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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2018)
A8 News/From A1 wallowa.com September 5, 2018 Wallowa County Chieftain Slingluff enters plea deal on domestic violence charges His mother testifies on his behalf By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Stephen Henry Slingluff, 32, Los- tine, received no jail time in a domes- tic violence incident that included the defendant threatening to kill his girl- friend with a knife after she wanted to break off their relationship. Slingluff pleaded guilty to counts of coercion, a Class C felony and menacing in Wallowa County Cir- cuit Court Aug. 8. Wallowa County District attorney Rebecca Frolander prosecuted the case for the state while Zachary Hostetter represented Slin- gluff. Judge Patricia Sullivan presided. Slingluff was originally charged with additional counts of menac- ing, two counts of harassment and recklessly endanger- ing another person stemming from the May 1 incident. According to Slingluff Frolander, the vic- tim told investigators that Slingluff became verbally abu- sive early into the relationship call- ing her “stupid” and “a failure” if she didn’t measure up to his expectations. She attempted to leave Slingluff at least twice. After calling 911 after the May 1 incident, she called her father to specify her burial preferences fear- ing she would not survive the night. Hostetter said that he only took the case because his client was moti- vated to change his behavior and professes he wanted to do more than apologize to the court and victim –– CANCER Continued from Page A1 Another option was chemother- apy, which, according to The Ameri- can Cancer Society is generally used when the cancer has spread outside the testicle. The treatment is brutal. Chemo drugs attack cells that are dividing quickly and can affect bone marrow (where new blood cells are made), the lining of the mouth and intestines, and the hair follicles, all of which also divide quickly. If Jalyn chose to undergo chemother- apy, he wouldn’t get to attend school his senior year, play basketball or go hunting. He’d already missed most of his summer job at Enterprise Electric; he wasn’t able to take part in an import- ant rural rite of passage — showing and selling his pig at the fair; and he’d faced the fact that he wouldn’t get to join the U.S. Marines out of high school. “I’m already telling my teach- ers I’m not going to school the week of buck season,” Jalyn said. “Senior year, I’m going out all buck season.” So, when OHSU presented the option of “sitting and watching, if your family can take it,” a new plan began to formulate. They would “sit and watch” while vigorously pursuing alternative treatment. Courtesy photo Jalyn Radford-Wecks is under- going alternative, post-surgery treatment for an aggressive form of testicular cancer and his life- long friend Maddie McDowell do- nated her auction income on her FFA sheep to his treatment costs. Jalyn has consulted a nutritionist familiar with cancer. It also turns out the Rad- ford-Wecks family had some expe- rience with another alternative treat- ment — a light frequency treatment known as Rife Frequency Therapy. Six years ago, Vixen had seen a best friend die of breast cancer despite intense traditional treatment. That friend had strongly believed that if she had found Rife Frequency Ther- apy when first diagnosed she would have been cured. Back then, Vixen was skeptical, but her friend believed it might still help, and it only cost $5,000 for the light therapy machine. So, Vixen and other friends put together a ben- efit horse show in Newberg to raise he wanted “atonement.” “His actions have been consistent with that desire, and I think he should be commended for that,” he said. “There were, as in all relations, things that should not have occurred, that’s an understatement, concluding with what happened in May.” Hostetter urged the judge to set a time-frame for lifting a no-contact order between the two to facilitate couples counseling for the victim and perpetrator. He added that the incident came after eight or nine hours of discus- sion between the victim and defen- dant and while Slingluff was battling “mental health issues.” He added that renewed contact would probably spur the defendant’s motivation to com- plete treatment. With the judge’s permission, Hostetter brought in the defendant’s enough money to purchase portable light treatment equipment. By the time the equipment was purchased, it was too late for her friend, so the equipment was donated to Seahorse Cove of Lafeyette, Ore., the nearest Rife Frequency Therapy center. Jalyn has begun thia treatment as well. “It’s kind of like radar,” he said. Although the initial result of the alternative treatment has been a return of energy more in keeping with a teenage boy’s disposition, the situation remains in flux and treat- ment decisions may change, Vixen said. Jalyn continues his appoint- ments with OHSU where his doctors are closely monitoring his health. Jalyn continues to learn more and more about testicular cancer and boldly shares his knowledge. His friends first learned of his ill- ness when he came out of surgery and began Snapchatting his friends with the news. They were astounded at first but did not hesitate to respond. Several benefits to raise money for his treatment have been held. Enterprise FFA began a beef raf- fle; his good friend Maddie McDow- ell of Enterprise donated the price of her county fair sheep; Ian Goodrich of Joseph also donated one-half the price of his county fair goat; the Wal- lowa County Fair Board let Jalyn sell mother to testify. She said her son taught guitar to children and that par- ents found him to be a gentle and understanding person as did some res- idents of the county. She testified she believed his behavior in the relationship was due to ill treatment by one or two others, although she did not elaborate. She agreed that her son needed to change his behavior. Slingluff also spoke in his own defense and said that when he even- tually was reconciled with the victim, the two planned to visit her homeland and seek healing and peace and work on his issues. Hostetter reiterated his request to drop the no-contact order and to allow for early termination of Slingluff’s pro- bation if he completed other portions of his sentence. Frolander objected and said the defendant needed to serve his county fair pig (to Les Schwab for $12.25 per pound) after friends Ella and Beth Anderson of Enter- prise showed it for him at the fair and family friend Sarah Hammond of Bend will be running a silent auction benefit Sept. 18-21 on Facebook. More fundraisers are in the works. Jalyn’s experience has touched and motivated many. His fam- ily receives calls weekly from peo- ple who have experienced testicular cancer in the family. Others are curi- ous about the alternative therapy and want to follow Jalyn’s progress. Jalyn’s dad, Jeffery Wecks, hopes to address the lack of cancer educa- tion for young men, and get people talking as freely about testicular can- cer as they do about breast cancer. Wecks’ passionate response has resulted in plans for a cancer aware- ness fundraiser at the next Mountain High Broncs and Bulls event to raise money for cancer checks other than for breast cancer. If there’s anything good about his experience, Jalyn said, it is that male friends have told him they have since checked themselves for testicular cancer, something they’d never done before. There’s no doubt in his mind that more education and more bold con- versation is needed. “If I ever have a boy, a son, it might be good for him to know so he can watch for it,” said Jalyn. out his entire probation without fault in order to be eligible for dropping the felony charge to a misdemeanor. For the coercion charge, Sullivan sentenced Slingluff to 36 months of supervised probation, 30 days on the work crew and undergoing the domes- tic violence package. She also allowed him to petition for contact by email or text with the victim after 90 days, which Sullivan said would serve to reduce Slingluff’s anxiety. He also had a number of firearms permanently confiscated and received a $500 fine. The menacing charge led to an additional 10 days of work crew. Sullivan also lectured Slingluff about his behavior. “If you can get insight into why you were acting the way you do and develop good plans for controlling it, it’s going to make your life so much better,” she said. DeBoie files for his former commissioner slot By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Former Wallowa County commis- sioner Dan DeBoie filed his candidacy for commissioner position 3, his for- mer slot, Aug. 27. DeBoie served as a commissioner 2003-2011, when pres- ent commissioner, Paul Castilleja, defeated him for the post. Castilleja’s seat was originally won by Bruce Dunn in the Oregon Primary. Upon Dunn’s death, the filing dead- line was extended. Diane Daggett, who lost to Dunn in the primary, and Cliff Walters of Joseph have also filed. In 2016 DeBoie briefly entered the race for former commissioner Mike Hayward’s post. He dropped out weeks before the primary election cit- ing his inability to make the time com- mitment for the post. Todd Nash won the position. DeBoie, of Joseph, is a self-em- ployed, farm equipment operator and listed his public office, sales, technical support, real estate development and property management as his occupa- tional background. He also listed government experi- ence including serving on the Joseph School Board. VISIT US ONLINE AT WALLOWA . COM Thank you to the following businesses for supporting Newspapers in Education Their generous support of the Wallowa County Chieftain NIE program helps provide copies of the newspaper and unlimited access to Wallowa.com and the e-Edition to schools throughout the community. Jr. Jason Follett, DMD 541-426-3531 WallowaValleyDental.com 204 Residence St. Enterprise, OR 306 W. North St. Enterprise, OR 541-426-7455 OliveBranchFamily.com 541-426-4502 WindingWaters.org 541-426-2700 Heidi’s Gift Shoppe 59974 Mt. Howard Rd., Joseph, OR 541-432-0830 HeidisGiftShoppe.com 603 Medical Parkway Enterprise, OR 97828 205 W. Main St. 541-426-3124 Enterprise, OR 97828 UmpquaBank.com 1200 Highland Ave. Enterprise, OR 97828 EaglesViewInnAndSuites.com For more information on the NIE Program, visit Wallowa.com/nie. To make a donation, call 541-426-4567.
