SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2021
FROM PAGE ONE
THE OBSERVER — A5
DEER: Whitetail does usually have twin fawns every year
Continued from Page A1
The disease is also sus-
pected as the cause in
another mule deer’s death.
Furfey said she doesn’t
have an estimated total
number of deer deaths due
to the outbreak.
She said the virus was
most prevalent in and
around the city of Wal-
lowa, but it was also con-
fi rmed elsewhere in the
Wallowa Valley including
near Joseph, Lostine and
Enterprise, and in the
northern part of the county
near Troy and the Wenaha
country.
Furfey said that although
the extent of the EHD out-
break isn’t certain, she
doesn’t believe the death
toll among deer was high
enough to warrant any
reductions in hunting tags
for 2022.
fall of 2019, resulting in the
cancellation of some deer
hunts in that area.
The virus poses no threat
to people, cats or dogs. Nor
can people become ill by
eating the meat of a deer or
other animal infected with
EHD.
Deer are infected only
by being bitten by midges;
deer can’t infect each other
through nose-to-nose con-
tact, as with some other
diseases.
Union County
EHD also spread
through white-tailed deer in
Union County this summer,
including in higher eleva-
tion forested areas in the
Wenaha and Sled Springs
units where the disease has
rarely been confi rmed in
the past, said Phillip Per-
rine, a wildlife biologist at
ODFW’s La Grande offi ce.
“It was more prevalent
than we’ve seen,” Perrine
said.
He didn’t have an esti-
mate for how many deer
died, although he said there
were outbreaks in both
the mountains and in the
Grande Ronde Valley.
Assessing the extent
of the outbreak will be
easier once ODFW receives
hunter reports and con-
ducts its annual aerial deer
census this month, Perrine
said.
He said ODFW started
getting reports of dead
white-tailed deer in early
Rapid recovery?
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo
An insect-borne virus killed dozens of deer, most whitetails, in Baker, Union and Wallowa counties this summer, but wildlife biologists said the
die-off likely won’t lead to a reduction in hunting tags.
summer, and, as in Baker
Valley, tissue samples con-
fi rmed EHD.
Both Perrine and Rat-
liff believe the severe
drought contributed to the
severity of this year’s EHD
outbreak.
Deer tend to be most
vulnerable to being
infected by midges when
the animals are con-
centrated around water
sources, the biologists said.
And with fewer of
those sources during this
dry summer, there were
likely larger numbers of
deer gathering in places
where they were exposed to
midges, Perrine said.
It’s not clear yet whether
the EHD outbreak will
prompt ODFW to reduce
hunting tag numbers for any
2022 seasons, Perrine said.
He said he hopes that’s
not the case, particularly
with a popular muzzle-
loader hunt for whitetails.
Ratliff said the EHD out-
break ended quickly once
freezing temperatures kill
the year’s crop of midges.
Both he and Perrine
said they stopped receiving
reports of dead deer in early
fall.
“Once the conditions get
colder and these midges are
no longer on the landscape,
we didn’t really have any
more losses,” Perrine said.
Wallowa County
A total of 12 deer — 11
whitetails and one mule
deer — were confi rmed by
tests as having died from
EHD, said Bree Furfey, dis-
trict wildlife biologist at
ODFW’s Enterprise offi ce.
Although white-tailed
deer are much more suscep-
tible to EHD, the species
has an advantage in that
whitetail populations tend
to grow faster than mule
deer herds when conditions
are suitable, Perrine said.
White-tailed does typi-
cally have twin fawns each
year, he said.
“It’s diffi cult to overhunt
whitetails because they
reproduce so quickly,” Per-
rine said.
Furfey and Ratliff also
cited the procreation poten-
tial of whitetails as one
reason why this year’s EHD
outbreak likely won’t aff ect
next year’s hunting season.
MEASURE 110: Treatment still lacking DINNER
Continued from Page A1
ment when they refuse to
get treatment on a volun-
tary basis,” he said. “There
is now very little account-
ability for drug-dependent
persons, and we are seeing
an increase in certain crim-
inal conduct that could be
contributed to the eff ects of
Measure 110.”
According to Hays,
there is a 135% increase in
theft cases, 113% increase
in criminal mischief-re-
lated calls, a 33% increase
in assault-related calls and
a 83% decrease in drug law
violations that correlate
with the start of Measure
110’s enforcement in Feb-
ruary. The statistics are
based on a comparison of
criminal activity related to
drug usage in Union County
between February-No-
vember 2019 and Febru-
ary-November 2021.
Hays noted that it is dif-
fi cult to quantify whether
these stats are a direct result
of Measure 110. He also
stated that these numbers
do not include calls for ser-
vice where a report was
not taken by law enforce-
ment. The COVID-19 pan-
demic is another factor that
is aff ecting crime trends
across the country.
With that being said,
Hays also noted mental
health is the larger trend
playing a negative role in
communities.
“My personal feeling is
the increase in people suf-
fering from mental health
issues has had a much larger
impact on our policing and
community than Measure
110,” he said. “Although,
some mental health issues
can also be Measure
110-related due to chronic
drug abuse.”
He emphasized it is dif-
fi cult to measure the eff ec-
tiveness of Measure 110,
seeing as a major shift in
law enforcement takes time
to fully take eff ect.
Legal system
Law enforcement is not
seeing the same results
from relaxed punishments
for drug abuse versus
when drugs were crimi-
nalized. That is not to say
that a focus on recovery
and mental health can’t be
eff ective, but the legwork to
switch the emphasis still is
being put in place.
La Grande attorney
Jared Boyd weighed in on
what he has noticed from
a legal standpoint, noting
there has been a signifi cant
case drop due to Measure
110. While the intent of the
measure is to make treat-
ment and recovery options
readily available, he said
those options are lacking in
Eastern Oregon.
“It’s a measure that was
well-intended,” he said. “I
agree with the goal of the
measure, but there needs to
be a much better system in
place.”
Boyd said there are sig-
nifi cantly less treatment
options in Eastern Oregon
as opposed to the western
side of the state, which may
be having a negative eff ect
on Measure 110’s eff ective-
ness on the eastern side of
Oregon.
“I agree with
the spirit of it.
Jail doesn’t treat
addiction, we
know that. There
needs to be
changes and it
needs to be fully
implemented to
fi x crimes.”
— Jared Boyd,
La Grande attorney
Court statistics from
around the state also show
that individuals are not
showing up for their court
appearances in high fre-
quencies. According to
Oregon Public Broadcasting,
defendants didn’t show up
for circuit court appearance
in about three-fi fths of the
978 cases through Oct. 1
since the measure’s enforce-
ment went into eff ect at the
beginning of February.
According to Boyd, a
rough estimate on reduc-
tion in criminal cases fi led
would be somewhere around
20-30%. He said he also
expects a large ripple eff ect
on defense attorneys’ bud-
gets due to the absence of
drug-related cases.
“I agree with the spirit of
it. Jail doesn’t treat addic-
tion, we know that,” Boyd
said. “There needs to be
changes and it needs to be
fully implemented to fi x
crimes.”
Path to recovery
Early numbers may not
refl ect the measure’s long-
term eff ects in Oregon, but
the initial stages of Mea-
sure 110 have seen a major
shakeup in how drug abuse
is addressed in the state.
In a letter from Amy
Ashton-Williams, the exec-
utive director of the Oregon
Washington Health Net-
work, she entailed what she
described as positive strides
that have been made since
the passing of Measure 110.
“Measure 110 alone
cannot fi x this nationwide
crisis, but it’s an important
tool for how we stop treating
addiction as a moral failing
deserving of punishment,
and start treating it as a
health issue deserving of
medical care,” Ashton-Wil-
liams said.
OWhN is one of 70 orga-
nizations funded through
the fi rst round of Measure
110 grants that were dis-
tributed this summer. The
idea of increased recovery
and treatment comes from
the notion that money saved
from the cost of arrests
and incarceration can go to
increased medical care.
According to Ash-
ton-Williams, OWhN has
opened three new drop-in
peer centers in Hermiston,
Milton-Freewater and Pend-
leton — spaces where indi-
viduals can share experi-
ences, get help and meet
peiope who have overcome
addiction.
While certain elements
of the new system need time
to be implemented and some
aspects of law enforcement
may see negative impacts,
health offi cials such as Ash-
ton-Williams are optimistic
of Measure 110 moving
forward.
“Oregon communities
have been denied proper
access to addiction recovery
services for so long that it’s
going to take some time
before we feel the full pos-
itive impacts of this new
law,” Ashton-Williams said.
“We’ve got a lot of people
who have, for far too long,
fallen through the cracks.
We’re working hard to
meet the tremendous need,
ensuring there is no wrong
door when it comes to
accessing critical care.”
As the new method
for handling drug abuse
and possession in Oregon
becomes established, only
time will tell the full impact
of Measure 110 on substance
abuse in the state.
Continued from Page A1
open again for congregate
meals because of falling
COVID-19 infection rates.
The meal was cause for
a celebration, attended by
more than 30 seniors. Col-
orful balloons were at the
dining tables, champagne
and the center’s ever-pop-
ular fried chicken was
served, and everyone got
to eat for free.
“It is exciting to see
everyone together again
and see old friends,” Kathy
McDevitt, of La Grande,
said.
She added the Dec. 15
reopening date was one
seniors had been eagerly
waiting for.
“There was such antici-
pation,” she said.
Everyone coming for
lunch was again signed
in by Gerry Montgomery.
The Union County Senior
Center volunteer has been
signing people in for meals
for almost three decades.
“It was so nice to see
everybody back,” Mont-
gomery said. “I was glad
to see everybody happy
and feeling good today. It
makes you think we will
be getting back to normal.”
Deb O’Rourke, a vol-
unteer server at the
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
James Kleinknecht receives a lunch at the Union County Senior
Center in La Grande on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021.
senior center, said it was
delightful to see so many
coming to enjoy a midday
meal.
“I love to see the faces.
It was nice to see people
socializing again,” she
said.
Sydney Gleeson, Union
County food services
manager for Community
Connection of Northeast
Oregon, said having the
seniors back for in-person
dining was exciting, and
it was gratifying to see
how happy they were to be
back.
“It was fun,” she
said. “Everyone one was
bursting with energy.”
While the Union
County Senior Center
had not served sit-down
meals for 21 months due
to COVID-19, it has con-
tinued to prepare lunches
and dinners for its Meals
on Wheels program and
initiated a grab-and-go
lunch program that will
continue. The takeout
lunches are now provided
on weekdays between
noon and 1 p.m. and can
be picked up at the back
entrance of the senior cen-
ter’s kitchen.
McDevitt credits the
senior center’s kitchen
staff with doing an excel-
lent job of continuing to
provide tasty, nutritious
meals despite not having
as much food as needed
because of supply chain
issues.
“I think we all should
be grateful that they are
making do and putting out
good meals. We should be
honoring them,” she said.
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
www.LaGrandeObserver.com
Wishes you a
Joyous Holiday Season
and a
Merry Christmas!
Together, let’s make
2022 a year of
Health, Happiness and
Thriving Community
Growth.
LA GRANDE
2514 Cove Avenue
541-624-5040
BRANCH: Jack, Trisha & Nichole
LOANS: Kristy, David & Carly
MEMBER FDIC