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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2015)
A3 Cemetery’s supporters working to return it to its former glory. www.wallowa.com Enterprise, Oregon May 13, 2015 $1 Armed man disappears into woods By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain The tiny community of Imnaha remains on alert after an armed man allegedly threat- ened to shoot his girlfriend, her son and law enforcement and then disappeared into the Hells Canyon National Recreational Area near remote Imnaha River :RRGVDUPHGZLWKVHYHUDO¿UH arms and 300 rounds of ammu- nition. The man, Scott Fouste, 53, remains at large at press time. Wallowa County Sheriff’s 2I¿FH LQLWLDOO\ UHVSRQGHG WR D 911 call from Shirley Scott, 63, of Imnaha River Woods at ap- proximately 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 11. Scott allegedly reported that Fouste had threatened her and her grown son, Jason Scott, 41, with a gun, had attempted to gain entry by cutting a door with a chainsaw, and had then retreat- ed to the woods armed with a .22, a shotgun, a .357 Magnum, and approximately 300 rounds of ammunition. Scott said she KDGIULJKWHQHG)RXVWHRIIE\¿U ing several gunshots. Wallowa County Sheriff Steve Rogers said that he imme- diately began calling for back- up, even as he and his deputies, available Oregon State Police RI¿FHUV )LVK DQG :LOGOLIH RI ¿FHUV DQG :DOORZD &RXQW\ Department of Emergency Ser- vices raced toward the location, nearly 65 miles east of Joseph via the Imnaha Highway. Oregon State Police SWAT team responded from a training conference in Bend but were slowed by rain and dangerous driving conditions. They arrived on the scene within four hours, Rogers said, but a requested armored vehicle was still hours behind. “I knew this was going to be ugly and I wanted to use their ar- mor to pull up to the door of the house and pull the victim out,” said Rogers. Rogers had set up a com- mand post at Sheep Creek Hill approximately 7 miles east of Joseph, where he still had cell phone service. See FUGITIVE, Page A7 LOVE A PARADE MULE DAYS GRAND MARSHALS HAVE DONE EVERYTHING BUT THIS T C HIEFTAIN WA L L O WA C O U N T Y Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 Volume 133 Issue No. 4 © 2015 EO Media Group Wallowa County Chieftain daughter of a logger and a recent college graduate. Peggy studied to qualify as both a veterinary assistant and dental assistant. The two met on a blind date, but it soon became clear that they were each the love of the other’s life. 7KH\PDUULHGDQGPRYHGWR-RVHSKEXWGLGQ¶W¿QG KRPHULJKWDZD\7KH\PRYHGVHYHQWLPHVLQWKH¿UVW WZR\HDUVRIPDUULDJH3HJJ\UHFDOOHG¿QDOO\VHWWOLQJ in Enterprise. Dennis started shoeing horses and became famil- iar with mules and that was the beginning of their mule passion. The couple had two children, Charlie and Josi Jean, and added mules to the mix in 1984. See MULES, Page A7 See MONEY, Page A5 Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain “Grandfather Brennan” may be known for his acting chops outside the county, but within the county he is best remembered as a tremendous supporter of Joseph business and instrumental in the development of Chief Joseph Days. Dennis was born in Enterprise in 1951, went to school in Joseph and split his “free” time as a youth between calving season on Lightning Creek in the spring and hay season in the valley in the summer. His best memory of growing up in Wallowa County was being on the 12,000-acre ranch 20 miles south of Joseph. He went away to college at Lane Community Col- lege where he studied machinist and welding tech- nology and then headed off to a job in Prineville. That’s where he met his future wife, Peggy, the By Kathleen Ellyn The Hells Can- yon Mule Days Board of Directors announced the win- ners of the Max Walker Memorial Scholarships at the annual dinner May 6, giving $1,000 checks to Anna Rinehart, daughter of Joe and Karen Rinehart; Calli Mill- er, daughter of Alan and Cheri Miller; and Cody Irish, son of Michele Chapin and Jeff Irish. Committee mem- bers faced their usu- al trial of picking just three winners, said Scott Lathrop. Lathrop crumpled the notes containing WKH MXVWL¿FDWLRQ IRU the awards, saying, “Any of the appli- cants was great and I wish we had the money to award all of them. These kids we’ve awarded de- serve this award, but the thing that sticks out for me is how good of kids we have in this county.” A total of $29,000 in schol- arships have been granted since 2005 and are named in honor of one of Wallowa County’s premier mule skin- ners, Max Walker. Newly appointed 2015 Mule Days Grand Marshals Peggy and Dennis Brennan let their mules, Ben and Moses, in on the good news. he 2015 Mule Days Grand Marshals, Dennis and Peggy Brennan, are synonymous with Mule Days, having served in almost every capacity over the years. Both currently serve on the Board of Directors. “If you watch Dennis and Peggy with mules you know that knowledge is vast,” said board member Scott Lathrop. They’re also Wallowa County “royalty.” Dennis is a fourth generation Wallowa County rancher on his mother Florence Whitman’s side and the grandson of local rancher and multiple Os- car-winning actor Walter Brennan on his father’s side. Max Walker Memorial awards given Enterprise PD review underway By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain ENTERPRISE — Police chiefs from Pendleton, La Grande and Baker City met in Enterprise May 8-10 to look at budgets, contracts, policy and procedures regarding the han- dling of evidence and “basical- ly anything that has to do with delivery of law enforcement service,” said Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts. Roberts is leading the assess- ment being made by the team of chiefs. The chiefs constitute an Agency Review Team, provided by Oregon Association Chiefs of Police (OACP) as a service to the city. Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Police chiefs, from left, Brian Harvey of La Grande, Wyn Lohner of Baker City and Stuart Roberts of Pendleton confer over their findings as they study the policing needs of Enterprise. 7KHHDUO\UHVXOWRIWKHLU¿QG ings, which have not yet been submitted to the council, was a recommendation that Enterprise City Council start the process of advertising for a new chief of police. This process is expect- ed to take several weeks, and city counselors were assured they would not be locked in to a decision to hire before they have time to review all of their options. A second recommen- dation for immediate action was to call a community meeting that would allow the Agency Review Team to speak directly with the public about the pro- cess. The council approved both recommendations at the regular city council meeting May 11. The review team is now FRPSLOLQJ WKHLU ¿QGLQJV LQWR D document to present to the city council. The city council request- ed the review after the March 23 resignation of Police Chief Wes Kilgore, who had served as chief since 2002. In addition to losing Kilgore, the city also temporarily lost the services of Sgt. Michelle Bloker, who was out on medical leave. The disarray led the council to rethink the whole policing issue. It also seemed a good time to look the books over and make sure job descriptions and expec- tations were clear. “We want an orderly, disci- plined police department that will provide the community with the service they deserve,” said Mayor Steve Lear. See REVIEW, Page A7