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
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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.