Wallowa County Chieftain
wallowa.com
YEAR
through a long, rough patch.
Former police chief Wes Kilgo-
re resigned in March 2015, and
the department was slammed
by an Oregon Association of
Chiefs of Police report later
that year. That report said En-
terprise PD had “a protracted
history of accepting mediocri-
ty” and a “lack of ethics.”
It showed in the department,
which had a hard time fi lling
positions — none harder than
the chief spot.
Stops and starts in a nation-
wide search left the job open for
a full year until Fish was found
3,000 miles away in Hickory,
North Carolina.
The department’s staffi ng
levels have since improved, as
well as its relationship with the
community. Fish made a good
impression off the bat, and in
his seven months on the job has
helped return continuity and
professionalism to the depart-
ment.
Continued from Page A1
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife offi cers killed four
wolves in the Imnaha pack that
had made a habit of preying on
livestock.
That cull was ordered just
after Governor Kate Brown
signed a bill affi rming ODFW’s
decision to remove wolves
from the state endangered spe-
cies list.
The state bill didn’t change
much — gray wolves are still
on the federal Endangered Spe-
cies List in much of Oregon —
but it was perhaps an import-
ant symbolic step. In Wallowa
County, seven years after the
fi rst reintroduced wolf set foot
on our soil, their numbers have
recovered to sustainable levels,
at least in the state’s eyes.
3. WALLOWA AVA-
LANCHE CENTER
DIRECTOR KIP RAND
DIES IN AVALANCHE
Kip Rand, director of the
Wallowa Valley Avalanche
Center, died March 8 after a
steep fall and avalanche on Mt.
Joseph.
Rand was just 29 years
old, yet had made an outsized
mark on the backcountry ski
community. He grew up in
Boise and had been director
at the center for only a few
months before the accident.
Board members said he was on
his way to giving the center a
stronger sense of direction and
toward sustainability when the
freak avalanche occurred. As
we reported in today’s paper,
the director position was vacant
until just this week, and looks
to recapture the direction Rand
had set them on.
Rand’s death was a remind-
er of the dangers of backcoun-
try activities, especially in the
wilds of a Wallowa County
winter.
4. ENTERPRISE GETS
POLICE CHIEF
It took awhile, but Enter-
prise found Joel Fish and Joel
Fish found Enterprise.
Fish took over as police
chief for the city in May, helm-
ing a department that had been
5. INAUGURAL DRAG-
ON BOATS RACES
Wallowa Lake seems to
have everything.
But there was always some-
thing missing: Dragons.
2016 took care of that,
however, with the inaugural 7
Wonders Cup dragon boat rac-
es held on the lake in August.
A dozen teams took part, in-
cluding a ragtag band of locals
that held their own against vis-
iting crews from Portland. The
event brought in hundreds of
competitors, along with their
supporters Few visitors left
without wanting to return,
both to row and to vacation.
Photos from the event are stun-
ning, and aesthetically pleasing
Wallowa Lake is perhaps the
perfect venue for the aesthet-
ically pleasing boats. Maybe
a new tradition was born, one
that will continue to expand the
tourism season from the Fourth
of July.
6. COMMISSIONER
MIKE HAYWARD
STEPS DOWN
Changes are rare at the top
of Wallowa County govern-
ment. But a major one took
place in 2016.
Chairman Mike Hayward
decided in December 2015 to
step down after 19 years as a
Wallowa County Commission-
News/Opinion
er, leaving to become general
manager at Wallowa County
Grain Growers.
Hayward was fi rst elected
to the board of commissioners
in 1997 and became the board
chair after only a few years of
service. He was the guiding
force on the board for much of
his political career.
His position was fi lled, on
an interim basis through much
of 2016, by John Lawrence. In
the May election, Todd Nash
was chosen to be Hayward’s
full-time replacement, winning
by a large enough margin not
to require a November run-off.
Nash, a local rancher, takes
offi ce next month.
7. JOSEPH SETS BAN
ON SHORT-TERM
VACATION RENTALS
Back in February, Joseph
City Council voted narrowly
to ban short-term vacation rent-
als within the city’s residential
zones.
It was a controversial 4-3
vote, and it may shape the city
for years to come.
Such unauthorized but not
illegal vacation rentals were
popping up in Joseph’s residen-
tial areas — some were causing
problems and some were good
examples of entrepreneurship.
But more homeowners had be-
gun to inquire about creating
such vacation rentals, and city
council decided to study and
then take action on the matter.
Some saw the ban as gov-
ernment cracking down on free
enterprise, while others saw
it as a necessary protection to
keep the Joseph community in
tact.
In in-demand parts of Ore-
gon and in tourist destinations
around the world, short-term
rentals can be lucrative for
homeowners. But perhaps too
lucrative — often they price
out many working class peo-
ple from renting space and
purchasing properties.
The issue is likely to be dis-
cussed in the future in Joseph,
but for now the ban is in place.
December 28, 2016
harder than getting there. Not
so in 2016 for Brett Brugge-
man.
Back in January, the Mon-
tana musher led the Eagle Cap
Extreme 200-mile race from
start to fi nish — taking the title
for the second year in a row.
Bruggeman completed the
course in 32 hours and 24 min-
utes, more than 2.5 hours faster
than his nearest competitor. He
then donated his $1,700 fi rst-
place award to the event’s trail
crew and revealed that when
his wife had asked him earlier
where he wanted to retire, he
said “Joseph, Oregon.”
One thing he’s not ready to
retire: the Eagle Cap Extreme
title.
9. LOSTINE TAVERN
CLOSES
One of Wallowa County’s
iconic gathering spots, an ex-
perimental restaurant in Los-
tine, closed in March.
The Lostine Tavern, owned
by Peter Ferré and Lisa Arm-
strong-Roepke, had received
rave reviews after it reopened,
partly due to the crowd-funding
organization ChangeFunder.
Through that website, more
than $27,000 was raised to help
remodel the 1902 building that
was fi rst home to a pharmacy
and doctors offi ce. It has been
a tavern since 1940.
The restaurant opened as
the fi rst farm-to-table eating
establishment in Eastern Ore-
gon. It was an example of how
agri-tourism, in particular culi-
nary tourism, could be conduct-
ed in rural locations. In addition
to featuring local produce,
meats and spirits, the business
attracted top chefs. It employed
approximately 10 people
during the winter and 15 during
the high seasons months.
10. MAJOR RAILS TO
TRAILS PLAN GETS
GO AHEAD
In February, the Wallowa
Union Rail Authority gave the
green light to start the fi rst stage
of a planned $20 million, 63-
mile paved trail from Joseph to
Elgin.
The fi rst six-mile pilot seg-
ment, from Joseph to Enter-
prise, is the southernmost part
of the planned trail. It is ex-
pected to cost $2 million. Many
decisions still must be made
about the exact route and where
bikers and walkers will access
it, but the long-discussed ball is
now offi cially in motion.
Numerous individuals and
organizations — led by the
Wallowa Union Railroad Au-
thority and Joseph Branch Trail
Consortium — spent 2016
working out details and legal-
ese. Construction is expected to
start in 2017.
It’s an important fi rst step to
what would become a defi n-
ing feature of the county, once
and if it gets completed.
HONORABLE
MENTION:
Hometown boy wins Chief
Joseph Days bull riding com-
petition
Longtime
Enterprise
schools superintendent Brad
Royse retires; Erika Pinkerton
hired to replace him
Joseph girls win 1A track
title
Pendleton man drowns in
Wallowa Lake
Joseph Charter School
launches aviation program
Chief Joseph Days shatters
ticket sales record
Wallowa gets lights for
football fi eld
Wallowa County
Continued from Page A4
The merits of a broken
speculation, or a bankruptcy,
or of a successful scoundrel,
are not gauged by its or his
observances of the golden rule,
‘Do as you would be done
by,’ but are considered with
reference to their smartness…”
“The following dialogue I
have held a hundred times,”
Dickens continued. “Is it not a
very disgraceful circumstance
that such a man as So-and-so
should be acquiring a large
property by the most infamous
and odious means, and,
notwithstanding all the
crimes of which he has
been guilty, should be tolerated
and abetted by your citizens?
He is a public nuisance, is he
not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“A convicted liar?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And he is utterly
dishonorable, debased, and
profl igate?”
“Yes, sir.”
“In the name of wonder
then, what is his merit?”
“Well, sir, he is a smart
man.”
Perhaps I am just acutely
sensitive these days to the
word “smart” after having
heard our president-elect make
the self-congratulatory claim
to that attribute on the basis
of his avoidance of federal
income taxes, but I cannot
help but fi nd current relevance
in Charles Dickens’ words of
wisdom regarding the merits
and foibles of our national
character.
■
John McColgan writes
from his home in Joseph.
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