Wallowa County chieftain., January 29, 2020, Image 1

LADY OUTLAWS KEEP OPPONENTS ON THE RUN
THE LADIES ARE 5-2 IN LEAGUE PLAY AND 13-3
OVERALL WHILE HOLDING DOWN THE SIXTH
SLOT IN STATE RANKINGS | B1
Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
134th Year, No. 42
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Photos by Ellen Morris Bishop
Craig Anderson, of Enterprise, starts on the
second leg of the 31x2 middle distance race.
Anderson and his team fi nished fi fth of ten
racers with a time of 7 hrs 28 minutes.
EAGLE CAP EXTREME
LIVES UP TO ITS NAME
Record numbers include the most dog teams,
the most women mushers and the fastest times
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
he 16th annual Eagle Cap Extreme
Sled Dog Race in Wallowa County
lived up to its name this year with a
record number of racers (40). Half of
the entrants were women and more
than half of the fi nishers were women. Rac-
ers came from across the western U.S. and
from Europe.
Gabe Dunham, of Darby, Mont. was fi rst
across the fi nish line in the premier 200-
mile race. She took third in the race in 2019,
but this was her year to claim the top tro-
phy and $1,700 prize money. Her time of
32 hours 10 minutes was a fast time for the
event, though not quite a record. After her
ECX win, Dunham is headed for Montana’s
Race to the Sky and then will compete in
this year’s Iditarod.
“We (the dogs and Dunham) have trained
for a long time for this,” Dunham said.
“We’re ready.”
Josi Thyr, of Olney, Mont. crossed the
fi nish line just 11 minutes after Dunham.
“I could see Josie’s lights behind me,”
Dunham said. “And I thought to myself I
T
Hugo Antonucci’s happy, energetic lead dog is anxious to start the
100 mile race on Thursday morning.
Joseph goes back to school
Grades K-4 held in Enterprise
Professional Building for now
haven’t trained this hard and come this far
to lose the race.”
She didn’t. Dunham encouraged her
team. Thyr paused to put two tired dogs on
her sled rather than make them run the last
few miles. The gap between the two teams
widened a bit.
Hometown hero Morgan Anderson fi n-
ished fi fth in a starting fi eld of 12 in her
fi rst 200-mile race. She had competed in the
Eagle Cap Extreme three times previously.
Now a sophomore at Montana State Univer-
sity majoring in wildlife biology, Anderson
hopes to run the 200, and its 29,381 feet of
total relief again next year if she can fi nd a
team of dogs to race.
Mark Stamm of Riverside, Wash., won
the highly competitive 100-mile race. The
next three fi nishers crossed the fi nish line
within two minutes of one-another. Only 2
seconds separated third-place fi nisher Emily
Gibson from fourth-place fi nisher Lau-
rie Warren. Jane Devlin, who won the 31 x
2-mile event in 2018, was in no hurry in this
year’s 100-mile race. She took the red lan-
tern award as the last mushier in.
See Eagle Cap, Page B2
Legislators prepping to
tackle wildfi res, climate,
guns in upcoming session
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
By Sam Stites, Jake
Thomas and Claire
Withycombe
Oregon Capital Bureau
It was business as usual —
almost — Monday, Jan. 27,
as Joseph Charter School stu-
dents came back to school in
the wake of a Jan. 16 fi re. That
blaze severely damaged the
school gym and caused smoke
and water damage to most of
the rest of the school.
The fi fth grade through
high school classes are being
held in buildings on campus,
including the shop and the
new CTE building. Kinder-
garten through fourth-grade
students classes are being held
in the Wallowa County Pro-
SALEM — When
they gather for the month-
long legislative session,
Monday, Feb. 3, legis-
lators want to improve
the state’s care for peo-
ple with mental ill-
ness, strengthen its abil-
ity to fi ght increasingly
destructive wildfi res and
decrease the state’s green-
house gas emissions.
Their
refurbished
greenhouse gas proposal,
similar to HB 2020, poses
the risk of a political
Bill Bradshaw
Joseph Charter School fi rst-grade teacher Susan Koehn instructs
her class Monday, Jan. 27, in a room rented from Viridian
Management in the Wallowa County Professional Building in
Enterprise.
fessional Building in Enter- recess on the old Joseph Ele-
prise. Students there are being mentary School playground/
bussed to the Joseph Commu-
See School, Page A7
nity Center for lunch and a
blowout. Last year, Senate
Republicans fl ed the state
to avoid taking a vote on
2020. They have said such
an act remains an option
for them in February.
Here’s a guide to
some eastern Oregon-
and Wallowa County-re-
lated issues to watch
once legislators convene
in the Capitol next week:
Mental health:
The Oregon State
Hospital is struggling to
accommodate an infl ux
of patients from coun-
ties. Judges send defen-
dants for treatment so
See Session, Page A7