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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2020)
Business AgLife B Thursday, October 1, 2020 The Observer & Baker City Herald Small-business & Ag HAPPENINGS The Observer, File Sheri Rayburn, right, receives congratula- tions from Susan Bunch after being award- ed the Ag Woman of the Year award at the 2016 Union County Farmer Merchant Ban- quet. The Union County Chamber of Com- merce canceled the popular annual event celebrating the ag community for 2020 due to the coronavirus. Union County Chamber cancels Farmer-Merchant Banquet LA GRANDE — The Union County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has canceled the 2020 Farmer-Merchant Banquet. The chamber in a press release stated the board made the difficult decision at its meeting in September. “In light of the many restrictive COVID-19 Reopening Guidelines from the state of Oregon, which could make hosting a banquet highly infeasible, the board, in conjunction with the feedback from leaders of the agricultural community, agreed it was the best decision to cancel — and hope- fully return in 2021 with the best banquet and program to date,” according to the press release. The board weighed alternative options and formats for recognizing and honoring the achievements of the agricultural com- munity, such as video interviews with the award presenters and recipients. However, according to the press release, the mem- bers determined other options would not “adequately highlight and do justice to the important sense of community the banquet affords.” Darrin Walenta, agronomist at the Oregon State University Extension Office, commented in the release on how video interviews “cannot duplicate the true sense of community, accomplishment and engagement the banquet platform uniquely provides. … It just wouldn’t be the same.” The primary goal of the banquet is to honor the ag community, said Mollie Hulse, chamber board president, in the release. The chamber board reported it will explore creative ideas for hosting next year’s award banquet — in whatever shape or format it will be — and is planning new ways to express gratitude for the hard- working members of the agricultural com- munity in the interim. 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Hunters in a timbered U.S. Forest Ser- vice allotment found the 7-month old calf dead on Sept. 21, according to ODFW’s depredation investigation report. The calf’s owner contacted ODFW the next day for an investigation. The calf likely died around Sept. 20, according to the report, which also stated: “The attack scene and premortem inju- ries are clear signs of predator attack and the size and location of the bite injuries are similar to injuries observed on other cattle attacked by wolves.” Fish and Wildlife attributed the depreda- tion to the Five Points Pack. ODFW in April reported the pack in 2019 produced three pups that survived to the end of the year and was counted as a breeding pair. Radio-collar data showed the pack roamed a 183-square-mile area with 50% of location data points on public lands and the other 50% on private lands. — The Observer Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/ Contributed Graphic This map from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shows the range of the Five Points Creek wolf pack, which recently killed a 550-pound calf. Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain, File Water from Wallowa Lake flows through the Wallowa Lake Dam at about 400 cubic feet per second Friday, June 12, 2020. Irrigators and tribal members signed an agreement to access $14 million in state funding for repairs to the dam, which will benefit agriculture and native fish. Wallowa Dam project on track Stakeholder agreement will allow $14 million in updates to dam built in 1919 By George Plaven Capital Press JOSEPH — Irrigators and tribal mem- bers in Northeast Oregon signed an agreement to access $14 million in state funding for repairs to Wallowa Lake Dam, which will provide additional water storage for agriculture and native fish. Located 1 mile south of Joseph, Wal- lowa Lake Dam is owned by the Wal- lowa Lake Irrigation District, serving 172 patrons and 16,000 acres of farmland in rural Wallowa County. The district holds three certificates for water rights from the dam totaling 58,000 acre-feet, dating back to the early 1900s. But the dam, built in 1919, no longer meets safety standards. The Oregon Water Resources Department in 1996 listed the dam as a high hazard structure, limiting water storage beyond a certain level to protect communities downstream. As a result, storage capacity is capped at 72%, said Dan Butterfield, the irrigation district manager. “(The dam) needs to be bigger and “I think it’s kind of a historical agreement to show people we can all get along on this, and make this work, if we can get the dam fixed. This is a great project. It helps everyone.” — Dan Butterfield, manager of the Wallowa Lake Irrigation District heavier, and have the gates be bigger and more open,” Butterfield said. “It just has to pass the water through it in the event there is a 100-year or 200-year flood.” State lawmakers passed a bill in 2019 allocating $14 million in lottery funds to rehab Wallowa Lake Dam. That includes replacing century-old concrete, upgrading the dam’s spillway and adding fish pas- sage facilities for bull trout, moun- tain whitefish, wild rainbow trout and steelhead. Tribes and fisheries managers have dis- cussed the possibility of reintroducing and restoring sockeye salmon to the lake. Wallowa Lake was once home to the only population of Snake River sockeye in Oregon, with an estimated 24,000 to 30,000 fish prior to 1900, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Funding for the dam, however, was contingent on releasing a portion of the Hospitals’ financial health drops as COVID-19 hit A look at first quarter financials of local hospitals Grande Ronde Hospital reported a total revenue nearing $24.2 million in the first quarter of 2020. In that time the hospital’s operating expenses were about $28.1 million. The previous quarter, at the end of 2019, its revenue was around $30 million and expenses were around $28 million. “Earlier this spring, we shared the good news that Grande Ronde Hos- pital and Clinics was on solid financial footing,” hospital spokesperson Mardi Ford said. “That is still the case. Although it’s hard to read headlines that rural hospitals across the nation already vulnerable to closure may not survive this pandemic, GRH is not in that same situation.” She said years of financial stew- ardship and loyal community sup- port enabled the hospital to enter the COVID-19 crisis in a strong position. “That doesn’t mean we are immune Les Schwab sold to California investment firm The Oregonian The Baker City hospital reported almost $7.6 million in revenue and more than $9.3 million in expenses for the first quarter, putting the hospital in the red along with Grande Ronde Hos- pital. St. Alphonsus Medical Center reported ending 2019 with more than $9.4 million in expenses while bringing in almost $9.3 million. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2019 the hos- pital was operating in the black, with BEND — Les Schwab Tire Centers has reached a deal to sell the company to Meritage Group, a San Francisco-based investment firm, ending family own- ership of one of Oregon’s best-known businesses. Bend-based Les Schwab Tire announced plans to sell the 68-year-old business in December, citing the difficul- ties of running a business in its fifth gen- eration of family ownership. Tire baron Les Schwab started the business in his hometown of Prineville in 1952 and grew it into one of Oregon’s largest compa- nies with nearly 500 stores in 10 Western states, and annual sales of $1.8 billion. The business remained in Schwab’s family after his death in 2007. When Les Schwab Tire announced its sale plans last year, Bloomberg reported the owners hoped for $3 billion in the deal. Les Schwab and Meritage did not report terms of Tuesday’s deal but said the current management team will remain in place and Les Schwab will continue operating as it has. “We see Les Schwab Tires as an ideal investment,” Aubrey Barth, Meritage’s managing director, said in a statement. “The company’s exceptional employees and programs, strong finan- cials, and respected, customer-focused brand set it up for success for years to come.” Meritage’s founder, billionaire Nat Simons, is a billionaire investor and cli- mate change activist. Simons helps run a number of investment funds in addi- tion to Meritage. It wasn’t immediately See, Hospitals/Page 3B See, Schwab/Page 3B The Observer Grande Ronde Hospital See, Dam/Page 3B By Mike Rogoway By Sabrina Thompson LA GRANDE — Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics in La Grande lost about $3.9 million in the first quarter, according to the Oregon Health Authority’s hospital financial data. The fiscal information gives an idea of how local hospitals were doing just as the pandemic hit. Grande Ronde Hospital and St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City both saw revenue drop in the first quarter, while Wallowa Memorial Hospital, Enterprise, made about $900,000. stored water to augment natural stream- flows for threatened and endangered fish throughout the Wallowa River Valley. While the $14 million in lottery rev- enue bonds — slated to be released in spring 2021 — was nixed earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stake- holders nonetheless reached an agreement designating up to 5,000 acre-feet of water from the dam annually for in-stream flows. Of that, 4,500 acre-feet is earmarked for in-stream flows in the Wallowa and Grande Ronde rivers to the Oregon-Wash- ington border. The remaining 500 acre- feet will be offered as part of a trade pro- gram, in which farmers in other parts of the valley can exchange their existing water rights from tributaries such as the Lostine River or Bear Creek for more The Observer, File Grande Ronde Hospital, La Grande, lost about $3.9 million in the first quarter of 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a financial re- port from the Oregon Health Authority. to the financial impacts of the pan- demic,” Ford continued, “but the reality is that it is not uncommon to see seasonal fluctuations in revenue in any given year. However, even with all we have had on our plate this year, we continue to have an optimistic outlook as we execute upon a strong strategic business plan.” St. Alphonsus Medical Center
