A1
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
OLIVE BRANCH PHARMACY EAGLES, OUTLAWS
REMAINS INDEPENDENT START TRACK SEASON
BUSINESS, A6
$1.50
SPORTS, A9
NEW CARE
CENTER NEARS
COMPLETION
LOCAL, A3
137th Year, No. 2
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Pfi zer vaccine coming to Wallowa County
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Carol
Ward
Enterprise
Awaiting
research before
taking vaccine
ENTERPRISE — Wallowa
County residents who are 16 and
17 years old now have an option to
get vaccinated.
Brooke Pace, communications
director for Wallowa Memorial
Hospital, said the hospital learned
Thursday, April 15, that it will
receive an allocation of 50 doses
of the Pfi zer COVID-19 vaccine.
WMH has been actively work-
ing to fi ll slots to administer those
doses on Wednesday, April 21.
These slots will only be avail-
able to the fi rst 50 people who
call,” Pace told the Chieftain Fri-
day. “We are hopeful we’ll be
able to receive (more) allocations
of Pfi zer, (but) we haven’t been
promised anymore at this time.”
Wallowa County had not yet
been able to administer the Pfi zer
vaccine because of ultra-cold stor-
age requirements. Pace said the
hospital has been able to work
with Grande Ronde Hospital in
La Grande, which has the ability
to meet those requirements, and
will transfer the vaccine from La
Grande to Enterprise. It is only
good for six hours once removed
from its ultra-cold source.
The Pfi zer vaccine has a cou-
ple main diff erences from the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that
1,000s of Wallowa County resi-
dents have received. It has been
approved for individuals as young
as 16, while the Moderna vaccine
was approved for those as young
as 18. There also is a shorter wait
time between fi rst and second shots
with the Pfi zer vaccine — 21 days,
as opposed to 28 days for Moderna.
Parents who wish to have their
Court
earns
awaited
honors
Casidee Harrod,
Brianna Micka,
Destiny Wecks to
share role of queen
What’s your favorite thing
about Wallowa County?
The mountains. I get up there
some, but mainly I like looking at
them.
By ELLEN MORRIS
BISHOP
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
Has the COVID-19 pandemic
aff ected you?
No. Still as busy as ever.
Have you heard that Tuesday,
April 13, the federal and state
authorities came out with a
warning against giving the
Johnson & Johnson one-shot
vaccine because of clotting
issues?
I’ve heard of the clotting issues,
but I hadn’t heard of the government
warning. I think vaccines are great, but
I don’t think there’s enough research
on what happens in fi ve years. I’m
kind of hesitant on that. I think I prob-
ably had it last February and I made it
through.
What have you learned from
living in Wallowa County?
Coming from the hustle and bus-
tle of big cities — the Medford area
is very much that way — and it’s nice
to have the quiet and the commu-
nity where if something happens,
everybody is there to help. Some-
times I wish there was a little more to
do and it wasn’t so hard to get out of
the county to go somewhere, but that
doesn’t stop me.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about
moving here?
You better like the cold and the
snow.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
See Vaccine, Page A15
CHIEF JOSEPH DAYS
ENTERPRISE — Carol Ward moved
to Enterprise from Grants Pass in 2010
because her parents live in the county
and have ranched near Flora since
1979.
She sells insurance for Wheatland
Insurance and keeps books for Don
Ward Trucking, a log truck business.
Her parents, Don and Barb Ward, have
recently sold their ranch and moved
to town.
Ward’s “signifi cant other,” Bill Hop-
kins, is a self-employed handyman.
She has a son and three grandchildren
who live in Helena, Montana.
She recently shared her thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
Have you gotten the vaccine
against COVID-19 or are you
planning to get it?
No. I’m not sure if I’ll get it. I’d like
to do a little more research on it. I’m
not against vaccines, but I’d like to see
what happens.
16- or 17-year-old vaccinated can
contact the hospital at 541-426-
5437 to set up an appointment. The
Wallowa County Health Care Dis-
trict website, wchcd.org, has a link
to information about Pfi zer’s emer-
gency use authorization, as well as
a parental consent form.
“Also on that page is a link to
the Oregon Health Authority’s
FAQ regarding vaccinations of 16
and 17 year olds,” Pace said. “It’s a
really good resource.”
As of Monday afternoon, about
his offi ce?”
Collier emphasized she wasn’t
pointing any fi ngers.
“I’m not blaming anybody,” she
said. “I feel that we have to move
forward, but there’s somebody or
an individual on the City Council
who is the reason why we don’t
have our city administrator. I think
we need to look at that. Maybe not
tonight, but I feel uncomfortable
appointing people when we don’t
even know who we’re dealing with
obviously.”
The council agreed to have
Baum begin an investigation into
the alleged harassment. Baum
was not available for comment
Monday.
Although she’d initially off ered
to help at City Hall, Buswell
quickly withdrew her off er, under-
standing the discomfort council
members expressed.
Councilors suggested reaching
out to various community mem-
bers, including those through-
JOSEPH — After a year
marked by the cancellation of
Chief Joseph Days in 2020 due
to COVID-19, Chief Joseph
Days offi cially awarded a Tri-
ple Crown of equal honors
to its the Honor Court for the
75th Anniversary Chief Joseph
Days.
The coronation took place
Saturday, April 17, in the CJD
Thunder Room.
Casidee Harrod, Brianna
Micka and Destiny Wecks will
share the role of queen and all
other associated duties equally.
The three made up the 2020
court, but were never offi cially
crowned. Instead, they agreed
to serve as a co-equal honor
court, staying on as a court for
the 2021 Chief Joseph Days.
They are looking forward
to reigning over the rodeo and
other festivities July 27 to Aug.
1 in Joseph.
“It’s been really nice,” Har-
rod said. “It’s been a lot more
relaxed, and a lot less stress. It’s
fun.”
“We’re really happy to
do this,” Micka said. “It’s
worked out really well and
we’ve formed some really deep
friendships.”
“In normal years,” Wecks
said, “we’d have just fi nished
the riding competition. We’d
be stressing about, ‘Did I ride
hard enough? Did I speak well
enough?’ But today, we just got
together and we were laugh-
ing and listening to music. It’s
been fun. We have some great
memories.”
While
COVID-19
has
reduced the number of rodeos
across Oregon and the nation
for 2021, the court will still
represent Chief Joseph Days
in a number of events, includ-
ing upcoming rodeos in Asotin,
Washington, April 23-25, and
Riggins, Idaho, on May 1-2.
“We’re going to try to go to
as many rodeos as possible,”
Wecks said.
At the coronation ceremony,
2019 CJD Queen Rylee Wil-
cox joked that she had been the
longest reigning queen in CJD
history. Because the 2020 CJD
Rodeo was canceled, and there
was no 2020 coronation, Wil-
cox’s offi cial title as CJD queen
See Braden, Page A10
See Honors, Page A15
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chi
Joseph Mayor Belinda Buswell, right, reads the resignation letter submitted by city Administrator/Recorder
Larry Braden during an emergency City Council meeting Friday, April 16, 2021, at the city library. Braden cited
unspecifi ed “harassment” as his reason for resigning. City Administrative Assistant Jamie Collier takes notes at left.
Joseph’s Braden resigns,
citing ‘harassment’
City plods on seeking
replacement,
preparing budget
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
OSEPH — Citing “constant
harassment from members
of the current City Coun-
cil,” Joseph City Adminis-
trator/Recorder resigned by letter
to council members read publicly
Friday evening, April 16, in an
emergency City Council meeting
at the city library.
The type of harassment or spe-
cifi cally who it was from was not
specifi ed in the letter. Braden was
not present at the meeting and was
not available for comment.
Mayor Belinda Buswell, who
read Braden’s letter aloud, and the
council members all said they had
no idea from whom the alleged
harassment was coming.
The resignation comes just over
two weeks after a heated exchange
at the April 1 City Council meet-
ing, during which Braden cited
confusion over the role of the
mayor and the city administrator,
and his role in the day-to-day func-
tion of the city.
“It’s very frustrating for me to
do my job,” Braden said in that
meeting. “We currently are not
compliant with the city charter. We
are not compliant with the coun-
cil rules and almost every single
aspect of my employment contract
has been violated. Doing my job
in a functional, effi cient manner is
almost impossible right now.”
Braden’s departure leaves a crit-
ical hole in the staffi ng of the city.
He served the city of Joseph for
just over two years.
“Now, we are right in the mid-
dle of budget season and we need
to get something in place to assist
you (Administrative Assistant
J
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Joseph City Administrator Larry Braden, right, swears in the new Mayor
Belinda Buswell, before the City Council meeting Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, as
Councilman Steve Bartlow watches. Braden resigned as city administrator
Friday, April 16, 2021.
Jamie Collier) at City Hall until
we can get this job posted and
fi lled,” Buswell said after reading
the letter.
But the major issue may be
the harassment Braden alleged.
Buswell initially suggested she
could be of help to Collier, having
worked as city recorder until July
and being familiar with many of
the workings of City Hall. How-
ever, others were uncomfortable
with that suggestion.
“I actually feel that given the
nature of the letter, it sounds like
there’s some harassment from City
Council members, I’m not sure
that I’m comfortable with giving
access,” Councilwoman Lisa Col-
lier said. “I don’t feel like giving
anybody that power right now. I
feel like the council, we need to sit
down with (city Attorney) Wyatt
Baum and say, ‘OK, what do we
do?’ Because we could play a
whole bunch of diff erent scenarios.
What if we get the harasser actu-
ally in there, and then what? What
kind of stuff would Larry have in