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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2016)
A4 Opinion wallowa.com July 20, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain Are your animals secure? W e ask a lot of our local law enforcement oficers, particularly those in the Enterprise Police Department and the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Ofice. Even when those agencies are at full staff, which is rare these days, they’re tasked with handling so much and covering so much ground Voice of the Chieftain that it’s a wonder how they manage to do it all. We count on them to keep the bad guys behind bars amid an ever-rising crime rate. That’s their No. 1 job and we’re betting that if you asked them they’d say they simply don’t get enough time to focus on that top priority. Meanwhile, this week’s Dispatch Log (Page 3) is packed full of animal-response calls, an important but far too frequent responsibility of local oficers and deputies. Just in the seven days from July 11-17, there were three calls of horses loose, one report of a loose cow, two animal complaints (often barking or neglect), three reports of dogs missing and three reports of other dogs found. Those are just the cases that were reported to the county’s dispatch center. Go online and you’ll ind social media pages devoted to returning stray animals home and to inding homes for those that have been abandoned. And it’s not simply a law enforcement issue. The local Humane Society does incredible work with no permanent shelter and on a shoestring budget. Much of this work is done by unpaid volunteers. While chasing down loose animals is a big part of their job, again there are other areas where there time could be put to better use. There’s no doubt that Wallowa County is an animal- friendly area. Every truck has a dog and every road is lined with livestock, pets and working animals of all sorts. It’s also true that we get a lot of visitors in the summer, which may help account for our recent summer spike in incidents — it’s easy to lose a dog when you’re on vacation. Unfortunately, we can’t just blame the tourists. This is a year-round problem, and we can do a much better job of keeping our animals penned up. Animals are crafty. They ind ways to get loose. We can’t simply decide we’re going to keep our animals on our property and poof, it’s done. But we can do our part to secure our yards and pastures before the escape, not after. This county doesn’t have a bunch of money to throw around. If we’re going to own animals, the least we can do is keep them secured. It’s the neighborly thing to do and the easiest way we all can ensure our precious county tax dollars aren’t being wasted. EDITORIAL — Scot Heisel LETTERS POLICY Letters to the Editor are subject to editing and should be limited to 275 words. Writers should also include a phone number with their signature so we can call to verify identi- ty. The Chieftain does not run anonymous letters. You can submit a letter to the Wallowa County Chieftain in person; by mail to P.O. Box 338, Enterprise, OR 97828; by email to editor@wallowa.com; or via the submission form at the newspaper’s website, located at wallowa.com. USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Ofice: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore. Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921 Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 Enterprise, Oregon M eMber O regOn n ewspaper p ublishers a ssOciatiOn P UBLISHER E DITOR R EPORTER R EPORTER N EWSROOM ASSISTANT A D S ALES CONSULTANT G RAPHIC D ESIGNER O FFICE MANAGER Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com Scot Heisel, editor@wallowa.com Stephen Tool, stool@wallowa.com Kathleen Ellyn, kellyn@wallowa.com editor@wallowa.com Jennifer Powell, jpowell@wallowa.com Robby Day, rday@wallowa.com Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com For decades Ben Weathers held im- portant positions in Wallowa County — postmaster, judge and county humor- ist, to name a few. His column in The Chieftain was called “50 years on Main Street.” And now I’ve hit 45. A century or two ago most men didn’t live to age 45. And in many places in the world, given the current situations of war, unrest, islands sinking into the sea and landscapes drying up or looding away, millions — maybe billions — of people are scrambling to get enough to eat to make it that long. But 45 years ago I had the good for- tune to land in Wallowa County, not knowing the place from Alberta, Cana- da, or Queensland, Australia. And unlike many of the young and restless leeing American cities in the “back-to-the-land” movement, I had a job — with the Ex- tension Service as a Community Devel- opment agent. My job was to ind and develop jobs for others. I wasn’t worried about getting enough to eat; in fact, soon I was planting big gardens and worried about making sau- erkraut that would beat Margie Voss’ at the county fair. But that was later. On the irst day of work, fresh from a week of meetings in Corvallis with the experts from Oregon State University, I showed up in suit and tie. I got to the Extension Ofice on the MAIN STREET Rich Wandschneider second loor of the county courthouse (where the county attorney is now) early on a Monday morning and met secretary Ruth Makin, who told me that the boss, Chuck Gavin, probably was having cof- fee at Homan’s Drug Store across the street. I looked out those big windows at the people crossing River and Main streets, many funneling in to the courthouse. None had ties. I shed mine — and hid it and the jacket in a closet. When Gavin came in he introduced himself, told me to sit down and asked me where I’d grown up. When told him Minnesota, he asked how big a town. When I said about 1,500, he allowed I might make it in the county. And then we were off on a 10-hour tour with Ranger Keith Zobell to Buck- horn and Billie Meadows, Flora and Lost Prairie. We saw Civilian Conservation Corps water troughs, logging shows, cow herds and wheat ields. And when we got back to town my “low shoes” were full of chaff and stick-tights — I’d need some boots. It was a great introduction to this place. I worked and learned alongside Chuck for ive years, went to granges and fairs, bull sales and county planning meetings. Then, in 1976, I moved across Main Street to start the bookstore. We started upstairs of where it is now, in Dr. Clark’s old dental ofice. Thus the “loft” part of Bookloft. After Chuck retired he hid a pack of cigarettes behind the used books (we still smoked in public in those days) in the backroom, which had become Judy’s Kitchen, and became a regular, along with retired Imnaha school teacher Jack Finch and musician Max Bauer, who’d come home to take care of his mother, Ethel Wade, and her entourage — anoth- er story. We found solutions to most of the world’s problems in Judy’s Kitchen and worked on some local ones: a coop art gallery with Eve Slinker, Gary Wis- hart, Ted Juve and Dave Jensen; Don Green and Malcolm Dawson came in to launch the local Arts Council. One year Kim Stafford came to be a writer in the schools, and with Alvin Josephy retiring and spending longer summers here, we got together to launch Fishtrap in 1988. I moved again, up Main Street, to share a space and new-fangled comput- er with engineer Ralph Swinehart. And then Fishtrap got the Cofin House and I moved off Main Street to Grant. See YEARS, Page A5 Where can travelers stay in Joseph? GUEST COLUMN I am a property owner in Joseph who is interested in making a property into a nightly rental. I have earned a master’s degree in health administration and a bachelor’s degree in business with a mi- nor in agriculture. I am going to give you my beliefs so you understand my position: I am a Christian; I am a believer in the U.S. Constitution; I am a strong believer in personal property rights; and I believe in the U.S. democratic system of govern- ment. From these beliefs I accept the de- cision of the City Council to ban nightly rentals but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with the decision. From The Chieftain’s July 5 Out of the Past column: “70 years ago, July 11, 1946. Rooms will be needed to accom- modate a large number of visitors during the celebration of Chief Joseph Days. Anyone who can make available an extra room is asked to list it at the Caton Hotel in Enterprise or the Chief Joseph Hotel in Joseph. A rate of $3 for a room with a double bed has been recommended.” I imagine Wallowa County gearing up for the Chief Joseph Days celebration and the hotel or inn owners saying, “We are all illed up; we have no more room at the inn.” Rather than put a damper on those travelers coming to the area, the business owners did the following: 1) solicited Jeff Whitaker people who may have extra rooms; 2) did the marketing for them by making a list at the inn; and 3) even recommended what to charge. Wow. Can you imagine that happen- ing today? The common sense of it all, allowing people to live in a home that isn’t even theirs for money. This was just 70 years ago. So let us go back a little farther in history with a couple named Joseph and Mary who were traveling to a town named Bethlehem. “The inn was overcrowded, and Jo- seph accordingly sought lodgings with distant relatives, but every room in Beth- lehem was illed to overlowing. On re- turning to the courtyard of the inn, he was informed that the caravan stables, hewn out of the side of the rock and situated just below the inn, had been cleared of animals and cleaned up for the recep- tion of lodgers. Leaving the donkey in the courtyard, Joseph shouldered their bags of clothing and provisions and with Mary descended the stone steps to their lodgings below. They found themselves located in what had been a grain storage room to the front of the stalls and man- gers. Tent curtains had been hung, and they counted themselves fortunate to have such comfortable quarters.” So another story where the inn was full and Bethlehem was illed to over- lowing. The story doesn’t state what the fee was to stay at the inn or whether the inn was in a residential zone or com- mercial zone, but I am sure there was a charge. Doesn’t this sound very similar to modern day Chief Joseph Days? So the City Council voted to ban short-term rentals within the city’s res- idential zones on a 4-3 vote. According to Mayor Dennis Sands, 99 percent of the people he queried favored a ban of nightly rentals in Joseph. Given the same scenario as Jesus’ parents today, Mayor Denis Sands would tell Joseph and Mary that there is no room at the inn, no room in Joseph, they must leave. Does anyone feel punched in the gut that the council members and mayor would give the boot to Jesus’ parents? People did what they could to help people out, even 2,000 years ago. I know the council got the current nightly rentals who have been collecting the bed tax grandfathered in following the ban. I have to give the credit here to the city attorney and not the council. Regardless, history is not aligning with the council’s decision to ban. Jeff Whitaker resides in Joseph. Vote suppression silences voices p ublished every w ednesday by : EO Media Group Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing ofices Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County 45 Years on Main Street 1 Year $40.00 $57.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet www.wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa | twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER — Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828 Contents copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. The 2016 presidential election is fast approaching. A question every voter should ask is, “Will my vote for a pres- ident count or will it be a victim of vote suppression?” Because of the all-or- nothing approach we use with the Elec- toral College results, many votes don’t matter. If you vote for a candidate who does not win the majority of popular votes in your state, your vote is not relected in the Electoral College results. Because of vote suppression, many experience their political voices (votes) silenced if they’re not among the major- ity of their state. 56,431,932 votes (both Democrat and Republican) in 2012 were not part of the Electoral College results LETTERS to the EDITOR because of vote suppression. Your vote is your voice and it should matter re- gardless of whom you vote for or where you live. Vote suppression is real, non- partisan and it affects everyone. Equal voice voting is a proportional voting approach that is the fairest of- fered, closely aligning Electoral Col- lege results with the popular vote on a state-by-state basis. It does not require a constitutional amendment to implement, and it helps curb vote suppression. The irst step for any change is to be- come aware of an issue. A free book is available at www.equalvoicevoting.com that reviews the last nine presidential elections and shows what could have occurred if Equal Voice Voting had been used instead. Second, simply talk. Sharing your views with others in an honest dialogue is essential for change. Third, encourage your legislators to put their constituents irst and stop vote suppression. Get your state to partici- pate in this cause that affects so many. Finally, be sure to vote, regardless of which presidential candidate you favor. Other political ofices and local issues need you to be involved. Voting matters. Jerry Spriggs West Linn, Ore.