LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
A3
DA’s Offi ce completes security upgrades Police chief urges
public’s vigilance
to deter thefts
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The
Wallowa County District
Attorney’s Offi ce recently
completed
a
security
upgrade to enable better ser-
vices to the public, while
also improving safety of
employees, clients and the
victims they serve, accord-
ing to a press release from
DA Rebecca Frolander.
The DA’s Offi ce also
encompasses the county’s
Victims’ Assistance Pro-
gram and Child Support
Enforcement Program and
works with a variety of peo-
ple from all walks of life.
“It allows people who
work in offi ce to be more
safe while working in and
doing business in the offi ce
without requiring them to
schedule an appointment to
enter our offi ce,” Frolander
said Wednesday, March 23.
“Now we have doors that are
more diffi cult to breach.”
A new bullet-resistant
security window makes it
so the public no longer has
to call ahead for an appoint-
ment, she said.
“It allows us to serve
members of public in the
hallway,” she said. “It also
is more convenient in the
offi ce.”
Formerly, the offi ce had
to have a locked-door policy.
“That was the only way
we could address secu-
rity issues,” she said. “It
was very inconvenient. …
With our new ballistic pass-
through window, we can
deal with public directly at
the time they are seeking
assistance.”
The security upgrades
cost $31,290.54, Frolander
said. That was up from an
initial estimate of $26,848
that didn’t take into con-
sideration a higher prevail-
ing wage or the cost of the
building permit or shipping
of materials.
“Through a combination
of funding sources includ-
ing the Victims of Crime Act
funds administered through
the Oregon Crime Victims
“We are seeing a slight
uptick in thefts,” he said.
McQuead said the
ENTERPRISE — As county, as a whole, is vul-
prices rise, so do the ten- nerable. In addition to
dencies for people to get homes and businesses, he
light-fi ngered and take said, storage units can be
things that are not theirs, targets for thieves.
“Everything’s
vul-
Enterprise Police Chief
Kevin McQuead told the nerable with that kind of
City Council at its last meet- behavior,” he said. “People
need to take the necessary
ing Monday, March 14.
The chief elaborated precautions.”
In addition to not leav-
on that March 23 in an
ing items in one’s
interview with the
yard that might
Chieftain.
tempt a thief, he
“When we have
suggested install-
increasing prices
ing security cam-
across the board,
eras. He said they
people
become
are both a good
desperate,” he said.
deterrent and the
“It was good that
McQuead
video can be used
the city council got
as evidence in case
it and we want the
of a theft.
public to, as well.”
“The owner can hand
He wants the public to
be aware of the potential over that video and we can
for theft at their homes and investigate any case,” he
said.
businesses.
But the real point is to
“I just want to make
sure people are aware of get the public’s help pre-
their things and not leav- venting crime.
“Think about your yard
ing things out,” he said.
“Let’s keep the honest peo- and what’s available for
the prying eyes of the pub-
ple honest.”
McQuead said he lic,” McQuead said. “We
doesn’t have numbers or a want to be proactive and
percentage to illustrate the have homeowners do too.
increase in crime, but it has … We can’t keep an eye on
everybody’s things.”
been noticeable.
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County District Attorney Rebecca Frolander points to the TV screens that show what
the offi ce’s new security cameras see Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County District Attorney Rebecca Frolander
stands behind the new bullet-resistant window at her offi ce
Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The window, bullet-resistant
doors and security cameras were installed March 3.
and Survivor Services Divi-
sion, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice which autho-
rizes reimbursement funds
for costs related to Child
Support Enforcement, a
grant from the Wildhorse
Foundation to improve pub-
lic safety and the support of
the Wallowa County Board
of Commissioners, the Dis-
trict Attorney’s Offi ce was
able to accomplish this proj-
ect,” the press release stated.
Frolander said the orig-
inal VOCA grant was
expanded by $10,000 to
address COVID pandem-
ic-related issues and the
grant covered $17,640.76
of the total project, includ-
ing the door for the Victims’
Assistance Program, and the
bullet-resistant pass-through
window, the building permit,
half of the shipping expenses
and the closed-circuit cam-
era system. The Wildhorse
Foundation was asked for
a grant to pay for 1⅓ of the
bullet-resistant doors and it
came through with $7,955.
The DOJ reimbursed the
county $4,504.43, for two-
thirds of the cost of the door
that is the main access to the
Child Support Enforcement
Offi ce, and two-thirds of
one quarter of the shipping
costs. However, Frolander
said, her offi ce had to take
another $1,190.35 out of its
general budget to complete
the project.
The upgrades were com-
pleted March 3 by Cody
Aschenbrenner and his team
from Silver Lining Con-
struction. Working in phases
beginning in September,
the workers were regularly
plagued by delays, primarily
caused by shipping of mate-
rials and the need to work
around scheduled trials.
The COVID pandemic
brought into focus the need
to restrict access to individ-
ual offi ces and also provided
an opportunity to better pro-
tect the offi ce staff and the
victims of crime for whom
they seek justice.
The project was the cul-
mination of three years
of gathering funding to
improve safety of the offi ce
and the people it serves.
This week’s featured book
In Love:
A Memoir of Love and Loss
by Amy Bloom
107 E. Main St. Enterprise OR
541-426-3351
manager@bookloft.org • bookloft.org
12th annual Circle 100 Club to meet in person
Wallowa Valley Health Care
Foundation
ENTERPRISE — After a
two-year hiatus on in-person
gatherings, the Circle 100
Club — a giving circle of
local women sponsored by
the Wallowa Valley Health
Care Foundation — will
hold its one and only annual
meeting in person Thursday,
April 7.
The meeting will be held
in the front reception room
of the Enterprise Christian
Church from 4:30-6 p.m.,
rather than Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital, which is still
under the governor’s mask
mandate for hospitals and
health care clinics.
“We’re very excited to
hold our fi rst Circle 100
Club meeting in two years,”
foundation Director Stacy
Green said. “We appreci-
ate all the women who sup-
ported us through the pan-
demic, and we’re looking
forward to seeing everyone
again.”
At the meeting, Circle
100 members will hear about
this year’s project request
from the hospital. Past proj-
ects have included obtaining
new equipment for the phys-
ical therapy department,
an incubator for struggling
newborns and the ability to
perform stress echocardio-
grams, to name a few.
The club has doubled in
size and donated $187,100
since its inception to help
improve and expand health
care services in Wallowa
County.
“When I joined Circle
100 a few years ago, I was
amazed at how much the
group was able to raise, just
by each member donating
$100,” said retired teacher
Marla Dotson, who joined
the foundation board in
2020. “It’s really incredible
how popular the group has
become.”
Circle 100 was founded
in 2011 by the female mem-
bers of the foundation board
at that time: Gail Swart,
Glenda Underhill, Sara-
lyn Johnson, Denise Daw-
son, Nancy Waters and
Karen Coppin. The idea was
formed to get more women
involved in the work of the
Foundation, and as a way
to bring women together
to raise money for a spe-
cifi c project. By giving $100
each, each woman could
make an equal contribution
and, joined together, make
a signifi cant impact to local
health care.
Today, the women of the
board are: Diana Collins,
Jolene Cox, Marla Dotson,
Rebecca Knapp and newest
board member, Suzi Brown.
In 2015, the men of the
foundation board decided
to form their own group,
Men’s Guild 100, at the urg-
ing of foundation founder
Don Swart, Sr. Today, the
men of the board are Pres-
ident David Smyth, John
Hillock, Eric Johnson, Terry
Jones and Vearl Lewis. The
Men’s Guild will meet Tues-
day, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. at
M Crow & Co. in Lostine.
For more information
about Circle 100 Club and
Men’s Guild, contact the
foundation at 541-426-1913.
H appy 102nd Birthday
to Jo Bollman on
April 5 2022!
Wednesday
April 13th 2022
Wallowa Elementry School
REGISTRATION BETWEEN 6 & 7 PM
Parents, please bring your childs birth
certificate, SSN (voluntary) and
immunization records.
Child must be five years old on or
before September 1st 2022
Joseph Curb Ramps
Open House meeting April 4
Join us to hear about sidewalk work this summer
The Oregon Department of Transportation invites you to a Public Open House Meeting, April 4 where we will share
information and hear comments regarding our sidewalk curb ramp project to be constructed this year in downtown
Joseph. All interested parties are encouraged attend.
Meeting Date/Time: April 4, 5:30 p.m.
Meeting Location: The Joseph Community Center, 102 East First Street.
More information is available by visiting the project webpage at www.tinyurl.com/josephcurbramps, where you can
see work location maps, view background information and send us a meeting RSVP (which will help us set up the ven-
ue). You can also contact ODOT Community Affairs Specialist Vicki Moles for more information (phone: 541-620-4527,
email: Vicki.L.Moles@odot.oregon.gov ).
We look forward to meeting you face to face regarding this important mobility and safety project along Main Street,
Wallowa Avenue and the Wallowa Lake Highway (OR 82, OR 350 and OR 351).
YOUTH
TURKEY
HUNT
The Nature Conservancy would
like to offer a turkey hunting
opportunity to the youth of
Wallowa County. Two youth hunters
will be chosen via random draw.
Hunters must be between the ages
of 12-17. Chosen youth hunters must
be accompanied by an adult
(21 yrs or older) during their hunt.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 4/3/22
To sign up for the random draw,
email Chad Dotson at
chad.dotson@tnc.org
Protecting nature. Preserving life.™
541-426-3458 • 906 S. River Street
Enterprise, OR 97828