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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
$1.50 EXPERTS DISCUSS FOREST FOX ARCHERY MOVES TO MANAGEMENT ON MORAINE LEWISTON HIGHWAY LOCAL, A3 BUSINESS, A10 THE WEEK IN PHOTOS THE BACK PAGE, A16 136th Year, No. 28 Wallowa County Voices Emma Harker WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Wednesday, October 21, 2020 Second COVID-19 death reported in Wallowa County Chieftain staff ENTERPRISE — Wal- lowa County had a second death attributed to COVID-19 reported in the Saturday, Oct. 17, update from the Oregon Health Authority. The county had four cases in fi ve days, according to OHA, and as of Tuesday afternoon has had 40 cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. OHA’s reported fatality was of an 83-year-old Wallowa County woman who died Sept. 29, 15 days after testing positive for the virus. The OHA report said the woman had underlying conditions. The county reported four new cases of COVID-19 in the last week, with individual cases Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, according to OHA. Wallowa County has been among the areas of the state least hit by the coronavirus, as just six counties have had fewer cases. The county also has an infection rate of 0.559%, well below the state rate, which is nearing 1%. Oregon’s latest report Tuesday had 346 new cases and six deaths, and since the start of the pandemic the state has reported 40,136 cases of COVID-19. OHA has attributed 633 deaths in the state to the virus. The current survival rate of known cases in Oregon is 98.42%. As of Tuesday afternoon, the state’s positive test rate was 4.8%, and the county’s positive test rate was 3.35%. Roughly 16% of the population of Wallowa County has been tested. Enterprise School online isn’t her learning style ENTERPRISE — Emma Harker has lived in Enterprise the past three years, but she also lived here as a young child. The 15-year-old is a freshman at Enterprise High School, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s doing the online school EHS provides through Brigham Young University in Utah. “I’m going to try to get back to ‘real’ school,” she said. “The home schooling is really hard. I’m so used to being taught. For the BYU online, they just give you a bunch of reading and tell you, ‘Go ahead, have fun.’ … Their online program is great. It’s just not my learning style.” Emma is looking forward to being able to get her learner’s permit and driv- er’s license. “I bought my fi rst car a couple weeks back,” she said. “I bought it off my brother.” Emma lives with her parents, Damon and Jessica Harker, and has four siblings. She recently shared her thoughts on living in Wallowa County. What’s your favorite thing about Wallowa County? The view of the mountains and the return of the snow. It’s a lot better than the boringness of no snow. I really like how small it is and how simple. Are you concerned about catching COVID-19? No. If I get it, I get it. If I don’t, I don’t. There’s a 50-50 chance. Everyone’s going to get it at some point. Are you looking forward to the election even though you’re too young to vote? I’m defi nitely interested because I want to know what’s going to hap- pen when it’s over. … I don’t know how people are going to react with who- ever wins. Some people may try riot- ing. Some might freak out. Who knows what’s going to happen? What have you learned from living in Wallowa County? I’ve learned about hunting. … I didn’t realize you had to get a tag. And I rode my fi rst horse here. It was fun. I hurt a lot the next day, but it was still fun. I’ve also learned about agriculture and about rodeos. What’s your advice for people who are thinking about moving here? Buy some land, get some cows and horses. Just defi nitely put yourself out there. — Bill Bradshaw, Wallowa County Chieftain Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain Lee Manuel, left, listens as her husband, David, describes one of his current works, called “Warrior of Peace,” depicting Nez Perce Chief Joseph counting coup on a Crow warrior rather than killing the Crow. He was describing the piece to visitors at a preview of the Manuel History Bronze museum in Enterprise on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Manuel History Bronze museum holds preview By BILL BRADSHAW Wallowa County Chieftain NTERPRISE — A massive col- lection of historic artifacts from the West, American military his- tory and art is what visitors were treated to Tuesday, Oct. 13, when the Manuel Historic Bronze museum held a preview for a select group of visitors. The Manuels, who used to have a museum in Joseph before moving to Hot Lake Springs east of La Grande, are have opened their museum to showcase their collection of historic artifacts, as well as David Manuel’s art work. Chief among his pieces are the bronzes he does with West- ern themes. E “All the people here have helped us in one way or another in this move — our friends, our grandkids and other family,” said Lee Manuel, who with her husband, David, hosted the event. He has an area at the museum where he can talk to visitors while he works on the clay sculptures that will eventually be cast in bronze. The Manuels team with Timo- thy Parks, owner of TW Bronze Foundry in Enterprise, where David Manuel’s works are cast. “This piece here, I wanted to do it espe- cially for being up here because this is Chief Joseph,” David Manuel told onlookers of the piece called “Warrior of Peace.” “I wanted MANUEL HISTORY BRONZE Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Thurs- day and Friday. Subject to change. 10 a.m. coff ee and 2 p.m. wine. Location: W. North and NW 2nd streets, Enterprise. Phone: 541-398-2769. Email: manuelhistorybronze@gmail.com. Website: manuelhistorybronze.com. Cost: Adults — $20; seniors and students with ID — $15; Bronze Collector’s Card holder and younger than 5 — $10; infants and those in a wheelchair free. See Museum, Page A7 Perfection made possible at Wallowa, Joseph schools WHS, JCS with 100% on-time graduation rates in latest ODE report; EHS at 90% By RONALD BOND Wallowa County Chieftain WALLOWA — Perfection is starting to become a theme in the Wallowa School District. For the second year in a row, Wal- lowa had a 100% on-time gradua- tion rate in the latest Adapted At-A- Glance school and district profi les, which the Oregon Department of Education released last week. The graduation rates are from the 2018- 19 year, according to the ODE, though other data on the report is from 2019-20. The ODE report listed the grad rate at “greater than 95%” but Wal- lowa Superintendent Tammy Jones said the rate was perfect. The rate also was perfect in 2019-20, giving the school a fl awless three-year run. Wallowa wasn’t the only school Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa High School, pictured here, and Joseph Charter School both had a perfect on-time graduation rate. to have a spotless on-time rate, either, as Joseph also had a 100% graduation rate, according to Super- intendent Lance Homan, in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. All three of Wallowa County’s main school districts, in fact, were well above the state average, which was 80%. Joseph Charter School’s on-time rate increased from 93% to 100%. Enterprise High School’s rate of 90% was also above the state benchmark, though it was down from the previous year, which was 97%. “That is the highlight — on-time graduation,” Wallowa Superinten- dent Tammy Jones said. “And I think the other piece … they high- light the on-time graduation for the different ethnic groups. We don’t have enough numbers in most of the areas, but the students that are free and reduced lunch (or) that are in poverty. They are 100%.” Wallowa’s two-year fl awless graduation run followed a year where the graduation rate was 88%, but Jones noted that in such a small graduating class one student not making it can drastically impact the numbers. The community size, though, makes it more possible for students to succeed. “Every kid counts, but I think what happens in these small commu- nities … our rates are higher because of our size,” Jones said. “If you have 10 kids or 18 kids, then you know See Schools, Page A7