LOCAL
A2 — THE OBSERVER
TODAY
In 1587, Virginia Dare became
the first child of English parents to
be born in present-day America,
on what is now Roanoke Island in
North Carolina. (However, the Roa-
noke colony ended up mysteri-
ously disappearing.)
In 1894, Congress established
the Bureau of Immigration.
In 1914, President Woodrow
Wilson issued his Proclamation of
Neutrality, aimed at keeping the
United States out of World War I.
In 1920, the 19th Amendment
to the Constitution, guaranteeing
American women’s right to vote,
was ratified as Tennessee became
the 36th state to approve it.
In 1963, James Meredith
became the first Black student to
graduate from the University of
Mississippi.
In 1969, the Woodstock Music
and Art Fair in Bethel, New York,
wound to a close after three nights
with a mid-morning set by Jimi
Hendrix.
In 1983, Hurricane Alicia
slammed into the Texas coast,
leaving 21 dead and causing more
than a billion dollars’ worth of
damage.
In 1993, a judge in Sarasota,
Florida, ruled that Kimberly Mays,
the 14-year-old girl who had been
switched at birth with another
baby, need never again see her
biological parents, Ernest and
Regina Twigg, in accordance with
her stated wishes. (However, Kim-
berly later moved in with the
Twiggs.)
In 2004, in Athens, Paul Hamm
(hahm) won the men’s gymnastics
all-around Olympic gold medal
by the closest margin ever in the
event; controversy followed after it
was discovered a scoring error cost
Yang Tae-young of South Korea
the title.
In 2005, a judge in Wichita,
Kansas, sentenced BTK serial killer
Dennis Rader to 10 consecutive
life terms, the maximum the law
would allow.
In 2011, Vice President Joe Biden
met with Chinese Vice President Xi
Jinping in Beijing.
In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon
ordered the National Guard to Fer-
guson, a suburb of St. Louis con-
vulsed by protests over the fatal
shooting of a Black 18-year-old,
Michael Brown.
In 2020, Democrats formally
made Joe Biden their 2020 presi-
dential nominee at their all-virtual
national convention. The Republi-
can-led Senate intelligence com-
mittee concluded that the Kremlin
had launched an aggressive effort
to interfere in the 2016 presiden-
tial contest on behalf of Donald
Trump, and that the Trump cam-
paign’s interactions with Russian
intelligence services had posed a
“grave” counterintelligence threat.
Today’s Birthdays: Former
first lady Rosalynn Carter is 95.
Actor-director Robert Redford is
86. Actor Henry G. Sanders is 80.
Actor-comedian Martin Mull is 79.
Rock musician Dennis Elliott is 72.
Comedian Elayne Boosler is 70.
Actor Denis Leary is 65. Actor Mad-
eleine Stowe is 64. Former Trea-
sury Secretary Timothy Geithner is
61. ABC News reporter Bob Wood-
ruff is 61. The former president
of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, is 60.
Actor Adam Storke is 60. Actor
Craig Bierko is 58. Rock singer-mu-
sician Zac Maloy (The Nixons) is
54. Rock singer and hip-hop artist
Everlast is 53. Rapper Masta Killa
(Wu-Tang Clan) is 53. Actor Chris-
tian Slater is 53. Actor Edward
Norton is 53. Actor Malcolm-Jamal
Warner is 52. Actor Kaitlin Olson
is 47. Rock musician Dirk Lance is
46. Actor-comedian Andy Sam-
berg (TV: “Saturday Night Live”)
is 44. Country musician Brad Tursi
(Old Dominion) is 43. Actor Mika
Boorem is 35. Actor Maia Mitchell
is 29. Actor Madelaine Petsch is 28.
Actor Parker McKenna Posey is 27.
CORRECTIONS
The Observer works hard to be
accurate and sincerely regrets
any errors. If you notice a
mistake in the paper, please call
541-963-3161.
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THuRSday, auguST 18, 2022
Shedding light on suicide prevention Report:
More
wolves,
beavers
needed
in West
Wallowa County
Center for Wellness
set to host second-
annual vigil on
World Suicide
Prevention Day
By SHANNON GOLDEN
The Observer
ENTERPRISE — The
Wallowa Valley Center for
Wellness will be holding its
second annual Out of the
Dark luminary vigil Sat-
urday, Sept. 10, in honor of
National Suicide Preven-
tion Month.
The event coincides
with World Suicide Preven-
tion Day, a yearly world-
wide awareness event
geared towards spreading
a singular message — sui-
cide can be prevented.
Tosca Rawls, the cen-
ter’s public relations and
development director,
hopes the event will allow
community members to
remember those who they
have lost, bring people
together, and perhaps
foster hope by showing
that support is readily
available.
For the team at WVCW,
this year’s vigil is just one
of the many suicide pre-
vention education and out-
reach efforts it provides
for residents in Wallowa
County.
“Our community has
been deeply affected by
a rise in completed sui-
cides in the last two years,”
Rawls said. “We also just
want to shed some light on
the issue and reduce the
stigma in talking about it.”
Those who attend the
vigil can expect to see hun-
dreds of bags, filled with
battery-powered tea lights,
illuminating the lawn and
walkways in front of the
Wallowa County Court-
house in Enterprise.
Rawls said last year’s
vigil was a powerful way to
show just how many people
have been affected by sui-
cide. She noted that, for the
The Observer
Tosca Rawls/Contributed Photo
Community members walk alongside illuminated bags during the first annual Out of the Dark luminary
vigil in Enterprise, hosted by the Wallowa County Center for Wellness on Sep. 30, 2021.
SEEKING SUPPORT?
MORE INFORMATION
If you or someone you know
is seeking local crisis support,
call Wallowa Valley Center for
Wellness Crisis Line at 541-398-
1175. For anyone in Wallowa
County who isn’t in crisis but is
seeking additional resources,
the WVCW has same-day ser-
vice available 541-426-4524.
If you or someone you know
is in crisis, call 988 to reach the
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or
call the National Suicide Pre-
vention Lifeline at 800-273-
8255, text HOME to 741741
or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.
com/resources for additional
resources.
For more information or ques-
tions about the event, contact
Tosca Rawls or Amy Busch at
541-426-4524 ext. 1031. Visit
the Wallowa Valley Center for
Wellness website at wvcenter-
forwellness.org for a current
list of upcoming suicide pre-
vention and education events.
moment, the center plans to
make it an ongoing annual
event.
“I think that when
people saw the amount of
lights, it had a real impact,”
she said. “I think that it
gave people an opportunity
to remember those who had
been lost.”
Between Aug. 17 and
Sept. 7, community mem-
bers are encouraged to visit
locations around Joseph
and Enterprise to pick up
bags to decorate for the
vigil. The bags can either
be decorated on-site, or
personalized and returned
before Sept. 7.
Last year, Rawls said the
bags were covered in mes-
sages and noted remem-
bering those who had been
lost, pictures of hearts and
rainbows and messages of
hope.
Displays with bags to
decorate for the event will
be at the following loca-
tions: Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital lobby, the
Josephy Center, Enter-
prise’s Building Healthy
Families, the Enterprise
Public Library, Winding
Waters Clinic, Wallowa
Public Library or the
Hearts for Health Building
at 606 Medical Parkway,
Enterprise.
This vigil is one of
many that will be held
across the country to bring
awareness to suicide pre-
vention and offer support
for community members
who have been impacted
by suicide. Rawls said the
event will begin at dusk,
and that there is no formal
schedule.
“People can absolutely
come and go as they would
like,” she said.
WVCW dedicated its
work in 2022 and 2023 to
suicide prevention educa-
tion and outreach. They
have held several free
classes and trainings —
open to the public — sur-
rounding how to recog-
nize signs of suicide, talk
to those at risk and get
help for individuals in
crisis.
“Our hope for impact
is that we can continue to
raise awareness around
suicide prevention and to
focus our efforts on pro-
viding treatment.”
Utah murder suspect found dead near Joseph
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — The body
of a Utah fugitive who
was wanted for murder
is believed to have been
found along Hurricane
Creek Road west of Joseph,
according to a Tuesday,
Aug. 16, press release from
the Wallowa County Sher-
iff’s Office.
Michael Grant Asman,
35, of Heber City, Utah, was
wanted for the murder of
Julie Ann Burns on July 14
in Wasatch County, Utah.
At about 1 p.m. Aug.
15, a sheriff’s deputy
and Oregon State Police
responded to a report of an
abandoned 2005 Chevrolet
Silverado pickup parked on
the shoulder
of Hurri-
cane Creek
Road near
the trailhead.
The license
plate on the
Asman
vehicle was
registered to
Asman. A Wasatch County
warrant charged Asman
with homicide, stating
that his whereabouts were
unknown.
When Asman’s pickup
was found, OSP Sgt. Grant
Jackson and Wallowa
County Deputy Sheriff
Paul Pagano determined
the vehicle had not been
moved for some time. They
searched through a wooded
area to the creek and found
a decomposing corpse with
a gunshot wound to the
head and a Glock model
27, 40-caliber Smith and
Wesson pistol by the left
shoulder of the road.
Wallowa County Med-
ical Examiner Gary Zeigler
responded to the scene.
Law enforcement offi-
cers from Wasatch County
flew into the Joseph Airport
and joined the investigation.
They believed the corpse to
be that of Asman.
Sheriff Joel Fish said
it was a “domestic vio-
lence relationship.” He said
Asman and Burns had been
married, even though they
did not share a surname.
According to Law and
Crime online, when officers
responded to a domestic
violence call, they found
Burns in her home appar-
ently dead of a gunshot
wound to the head. She
was pronounced dead at the
scene.
The couple’s children
were in the house at the
time, Law and Crime said,
and were sent upstairs
while Asman and Burns
argued. One child said
Asman had a gun and they
heard what they believed
to be a gunshot. Asman led
the children out and told
them not to look at their
dead mother.
NEWS BRIEFS
Bike club wins grant
for Bikes to Kids
ENTERPRISE — The Wal-
lowa Mountains Bicycle Club has
secured a grant from the Lew-
is-Clark Valley Healthcare Foun-
dation to support getting used,
donated bikes to underserved
kids throughout Wallowa County,
according to a press release.
Club volunteers will repair and
upgrade donated or discarded bikes
and then work with local schools
and social service agencies to iden-
tify youths who would benefit from
having a bike.
“The benefits to bike riding
for kids goes way beyond the fun
they provide,” said Angela Mart,
WMBC board president. “Biking
regularly improves cardiovascular
health, reduces the risk of diabetes,
increases autonomy, builds confi-
dence, strengthens social connec-
tions and gets kids outdoors.”
The club aims to have 20 bikes
donated in the coming year to
deserving youth throughout Wal-
lowa County.
Anyone with an unused bike to
donate can reach out to the club at
wallowamountainsbicycleclub@
gmail.com or call 503-703-2001
or if you’d like to build your skills
in maintaining your own bike and
perhaps volunteer to upgrade bikes
with the club team, contact the
club.
Picardin; wearing long-sleeved shirts
and long pants in mosquito-infested
areas; and making sure screen doors
and windows are in good repair and
fit tightly.
West Nile virus detected
in more Union County
mosquitoes
Photo camp plans final
show Aug. 20
IMBLER — West Nile virus has
been detected in mosquitoes at two
additional testing sites in Union
County, according to a press release
from the Union County Vector Con-
trol District.
The additional positive tests make
three so far in the county, following
a pair of positive tests earlier this
month. All three positive tests have
been in different parts of the Imbler
area, the press release said.
The virus is spread by mosquitoes
and is spread to humans through the
bite of an infected mosquito. Most
infected people will show little or no
signs of disease.
Health officials are advising Union
County residents to take precau-
tions against mosquitoes to avoid
the risk of infection, including elim-
inatinge sources of standing water;
using mosquito repellants containing
DEET, oil of lemon eucalyptus or
JOSEPH — The final show of the
National Geographic Photo Camp
Oregon will take place at 5 p.m. Sat-
urday, Aug. 20, at the Josephy Center
for Arts and Culture, 403 N. Main
St., Joesph.
The camp is led by National
Geographic Explorers and pho-
tographers Sara Hylton and Tailyr
Irvine.
The workshop brought together 12
young people from indigenous com-
munities who have called this area
home for centuries, with a mean-
ingful introduction to photojour-
nalism as a career and a platform to
share their voices.
The theme of the camp focused
on ways that the Wallowa River and
other waterways connect communi-
ties in the region.
For more information, call 240-
421-9520 or email jeffadl@ngs.org.
— EO Media Group
CORVALLIS — Oregon
State University scientists
are proposing management
changes on western federal
lands that they say would
result in more wolves and
beavers and would reestab-
lish ecological processes.
In a paper published ear-
lier this month in BioSci-
ence, “Rewilding the Amer-
ican West,” co-lead author
William Ripple and 19 other
authors suggest using por-
tions of federal lands in 11
states to establish a network
based on potential habitat
for the gray wolf — an apex
predator able to trigger pow-
erful, widespread ecological
effects.
In those states the authors
identified areas, each at least
5,000 square kilometers, of
contiguous, federally man-
aged lands containing prime
wolf habitat. The states in the
proposed Western Rewilding
Network, which would cover
nearly 500,000 square kilo-
meters, are Oregon, Wash-
ington, California, Nevada,
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming,
Colorado, Arizona, New
Mexico and Utah.
“It’s an ambitious idea,
but the American West is
going through an unprece-
dented period of converging
crises including extended
drought and water scarcity,
extreme heat waves, massive
fires and loss of biodiversity,”
said Ripple, professor of
ecology in the OSU College
of Forestry.
Gray wolves were hunted
to near extinction in the West
but were reintroduced to
parts of the northern Rocky
Mountains and the Southwest
starting in the 1990s through
measures made possible by
the Endangered Species Act.
“Still, the gray wolf’s cur-
rent range in those 11 states
is only about 14% of its his-
torical range,” said co-lead
author Christopher Wolf, a
postdoctoral scholar in the
College of Forestry. “They
probably once numbered
in the tens of thousands,
but today there might only
be 3,500 wolves across the
entire West.”
Beaver populations,
once robust across the West,
declined roughly 90% after
settler colonialism and are
now nonexistent in many
streams, meaning ecosystem
services are going unpro-
vided, the authors say.
By felling trees and
shrubs and constructing
dams, beavers enrich fish
habitat, increase water and
sediment retention, maintain
water flows during drought,
improve water quality,
increase carbon sequestra-
tion and generally improve
habitat for riparian plant and
animal species.
“Beaver restoration is a
cost-effective way to repair
degraded riparian areas,”
said co-author Robert
Beschta, professor emeritus
in the OSU College of For-
estry. “Riparian areas occupy
less than 2% of the land in
the West but provide hab-
itat for up to 70% of wildlife
species.”
Similarly, wolf restoration
offers significant ecological
benefits by helping to natu-
rally control native ungulates
such as elk, according to the
authors. They say wolves
facilitate regrowth of vege-
tation species such as aspen,
which supports diverse plant
and animal communities and
is declining in the West.
The paper includes a cat-
alogue of 92 threatened and
endangered plant and animal
species that have at least 10%
of their ranges within the
proposed Western Rewilding
Network; for each species,
threats from human activity
were analyzed.