A18
News/From A1
wallowa.com
FOR THE RECORD
Jan. 1
12:29 a.m. –– A 911 caller
reported an assault that had
occurred in Wallowa.
5:16 p.m. –– 911 call
reported a fire at a residence in
rural Joseph.
9:57 p.m. –– Michael Don
Gamboa, 31, of Joseph, was
arrested on a Union County
Warrant for failture to appear.
Original charge DWS - mis-
demeanor. He also had a
Deschutes County warrant for
probation violation. Original
charge DUI. He was transported
to Union County Jail.
Jan. 2
12:49 p.m. –– 911 call report-
ing a tractor on fire in rural
Joseph.
3:03 p.m. –– Computer crime
reported in Enterprise.
Jan. 3
10:21 a.m. –– Theft of ser-
vices was reported at Wallowa
Lake. The owner spoke with the
subject and it was determined
no crime was committed.
HERB
Continued from Page A1
The Jan. 23 special election
on Measure 101 will address
the issue.
The legislature approved a
3:06 p.m. –– Animal neglect
reported from Joseph.
Jan. 4
5:40 p.m. –– Todd Kevin
McCoy, 56, of Wallowa, was
arrested by Enterprise Police
for probation violation. Original
charge was DUI. He was trans-
ported to Umatilla County Jail.
Jan. 5
9:37 p.m. –– A 911 caller
reported a domestic disturbance
in rural Enterprise. Sheriff’s office
investigated.
Jan. 6
8:55 p.m.–– A harass-
ment incident was reported in
Enterprise.
10:05 p.m. –– Report of
overdue hunters was received.
Search and Rescue was called
out. Subjects were located and
were fine.
Jan. 7
11:30 p.m. –– A 911 caller
reported a verbal domestic in
Joseph.
Jan. 8
5:45 a.m. –– Dispatch
received a call saying a deer in
the roadway on Hwy. 82 needed
to be dispatched.
law asking insurance compa-
nies and hospitals pay small
fees to finance a continuation
of expanded coverage, which
began in 2014. A portion of the
law was successfully referred,
allowing voters to have the
final say on the tax.
Trace Evans
This week’s athlete of the week is Enterprise High School wrestler Trace Evans.
The 14-year-old freshman took second place in the 132 lbs category at the Jo-Hi
Invitational wrestling tournament in Joseph over the past weekend.
Evans, with an 18-9 record, battled his way through several matches
before meeting up with teammate and reigning state champion Cole Farwell.
Evans lost the match, but put up a good struggle. His coach, Troy Farwell,
said he looked for Evans to become a worthy successor to Cole Farwell.
Evans makes regular appearances on the school honor roll
and participates in FFA, football and track.
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January 10, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
State officials quick to react to
Attorney General’s new pot policy
By Claire Withycombe
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Top Oregon
politicians were quick to crit-
icize news Thursday that U.S.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions
is rescinding an Obama-era
stance on states that have legal-
ized recreational marijuana.
Although
marijuana
remains illegal under federal
law, the policy, referred to as the
Cole Memo, set out guidelines
for federal prosecutors in states
that had legalized marijuana to
focus their resources on larg-
er-scale concerns such as traf-
ficking and continue to rely on
state and local law enforcement
to act in accordance with state
laws and regulations.
Statewide, more than
366,000 Oregonians are
impacted and 700-800 Wal-
lowa County residents by one
estimate.
These are low-income
adults, children, families and
individuals with disabilities
who were covered when the
Affordable Care Act expanded
Medicaid coverage to those
earning up to 138 percent of
the federal poverty level.
For Herb, it was a
life-saver.
Herb is a retired special
education teacher but because
she worked her entire 25-year
career in Oregon for a non-
profit, she wasn’t enrolled in
the Oregon Public Employ-
ees Retirement System. Pri-
vate insurance often was not
affordable.
She and her partner of 23
years, Karen Sternadel, 64,
and their adopted daughter,
Bella, 9, all moved to Joseph
in 2015, so that Bella could be
raised in Wallowa County.
The couple hadn’t planned
on adopting, but one thing led
to another, and Bella came
into their life.
“I love having Bella,” Herb
Recreational marijuana has
been legal in Oregon for more
than two years now, and in
August, state economists pre-
dicted that Oregon could bring
in about $142 million in mar-
ijuana tax revenue through
mid-2019.
Sessions on Thursday said
he would let federal prosecutors
in each state decide where they
would focus their enforcement
actions, but that states that have
legalized marijuana were not
exempt from federal drug laws.
However, it’s not clear that
the announcement will lead
to drastic changes in the way
that federal officials in Oregon
handle pot.
Billy Williams, U.S. Attor-
ney for the district of Oregon,
said the memo directs U.S.
attorneys to use “the reasoned
exercise of discretion when
pursuing prosecutions related
to marijuana crimes.”
“We will continue working
with our federal, state, local
and tribal law enforcement
partners to pursue shared pub-
lic safety objectives, with an
emphasis on stemming the
overproduction of marijuana
and the diversion of mari-
juana out of state, dismantling
criminal organizations and
thwarting violent crime in our
communities,” Williams said
in a statement Thursday.
Oregon Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum said the state
Department of Justice would
“continue to make sure Ore-
See MEASURE 101
EDITORIAL | PAGE 4
said. “She’s a big piece of my
life.”
Since then, they’ve lived
on their joint retirement sav-
ings and Joni’s part-time work
as a window washer.
They were making it work,
bringing up a daughter in the
best environment they could
and becoming active in the
community.
Then, last spring Joni felt a
lump in her neck.
She set aside checking that
out to deal with her mother’s
passing, and it was August
before she went in. Dr. Ken
Rose performed a biopsy of
the lump at Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital.
She learned she had a very
rare cancer: squamous cell
carcinoma, or cancer of the
tonsils. Herb doesn’t smoke
or drink, the most common
causes, but says she took
plenty of second-hand smoke
growing up.
Soon she was off to Walla
Walla for PET scans, CAT
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Joni Herb of Joseph gets a
“top up” of liquids for dehy-
dration at Wallowa Memorial
Hospital. Thanks to her ex-
panded OHP coverage, Herb
was able to obtain treatment
for a cancer with a 90-95 per-
cent cure rate.
scans, surgery –– the works.
Her ear nose and throat spe-
cialist chose aggressive
treatment.
She’s been in treatment
since the first week of Decem-
ber. She is now just two weeks
away from the end of chemo
and a five-days-a-week rege-
gon’s marijuana industry thrives
under our carefully considered
state regulatory requirements.”
Rosenblum, who charac-
terized Sessions’ decision as
overreach, made no indica-
tion of specific next steps other
than she “valued her working
relationship” with Williams
and looked forward to work-
ing with him.
“This is an industry that
Oregonians have chosen —
and one I will do everything in
my legal authority to protect,”
Rosenblum said.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
said in a statement that her
office would “fight to con-
tinue Oregon’s commitment
to a safe and prosperous recre-
ational marijuana market.”
min of radiation.
“This is where it gets real
tough,” she said.
Although squamous cell
carcinoma will kill you if not
treated, the survival rate is
high if treated.
“We would have had to sell
our house,” Herb said. “I don’t
think I should have to sell our
house to afford treatment. Had
I not had OHP, I wouldn’t have
been able to do treatment.”
Joni had 11 nodules taken
out in Walla Walla and chemo
and radiation followed. The
chances are Joni will be fine,
thanks in large measure to her
access to Medicaid.
“Oh my gosh, OHP has
supported me through this
much better than any private
insurance I had,” she said.
“I’ve worked since I was 10
and paid into my company’s
health plans all my life. Noth-
ing has been as good as this.
This has been remarkable
insurance.”
She’s 40 pounds lighter
due to chemo, pretty much
weak as a kitten and tied to
yearly checkups for the rest of
her life. But she is alive and on
the road to recovery.
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