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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2015)
2015 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PAGES STARTING ON PAGE A7 www.wallowa.com Enterprise, Oregon May 20, 2015 Suspect in Imnaha domestic dispute surrenders Opposition to this law is totally non-par- tisan. It’s per- sonal. Wallowa County Sheriff Steve Rogers UNDER THE GUN New law spawns confusion, resistance By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain A s of May 11, most gun sales in the state of Oregon require a background check. But don’t expect Wallowa County Sheriff Steve Rogers to come hunting you down to check your papers. ³0\RI¿FHZLOOFRQWLQXHWRZRUNRXU cases and do the work a sheriff is man- dated to do to keep our community safe and happy. However I will not make any of my citizens a criminal, based on what I see as a violation of their constitutional rights,” he said. “As always true crimi- QDOVWU\LQJWRJDLQDFFHVVWR¿UHDUPVZLOO be prosecuted.” By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain The man who had more than a doz- en deputies and troopers, a SWAT team and an armored vehicle looking for him earlier this week walked in and out of police custody Tuesday night. Scott Lee Fouste, 53, the suspect in the Imnaha River Woods domestic dispute incident of May 11, voluntarily surrendered to Wallowa County Sher- LII¶V2I¿FH:&62GHSXWLHVDWSP May 13. He was arrested without inci- dent and charged with unlawful use of a weapon, fourth-degree assault, men- DFLQJDQGSRLQWLQJD¿UHDUPDWDQRWKHU See FOUSTE, Page A11 Joseph buffers out dispensaries Rogers is well supported in his viewpoint by sheriffs across the state. “I don’t know of a sheriff in the state that doesn’t think this is a violation of the Constitution,” Rog- ers said. “Opposition to this law is totally non-partisan. It’s personal. I took an oath to uphold the consti- tutions of the United States and the State of Oregon, as well as the laws of the state. I do not believe that an unfunded mandate by the state is a law that should not be challenged in the courts as a violation of consti- tutional rights that was not sent to a vote of the people.” See GUNS, Page A5 $1 By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Wallowa County Sheriff Steve Rogers at work. JOSEPH — Anyone who planned to open a marijuana dispensary in side the Joseph city limits could have watched their plans go up in smoke at a May 7 city council meeting. In response to the up- coming legalization of marijuana in Or- egon, the council unanimously approved ordinance 2015-1 that effectively bans the possibility of opening a dispensary within the city limits. See MARIJUANA, Page A11 NO SNOW ” Water managers THE WINTER OF 2015 WILL GO DOWN IN OREGON’S HISTORY BOOKS AS THE YEAR THAT WAS DOMINATED BY BARE GROUND IN THE MOUNTAINS. Wallowa County Watermaster David Bates our dam tender, Jim Hite, and 7RP %XWWHU¿HOG SUHVLGHQW RI WKH$VVRFLDWHG'LWFK&RPSDQLHV Although the National of Joseph, have been keeping a 'URXJKW 0RQLWRU UHSRUWV WKDW close eye on what will be needed Northeast Oregon has been el- and began storing water earlier evated to the “severe drought” than usual,” said Wallowa Coun- category for this summer, Wal- W\:DWHUPDVWHU'DYLG%DWHV lowa Lake is holding 157 percent That water will no doubt be of the usual amount of water. But needed; Aneroid Lake weath- don’t take that as a sign that Wal- er station reports a snow water lowa County will be drought- HTXLYDOHQWWKHDPRXQWRIZDWHU free. WKDWLVLQVQRZRISHUFHQWRI “What that really means is average for this time of the year. By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain prepare for drought Rob Ruth/Chieftain Separate layers of clouds appear as both cap and skirt to the Wallowa Mountains on Tuesday morning following a night of heavy rain in the valley. Wallowa County’s watermaster says receiving plenty of spring rain could help soften the effects of the winter’s record-low snowfall in the local mountains. C HIEFTAIN WA L L O WA “Aneroid Lake set a new re- cord low for peak snow pack lev- el this winter,” Bates said. “And basin-wide, for precipitation, we DUHSHUFHQWRIDYHUDJH´ What has saved Wallowa County so far has been precipita- tion that has come as falling rain. “We just have to see what the weather systems bring for rain,” said Bates. “It’s possible we may get enough rain.” See SNOWPACK, Page A11 C O U N T Y Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 Volume 133 Issue No. 5 © 2015 EO Media Group Veteran’s favorite bronze shut away Statue was cast at old Joseph foundry; local vets posed with it By Rob Ruth Wallowa County Chieftain Vietnam veteran Errol Roberts is aiding the cause to get one of the world’s largest patriotic bronzes back on public display. Roberts, a Wallowa County native who currently lives in La Grande, en- joys traveling to Branson, Mo., with his wife Barbara every couple of years or so to take in that city’s patriotically themed attractions, especially the Vet- erans Memorial Museum. He has felt a sense of deep personal connection between the museum and his own family since October 2000, the month it became home to a 15-ton, monumental memorial bronze depict- ing 50 full-size World War II soldiers, modeled on 50 actual WWII veterans, one from each of the nation’s 50 states. 7KHVROGLHUIURP.DQVDVLV%RE'ROH who went on to serve in the U.S. Sen- DWH The statue, the work of artist Fred Hoppe, of Malcolm, Neb., who also sculpted pieces honoring soldiers who fought in other U.S. wars, was cast at the old Joseph Bronze Foundry. See STATUE, Page A11 WILDFIRE KNOWS NO ® SE SEAS SEASON ASON AS ON KeepOregonGreen.org K Keep eep O r e gonGreen. g onGr een. or g Courtesy photo Errol Roberts stands next to part of the 50-man statue, currently stored in a warehouse in Missouri. Roberts, a Wallowa County native who now lives in La Grande, remembers when his father, the late Ivan Roberts, was photographed next to the statue after it was loaded aboard a trailer at the old Joseph Foundry. SEE A11 Enterprise FD • Wallowa FD • Wallowa Rural FD • Wallowa Lake Rural FD Lostine FD • Joseph FD • Oregon Dept. of Forestry • US Forest Service