WALLOWA COUNTY AG WEEK
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TOUGH SPRING
Early morning bursts of heavy wet snow have
greeted Wallowa County residents several times
in the past week, complicating the calving sea-
son for ranchers. This cow and calf were grazing in
a snow-covered field south of Enterprise Saturday
morning. Slippery roads caused at least one two-
car accident on the Imnaha Highway east of Joseph
around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
Issue No. 49
March 21, 2018
CRAB TIME
$1
Enterprise
students join
nationwide
walkout
Protest lasted 17 minutes
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Paul Wahl/Chieftain
George Ballard of Joseph had the perfect hat to wear for the Enterprise Elks Crab Feed March 17 at Cloverleaf Hall. The event
has been held for at least the past 40 years, according to Elks Exalted Ruler Randy Morgan. Roughly 250 people were ex-
pected to file through the line for crab and prime rib and all the fixings. The evening also included an auction with proceeds
tagged for Elks Childrens Eye Clinic and Meadowood Speech and Language Camp. Nine monstrous prime ribs were prepared
along with 250 pounds of crab by 25 volunteers. Morgan said it is traditionally the organization’s largest fundraiser.
About 25 Enterprise high school and junior
high school students staged a silent vigil at the
school March 14 in solidarity with thousands of
students across the nation to bring attention to
mass shootings and gun violence.
Just a few minutes before 10 a.m., students
silently filed out school doors to stand by the
Quinn Court flagpole for 17 minutes, one min-
ute for each student murdered at Florida’s Park-
land High School with an AR-47 just one month
before.
The gloomy skies and incessant drizzle
matched the somber mood of the gathering as
the students huddled together before slowly
breaking off to continue the school day.
Two students, sophomore Foster Hobbs and
senior Caleb Reed, were among those who par-
ticipated. Both students heard of the walkout
through social media. They also said school
staff did not discourage them.
“I heard people saying that we’re going to
have a walkout and I thought, ‘that’s something
I believe in, so I’ll participate,’” Foster said. “I
was out here because I think there should be more
stringent policies on gun rights.”
Foster added he believes there should be
more regulations.
“I don’t think assault weapons should be
available to the public,” he said.
Reed said he was there for a different reason.
“I’m just out here to bring awareness to the
problems that we have within our country,” he
said. “Gun rights are a big problem, and as for
school shootings –– there shouldn’t be any.
Both students believe the present culture in
the country is part of the problem.
Both students were pleased with the turnout
and said they were gratified to see that junior high
See WALK, Page A7
COUNTY COMMISSION
Bed tax bump could
Wallowa County considers
help fund sheriff’s office closing its health department
Virtual graveyard
idea approved
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County Commissioners
are discussing the possibility of raising
the transient lodging tax by five per-
cent to help fund the sheriff’s office.
The current tax is 9.8 percent and
is paid by hotels, motels, bed and
breakfast inns and others. Hoteliers
expressed concern that they would
have to lower the cost of rooms
because visitors would not want to pay
almost 15 percent in transient tax.
Wallowa County Sheriff Steve
Rogers supports the idea. His budget
was cut by more than $100,000 for the
2017-18 budget cycle. Three deputies
cover the approximately 3,000 square-
miles of the county and simply cannot
See TAX, Page A7
Hearing on the
matter is April 2
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County’s public
health department is about to close
because the county can no longer
afford the operation, according to
county commissioner Susan Rob-
erts. The county’s board of com-
missioners is the local Public
Health Authority.
The commissioner said much
of the closing of the office at 758
NW 1st St., Enterprise, was also
brought on by the state’s program
to modernize public health. The
county had received revenue for
the department through 12 differ-
ent grant streams to local public
health.
She said that the county sub-
contracted the public mental
health authority role to the Wal-
lowa Valley Center for Wellness
while maintaining control of pub-
lic health. The county maintained
a public nurse, Lana Fisher, to
direct the program. After Fisher
retired from the county and
accepted a position elsewhere, the
county was down to one person.
“We were not able to pro-
vide services from a certified and
See HEALTH, Page A7
Theatre doing OK on renovation, fundraising
Series of concerts on tap
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
P
ortland group Joseph appeared on the
OK Theatre stage as part of a fundrais-
ing benefit for the venue. The concert
was touted as a mystery show and promoted
as such on Facebook until owner Darrell
Brann spilled the beans days before the con-
cert: Allison, Meegan and Natalie Closner.
The group is the namesake of their grand-
father as well as the Wallowa County town,
where the three sisters of the group spent
many of their childhood summers.
“Our first fundraiser was planned for
the “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou” show
in May,” Brann said. “Joseph called and
had a date, and I told them I already had a
show, but I could do a fundraiser for this
new project. It was cool. They came down,
and they were super-stoked to be part of the
unveiling.”
The unveiling Brann spoke of occurred
just before the concert. The stage, which had
undergone some renovation, was veiled with
a large white curtain. After Brann thanked the
standing-room-only audience for their atten-
dance as well as those who aided in the proj-
ect, stage hands pulled aside the curtain to
reveal a newly crafted proscenium, the part
of a theater stage in front of the curtain.
The work, carved wood and pastoral paint-
ings, was created by Lostine woodcarver Steve
Arment and artist Anna Vogel. It took 13 hours
to install under Arment’s direction.
“I feel like the beauty of the proscenium
set a tone for the beautification of the theatre
that wasn’t necessarily in the plan,” Brann
said. “It really set the stage for what can be
done in the building.”
See THEATRE, Page A7
Steve Tool/Chieftain
This new proscenium at the OK Theatre was not part of the the-
ater’s renovation plan, but was created for the theater by wood-
carver Steve Arment and artist Anna Vogel. The stage curtain will
be placed just inside the proscenium.