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137th Year, No. 49
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
WALLOWA.COM
Fairgrounds, history center to receive funding
$1 million for
fair, $500,000 for
history center
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Maverick
Gilbert
ENTERPRISE — Two Wal-
lowa County entities are in line
to receive a combined $1.5 mil-
lion for infrastructure, which will
provide funding needed to further
improvements.
House Bill 5202, which passed
a vote of the Oregon Legislature
on Friday, March 4, will allocate
$1 million to the Wallowa County
Fairgrounds from its general fund
for “fairgrounds infrastructure,”
according to the text of the bill. It
is one of 15 counties in Oregon set
to receive at least that amount for
their fairgrounds.
Additionally, the Wallowa His-
tory Center is slated to receive
$500,000 to “support the resto-
ration of the Bear-Sleds Ranger
District Compound,” according to
text from the bill.
The bill passed the House 41-16
on March 4, and the Senate later
that day, 23-2.
The money for HB 5202 can
come from state lottery funds, fed-
eral American Rescue Plan Act
funds or the general fund, accord-
ing to Ann Rava, staff member for
Sen. Bill Hansell. General fund
dollars are primarily from tax
revenue.
Rava noted that given the bill
contains an emergency clause, it
“becomes eff ective upon passage,
so as soon as it is signed by the
governor they can start distributing
the funds.” However, she said in
an email to the Chieftain that how
long it actually takes for the funds
See Funding, Page A7
Enterprise
Lathrop
sentenced
to jail,
probation,
restitution
Newcomer
makes his
home here
ENTERPRISE — Maverick Gil-
bert is fairly new to Wallowa County
and he already fi nds it home. He and
his family moved here last summer
from Boise, Idaho, and are living on
Leap Lane north of Enterprise.
Living with his mother, brother
and sister, Gilbert is still looking for
work — some kind of “hands-on
stuff .” In the meantime, he’s working
to get his GED diploma at the Alter-
native School.
“I dropped out of school for a
year because of COVID and they’re
doing some good stuff with me,” Gil-
bert said of the Alternative School.
“It’s nice here,” he said of Enter-
prise. “It’s a small, peaceful little
town. It’s cold — I’m not liking the
snow — but the people are friendly.”
He recently shared his thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
What’s your favorite thing
about Wallowa County?
It’s got to be the people or the
lake. It’s really clean, compared to
other lakes I’ve seen. This is the fi rst
lake I can see the bottom.
Are you getting cabin fever
yet?
No. I’m liking it here.
What are you looking
forward to once the weather
warms?
Biking. I’m going to bicycle
around and check out any trails.
Do you think the Russian
invasion of Ukraine is
aff ecting the high price of
fuel?
Oh yeah, once sanctions were
put on crude oil prices, that had an
eff ect.
What’s your advice for
people who are thinking
about moving here?
Be ready for the cold and snow.
It’s a warm community, but you’ve
got to show people who you are.
You get what you give. That’s what
I’ve noticed about this community.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Russ Eoff , left, and Kevin Melville look over a hydraulic line that needs repaired on a tractor at the Melville family-
owned Cornerstone Farms Joint Venture near Enterprise on Thursday, March 10, 2022. Eoff is one who will be
negatively aff ected by HB 4002.
Serious implications?
Ag overtime bill won’t
seriously aff ect most
local producers, but
farmers, ranchers here
object to it anyway
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
W
ALLOWA COUNTY —
Farmers and ranchers in
Wallowa County won’t
be seriously aff ected by
the Legislature’s recent
elimination of the overtime exemp-
tion for agricultural workers, but
they see it as another example of
the urban-rural divide in Oregon.
“I’ve been following it all along.
The thing people don’t understand
is it’s diff erent out here,” said Mike
Coppin, who raises cattle and hay
near Joseph. “People in the city
don’t understand it. We’re going to
have to hire more help. It’s going
to hurt the worker, not us so much.
It’s more government regulations.”
House Bill 4002, passed by the
Democrat-controlled House on
March 1 and the Senate March 3,
reduces incrementally over a fi ve-
year period the number of hours
a farmworker can work without
being paid time-and-a-half for
overtime. In 2023-24, the cap on
hours is 55, dropping to 48 hours
per week for 2025-26 and then 40
hours per week beginning in 2027.
The bill awaits the signature of
Democrat Gov. Kate Brown.
Few ag workers here
The reason the bill doesn’t
aff ect many producers in Wallowa
County is simple: Not many here
have many employees on their
farms and ranches.
Coppin said during the sum-
mer, he has three to four employ-
ees. This time of year, he has one
full-time worker along with his
son.
“You wonder what their motive
is. The workers are going to suff er
because they’re going to get cut
back on their hours. … It comes
down to hiring more people,” Cop-
pin said. “It’s diff erent out here,
and they don’t understand it.”
Kevin Melville, who is partners
with his father, Tim, and brother,
Kurt, in Cornerstone Farms Joint
Venture, said the change likely
won’t aff ect Cornerstone this year.
“It probably won’t aff ect us
this year because of the 55-hour
threshold,” he said, adding that
they will monitor employee hours.
“We will not be paying overtime.”
Cornerstone, which largely
grows wheat and hay but also
has other crops, has six to eight
employees during the peak season.
They have only a few full-time
employees year around.
But there are times Cornerstone
has people working long hours,
such as during the peak planting
and harvest seasons.
“It hurts,” Melville said of HB
4002. “There are times we’ve had
people working over 60 hours a
week. … By the time we get down
to 40 hours in couple years, it’s
going to hurt.”
See Overtime, Page A7
ENTERPRISE — Betsy
Lathrop of Lostine was sen-
tenced Friday, March 11, in
Wallowa County Circuit Court,
to 36 months probation, ordered
to pay $33,252.22 in restitu-
tion and to serve 70 days in jail
with credit for 30 days already
served.
Lathrop, 55, appeared before
Senior Judge John L. Collins
of Yamhill County in a virtual
hearing. Collins also recom-
mended — but did not order
— a substance abuse evalua-
tion of Lathrop, given allega-
tions of past incidents involv-
ing such abuse. Extra fi nes and
court costs were waived. She
will be allowed time off for
good behavior, as her attorney
requested.
Collins was the judge who
presided during her trial on
multiple charges of crimi-
nal mistreatment and identity
theft involving her father, Rob-
ert “Wayne” Lathrop. She was
convicted Feb. 9, on four of
the 28 counts in the original
indictment.
Her court-appointed pub-
lic defender, La Grande attor-
ney Jim Schaeff er, said after
the sentencing that Lathrop will
appeal both the convictions and
the sentence.
The charges
Betsy Lathrop was accused
of 20 counts of fi rst-degree
criminal mistreatment and
eight counts of identity theft,
all Class C felonies, alleged to
have taken place between Nov.
21, 2014, and July 8, 2016, in
violation of her legal duty to
provide care for an elderly per-
son — her father — according
See Lathrop, Page A7
Merkley talks Ukraine, energy, forest health in town hall
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
The crisis between Ukraine and
Russia is providing an opportunity
to move the world further away
from fossil fuel dependence.
That was one of the takeaways
shared by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
during a virtual town hall Tuesday,
March 8.
Merkley briefl y touched on the
war, and called the actions by Rus-
sia “horrifi c.”
When asked about the opportu-
nity the confl ict has given to move
away from foreign oil — and fos-
sil fuels in general — Merkley said
there is a real incentive to make
that move.
“For 50 years presidents (of)
both parties have said we’re going
to end our dependence on foreign
oil, we’re going to transition away energy, and that electrifying more
from fossil fuels, but in the early of the planet will be a benefi t. He
period of that 50 years we didn’t even cited Wallowa County as
have the climate eff ect, and renew- being a solar leader.
ables weren’t inexpensive,” he
“The big picture, if we sim-
said. “... There’s already a huge plify this — it’s basically electrify
reason, but you throw in
everything with renewable
this situation that you see
energy,” he said. “If we do
producers like Russia are
that, we will cut our costs,
using their leverage with
undermine the Russias and
fossil fuels to attempt to
Irans of the world, and save
kind of (keep) Europe from
our planet.”
not supporting Ukraine. …
The
senator
also
The biggest way to take
addressed questions about
Merkley
away the leverage is to
recycling, forest health and
reduce the world demand
the rural community get-
for oil and gas. A lot can be done.” ting federal support.
The senator spoke of the ben-
On recycling, Merkley touted
efi ts of solar energy, and said his Break Free of Plastic Pollution
eff orts need to be made to improve Act and cited the concerns brought
charging stations for electric vehi- about by microplastics in the air
cles across the state. He also said and in food.
costs are cheaper for renewable
“Right now we’re eating (and
breathing) the equivalent of one
credit card of plastic a week,” he
said. “Who wants to eat plastic?
Microplastics are a problem.”
On forest health, he talked about
what he saw from the Labor Day
wildfi res in 2020 and said there
needs to be collaborative eff orts
to improve forest health — and he
said that does include having some
logging in place.
“I am working and have suc-
ceeded in getting a lot more funds
for forest health, and what that
means is a strategy of thinning in
places where it increases fi re resil-
ience, and when you get that win-
win you get jobs in the woods, jobs
in the trucks, you get saw logs for
the mills, and you get a forest that
is more fi re resilient,” he said.
See Merkley, Page A7