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- page A7
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July 1, 2015
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Court revives Ann Rule’s lawsuit
Judge dismissed suit last year, saying it violated anti-SLAPP law
By Rob Ruth
Wallowa County Chieftain
True-crime author Ann Rule’s defa-
mation suit against former Chieftain ed-
itor and publisher Rick Swart has been
given new life by the Washington (state)
Supreme Court’s May 28 decision strik-
ing down the state’s anti-SLAPP law,
upon which the suit’s dismissal a year
ago was largely based.
On Monday, June 22, a three-judge
panel in Washington’s Court of Appeals
remanded the case to trial court for
further proceedings, with instructions
to vacate an earlier judgment entered
against Rule.
In 2013, the author brought suit
against Swart, the Seattle Weekly, and
a former Seattle Weekly editor who was
with the publication at the time it ran
Swart’s 2011 freelance article criticiz-
ing Rule’s information-gathering for her
2003 book, “Heart Full of Lies,” about
Liysa Northon’s October 2000 killing of
her then-husband, Chris Northon, at a
campsite on the Lostine River.
Swart’s article also complained that
Rule had inaccurately portrayed Liysa
Northon’s character. Although Liysa
Northon was convicted of manslaughter
and received a 12-year prison sentence
in her husband’s shooting death, Swart
argued the woman was really a victim
of spousal abuse and the criminal justice
system had failed her.
Swart, who would later marry the
convicted killer, didn’t tell the Seattle
Weekly when he submitted his article
that the pair were romantically involved.
In February 2014, a King County Su-
perior Court judge dismissed Rule’s suit,
agreeing with the defense that it violated
Washington’s Anti-SLAPP law, which
protects individuals from “Strategic
Lawsuits Against Public Participation”
— suits that essentially silence critics
and penalize free speech in the public
arena.
Washington enacted the law in 2010.
In the recently written view of the state’s
high court, though, the law was fatally
À awed in that it sought “to protect one
group of (citizens’) constitutional rights
of expression and petition — by cutting
off another group’s constitutional rights
of petition and jury trial.”
Rule is represented by attorneys
Anne Bremner and James Lobsenz, both
based in Seattle. Bremner said Rule’s
suit is important because “truth is really
her badge of honor with what she does.”
Lobsenz said the anti-SLAPP law
had been “the only thing at issue in the
appeal” of the 2014 Superior Court deci-
sion to dismiss Rule’s suit, and that 2014
dismissal had been rather immediate,
preventing the case from going through
normal discovery. So, “now the case can
go forward like a normal case,” he said.
See RULE, Page A8
JULY 22 AT CJD ARENA
RIDE,
LITTLE
BUCKAROO
Special needs rodeo
Jonathan Jones, 15, of Joseph, smiles as his
new friend and mentor, Barrie Qualle,
drives away. The two met at the Harley
Tucker Memorial Arena at the Chief
Joseph Days Rodeo Grounds earlier
this week and will be partnered
at the Little Buckaroo
event during CJD.
comes to Chief
Joseph Days
By Kathleen Ellyn
J
Wallowa County Chieftain
onathan Jones of Joseph is not entire-
ly a beginner with horses. Sever-
al seniors at Joseph High School
have done senior projects
working with Jonathan and
therapy horses. But Jonathan,
15, is a beginner at cowboying, and
he’s looking forward keenly to learning
new skills. He competed in the Pendleton
Children’s Rodeo when he was 7, but he
doesn’t recall a lot of that. This year, he’s
more mature and had dozens of questions about
rodeo. And, this year, he’ll be able to enjoy ro-
deo at Chief Joseph Days, with the help of his
mentor for the day, Barrie Qualle.
Thanks to Debbie Scudder of Enter-
prise, the Chief Joseph Days board is
pleased to offer the Chief Joseph Days
Little Buckaroo Rodeo, July 22 at 10
a.m. in the Harley Tucker Memorial
Arena at the CJD grounds in Joseph.
Providing this special opportunity to
kids with developmental disabilities is not
a new idea in rodeo. Special needs rodeo be-
gan clear back in 1983 when PRCA Cowboys
adopted it as a fun way to give back in their
sport. Special education teachers, like Scudder,
and persons interested in therapy horses have
been involved in the process ever since.
“Special needs rodeo has always been an
interest,” Scudder said. “This year I took the
bull by the horns researched how to put on
a special needs rodeo and went to the rodeo
board.”
WA L L O WA
C O U N T Y
Wallowa County’s
Newspaper Since 1884
Volume 133 Issue No. 11
© 2015 EO Media Group
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa County
Health Care District board vot-
ed unanimously to retain the
services of Wallowa Memorial
Hospital Chief Executive Of¿ -
cer Larry Davy at its June 22
meeting. This is a renewal of
Davy’s previous contract.
Davy has twice been select-
ed to serve as WMH’s CEO.
He started his medical career
on the WMH nursing staff in
the 1980s when he was fresh
out of Walla Walla University,
worked his way his way up to
director of nursing, and became
the hospital’s CEO in 2001, de-
parting for a CEO job for Ad-
ventist Health (associated with
the Seventh Day Adventist
church) in Tillamook in 2007.
He returned to WMH in 2013.
Davy said he spent nearly 22
years of his medical career with
Adventist Health between stints
at Portland and Tillamook.
“I loved my time at Adven-
tist Health, but we have kids
and grandkids in this region,
and it was time to be more
Repairs
begin on
compound
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
LOSTINE
The popular Lostine Flea
Market returns for three days
this year, Friday, Saturday and
Sunday, and members of the
Southfork Grange will be serv-
ing a pancake breakfast all three
mornings from 7 to 10:30 a.m.
on the lawn by the Community
Center.
WALLOWA — The City
of Wallowa is tackling the re-
sponsibility of upkeep on the
Forest Service compound it
inherited through an act of
Congress back in 2012. Two of
three buildings in the 1.1-acre
compound are slated for roof
repairs, which city of¿ cials be-
lieve will cost approximately
$40,000.
City residents voted to
authorize the city to begin re-
pairs at a May 19 Town Hall
meeting and the city recently
announced that they had made
progress in meeting the cost.
“We found a little money
in the general fund,” said City
Recorder Carol Long. “We
transferred that to the new roof
fund and we’ll be looking for
a grant for the other $20,000.”
Volunteers to serve on the
committee to oversee the re-
pairs also stepped up at the
May 19 meeting. They are:
Juanita Rolan, Ron Gay, Kate
Wheeler, Dennis Reinke, Me-
gan Wilson, and Marcie Shee-
hy.
The transfer of the Forest
Service compound to city own-
ership was originally undertak-
en to provide a historical set-
ting for the Maxville Heritage
Interpretive Center (MHIC).
Inspection of the com-
pound, however, revealed a
host of repairs necessary to
bring it up to a usable condi-
tion.
See HOLIDAY, Page A8
See REPAIRS, Page A8
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Georgia Wilson 2015 grand marshal
What’s going
on this holiday
weekend
Wallowa resident Georgia
Wilson will be honored Satur-
day morning as grand marshal
of the community’s Indepen-
dence Day parade.
Wilson, who has a rep-
utation for independently
launching projects to bene¿ t
the community and seeing
them through to completion,
is perhaps best known for her
purchase and donation years
ago of a building to house the
Wallowa Public Library, the li-
brary’s home today. Only a few
years ago, she paid to paint the
building that became home of
the Wallowa Resale Store.
In addition to Wilson, the
July 4 parade has two oth-
er dignitaries: Little Miss 4th
Kaydance Payne, daughter of
Davin Payne and Kuulei De-
latori, and Mr. Liberty Gavin
Schaeffer, 5, son of Travis and
Angie Schaeffer.
The parade starts at 11
Davy’s
contract
renewed
See CONTRACT, Page A8
See BUCKAROO, Page A8
C HIEFTAIN
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Wallowa Memorial Hospital
Chief
Executive
Officer
Larry Davy saw his contract
renewed June 22 by the
health care district’s board.
Chieftain file photo
This scene from a past Shake the Lake calls to mind Francis Scott
Key’s line about the “rockets’ red glare” in the National Anthem.
a.m. from the Wallowa foot-
ball ¿ eld. Entrants are asked
to arrive there no later than
10:30 a.m. to line up. Those
who haven’t registered in ad-
vance can also sign up at that
time, becoming eligible for
an assortment of cash prizes.
Awards in the Adult Division
this year are $150, $100, $50
and $30; Children’s Division
entries vie for prizes of $50,
$30, $20 and $10. Additional-
ly, winner of the City Choice
Award will receive $200, and
Community Bank awards $50
for Most Patriotic entry.
Organizers of the annual 4th
of July Co-ed Softball Tourna-
ment plan a break in the action
at Kirk Jones Field, allowing
players to come downtown to
view the Cayle Krebs Memo-
rial Float. Krebs, a friend to
many of the players, died in a
June 20 vehicle accident (see
obituary on A2).
Also on tap at Wallowa on
Saturday is a barbecue the WHS
cheerleaders will host at the Fire
Hall immediately following the
parade, FFA sales of pie by the
slice, the Wallowa County Pho-
to Club’s ¿ rst signing party for
its 2016 calendar, and live mu-
sic performed by the band No
Boundaries.
Following is a brief run-
down of other activities planned
around the county this holiday
weekend. The Wallowa County
Humane Society wishes to re-
mind everyone that pets should
be kept well away from cele-
brations involving ¿ reworks,
which cause animals stress.