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January 13, 2022
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THURSDAY EDITION
Johnson: Elgin comment ‘pulled out of thin air’
Gubernatorial candidate
refers to Union County
community in quote
about violence
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
ELGIN — A remark from an
Oregon gubernatorial candidate
regarding a local Union County
city likely meant no harm, despite
its connotation.
Betsy Johnson, running
with the advent of
“I just pulled it out of
as an independent candi-
COVID. It seems to
the air,” she said. “I was
date, commented on her
be a kind of colli-
just thinking about a small
thoughts about a lack of
sion of catastrophes.
town somewhere in Eastern
safety across Oregon in an
We’ve got 13 coun-
Oregon.”
interview with Willamette
ties, a third of our
Johnson explained that
Week on Wednesday, Jan. 5
land mass, wanting to Hallgarth the quote was not intended
Johnson
— the quote tied in Elgin, a
fl ee to Idaho. We’ve
as a dig to Elgin, stating that
small town at the northern end of
got people not safe on this streets, she has visited the Northeastern
the Grande Ronde Valley. When
whether you’re in Elgin or Lau-
Oregon town in the past.
asked when Oregon “lost its way,” relhurst,” Johnson told the Willa-
“I’ve been to Elgin and I had
Johnson stated that Oregon cit-
mette Week.
Elgin on the brain,” she said. “I
izens are not safe on the streets,
Johnson later cleared the air,
just purely picked it out of the air,
regardless of what town you live
noting that Elgin was the fi rst city there was nothing specifi c.”
in.
on the east side of the state that
Elgin Mayor Risa Hallgarth
“We really lost our way
she could think of at the time.
weighed in on the quote, stating
Bentz
slams
river act
she has no idea why Johnson
would mention Elgin by name in
that context.
“Everybody has their prob-
lems, but I don’t feel unsafe at all
here and I’ve lived here all my
life,” she said. “I don’t know why
she would have said Elgin, maybe
because it’s small in comparison
to other towns.”
Hallgarth said that while crime
occurs in every city, she disagrees
with tying in Elgin as unsafe.
“We don’t have gang issues or
See, Elgin/Page A5
Investigation ongoing
Wallowa County may
seize cattle after
possible neglect
Freshman congressman
speaks out against
legislation on U.S.
House floor Jan. 11
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WASHINGTON — Oregon
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario,
denounced the River Democ-
racy Act on the House fl oor
Tuesday, Jan. 11, saying the leg-
islation that would label 4,700
miles of waterways as “Wild
and Scenic” would instead leave
them “just waiting to be burned
and ruined.”
“The overwhelming majority
of my 62 county commissioners
have serious and unanswered
concerns about the dangers the
act presents,” Bentz, a freshman
congressman, said during his
fl oor speech. “Chief among them
is that this designation will pre-
vent what needs to be done to
protect these watersheds, placing
them in a bureaucratic waste-
land where it will take years, if
not decades, to initiate and then
complete plans that may or may
not allow the treatment activities
needed right now.”
Bentz noted that with a mile-
wide corridor — a half-mile
on each side of the designated
areas — being marked Wild and
Scenic, the area cordoned off ,
4,700 square miles, would be
about the size of Connecticut.
Bentz said the bill would
allow just one method of fi re
prevention — prescribed
burning — which he contended
would actually increase the
See, Bentz/Page A5
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
— Wallowa County Sheriff
Joel Fish said his offi ce con-
tinues to investigate possible
animal neglect by Dean Oregon
Ranches and others in the
stranding of cattle in the moun-
tains during recent snowstorms.
The sheriff said he expects
the investigation to take time
as his offi ce gathers statements
from those involved.
“I do not have any specifi c
number of cows that have been
gathered or died,” Fish said.
“The staff for Dean Oregon
Ranches are collecting the
cattle. Most of the cattle belong
to Dean Oregon Ranches.”
County Commissioner Todd
Nash, who is a rancher and
often addresses agricultural
issues on the Board of Com-
missioners, said Fish’s state-
ment of Dec. 31 that the county
was “moving toward seizing
the Dean Oregon Ranch” was
not exactly accurate. Nash
said it’s the cattle — not the
ranch itself — that may be
seized, and it is unknown if the
small number of cattle owned
by other ranchers would be
included.
“We’re looking at seizing the
livestock,” Nash said. “We’re in
the process of considering that.”
He said there is no time-
line in sight, as the proper legal
measures must be taken, such
as Fish’s investigation.
“We need to have all our
ducks in a row,” the commis-
sioner said.
Anna Butterfi eld/Contributed Photo, File
Calves rescued from the deep snows in the Upper Imnaha get some refreshment Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, at the Joseph
-area ranch of Mark and Anna Butterfi eld. The livestock are among many rescued in the past week.
Bob Dean, the owner of the
ranch in the Upper Imnaha area
where cattle have been freezing
or rescued from the winter
weather for the past few weeks,
was defensive of her ailing hus-
band during a telephone inter-
view from her Georgia home.
She said her 68-year-old
husband underwent surgery
in June when his oxygen was
cut off and left him with brain
damage. Dean placed the
responsibility for the cattle’s
welfare squarely on the shoul-
ders of the ranch managers, B.J.
and Emily Warnock.
“He was supposed to bring
the cows down in October,”
Dean said of B.J. Warnock.
“They let the cows go down on
their own.”
Wife speaks up
But Karen Dean, wife of
See, Cattle/Page A5
Craig Stockdale/Contributed Photo, File
This cow had to be euthanized after being stuck in deep snow in the Upper
Imnaha area in late December 2021. A massive eff ort to rescue the cows and
their calves owned by Dean Oregon Ranches has been made by ranch work-
ers, county offi cials and volunteers.
A fi nal ballot looms
Robin Church is set to retire as Union County Clerk
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Five
decades ago Robin Church,
then 18, knew she was
about to become part of his-
tory when she stepped into
an Elgin polling booth to
participate in the presiden-
tial election of Nov. 7, 1972.
What Church did not
know was she was getting a
glimpse of her future.
Church joined the Union
County clerk’s offi ce in
1991 and was appointed
Union County clerk in
2007 to fi ll the unexpired
term of Nellie Bogue-Hib-
bert, who stepped down to
become a Union County
commissioner. Church
was fi rst elected Union
County clerk in 2009. She
has helped count more than
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
See, Church/Page A5
Union County Clerk Robin Church, who has worked at the county
clerk’s offi ce since 1991, will retire in early 2023.
WEATHER
INDEX
Business & Ag.....B1
Classified .............B2
Comics ..................B5
Crossword ...........B2
750,000 ballots during her
career. Church announced
Wednesday, Jan. 5, she will
retire in early January 2023.
“I’ve always liked the
job,” she said. “Everyday
time fl ies by. There
is always something
diff erent.”
Looking back to that
day in 1972, when she was
Dear Abby ...........B6
Horoscope ...........B4
Lottery ..................A2
Obituaries ............A3
SATURDAY
Opinion ................A4
Spiritual Life .......A6
Sports ...................A9
State ......................A7
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
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39/30
Mostly cloudy
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