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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2018)
CHIEFTAIN GRIDIRON CONTEST KICKS OFF » PAGE 9 Enterprise, Oregon Issue No. 20 Wallowa.com September 5, 2018 ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS The life and philosophy of the Stilsons $1 Appeal possible of Lostine corridor suit Environmental groups mulling over options By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The lawsuit filed by environmental groups Greater Hells Canyon Council and Oregon Wild to stop the Lostine Corridor Public Safety Project received another set- back Aug. 17. District Court Judge Michael Simon upheld the findings and recommendations of Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan, who determined there was no merit in the suit. The U.S. Forest Service proposed the cor- ridor project in order to implement fire mit- igation treatments along the 11 miles and 2,200 acres skirting Lostine River Road. The treatments include forest thinning, removal of hazard trees and some commer- cial logging. See CORRIDOR, Page A7 Biomass project is back on line Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Downtown businesses would benefit from cheaper heating source Judy and Jim Stilson of Joseph (and Flash). The Stilsons were honored as Cattlemen of the Year by the Wallowa County Stockgrowers Association. By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain J im (1941) and Judy (1947) Stilson were honored at the Stockgrowers Banquet last month as 2018 Honor- ary Cattleman of the Year. As usual, the story of how Jim and Judy made their lives in Wallowa County as cattle ranchers — or in this case, horse trainers and cattle ranchers — is a tale worth repeating. So, about that horse named Linoleum. Story is, Jim went to town one Val- entine’s Day and Judy was sure he was going to come home with a brand-new piece of Linoleum for Judy’s kitchen. Judy was a farm wife and linoleum was an acceptable Valentine’s gift. “We really needed a new kitchen floor,” Judy said. “I was doing some remodeling.” Instead, Jim got sucked into a great temptation — he went to the auction yard. And he gave in to temptation — and came home with a horse instead. “He called her Val because it was Val- entines Day and tried to convince me she was my present,” Judy said. She wasn’t having that, and Jim had to go back to town and do better, but the horse stayed and was named Linoleum. And that story should tell you a lot about ranch life and Jim and Judy Stilson, particu- larly their sense of humor. Jim and Judy grew up fairly near each other in the Palouse Valley of Washington and both their fathers, Dean Stilson (and wife Jean) and Ray Harp (and wife Bea) were grain farmers. Jim’s mother, Jean, was a school teacher and Judy’s mother, Bea, was a farm wife. Jim and Judy knew one another through friends and cousins, but “we weren’t impressed with one another in high school,” Judy said. Judy went to business college in Spo- kane and Jim studied general agriculture — but he didn’t want to be a grain farmer like his father. “I wanted to be a cowboy,” he said. They liked each other a lot better when A project designed to supply cheap heat- ing to downtown Enterprise businesses is back on track. Kyle Petrocine, program manager for Wallowa Resources and Community Solu- tions Inc., has been in discussion with busi- nesses that could benefit from the biomass project and recently presented an update to Enterprise City Council. Wallowa Resources received an Oregon Department of Forestry grant to do the initial design three years ago, but afterward, fluctu- ations in the price of fuel oil resulted in the project being shelved. See STILSONS, Page A7 See BIOMASS, Page A7 Enterprise youth wages battle against rare form of cancer Undergoing Rife Frequency Therapy By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Boldness may have saved Jalyn Radford-Wecks’ life. And he’s deter- mined to keep on being bold in hopes of saving the lives of other young men. In early July, Jalyn, 17, of Enter- prise discovered a painful lump on one of his testicles. He had learned about testicular cancer in health class at school, and he knew he needed to tell someone about it. “He texted me at work, July 5, and asked if I could come by his work,” said his mother Vixen Rad- ford-Wecks. “That’s not normal for a teenager.” Jalyn told his mother what the problem was and asked her to make him an appointment with a doctor. “I thought, he really didn’t say what I just heard,” said Vixen. But he had said it. She made an appointment immediately. The biopsy came back July 12. It was cancer. It wasn’t the more com- mon and highly treatable testicular seminoma cancer, it was a rarer more aggressive embryonal cancer — a germ cell cancer. One-fifth to two-thirds of young men who are diagnosed find the can- cer has metastasized. Back-to-back appointments began. By July 19, Jalyn was in the hospi- tal with grandad Monte Radford and dad Jeffery Wecks at his side when he went in for surgery to remove his left testicle. A few weeks of recovery later, he was back at OHSU to hear his treatment options going forward. Although testing had shown can- cer cells in the spermatic duct, doc- tors were not saying the cancer had metastasized. However, recent blood- JAMMIN’ AT THE JAM work results gave cause for concern. According to the American Can- cer Society, radiation therapy can cause an increased risk of getting a second cancer (outside of the tes- ticle) later in life, so full radiation therapy was not an option high on the list for the Radford-Wecks fam- ily, though Jalyn now carries two small “radioactive rocks” in his pocket as a part of treatment. See CANCER, Page A8 10th Juniper Jam plays to large audience at the fairgrounds By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Blue skies and perfect weather greeted the 10th annual Juniper Jam at the Wal- lowa County Fairgrounds Sept. 1. The event is the premiere fundraiser for the Wallowa Valley Music Alliance. The all-day event featured 15 music acts, all performing original compositions, a pre- requisite to take the stage. Alliance execu- tive director Janis Carper said the event was a tremendous success. This year’s jam saw several twists. The songwriter contest fell by the wayside due to a lack of entrants coupled with the fact the event proved a time drain. “There was a lot of work involved,” Steve Tool/Chieftain Carper said, “and the return was minimal.” Portland band Anita Lee and the Handsome Three play their unique She didn’t rule out bringing it back in the blend of psychedelic country at the 10th annual Juniper Jam held at future, however. the Wallowa County Fairgrounds on Sept. 1. The festival also included an additional two hours of music, also with buskers play- ing at different stations as soon as the gates opened. Buskers entertain in a public place for donations. “It made a nice way to start the day,” she said. Carper’s favorite part of the event was the way the music of each band flowed into the next act, giving the jam continuity. She said that feeling can be difficult to achieve, given variables such as genre, music style, gender and others. “I was super pleased that every band played at just the time it needed to,” she said. Kory Quinn was the only act that had previously played the festival although he performed with an entirely new band. Sev- eral performers had also played the jam as musicians in other bands. See JAM, Page A7