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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2020)
A2 Wallowa County Chieftain NEWS Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Enterprise Fire responds to blaze on Sunrise Road Ellen Morris Bishop ABOVE The kids are alright — Katie Wildman talks with Enterprise Fire Dept. deputy chief Brown while wind whipped snow makes the conversation a bit of a challenge. A neighbor noticed extra smoke coming out of the Wildman’s chimney, and they called 911. The fi re department was there in less then 10 minutes. “I put the baby and dogs in my truck,” Wildman said. “So they are going to be OK.” The fi re is a good reminder that even as spring approaches, fl ue fi res can be a problem. RIGHT A cold day for a warm fi re: Two Enterprise fi refi ghters inspect the chimney of Grant and Katie Wildman’s home on Sunrise Road, west of Enterprise Sunday afternoon, just as the blizzard-like frontal system hit. The home was OK, and the suspected fl ue fi re caused minimal damage. Jeff Merkley Town Hall touches on broad range of issues Discussions with the senator included Idaho, Forest management and Snake River dams By Ellen Morris Bishop Wallowa County Chieftain About 100 people fi lled the newly refurbished South Fork Grange Hall in Losting on friday morning to par- ticipate in U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley’s 407th town hall meeting. Prior to his pub- lic meeting, Merkley spent about 30 minutes listing to and taking with local lead- ers, including representa- tives of county government, law enforcement, tribal government and offi cials and others. The issues dis- cussed included forest man- agement, the 21-inch rule, timber logs (Sen. Merk- ley pointed to stewardship agreements, which are bol- stered in his Wildfi re-Resis- tant Communities Act), the Owyhee wilderness plan, the Snake River dams, restoring fi sh populations, and diffi - DEATH NOTICE 69 year old Larry L. Johnson of Joseph died Feb 19, 2020 at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. Memorial services are planned for Saturday February 29th 1:00pm at the Enterprise Baptist Church. Full obit will follow later. Bollman Funeral Home entrusted with arrangements. Verna M. Rhodes July 18, 1935 - February 12, 2020 Verna M. Rhodes, 84, of Enterprise passed away peacefully on February 12, 2020. Verna was born on July 18, 1935, to Joy (Fine) and Virgil Winters in Enterprise. The couple divorced, and Joy later married Arthur “Bart” Bart- mess. Verna grew up and attended school in Lostine. Verna married Archie “Bud” Rhodes on February 14, 1952. Bud preceded her in death January 14, 2001. They were reunited in Heaven just in time to celebrate their 68th wedding anniversary and Bud’s birthday together. Verna worked at the Range Rider for 35 years. Upon retiring, she found her true passion in transporting kidney dialysis patients to their doctor’s appointments. Verna was an avid reader who devoted her life to her children, grandchildren, and taking care of others. Everyone mattered to Verna; she found good in everyone. She had a huge heart, loved unconditionally, and never forgot a name. She was truly a Mother and Grandmother to all. Verna leaves a legacy in everyone who has felt her love. Verna is preceded in death by her husband, Archie Rhodes; parents, Virgil Winters, Joy and Arthur “Bart” Bartmess; son, Ronald Shane Rhodes; brothers, Gary and Butch Winters; stepbrother, Don Bartmess; brother-in-law, Del LaRue; niece, Traci Clore; and nephew, Brian Boner. She is survived by her children, Randy Rhodes of La Grande, Mike Rhodes(Raedean) of Enterprise, Teresa Estes(Pete) of Gillette, WY., Debbie Rhodes of Enterprise, and Dawn Phillips of Enterprise; sisters, Linda LaRue of Ione, Corliss Boner (Dale) of Enterprise; step-brother, Dale Bartmess (Shirley) of Hurricane, UT.; step- sister, Diana Snodderly (David) of Lodi, CA.; 15 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren. At Verna’s request, cremation has taken place. A memorial will be held at a later date. In honor of Verna’s love for books and children, the family is requesting memorial contributions be made to help buy books for children to Enterprise Elementary, 201 SE 4th St., Enterprise, OR 97828. Please add in memory of Verna Rhodes in the memo line. Memorial contributions can also be made to Community Connection Meals on Wheels in Enterprise. About 90 people attended Sen Jeff Merkley’s Town Hall at the Lostine (South Fork) Grange hall. culty recruiting folks for the District Attorney’s offi ce in Wallowa County. At his town Hall meet- ings, Merkley recognizes a local organization for its community work. On Fri- day, he presented a U.S. Flag to the South Fork Lostine Grange board of Directors. Audience questions rangedwidelgy across the political spectrum. Several people brought up the need for resolution--and breach- ing — of the four Lower Snake River dams. Merk- ley’s response was cautious and muted, but he said he was open to learning more about that issue. Overcoming the East- side/West-side divisions and animosity also came up, especially in the context of the rising Greater Idaho movement. One of most ani- mated portions of the town hall followed question by Lostine resident John Pol- lard about why people in rural Oregon didn’t recog- nize and appreciate the fact that the money for many state services and infrastruc- ture, including roads and schools, came from the west side as well as the east side, along with federal funding. Merkley also talked about his upcoming wild- fi re initiative bill and efforts to allocate more funds for treatments, including thin- ning and to a lesser extent, prescribed burning, that will reduce fi re risks. under- growth and ladder fuels in crowded and over-grown forests. Merkley wants more funds allocated to fuels reduction. He said that he thought reducing fuel loads would save more in the long term, rather than devoting massive amounts of USFS budget dollars and federal assistance to fi ghting wild- fi res in a tinderbox. Due to an ever more chaotic climate, the risk of severe and catastrophic fi res only grows. In 2017, 71,500 wildfi res burned 10 million acres nationwide, the sec- ond-largest fi gure on record in terms of acreage burned. In 2018, nearly 9 million acres burned. The problem is the Forest Service lacks the funding and the boots on the ground to implement badly need fuels reduction projects. Year after year, fi re sup- pression eats up more and more of the Forest Ser- vice’s budget and personnel. Between 1998 and 2016, the number of Forest Ser- vice fi re personnel grew by over 6,000 employees. At Humans emitting more methane than previously thought Benjamin Hmiel University of Rochester Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and large contributor to global warm- ing. Methane emissions to the atmosphere have increased by approximately 150 percent over the past three centuries. Heat-trap- ping gases like methane can be emitted naturally, as well as from human activity. University of Roch- ester researchers Benja- min Hmiel, and colleagues measured methane levels in ancient air samples and found that scientists have been vastly underestimat- ing the amount of methane humans are emitting into the atmosphere via fossil fuels. the same time, the number of employees for other criti- cal work, like planning tim- ber sales, thinning projects, trail maintenance, decreased by 7,000. The result: Less resources for proactive forest management and a multi-million acre backlog of projects. Merkly, in a press release noted that commu- nities have been threaten by increasingly severe wild- fi res. “Even communi- ties not directly impact by fl ames were inundated with smoke. We must do more to reduce the risk of cat- astrophic blazes. We can accomplish this by invest- ing in more fuels reduction, empowering local commu- nities, and expanding oppor- tunities to collaborate.” Merkley’s proposed Wildfi re-Resilient Commu- nities Act would create eco- nomic opportunities in for- est- dependent communities while reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfi res by: • Creating a $1 billion fund to provide stability and allow the Forest Ser- vice to increase the pace and scale of catastrophic wildfi re reduction projects. • Empowering federal agencies to work with local communities to plan and prepare for wildfi res. • Permanently reauthoriz- ing the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Pro- gram and allows more proj- ects to receive funding in a given fi scal year. • Creating a County Stew- ardship Fund that would provide payments to coun- ties equal to 25% of stew- ardship contract receipts on federal land within their counties. Merkley departed for his next town hall in Elgin around 10 a.m with lots of questions still on people’s minds. However, he noted that this had been one of the most philosophical and least contentions town hall meet- ings he has done recently. Weather Forecast Courtesy of Weather Underground • wunderground.com High Low Conditions Feb. 27 49 31 Sunny Feb. 28 55 35 Mostly Sunny Feb. 29 45 27 PM showers March 1 39 24 Partly cloudy March 2 43 30 PM snow showers March 3 39 26 Snow showers March 4 38 25 Partly cloudy Phases of the moon March 2 March 9 March 16 March 24 1st Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter New Moon Jakub Fryš/Wikipedia Commons Methane rising from the lake bottom forms frozen bubbles in Canada’s Abrams Lake. “Placing stricter meth- ane emission regulations on the fossil fuel industry will have the potential to reduce future global warming to a larger extent than previously thought,” Hmiel says. WALLOWA COUNTY SUNRISE & SUNSET FEB. 27 – MARCH 4 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory) THUR FRI SAT SUN MON TUES WED 6:34 5:30 6:33 5:31 6:29 5:34 6:27 5:36 6:25 5:37 6:24 5:38 6:22 5:40