NEWS Wallowa.com Wednesday, October 16, 2019 A7 Wallowa woman grateful she moved back Bethany Jones fi rst moved to Wallowa when she was 3½ years old. After graduat- ing from Wallowa High School, she moved away for awhile and and then came back Bethany Jones eight years ago. She now lives in Wallowa with her 10-year-old daugh- ter and is engaged to be married to Frank Meyers. She handles the billing for Alpine Chiropractic in Enterprise. it’s a really short drive. The scenery is amazing. Wallowa County VOICES By Bill Bradshaw What’s the best thing or place in Wallowa County? I love lots of things about this county. You can’t go wrong with all the wil- derness areas. There’s so much diver- sity here, whether you’re looking for the mountains or the canyons or the lakes or the rivers, you’re going to fi nd it, and What’s the greatest challenge facing the county? I think to carve out a living here is challenging at times, but well worth it. You could go somewhere else and make more money, but it wouldn’t be as fun. What can people do to make Wal- lowa County a better place for us all? Just to spread kindness. I think that’s a great ideology. What have you learned from living in Wallowa County? I don’t know. I learn things every day. Since you came back, what did you learn about the county by living away from it? I love the people here. I love how quiet and slow everything is. It’s not fast. It’s not crazy. You don’t have all the crime and things that go on in other places. I love raising my daughter here. It’s just a wonderful place to live and I’m so glad I came back every day. What’s your advice for people who are thinking about moving here? If they want a quiet, enjoyable, beauti- ful place to raise their families, this is it. Firewise: Neighbors in Lostine Canyon getting informed on wildfi re prevention Continued from Page A1 Bill Bradshaw The Lostine Wildlife Area was the site of a dedication ceremony Friday, Oct. 11, for the Lostine Canyon Firewise Community sign recognizing area residents’ interest in making eff orts to safeguard their area against an inevitable wildfi re. Lostine Canyon residents interested in establishing a Firewise Community con- ducted their initial meeting in April 2018. Since then, neighbors in the Lostine Canyon have been working on becoming better informed about how to prevent wild- fi re from destroying their create a map for our com- munity that shows where to go for certain services and who is the contact for each organization. Police Chief Joel Fish Jr. and Offi cers Jacob Curtis, Cody Billman and George Kohlhepp were certifi ed as having completed the CIT course. Eilene Flory, a crisis intervention coordinator for the institute, said it was impressive that 100% of the Enterprise Police Depart- ment has received CIT cer- tifi cation, even though there are just four offi cers. “It’s still 100%,” she said. She noted that the state- wide average is 33%. Tosca Rawls, public relations and development director for the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness, called the EPD’s certifi ca- tion “a great accomplish- ment and partnership within our community.” Sequential Inter- cept Mapping is a nation- wide effort to address the over-representation of adults with mental illnesses in the criminal justice sys- tem. During the process, community stakeholders identify service and pol- icy gaps and opportunities to address the needs of this target population, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Insti- tutes of Health website. “As we go through your community’s resources, we identify your commu- nity’s resources and gaps, and oftentimes in the map- ping between law enforce- ment and mental health it is brought up that there’s a gap between the two agencies,” Flory said. “Sometimes it’s just an understanding of what law enforcement can do, to take somebody under custody because of a mental health issue or law enforce- ment not understanding what mental health can do.” Rebecca Frolander, the district attorney for Wal- lowa County, was one of the attendees at the workshop and offered input on some of the gaps in the legal sys- tem here. “Generally, people with severe mental health issues shouldn’t be in the criminal justice system,” she said. Attendees discussed options, such as a diversion to ensure offenders cooper- ate with health care provid- ers to ensure they’re taking their medicines. “The spectrum of behav- ioral health is quite large,” she said. “Depending whether they are able to understand what is required of them. People who’ve committed low-level mis- demeanors, maybe they’ve just stopped taking their meds. We can do a low-level diversion to force them to restart their meds.” Since SIM is an attempt to divert those with mental health issues from the crim- inal justice system, alterna- tives are necessary. “If it’s appropriate, we want to divert someone from the criminal justice system,” Flory said. “Our goal is to help identify where the gaps are and where we can help intercept that person from going into the jail. Looking for what kind of resources are out there to help divert them because we have found that jail is not necessarily the best place for them. But it also doesn’t give you a get-out- of-jail-free card. If you’re a danger to yourself or to other people and if it’s needed to keep the community safe, we need to put you in jail.” Wallowa County does have a mobile crisis team that works with police and there is a one-bed men- tal health holding room at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. “It’s awesome that you guys have a state-certifi ed holding room because in a lot of places we work with in eastern Oregon the hospi- tals are little and they don’t have a holding room,” she said. Frolander said she under- stood the Center for Well- ness was to create a roadmap to fi ll gaps to fi nd a better means of helping those with behavioral issues. “We’re very early in that process,” Frolander said. Zeb Ramsde llo n wa to Wa the week honor goes This week’s athlete of yer, Zeb Ramsden. The WHS junior Cougars football pla threat on either side of the ball as poses a dangerous s’ 74-6 massacre of the Pine Eagle he proved in the Coug msden bagged one tackle with five Ra Spartans last Friday. d an interception while haunting the ge ag sn d an 7 yards on 10 assists offense raced for 13 defensive side and on d hit pay dirt twice. Receiving saw rds touches an receptions for 54 ya TD. udly Pro onsore d b y Ramsden with four and another p S 201 E. Hwy 82, Enterprise • 541-426-0320 www.edstaub.com PET OF K THE WEE Brought to you by, Meet Amelia Born Dec. 1, 2018, Amelia is a spayed, petite little girl with a good appetite. She has made friends with her foster mom’s hound dog. Her personality is very sweet. She is trusting and loves to be held and cuddled. She has a tiny little meow and a loud purr. Give this little girl a chance because she’s got a big heart and wants to be loved. She is up-to-date on her respi- ratory vaccination, de-worming and is litter box trained. Coming Soon! 877-319-0328 WEEK Continued from Page A1 to become nationally recog- nized, it’s a very big deal. It’s something, I think, you should be very proud of.” Howard hopes the Los- tine community will serve as an example for others in the county. He expects the ODF and Wallowa Resources can begin work in the spring organizing more such com- munities at such places as Wallowa Lake and Hurri- cane Creek. “You folks are a model for other communities in the future and your collective experiences here are going to help other communities decide whether they want to pursue being Firewise-rec- ognized or not,” he said. OF THE Training: Workshop for offi cers seeks to fi ll the gaps your thinking from, ‘I’ll reduce my fuel load one of these years to I need to do it this year,’ ” canyon resident Fred Brockman said. Oregon Department of Forestry forester Matt How- ard emphasized the inevita- bility of another wildfi re in the area. “I don’t know if it’s ironic or what, but we’re standing in a fi re spot from about 50 years ago,” he said. “It started down in the fl at here and with the north wind went up the canyon. So that’s within this generation. The fact that you folks were collective enough and had enough gumption to stick with it through this process ATHLETE Firewise Committee. On Friday, Oct. 11, at the Lostine Wildlife Area the Firewire groups and Com- missioner Susan Roberts met to dedicate signs along the road recognizing the Firewise community. Rob- erts expressed hopes that Lostine’s actions will be an example to other communi- ties in the county. “Hopefully, your accom- plishment will serve to inspire other communities to take important and nec- essary steps to improve their protection from the poten- tially catastrophic risks of wildfi re,” Roberts said. Eng emphasized the necessity of the program. “We live in an extreme fi re-risk area and we have to learn to adapt to that,” he said. “There’s not much we can do about changing the weather, changing the ter- rain, changing the land own- ership and some of the ways it’s managed.” homes and their community, how to respond in the inev- itable event of a wildfi re in the Lostine Canyon and how to recover after a wildfi re passes through their com- munity. Residents have been creating “fi resafe” perim- eters around their homes, removing closely spaced and insect-damaged trees, trim- ming low-hanging branches and chipping. They have taken advantage of offers by foresters Tim Cudmore and Eric Carlson, of the ODF, to help identify diseased and insect-infested trees to help reduce fuel loads around their homes, while also pre- serving privacy and wildlife habitat. They have also taken advantage of free exterior home inspections by one of their neighbors, Gary Wil- lis, a former Hood River fi re chief, to learn what they can do to better fi reproof the exterior of their homes. “Being informed that you live in an area with an ‘extreme’ fi re risk, it shifts Available for Adoption Contact Julia at 541-398-0393 $45 adoption fee http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/ Do you have something to howl about? Let your voice be heard in the Wallowa county Chieftain! Happy A - - W L EEN W O H Eagles in Oregon Watching Them Watch Us Watch Them Friday, October 18th 7 pm • FREE! Join Frank Isaacs as he compares and contrasts bald and golden eagles, and discusses the latest nesting research. Frank Isaacs , MS Oregon Eagle Foundation 2006 Order of the Eagle Award 1996 Oregon Wildlife Society Award 1989 Oregon Wildlife Achievement Award 1987 Dave Simons Award Contact Jennifer Cooney at jcooney@wallowa.com 541-805-9630 209 NW First St., Enterprise • 541-426-4567 Natural History Discovery Center 508 N. Main • Joseph • 541-263-1663 • wallowology.org