Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2021)
6A — THE OBSERVER TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 STATE Without power for 12 days Couple get by with help from neighbors, a wood stove and meatloaf California Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP This February 2021 photo shows OR-93, the young male wolf that has been traveling near Yosemite Na- tional Park, the farthest south a wolf has been tracked in California in more than a century. Wolf tracked near Yosemite park for fi rst time in century BRIDGEPORT, Calif.— A young male wolf has been traveling near Yosemite National Park, the farthest south a wolf has been tracked in California in more than a century, offi cials said. Researchers have been monitoring the wolf dubbed OR-93 via his tracking collar and said the animal departed Oregon earlier this year, likely in search of a new territory, the San Francisco Chron- icle reported Sunday. After trekking through Modoc County and crossing state highways 4 and 208, OR-93 recently moved into Mono County, just east of Yosemite, the newspaper said. “Given the time of year, we assume OR-93 has traveled such a long way in search of a mate,” Center for Biological Diversity wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss said in a statement. “I hope he can fi nd one.” Previously, the farthest south a gray wolf was spotted in recent decades was the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to the Chronicle. That wolf, OR-54, eventu- ally headed back north. Earlier this month, another male wolf, OR-85, was tracked to Califor- nia’s Siskiyou County, just south of the Oregon state line. Gray wolves were erad- icated in California early in the last century because of their perceived threat to livestock. Their reappear- ance in the state has riled ranchers, who say wolves have preyed on their live- stock on public or private land. Wolves are protected under California’s Endan- gered Species Act. Trump administration offi cials in November stripped Endan- gered Species Act protec- tions for gray wolves in most of the U.S., ending longstanding federal safe- guards and putting states and tribes in charge of overseeing the predators. “We’re thrilled to learn this wolf is exploring deep into the Sierra Nevada, since scientists have said all along this is great wolf habitat,” Weiss said of OR-93. “He’s another beacon of hope, showing that wolves can return here and fl ourish as long as they remain legally protected.” — Associated Press By JAIMIE DING The Oregonian/OregonLive BEAVERCREEK — Bill and Karen Johns were not able to shower for 12 days. The two went without electricity after the snow and ice storm three week- ends ago knocked out power to more than 420,000 Portland General Elec- tric customers in northwest Oregon at various points — nearly half of the compa- ny’s customers. Like many of the homes in their small unincorpo- rated area of Clackamas County, the couple depend on electricity to pump water from their well. No water means no showers, using only bottled water for drinking and cooking, and fl ushing the toilet using jugs of pond water from gen- erous neighbors. The couple, who live in Beavercreek outside Oregon City, were among the more than 6,000 homes and businesses still without power Feb. 23 in the region as electrical crews work around the clock to bring the lights back on. As of last week, PGE has restored about 389 miles of transmission lines and brought power back to thou- sands of homes and busi- nesses. They fi xed more than 9,800 wires down, 775 transformers and 686 poles. The company reported restoring more than 700,000 customer outages total, which includes cus- tomers who may have had more than one outage. But this last stretch is the hardest. Just down South Larkin Road from the Johnses, PGE crews were moving Oregon to reconsider coyote-hunting derbies, drawing one lawmaker’s ire By STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle SALEM — A bill out- lawing coyote-killing con- tests has made its way back to the Oregon Legislature. Oregonians can hunt coyotes year-round, and current regulations do not limit the number of coyotes hunters can kill. Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, said coyotes are predators that affect the livelihood of ranchers. He said the hunting contests are one way to keep the populations down. Owens said, in the past, the state has put bounties on coyotes. Owens said doing away with coyote derbies takes away an economic oppor- tunity for the communities in his district. When a coy- ote-hunting contest comes to Burns, he said some restaurants, bars and hotels “It’s wrong that we allow people with a different moral view of subjects in rural communities to pass laws against them.” — State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane make just as much money as they would during the biggest weekend of the year at the fair and rodeo. Owens said the bill’s chief sponsor, Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, has a “pas- sion” to get the legislation through and said incen- tivizing coyote hunts is “immoral.” Owens said he has sat down with Witt a couple of times and told him that he thinks he is wrong. Owens said it would “take a lot” to stop the bill from going through. “We’re not going to get it stopped,” Owens said. Owens said this is another example of the west side of the state attempting to legislate on rural matters they are unfa- miliar with. “It’s wrong that we allow people with a dif- ferent moral view of sub- jects in rural communi- ties to pass laws against them,” he said. “It seems like a majority of Oregon, over the last decade, have passed laws that allow for more custom and culture, and personal choices to be acceptable.” Enjoy Life more, Stress Less at GRANDE Ronde Retirement & Assisted Living 1809 Gekeler Ln. La Grande 541-963-4700 PROTECTING our Residents during this Pandemic Sean Meagher/The Oregonian Beavercreek residents Karen and Bill Johns pose recently for a photo in front of the wood stove in their living room, the lone source of heat amid a power outage that lasted nearly two weeks following a storm. from pole to pole to replace blown fuses and re-energize power lines. One crew on nearby South Beavercreek Road started at 6 a.m., said Rich Johnson, a line manager for PGE in charge of all the crews in the area. Crews have been working 16 to 18 hour days since the start of the out- ages, and “the days are starting to run together,” Johnson said. A main transmission line carries power through the Beavercreek area, but tap lines that shoot off the main line serve only handfuls of residents. Each damaged tap line — thousands in Clack- amas County alone — must be individually repaired, Johnson said. A blown fuse may take 45 minutes to fi x, but a downed pole can take an hour or two and a broken transformer even longer. Beavercreek was hit especially hard by trees that fell and damaged power lines, Johnson said. He’s seen large trees split in half, uprooted trees and even a whole front porch broken off a house because of the weight of snow and ice. “This is by far one of the most signifi cant events we’ve experienced within this organization with the number of poles and trans- formers we’ve replaced,” he said. “It’s something you really can’t prepare for.” The Beavercreek United Church of Christ got its power restored after fi ve days. The church has the only emergency food pantry in the area, and it’s been dis- tributing food and hygiene supplies, said Skipper Maine, who’s been a member of the church for 30 years. Maine remembers when the county was hit by fi re evacuation warnings last fall, but it’s been even more diffi cult this time to help people because of the lack of power, internet and cell service, she said. “We had a really hard time checking on people to fi nd out if they even have need,” Maine said. As for the Johnses, they coped with the help of their neighbors. “We feel lucky living out here,” said Karen, 77. The two have been in their home for more than 20 years, but this is the longest they’ve ever gone without power. One of their sons in Sherwood offered to let them come over for warm showers, but they didn’t feel the need, said Bill, 79. Their wood stove keeps their house cozy and they can cook on it, too — even meatloaf. A few days after their generator broke, a neighbor lent them a backup, allowing them to keep the fridge and lights on. “We got heat, we got water,” Bill said. “We can read,” Karen said, “and we can really do anything we want to do.”