Girls Cross Country
Enterprise, Oregon
2nd at state
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 30
November 9, 2016
$1
VETERANS DAY
ELECTION RESULTS:
The Chieftain went to
press Tuesday afternoon
before fi nal election re-
sults had been tallied, but
you can fi nd results online
at Wallowa.com.
Judge
dismisses
property
lawsuit
Court favors
Enterprise in fight
over electrical line
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Lorien and Dustin James of
Enterprise did not get the jury
trial they hoped for.
U.S. District Judge Anna
J. Brown adopted the recom-
mendation of a lower judge and
summarily dismissed their suit
against Enterprise, Wallowa
County and numerous individu-
als.
The Jameses fi rst brought the
suit last May after a months-long
negotiation that began in the
spring of 2014 about how and
where to run a residential electri-
cal line to the couples’ Eggleson
Lane property outside of Enter-
prise.
Named in the suit were: The
city of Enterprise, Wallowa
County, Wallowa County Build-
ing Inspector John Lindstrom,
City Administrator Michele
Young, Public Works Director
Ronnie Neal, up to fi ve unnamed
John Does and up to fi ve un-
named Jane Does.
In the suit, the couple alleged:
• Their right to due process
was violated in that they were
deprived of their property rights
when Lindstrom issued a stop-
work order.
• Their due-process rights
were violated by issuance of the
stop-work order.
• Due process rights were vi-
olated in that the Jameses did not
get prior notice, a hearing or an
opportunity to contest the stop-
work order.
• Due-process rights were vi-
olated when the city, county, et al
acted to prevent the couple from
developing their land without
a fi nding that they had violated
any applicable laws, regulations
or building codes.
• The defendants acted to-
gether to deprive the plaintiffs of
their property rights (racketeer-
ing).
• There was negligence
on the part of the defendants,
which caused damage to the
couple.
See LAWSUIT, Page A10
IT TAKES A HERO
Meet Gayle Stockdale, a Wallowa County WWII
vet who served with distinction in Europe
Courtes
y
Courtesy of Gay Stockdale
Gayle
Stockdale
upon his
graduation
from the
New Mexico
Military
Institute in
1939.
of Gay S
tockdale
Gayle Stockdale proudly wears his new captain’s bars he’s receiving from a major general
on the battlefields of WWII Italy.
H E WAS THE EPITOME OF A TRUE A MERICAN HERO — NOT ONLY TO HIS
COUNTRY , BUT TO HIS COMMUNITY . H E WAS A REMARKABLE MAN .”
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
“T
here were giants in the
earth in those days ...
mighty men which were
of old, men of renown.”
Thus in Genesis 6:4, the Bible describes
men of a different day, a different time.
Men to be revered. It could well describe
“The Greatest Generation”: men and
women who cut their teeth on the bitter
bread of the Great Depression and fol-
lowed those dark years by gritting those
same teeth while nearly singlehandedly
winning World War II and returning
home to foster years of unparalleled eco-
nomic prosperity in the greatest nation
on earth.
As can be expected, Wallowa County
committed its share of heroes to the
cause. In WWII, one Gayle Stockdale
served with particular merit with the
752nd tank battalion of the 5th Army Di-
vision, which saw some of the heaviest
fi ghting in Italy during the war’s fi nal
year. But extraordinary men are made,
not born, and Stockdale’s formative
years played a large role in this man
who remained a hero until the end of his
days.
Born in Dayville in 1919, Stockdale
moved with his family to Enterprise in
1932. A year later, the family sent the
young man to New Mexico Military
Institute in Roswell, N.M. There he pur-
sued his love of horses, becoming a star
polo player and captain of the equestrian
jumping team. At age 16, the blue-eyed
lad with coal-black hair spent his school
summers as a wilderness guide in the
Wallowas for the Flying Arrow, a local
packing outfi t owned by Ralph Watson.
See VETERAN, Page A8
Deadly infections haunt hospitals
Wallowa Memorial fares well
in 2015 statewide report
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Oregon hospitals still have work
to do in preventing dangerous in-
fections like Clostridium Diffi cile
(C. diff.) and Methicillin-resistant
Straphylococcus aureus (MRSA),
according to a recently released
Oregon Health Association report.
The good news locally is that
Wallowa Memorial Hospital is
able to report that in 2015 they had
zero incidences of most bacterial
infections associated with a hos-
pital stay and just one case of the
most dangerous, .
In part, that’s because Wallowa
Memorial does not have a neonatal
or adult intensive care unit, where
other infections are most likely.
Additionally, the hospital is
able to isolate all cases of bacterial
infection.
“We put patients with all kinds
of infections in isolation,” said
Stacey Karvoski, infection con-
trol and employee health nurse for
Wallowa Memorial. “Larger hos-
pitals do this for C. diff. patients,
but we are able to do it for many
infections.”
Concern over these deadly in-
fections remains high.
According to the U.S. Depart-
ment of Health and Human Ser-
vices, about one in 25 patients hos-
pitalized nationwide will develop a
health care associated infection.
A 2011 Center for Disease Con-
trol study revealed that of 722,000
health care associated infections
reported in U.S. acute-care hospi-
tals, about 75,000 patients died.
See REPORT, Page A10
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
CNA Missy Campbell prepares to enter an isolation room at Wallowa
Memorial Hospital. Missy is wearing personal protective gear that will
protect her breathing, clothing and skin from any bacterial transfer.