OFF PAGE ONE
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Utah murder suspect
found dead near Joseph
Bentz:
Continued from Page A1
“People say, ‘You Repub-
licans, when you had power
the last time, you didn’t do
anything.’ Well, that’s not
quite true, but this is your
chance to say what you want
us to do,” Bentz told the
people gathered in the din-
ing hall at Community Con-
nection in Enterprise for his
seventh town hall meeting
with voters.
He said he looks forward
to governing with the major-
ity, an experience that has
eluded him for his political
career.
“I’m hoping to some day
be able to govern for once
as opposed to just throw
rocks,” he said. “But when
you see bills come out of
the Senate and go across
the fl oor of the House with-
out one amendment because
(Speaker) Nancy Pelosi
knows she has about four
votes to spare. She doesn’t
dare bring an amendment
because that would mean the
bill would have to go back to
the Senate. So right now the
situation is such so that mak-
ing changes based upon dis-
cussion is almost zero.”
A
typical
confl ict
between Democrats and
Republicans involves the
high rate of spending the
current majority party has
been conducting.
“Our polling indicates
that the biggest issue is
infl ation,” he said, and also
added other issues of energy,
immigration, law enforce-
ment and abortion in the
wake of the recent Supreme
Court ruling throwing out
Roe v. Wade.
Partisan politics
Bentz said the current par-
tisan rancor in American pol-
itics does no good.
“I’m not suggesting that
we don’t get along,” he said.
“If we don’t get along, we
won’t have a country, and
that’s the truth.”
A Lostine man said his
greatest concern is just that
— the state of our democ-
racy. He said he identifi es
with the largest bloc of vot-
ers, those who are unaffi li-
ated with either major party.
The man talked about how
unaffi liated voters are frus-
trated with candidates who
won’t work across the aisle.
He and Bentz were famil-
iar with an article in the
Atlantic Monthly called
“After Babel” that discussed
how social media promotes
political polarization.
Bentz took it from there
and brought it to a personal
level.
“It addresses why we in
Congress and the legisla-
tures are now very reluctant
to reach across the aisle,” he
said. “Why? Because you’ll
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eomediagroup.com
A7
Man wanted in
Wasatch County,
Utah, for July
slaying of ex
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
From left, U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz presents a fl ag that had fl own over the U.S. Capitol to Enterprise
Veterans of Foreign Wars members Kim Hutchison and Jim Henson just before Bentz held a
town hall Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Enterprise.
be toasted and roasted and
crucifi ed on social media.
And as you’re being cruci-
fi ed on social media, you’ll
see that social media is
designed so that the louder
and the more obnoxious and
the more outrageous you are,
the more you’ll be put into
a space with others just like
you. It’s like mob rule on the
internet. As a result, the peo-
ple who normally would be
on one end of the spectrum
become much more pow-
erful than they otherwise
would be.”
He
said
lawmakers
who’ve been on news pro-
grams fi nd it challenging to
dare say they’ve gotten along
with their political opponents
“Because people will say
‘You’re not fi ghting for me.
You need to be fi ghting for
me; you don’t need to be get-
ting along. These people are
socialists or communists.
Why are you even talking to
them? They shouldn’t exist.’
That’s the kind of thing you
hear,” Bentz said.
He said he asked Con-
gresswoman Virginia Foxx,
R-N.C., who’s been in Con-
gress 18 years, how to meet
Democrats.
“She said to join the
prayer group,” he said.
“So I did and I go to the
prayer group every Thurs-
day between 8 and 9, and
guess what? I’ve met more
Democrats there than any
other place.”
Natural resources
In response to a question
from a local rancher about
restrictions on livestock graz-
ing allotments, Bentz said
he supports increased graz-
ing and logging on federal
forests.
“It’s not just the forests,
it’s also water and the oceans
and all that,” he said. “For
us, the water issues are very
high on my list. Forests are
extremely high on my list
and fi re-related issues.”
His words were what
many ranchers in Wallowa
County were glad to hear
— that grazing allotments
should be opened up to elim-
inate the underbrush that
serves as fuel for wildfi res.
Bentz said he had an
opportunity last summer in
Washington, D.C., to demon-
strate for some of his col-
leagues on the House Natu-
ral Resources Committee the
far-reaching eff ects of deci-
sions on managing public
lands.
Bentz said he pointed to
smoky skies over the nation’s
capital.
“You see that smoke
there? That’s Oregon going
over Washington, D.C.,”
Bentz said he told fellow
committee members. “Yeah,
the smoke went all the way,
so I was able to point out the
window and say, ‘We have
to do something.’ And the
something is we remove that
fuel with the cows grazing or
with mechanical thinning.”
Bentz said too many trees
are growing in some areas —
300 to 500 per acre instead
of the 80 that he said is more
appropriate.
“All those trees are pull-
ing up water, they’re canni-
balizing each other,” he said.
“One thing many people
don’t recognize is the impact
that more CO2 in the air has
on the growth of a plant.
Our trees are growing up to
14% faster than they used to.
Where are the environmen-
talists when it comes to rec-
ognizing this growth? It’s all
getting overgrown and it’s
growing faster.”
Bentz said he doesn’t
want to see Oregon — or
anywhere — burn, although
he acknowledged that fi re is
part of nature.
“Fire is a natural part of
the forest, but not when you
allow the buildup we’ve
allowed to unnaturally
occur,” he said.
Bentz said the GOP has
plans to remedy the situa-
tion, if they’re in a position
to govern.
“There’s hope, but we
better win in November, but
even if we don’t, we still
have the Supreme Court.”
a gunshot wound to the
head and a Glock model 27,
40-caliber Smith and Wes-
son pistol by the left shoul-
der of the road.
Wallowa County Medi-
cal Examiner Gary Zeigler
Wallowa County Chieftain
responded to the scene.
Law enforcement offi -
JOSEPH — The body cers from Wasatch County
of a Utah fugitive who fl ew into the Joseph Airport
was wanted for murder and joined the investigation.
is believed to have been They believed the corpse to
found along Hurricane be that of Asman.
Sheriff Joel Fish said
Creek Road west of Joseph,
it was a “domes-
according to a Tues-
tic violence rela-
day, Aug. 16, press
tionship.” He said
release from the
Asman and Burns
Wallowa County
had been mar-
Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
ried, even though
Michael Grant
they did not share a
Asman, 35, of
surname.
Heber City, Utah,
Asman
According
to
was wanted for the
Law and Crime
murder of Julie Ann
when
offi cers
Burns on July 14 in Wasatch online,
responded to a domestic
County, Utah.
At about 1 p.m. Aug. 15, violence call, they found
a sheriff ’s deputy and Ore- Burns in her home appar-
gon State Police responded ently dead of a gunshot
to a report of an abandoned wound to the head. She
2005 Chevrolet Silverado was pronounced dead at the
pickup parked on the shoul- scene.
The couple’s children
der of Hurricane Creek
Road near the trailhead. The were in the house at the
license plate on the vehicle time, Law and Crime said,
was registered to Asman. and were sent upstairs while
A Wasatch County warrant Asman and Burns argued.
charged Asman with homi- One child said Asman had
cide, stating that his where- a gun and they heard what
they believed to be a gun-
abouts were unknown.
When Asman’s pickup shot. Asman led the chil-
was found, OSP Sgt. dren out told them not to
Grant Jackson and Wal- look at their dead mother.
A search warrant was
lowa County Deputy Sher-
iff Paul Pagano determined issued by Circuit Court
the vehicle had not been Judge Wes Williams on
moved for some time. They Asman’s pickup, which was
searched through a wooded then searched and towed.
area to the creek and found Fish said nothing signifi cant
a decomposing corpse with was found during the search.
SUMMER HOURS
10 AM - 8 PM WED, THURS, SUN
10 AM - 9 PM FRI AND SAT • 541 569 2285
G RAIN
WALLOWA COUNTY
G ROWERS
IMPORTANT NOTICE
To: Wallowa County Grain Grower True Value Customers
I would like to inform all of our customers, that due to a labor shortage
with-in the True Value Store, we have decided to close the store for
business on Sundays until further notice.
This is a necessary step to help keep our current employees from
burning out. Short staff and more days worked for each of them has
been the trend for a long period. This will go into effect on Sunday
August 21st 2022. We apologize for this inconvenience and hope
that the labor pool will get better in the future.
Thank you for your understanding.
Stacy Beckman
Stacy J Beckman
General Manager
Last week Wallowa County experienced horrible devastation
with the tornado that hit the City of Wallowa. The people of
Wallowa suffered huge property losses including damage
to homes, businesses, vehicles, livestock and pets. All the
suffering is hard to bare but when you have a community like
Wallowa County where the pain is felt far and wide you also
encounter the strength in our community!
This week we honor all those who rallied together in a time
of need for our fellow neighbors including the countless
donations, all of the volunteers, Tim Polumsky, Pacific
Power, 1917 Lumber, MCrow, WC Ace Hardware, Community
Connections, Little Bear Drive-In and everyone who gave
so much to help. WE ARE A COMMUNITY, WE ARE WALLOWA
COUNTY and WE ARE THE PEOPLE MAKING A
DIFFERENCE!
People
a
g
n
i
k
Ma nce
Differe