennifer Black, a communications manager for the Oregon Department of Correc- tions, said in an email to the East Oregonian on Thursday, Dec. 24. The power outage was the result of two wires shorting and exploding in a conduit underground after 20 years of degrada- tion, which affected other wires and left part of the prison without power, according to prison offi- cials. The power outage affected the facility’s physical plant, security, food and housing units, a public information officer at Two Rivers said. The power outage came as the prison expe- rienced an outbreak of coronavirus cases, as first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. On Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, two employees at the prison tested pos- itive. Then, correc- tions staff transferred 10 COVID-19-positive inmates from Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras to the med- ical isolation unit at Two Rivers on Dec. 10 — the same day that two addi- tional inmates at Two Rivers tested positive for COVID-19. The following day, five more inmates tested positive. By Dec. 18, 45 addi- tional inmates and four staff at the prison had tested positive for COVID- 19, according to reporting from OPB. — The Associated Press and Oregon Public Broadcasting contributed to this report.
