2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
BUSINESS & AG LIFE
THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2021
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Leah Johnson, owner of the new art shop in Joseph called Ele-
ment, shows one of her encaustic paintings that demonstrates
the medium’s ability to capture texture Thursday, May 27, 2021.
ELEMENT
Continued from Page 1B
Nicholas K. Geranios/The Associated Press, File
In this April 11, 2018, photo, water moves through a spillway of the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Washington. A dozen
tribes issued a joint press release last week rejecting the notion that tribes based near Puget Sound might have diff ering goals than inland
tribes.
Twelve Northwest tribes united to save salmon
Some tribes criticize
suggestion they have
competing opinions
on saving salmon runs
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
The Associated Press
SPOKANE — Some
Native American tribes in
the Pacifi c Northwest are
criticizing the suggestion
they have competing opin-
ions on how best to save
endangered salmon runs,
saying tribes are united in
pursuing the removal of
four hydroelectric dams on
the Snake River in order to
preserve the iconic fi sh.
A dozen tribes issued
a joint press release last
week rejecting the notion
that tribes based near Puget
Sound might have diff ering
goals than inland tribes.
“Any eff orts to divide
the indigenous peoples of
this region by suggesting
that the Puget Sound
Tribes don’t have the same
interests as the Northwest
Inland Tribes have been
soundly rejected by tribal
leaders,” Nez Perce Tribe
Chairman Samuel Penney
said in the release. “We are
all salmon people.”
The dozen tribes are
united behind a controver-
sial proposal by U.S. Rep.
Mike Simpson, an Idaho
Republican, to spend some
$33 billion on eff orts to
save salmon that include
breaching the four dams.
The dams are located
on the lower Snake
River between the cities
of Pasco and Pullman
in eastern Washington
state, and are blamed by
some for blocking salmon
from reaching spawning
grounds. Supporters of the
dams point to ocean condi-
tions, overfi shing and other
causes for the decline of
salmon numbers.
Simpson’s plan to
remove the Ice Harbor,
Little Goose, Lower
Granite and Lower Monu-
mental dams also includes
a 35-year moratorium on
lawsuits, ending costly liti-
gation over the dams’ envi-
ronmental impact. That
provision has caused a
split among major North-
west environmental groups
over the plan. Demo-
cratic Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee and Republican
members of Washing-
ton’s congressional delega-
tion also oppose Simpson’s
plan.
The 12 tribes who sup-
port Simpson’s proposal
are the Nez Perce; Con-
federated Salish and Koo-
tenai; Umatilla; Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation; Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs;
Kootenai; Yakama Nation;
Spokane; Shoshone-Ban-
nock; Coeur d’Alene; Sho-
shone Paiute; and Burns
Paiute.
State population growth was the slowest in a decade
By MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — Oregon
added fewer than 32,000
residents last year, the
slowest growth in a decade
— since the last recession,
in fact.
That’s not a coincidence.
Migration typically slows,
in Oregon and elsewhere,
during broad economic
dips. The same was true
during the Great Recession,
notes Oregon Employment
Department economist
Sarah Cunningham, and
during the steep downturns
that Oregon endured in the
early 1980s.
Last year, though, there
was another key factor:
Deaths outnumbered births
for the fi rst time in Oregon
history.
The same was true in
25 other states, according
to Charles Rynerson with
Portland State Universi-
SOON
Continued from Page 1B
wanted to move into the
adjacent space ever since
Looking Glass Books
moved out about two years
ago.
Escamilla said there will
be no grand opening for
the new addition because
of COVID-19 restrictions.
WHEAT
Continued from Page 1B
normal, but international
travel to customers will con-
tinue to lag, Hoey said. The
commission expects no
ty’s Population Research
Center. In Oregon, prelim-
inary numbers indicate 315
more people died than were
born during 2020.
Oregon’s “natural pop-
ulation increase” has been
slowing for years, refl ecting
an aging population and
lower birth rates. Rynerson
notes that Oregon births
peaked at 50,000 babies in
2007, compared to about
40,000 last year.
Economists had long
anticipated that Oregon
deaths would outnumber
births, but that mile-
stone hit years earlier than
forecast.
COVID-19 was one big
reason why. Even though
the pandemic accounted for
just about 4% of the 40,000
Oregon deaths during 2020,
it was a substantial share
of the 7% increase in total
deaths.
Last year was actu-
ally the third consecu-
tive year Oregon recorded
slower population growth,
reversing a steep upward
trajectory that began in
2012. In an analysis last
month, employment depart-
ment economist Damon
Runberg said a slowing
job market and rising
home prices are the most
likely explanations for the
pre-pandemic slowdown.
“Although Oregon’s
housing market remains
more aff ordable than neigh-
bors to our north or south,”
Runberg wrote, “many of
the region’s largest met-
ropolitan areas are losing
the ‘low cost’ competitive
advantage.”
Population growth was
vital to the remarkable eco-
nomic lift Oregon enjoyed
in the decade after the
Great Recession. Smart,
young migrants buoyed
the state by bringing new
Once restrictions are lifted
there likely will be a grand-
opening event.
Raul’s has been oper-
ating at its present location
on Adams Avenue since it
opened in August 2011.
The restaurant’s most
popular foods, Escamilla
said, are street tacos, Raul’s
burritos and huaraches,
which is fried cornbread
topped with beans, meat,
cheese and tomatoes.
Escamilla said the
past year has been one of
the restaurant’s toughest
because of the COVID-19
pandemic. He credits loyal
customers with allowing his
restaurant to continue oper-
ating when many others
could not.
“The support we have
received has been amazing,”
he said.
in-person trade teams again
for the 2021 harvest.
“It is rare to say the words
‘unfortunate’ in reduction
of expenses, but that one is
an unfortunate reduction in
expenses as the relationships
with our trading partners are
critical and we are looking
forward to seeing them in
person again,” she said.
The commission will
be 2022 hosts for the U.S.
Wheat Associates summer
conference, so the commis-
sion budget refl ects increased
spending in relation to
hosting the event, Hoey said.
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skills, and by attracting
employers in search of their
abilities.
So while migration
clogs the highways and
further amps up competi-
tion for Oregon houses, it’s
also essential for the state’s
rebound after the pandemic
recession. Despite the
higher prices, Runberg said
Oregon remains an attrac-
tion — if only because
other West Coast hotspots
are even more crowded.
“Once the health crisis
gets under control and
consumer confi dence
rebounds, our migration
patterns will likely bounce
back to normal levels,”
he wrote. “Oregon will
remain attractive from a
quality-of-life perspec-
tive, and there is every
reason to believe that Ore-
gon’s economy will recover
as quickly as the national
economy.”
didn’t really give the
energy toward my cre-
ative side for quite a
while,” she said. “It was
a pretty creative job, if
you’re going to be in a
bank, doing marketing
is probably the most cre-
ative you can be, but
I just started feeling I
needed a career change or
else I was going to work
in the bank my whole
career. I stumbled across
the fact that this portion
of the building was for
rent.”
So she set up Ele-
ment at 2 S. Main St., in
the former location of
Stewart Jones Designs.
She opened May 18 with
a “soft opening” posted
on social media.
“Now I’m on my own
and doing it,” she said.
In addition to her own
art, Johnson sells works
by other local artists.
Some of those include
pottery by local farmer
Terra Leven, bronze by
Shelley Curtiss, pottery
and stoneware by Jack
Coelho, woodworking
by Christian Niece,
robes and skulls from
the Stangel Bison Ranch
and vintage photos of the
area.
“I’m hoping to get
more of those in,”
Johnson said. “Some
other people are working
on things for me.”
Now Open for Dine In
She also sells cus-
tom-made furniture
from Bilt Well in Port-
land, sheep-related
items, down pillows and
textiles.
Element also off ers art
classes on the encaustic
medium.
“Part of the business
is doing a Friday evening
workshop if people are
interested in learning and
trying their hand at some
small (encaustic) paint-
ings,” Johnson said.
Although she’s been
open only a short time,
she’s been encouraged by
the start.
“I had a very good fi rst
week. Had a lot of good
local support and a lot of
people from out of town
just happening by,” she
said. “I’ve already rear-
ranged things on the wall
because I sold a couple
of my paintings and one
of Shelley’s bronzes yes-
terday. It’s been really
good.”
Johnson is assisted
part time by daughter
Haven, who also has an
artistic bent.
“A little. I do a little
collage, I am going to
do some collage cards,”
Haven said.
Another local, Cailey
Murray, also is helping
for the summer.
She said her husband
and her parents, Joel and
Marsha Svendsen, were
a big help getting the
building ready for Ele-
ment’s opening.
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