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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2016)
A6 News wallowa.com COURT Continued from Page A1 While it may seem that court improvements are up to the state, Oregon Revised Statute 1. 185 directs coun- ties to: “Provide suitable and suficient courtrooms, ofices and jury rooms for the court, the judges, other oficers and employees of the court and juries in attendance upon the court.” The county also is obligated to provide utili- ties and maintenance for the courtroom. Therefore, the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners will make the inal determination of how the grant is used. Wallowa County Circuit Court Judge Russell West, who trades court duties with presiding judge Brian Dret- ke, said the new courthouse is just one option being ex- amined. “Our position as judges is that something needs to be done,” West said. “Accessibil- ity to the second loor is a big concern.” West said the grant must be earmarked for a project by June 2017 or the funds will go back to the state. Wallowa County Com- missioner Susan Roberts said the county is having its own issues trying to keep up main- tenance on the courthouse. In particular, replacing the roof. With the exception of the membrane that was replaced several years ago, the roof is original to the building, which was constructed in 1909- 1910. Roberts said the roof prob- lem is key to any renovation, courtroom or not. “If we don’t have that, we needn’t bother with anything else,” Roberts said. That is because the roof is in such a state of disrepair that the county’s insurance company is threatening to stop covering the building entirely. This, in turn, would negatively affect the circuit court. Roberts add- ed that the courthouse is not in any danger of being con- demned. Another problem with the circuit court renovation, par- ticularly that of the elevator, is that it would force many of the county ofices in the build- ing to be relocated during that time — and the county would have to foot the bill. As it stands, the county will more than likely fund the roof repair through a long- term loan rather than lose the ODJ grant. It’s also possible the grant money could be used to fund a new circuit court build- ing elsewhere in the county. Union County recently made a similar move. Most mem- bers of the courthouse com- mittee are in favor of this option. “When you sit down and start penciling it out, it seems it would be less expensive to do that,” Dretke said. He added that he didn’t think the current court space would go to waste, it would just be used for a different purpose. Roberts said the problem with that is that the grant won’t cover buying the prop- erty and the construction costs. Dretke agreed, but said that the grant would cover nearly all the costs. ARREST Continued from Page A1 of methamphetamine charges. The couple was wanted on burglary charges out of Flathead County in Western Montana. Authorities were acting on a tip received from May 18, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain Steve Tool/Chieftain Rain damage from the roof is causing plaster to scale away from the lath. “We have a much larger facility (in La Grande) with two courtrooms, and we had a $2.8 million budget and we came in under budget,” Dret- ke said. “We’re thinking this would come in at $1.6 or $1.7 million. “What we’re waiting on now is the county deciding how it wishes to proceed, be- cause they’re the ones who were provided with the $1.25 million, and they need to de- cide whether to build a stand alone facility or sink it in to doing something with the old courthouse.” the Flathead County Sheriff’s Ofice. Wallowa County Sheriff Steve Rogers said Deputy Paul Pagano and OSP oficer Justin Goldsmith made the collar on Baltimore Carper at 74602 Promise Rd. outside of Wallowa. The two oficers saw Carper pulled over by the side of the road with a trailer that had been reported as stolen hitched to his van. “We already had informa- tion that he was in possession of mountains of stolen prop- erty,” Rogers said. “It was a matter of timing when we thought he had the (stolen) property on him.” While Carper initially was arrested for the stolen trailer, authorities later performed a consent search on the cou- ple’s Wallowa County prop- erty and discovered numer- ous allegedly stolen items. In all, Baltimore Carper was found in possession of nine stolen irearms, a stolen trailer, two sawed-off ire- arms, machine guns and a host of other allegedly stolen items as well as methamphet- amine. Police arrested Carper and charged him with 10 counts of theft in the irst degree as well as unlawful possession of numerous weapons and possession of methamphet- amine. All the charges are felonies and are local charges in addition to the charges out of Montana. According to an OSP press release, the Montana warrant indicated that Balti- more Carper had stolen ap- proximately $40,000 worth of goods that included 21 irearms. The Carpers will be extradited to Montana on a warrant from that state. Rogers said he had stopped Renee Carper at one point and told her to go to the house of her girlfriend to take care of her (Carper’s) children. The sheriff said he was unaware of any warrants on Renee Carper at the time. Both OSP and WCSO said the investigation is ongoing. Rogers said some of the al- legedly stolen property is already circulating through Wallowa County. “I just had a stolen irearm brought to me this morning that he (Carper) had sold,” Rogers said. The person turned it in once he had heard of Carp- er’s warrants. “It’s just getting bigger and bigger by the minute,” Rogers added. Both suspects currently are being held at the Umatil- la County Jail while awaiting extradition. Rogers said it is unclear whether the Carpers will irst be prosecuted in Montana or Wallowa County. Church Directory St. Patrick's Episcopal Church 100 NE 3rd St, Enterprise NE 3rd & Main St 541-426-3439 Worship Service Sunday 9:30am St. Katherine's Catholic Church Summit Church Fr. Roger Fernando 301 E. Garfield Enterprise Mass Schedule Mon-Fri 8:00am Saturdays 5:30pm Sundays 10:30am (541)426-4008 stkatherineenterprise.org St. Pius X Wallowa Sundays 8:00am All are welcome Gospel Centered Community Service time: 10:30 am Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise Pastor Mark Garland www.summitchurchoregon.org Joseph United Methodist Church 3rd & Lake St. • Joseph Pastor Cherie Johnson Phone: 541-432-3102 Sunday Worship Service 10:00 am JosephUMC.org Faith Lutheran Church 409 W. Main Enterprise, Oregon Worship 2 nd & 4 th Sundays - 2 pm Bible Study Tuesdays before the 2 nd & 4 th Sundays at 11 am LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) Christ Covenant Church Pastor Terry Tollefson Church Office: 541-263-0505 Family Prayer: 9:30am Sunday School: 10am Worship Service: 11am 723 College Street • Lostine Enterprise Community Enterprise Community Congregational Congregational Church Church 11:00am Group Worship & Discussion 9:30 AM Worship Service 11:00 Children’s S.S. AM 10:00am Choir 9:30am Adult Education 541.398.0597 Childrens program during service Blog: dancingforth.blogspot.com Lostine On the Hwy web 82, at lostinepc.org Stephen Kliewer, Minister 301 1St Brown St * 541-426-3044 The NE Big Church Worship at 11:00 with an open door Bible Worship Study at 9:30 Sunday 11A.M. 301 N. Brown E. First Church” Street the “Big Enterprise with the Open Door (541) 426-3044 Pastor Donald L. McBride Pastor Joseph Newcomer, Sunday School 11 A.M. 541-263-0695 541-263-5319 Wallowa Assembly of God 606 West Hwy 82 Wallowa, Oregon 541-886-8445 Sunday School • 9:30 Worship Service • 10:45 Pastor Tim Barton wallowaassemblyofgod.com 305 Wagner (near the Cemetery) P.O. Box N, Enterprise, OR 97828 541-426-3751 Church 541-426-8339 School Sabbath School 9:30 - 10:45 a.m. Worship Hour 11:00 a.m. - Noon Pastor Jonathan DeWeber Pastor Steve Gilmore FRIENDS Continued from Page A1 Listening sessions across Oregon created the outline for the original Agricultural Reclamation Act in 2010, and subsequent listening sessions helped with an update of the act in 2014. Results from the most recent sessions will help shape future revisions to the act. Policy proposals identiied in the act were debated by leg- islators in both 2011 and 2013 and led to the passage of the Farm Direct Bill in 2011; pas- sage of the 1,000-bird poultry exemption of 2011 and 2013; the creation of Oregon’s Be- ginning and Expanding Farm- er loan program (AKA Ag- gie Bonds) in 2013; funding and expansion for a Farm to School program in 2011 and 2013; use of federal Specialty Crop Block Grant money to support local food systems, in- cluding development of farm- ers markets; development of a web-based resource for be- ginning farmers (iFarm); and the addition of representatives of small farms to the Oregon Board of Agriculture. For more information visit www.friendsoffamily farm- ers.org.