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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2019)
Enterprise, Oregon 134th Year, No. 48 Wallowa.com Wednesday, March 13, 2019 $1 Ellen Morris Bishop Cindy and Derek Bowker, who live up Hurricane Creek Road, are as tired of snow as the rest of us. (Maybe more.) Last week, on the one day they did NOT have to shovel or plow, they decided to have some fun. With temperatures forecast near 60 degrees later this week, their surrender evidently worked. Enterprise fi re damages home Joseph council gives thumbs-down to Saturno variance By Ellen Morris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain A fi re that started when Robin Hamilton and a friend tried to thaw frozen pipes damaged Hamilton’s house at 705 Greenwood in Enterprise Thursday eve- ning. Both Enterprise and Joseph fi re departments responded, along with the Wallowa County ambu- lance. No injuries were reported. Hamilton, her cat, and her dog Lucille were back in their home Fri- day afternoon. “I just can’t believe those big guys and all their gear were so care- ful with everything,” she said of the fi refi ghters. “They were wonderful!” Hamilton called 911 when the pipe-thawing project, using a diesel-fu- eled blowtorch, started to go bad. “The beam started smoking,” she said. “I threw some snow on it, but it didn’t stop and then the smoke started coming more from under the house and from the wall. I just wasn’t really prepared for a big problem.” The Enterprise Fire Department responded with 15 fi refi ghters, two engines By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Ellen Morris Bishop Enterprise volunteer fi refi ghters access the second story and attic to douse fl ames in the house at 705 Greenwood, Enterprise, Thursday evening. The fi re started when the residents tried to thaw frozen pipes. The structure sustained severe damage. and a rescue unit. “We were at the scene within about three minutes of getting the call,” Enterprise Fire Chief Paul Karvoski said. “The fi re climbed up the out- side wall at the back of the house. Then it got into the interior and the attic.” What started as a pipe-thawing effort quickly became a full-fl edged house fi re. Within about 10 min- utes, the Joseph Fire Department provided rein- forcements of ten volun- teers with an engine and a rescue unit. The combined fi re-fi ghting force had the fi re under control quickly and out within about two hours. See Fire, Page A10 The Joseph City Coun- cil’s March 7 meeting saw fi reworks fl y as it unani- mously voted to deny a hous- ing variance to Douglas Sat- urno, a Walla Walla resident who owns property in Joseph and other parts of Wallowa County. Mayor Teresa Sajo- nia announced that Saturno sought a variance permit for the north side of his property at 802 Engleside Ave to allow for placement of a rental unit on the parcel, which already features a home. Saturno’s attorney, Rahn Hostetter, fi rst addressed the matter. He said that the Sat- urnos purchased the property in 2017 and worked with the city and Wallowa Associates to create a partition. The city granted the application under former mayor, Den- nis Sands. Hostetter said the area in question was diffi cult to work with as it didn’t face a street and it wasn’t clear what constituted the front and back of the parcel. According to Hostetter, during the placement of the housing unit, a 22-foot set- back was violated. The attor- ney called the unit a “con- struction,” although it is a triple-wide mobile home. He did say the foundation that was poured also did not comply with the setback, but it wasn’t intentional and he apologized. He added that because the foundation was already poured, and because it wasn’t clear what constituted the front or back, he hoped the council would allow the vari- ance from the 22-foot setback. Bruce Ginsel, Saturno’s property manager, said that a previous employee had done much of the permit work. He added that the foundation was poured shortly after he was hired and he hadn’t seen the plans and was unaware of any setback issues. He assumed the contractor was aware of any setback require- ments, although the contrac- tor admitted he hadn’t seen the plans either, so he poured the foundation to line up with an existing home. See Council, Page A10 Blythe Cricket hops onto the restaurant scene By Ellen Morris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain If you’re looking for king-sized burgers with piles of French fries, don’t stop here. But if you want a healthy, delicious home- made meal served in reason- ably-sized portions, the Bly- the Cricket, newly opened at the north end of Joseph, is for you. Owners/chefs Margaret Lamm and Rachael Nutter have transformed their cater- ing service into their dream: a full-fl edged restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and once-per-week special Ital- ian dinners. Their espresso machine serves up Nossa Familia, a Portland-roasted fair trade coffee from Brazil. And like their new building, all their food is made from scratch. “Food is nutrition,” Lamm said, “not just a burger and fries.” She should know. Before opening the Blythe Cricket with Nutter, Lamm was the Director of Nutritional Services at Wal- lowa Memorial Hospital. “Our foods are wild caught or farm-raised, and made with simple ingredients,” Lamm said. The restaurant’s “made from scratch” philosophy means locally sourced as well. The menu for break- fast and lunch includes in-house baked English Muffi ns, bacon and ham that are uncured and nitrate- free, and beef raised by Wal- lowa County rancher Rod Childers. The portions are generous, but not over- whelming. “We don’t like to waste food,” Nutter said. “So we provide servings that are about the size you’d be eating at home.” The “eating at home” and locally-sourced philos- ophy extends to the china and tableware, and even the building itself. Every sin- gle dish, bowl and plate in the Blythe Cricket is “sec- ond-hand,” purchased used from someone’s home or estate sale. “We like to pay Ellen M Bishop The meatloaf sandwich is made with locally-raised beef, caramelized onions, and Havarti cheese. homage to the cooks and families who came before us,” Lamm said. Some are vintage, others just from the sturdy settings of the 80’s or 90’s. Each plate seems to offer a story of a local fam- ily, and of the many dishes it See Restaurant, Page A10