Wallowa County Chieftain
NEWS BRIEFS
Grange hosts
Christmas party
wallowa.com
The hall is on Rosewell St.
in Lostine.
Auxiliary sets
bake sale Dec. 21
The Wallowa Memorial
Hospital Auxiliary is having
a bake sale 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 21, in the hos-
pital lobby. A variety of good-
ies will be available, along
with See’s Candy.
FOR THE RECORD
Dec. 14
7:34 p.m. –– Report of a smoke
alarm going off at a residence in
Enterprise. There was no fire and
the occupant was wanting to know
how to shut it off.
3:38 p.m. –– Sheriff’s deputies
arrested John William Fine, 50, of
Enterprise, on a fugitive warrant
out of Umatilla County.
Dec. 15
8:19 a.m. –– Theft of tools was
reported in Enterprise.
10:49 a.m. –– Theft of gift card
was reported in Wallowa.
5:19 p.m. –– Report of disorderly
conduct in Enterprise.
5:26 p.m. –– A vehicle slid off the
road in rural Wallowa.
Dec. 17
7:33 a.m. –– Sheriff’s deputies
responded to a menacing com-
plaint in Lostine. Timothy O’Brien
McRae, 39, of Lostine, was
arrested and charged with menac-
ing. He was transported to Uma-
tilla County Jail.
BILLION
Continued from Page A1
facts that support the alleged
case for relief.” He added that
after reading the complaint, he
was unable to ascertain what
the county did or how it would
have damaged the plaintiff.
The county’s attorney also
stated that the tort violated the
Oregon Tort Claims Act by
failing to serve notice to the
defendants, which would have
allowed them time to investi-
gate the complaint. He also
asked Powers to dismiss the
case with prejudice because
of the lack of a valid claim or
even a potential claim against
the county.
Karpinski said he had lit-
tle to add to Jagelski’s state-
ment, although he did say
that the state had received an
amendment to the complaint
that didn’t include Wallowa
County and a motion for sum-
mary judgment, which is a
motion that contends that all
necessary factual issues are
settled or are so overwhelm-
ing they need not be tried.
He added that both the sum-
mary judgment motion and the
amended claim were equally
unintelligible.
Powers made clear that
he had received notice of the
aforementioned claims and
motions and several others as
well.
“None of those filings, as I
can see, have been accepted by
the court,” he said. “They were
not properly filed or properly
served as far as we can tell, so
those are not of record.”
He told Tippett that the
court was only examining
the motion to dismiss. He
asked that Tippett confine
his remarks to the dismissal
motion.
Tippett ventured an argu-
ment that he had not received
any evidence that he was an
Oregon resident or that such
evidence even existed. He said
BRIDGE
Continued from Page A1
other bridge engineers and
determined it can be moved.
A feasibility study would
be required. The plan is to dis-
mantle the major pieces and
have the Oregon National
Guard move the anchoring
ends by helicopter to the new
spot. Then the rope supports
would be reattached.
The move would be a cou-
ple hundred yards, but 1,000
feet higher in elevation. No
cost estimates have been deter-
mined. Presentations are also
planned to the other Rotary
Clubs that participated in the
original build.
Camp Wallowa on the Wal-
lowa River opened in 1939 as a
Boy Scout camp when Pacific
Power and Light Co. donated
the land to the Blue Mountain
December 20, 2017
BOOM
Continued from Page A1
South Fork Grange will
host a children’s Christmas
Party 3-5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22,
at the grange hall.
Mrs. Claus will visit at 5
p.m. and a family soup and
salad dinner will follow.
Dec. 11
7:45 a.m. –– A 911 caller reported
a fire in Wallowa.
9:39 a.m. –– A fire drill was con-
ducted at Enterprise School.
12:58 p.m. –– Enterprise PD
investigated a theft report. Joshua
William Connolly, 24, of Enter-
prise, was arrested for theft and
carrying a concealed weapon. He
was cited and released.
Dec. 12
7:26 a.m.–– Flue fire was reported
in rural Enterprise.
10:34 a.m.. –– Wallowa County
SO investigated a report of an
animal neglect case in rural
Enterprise.
6:02 p.m. –– 911 caller requested
dispatch advise the hospital a
subject was coming in by private
vehicle.
9:40 p.m. –– Stolen vehicle
reported in Wallowa.
News/From A1
he was not in a valid contract
with the state of Oregon, and if
anyone disagreed, they needed
to supply the contract so he
could review it. He recited a
U.S. Supreme Court case that
bore hazy connection to his
case.
Powers asked Tippett to
ascertain whether he was a
resident of Oregon. Tippett
replied “no.”
Powers then said as the
complainant did not claim to
be a resident of the state, which
provided an additional reason
to dismiss the case because
of the court’s lack of jurisdic-
tion. Tippett began to recite
another case when Powers cut
him off, telling him it was not
an Oregon case and therefore
irrelevant to the motion for
dismissal.
Tippett tried to interrupt but
Powers reiterated he wanted
to hear a direct argument per-
taining specifically to the dis-
missal motion. The claim-
ant essentially replied that
the state’s tort act was invalid
and that the book of Revela-
tion 9:12 described the alleged
deception of the state, and
because the Bible is the Word
of God, it is good enough for
the circuit court. The verse
Tippett used to make his case
says: “One woe is past; and,
behold, there come two woes
more hereafter.”
Not surprisingly, perhaps,
the entire hearing took less
than 20 minutes from begin-
ning to end, including Powers’
finding in favor of the county
and state’s motion for dis-
missal because of its failure to
follow the tort claims act. He
also dismissed the complaint
with prejudice, which means
the case is dead. Tippet cannot
refile, reamend or appeal.
County
commissioner
Susan Roberts wasn’t sorry to
hear of the demise of Tippett’s
case.
“It was an interesting con-
cept but not very well fleshed-
out,” Roberts said.
Council, based in the Tri-Cit-
ies in Washington, in 1947.
The 90 acres was leased to
the nonprofit Creating Memo-
ries in July 2014. That organi-
zation has been working on the
facility in hopes of creating a
resort for disabled individuals.
Last week, the nonprofit’s
board gave its approval for the
bridge project, Bombaci said.
“They only wanted to be
sure the plaque would go with
the bridge, and they want a let-
ter from the trails association
describing the proposal for
their official consideration,”
he said.
The matter also requires the
approval of the Boy Scouts.
The Blue Mountain Council
is expected to consider it in
February 2019. The U.S. For-
est Service, which has been
supportive, will also need
to sign off before work can
commence.
rebirth of the theatre as a
community center and enter-
tainment mecca is ongo-
ing. In addition to serving as
a live theatre, site for fund-
raisers, showcase for spe-
cial film presentations and
the Ruby Peak Film Festival,
and music venue, the theatre
has also become a sound stu-
dio where local musician Bart
Budwig has recorded approx-
imately 20 albums for a vari-
ety of musicians.
“Some big stuff happened
as a result of that,” said Brann.
“Music from one album has
been used in a movie. Another
artist is now touring with a big
name performer. We hope to
build that part of the business
with the theatre.”
The historic theatre build-
ing is also getting a lot of love.
Brann has received grants for
restoration and is currently
swamping out the basement to
dramatically upgrade heating,
cooling and wiring. ADA-ap-
proved bathrooms will also be
installed.
Next door in the Weaver
Building, Brann has been
“picking away” at remodeling
with the plan of having three
retail spaces. Two spaces are
already spoken for and there
has been a lot of interest in the
third, Brann said.
Deyette Perry of “Perry
and Associates Certified Pub-
lic Accountants” began rent-
ing office space in Novem-
ber and Grady Rawls’ “Living
Skies Production” is planning
to move from the theatre into
the Weaver Building as well.
Getting in on growth
Meanwhile, former Wal-
lowa County native Bill War-
nock and his wife, Michelle
Starr, began buying up build-
ings on the other side of Main,
beginning with the buildings
now housing “R’s Consign-
ment” and “Bird Dog Signs,”
which they purchased a year
ago. Warnock and Starr live in
Vermont but will be returning
full-time to Wallowa County
in the next five years.
A week ago, they expanded
their holdings west to the old
Masons Lodge that used to
serve as the “Annex” to Steve
and Cathy Lear’s Lears’ Main
Street Pub and Grill.
“We’re going to put that
building on the historic reg-
istry, fix it up, and put apart-
ments on the second story
and two smaller commer-
cial spaces downstairs,” Starr
said.
The Bowlby stone build-
ing suffered structural dam-
age recently when the back
wall collapsed, but the inves-
tors were prepared for that
event. The wall that fell is part
of a 1910 add-on to the orig-
inal building, which enclosed
a porch.
“We’ve been looking at
this building for six years,”
said Starr. “It’s not an impulse
buy, and we did a really thor-
ough investigation.”
The focus is stabilizing the
building, which engineers and
contractors say can be accom-
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Don’t worry about the businesses displaced by the new
remodeling being done by investors — most of them have
already found new spaces. Earnest “Bunk” Sasser cuts
Keith Carmen’s hair in his bigger shop just a block from
the old one.
BOWLBY BUILDINGS
FILLING FAST ON E. MAIN
East Main, a bastion of Bowlby Stone buildings, has
not been left out of the boom. There, an entire block
of ground floor business spaces is filling up.
• Dr. Rusty Woods retired and moved out, but the fire
at city hall saw his 117 E. Main address filled again as
a temporary location.
• Meantime, next door, the 119 E. Main “Stage One”
space was taken up by two new businesses: “Belle
Salon” and “Eagle Cap Wellness.”
• Christ Covenant Church took the 115 E. Main office
space.
• A private space owned by Julia Zeise that is
sandwiched between “Pioneer Guest Home” and “The
Bookloft” is sometimes rented out for yoga classes.
• A group of massage therapists is discussing Dr.
Barton’s old chiropractic office as a possible site for a
business.
The back half of that block is where the old City Hall
is located. That area will soon be the site of the new
Enterprise Fire House and City Hall. The Burnaugh
Building is also on that block.
plished. Contractor Ken Nash
of Enterprise began work on it
this week. Warnock and Starr
also hope to have Dave Mel-
ville of Enterprise doing the
tucking and pointing on the
Bowlby Stone restoration, just
as he has done on the newly
remodeled Burnaugh Build-
ing at 107 N. River Street.
The investors are very
excited about the future of
their buildings.
“Bill grew up there and we
have a house up at the lake
and we plan to live there in
a few years,” Starr said. “We
like Enterprise. It was at one
time the hub of the county and
we think it will become that
again at some time. We think
the buildings are a great loca-
tion, and Bill has memories
of going downtown and get-
ting whatever you needed. We
think that’s possible again and
we want to be a part of that.”
Lear’s Pub still for sale
When Steve and Kathy
Lear left for Lewiston, Idaho,
they leased their building to
Rachel Esquibel of Enterprise
for her bid at running “Stock-
man’s Lounge.” Unfortu-
nately, an especially bad win-
ter shortened the life of the
venture.
The restaurant with full
kitchen and upstairs apart-
ment remains for sale for
$250,000. The fire mar-
shall’s sign recently posted
on the door of the restaurant
was placed there in error, real
estate agent Diane Daggett
said. It belongs next door on
the Masons Lodge where the
wall fell.
McKee Brothers
Investments
Across W. Main Street,
McKee Brothers Investments
is restoring and significantly
remodeling a second Bowlby
Stone building project within
city limits, the Litch Build-
ing on the corner of River and
Main streets.
Joseph resident Andy
McKee is the builder in the
brother-investment-team, and
his first project was the Bur-
STAY
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201 E. Hwy 82 • Enterprise
541-426-0320
Sales & Service
Hours: Mon-Fri 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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naugh Building.
The enormous Litch Build-
ing stretches west down Main
Street to include the store-
fronts that formerly housed
“R’s Consignment” at 100 W.
Main and currently houses
“Sugar Time Bakery” and
“Favorite Finds on Main.”
Another business located on
the River Street side of the
building, “Valley Barbers E &
B” (Bunk’s Barber shop) has
also moved.
All four of those rent-
ers were advised of McK-
ee’s intent to remodel when
he purchased the building and
as the remodel process devel-
oped and conversations were
had about what renters needed
and what McKee felt he could
reasonably commit to — all
the renters decided that mov-
ing was their best option.
McKee intends to remodel
the street level buildings to
house seven or more smaller
business spaces.
“These big units are hard
to fill based on the price point
you need,” he said. “It’s hard
to rent out 3,000 square-feet
without giving away a ton of
real estate.”
Most of the displaced busi-
nesses have already found
new locations. Bunk’s Bar-
ber Shop has moved further
west to 211 W. Main, “R’s
Consignment” moved across
the street to 105 W. Main and
“Sugar Time Bakery” will
move to the newly remod-
eled Burnaugh Building in
January.
Sugar Time Bakery owner
Eva Herold opened in the
Main Street location two
years ago and said it had been
“amazing.” The new space
she’ll occupy is also amazing,
she said. McKee is busy build-
ing it to her specifications.
“The Burnaugh Building
space is about the same size
as our current location, but
we’ll expand our services,”
Herold said. “We’re going to
be doing sandwiches on our
fresh bread, serving soup —
it’s going to be an expansion
of the menu. We’ll have more
seating, there will be a public
restroom, it’s very exciting.”
Sondra Lozier, owner of
“Favorite Finds on Main,”
has been offered the other
retail space in the Burnaugh
Building, but the layout is a
big change, so she’s still con-
sidering her options.
“It’s still undecided,”
Lozier said. “I have 3,300
square feet of display and
another 700 of storage here,
and I’d have 1,400 square feet
and no storage if I went to the
Burnaugh Building.”
Despite the inconvenience,
Lozier is pleased with McK-
ee’s plans.
“Andy (McKee) has a good
vision for Enterprise, and I’m
really glad he bought the Litch
Building,” she said. “I think
it’s wonderful they are going
to preserve the building.”
Montana investors have pur-
chased the old Ace Hardware
building and McKee has got-
ten “at least five serious inqui-
ries about investing in the
county.” The potential inves-
tors are out-of-county people,
he said.