Business
AgLife
Baker City has the meats
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — An
old-fashioned butcher shop,
meat counter and full-service
deli opens May 1 in Baker City.
Elkhorn Custom Meats and
Deli is at 2970 H St., just west
of 10th Street in a refreshed
building that formerly housed
a similar type of business.
Owners Heather Rudolph and
Bill and Dawn Simpson said
they plan to use as many local
ingredients as possible.
“Local produce, locally
baked breads on our sand-
wiches, local meat and pro-
cessed meats that we make
here — roast beef, pastrami,
corned beef. Lots of stuff,” Bill
Simpson said.
“Everybody’s so excited. It’s
really exciting to finally be a
part of something that the com-
munity wants and needs,” Dawn
Simpson said.
The owners plan to do
custom meat-processing for
local ranchers, and they’ll pro-
cess deer, elk and other wild
game in addition to the retail
side of the business.
The grand opening on May
1 includes tours of the shop,
a barbecue and, potentially, a
ribbon-cutting ceremony with
the Baker County Chamber of
Commerce.
The new owners have
repainted the exterior of the
building, and they plan to have
a porch with tables outside.
Bill Simpson said Elkhorn
Custom Meats and Deli will
employ David Lyle as a meat
cutter, a former employee of
Albertsons.
“He’s been a huge help,”
Simpson said. “Alexis Easton
is another one. I just wanted
to recognize them. They’re
donating their time, but this
is where they’re going to call
home coming May first.”
Rudolph, who grew up in
Baker City, said she moved back
to town, after living in Gillette,
Wyoming, almost a year ago
while the COVID-19 pandemic
was ramping up.
Rudolph said while she was
in Wyoming, she attended a
downtown farmers market and
asked the event coordinator
about the prospects of a butcher
shop and deli. She said the coor-
dinator was encouraging.
“I knew this was the thing
that I wanted to do and so I
guess that gave me a vision,”
Rudolph said.
Rudolph also said supporting
Baker City is what motivates her.
“I grew up in Baker and I
was in 4-H and FFA,” she said.
B
Thursday, April 22, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
OTEC holds
2021 annual
membership
meeting
virtually
The Observer
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
From left, Bill and Dawn Simpson, and Heather Rudolph, are the owners of Elkhorn Custom Meats and Deli, which opens
May 1, 2021, in Baker City.
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Co-owner Dawn Simpson touches up the fresh paint Friday, April 16, 2021, on the
front of Elkhorn Custom Meats and Deli, which opens May 1, in Baker City.
Rudolph returned to her
hometown in 2020, when she
started asking people who
might be interested in going
into business with her, or
helping her get started. That’s
how she ended up meeting Bill
Simpson.
“One day, I was watching
a video through this online
meat processing class that I
was taking, and the video made
me hungry for a good piece of
steak,” Rudolph said. “So I went
to Albertsons and was trying
to steal one of Bill’s employees
and he said, ‘Hey, you should
really talk to Bill, he knows a
lot of stuff.’ So, I got brave and
called this stranger and Bill
said, ‘Why don’t you come in
and talk to me?’ So I did and
here we are,” Rudolph said.
Like Rudolph, Bill Simpson
participated in FFA, and he also
learned to cut meat when he
was just 14.
“I had one of these (types
of businesses) for 12 years in
Redmond and sold it due to a
divorce, and here we are again,”
Bill Simpson said.
Dawn Simpson has been
in the grocery industry for
38 years, and she said she
always wanted to have her own
business.
“We actually looked at doing
this a year ago and it wasn’t
the right time,” Dawn Simpson
said. “And we didn’t have a
Heather. We needed a Heather.
And she needed us. So I’ve
always wanted my own busi-
ness and I’m pretty excited
about being part of the com-
munity. That’s what I’m most
excited about; is getting to
know the community.”
Along with Elkhorn Custom
Meats and Deli in Baker City,
Bill Simpson said he hopes
to open a federally inspected
beef-processing facility next
year in Haines. The federal
inspection stamp would allow
them to sell meat to anybody,
including retail stores.
“That’s what we really want
to do; we want to focus on
helping the community, the
ranchers, we want to raise good
kids out of FFA, so we have
FFA chapters that are involved
with us,” Bill Simpson said.
He said he hopes to share his
knowledge about grading meat
with local students, and per-
haps helping them get the skills
the needed to find a job in the
industry.
His vision for the Haines
facility is it would have a cat-
walk above the cutting floor
so visitors, including students,
could watch the butchers pro-
ducing sausage, jerky and other
products. He said it would
be similar to the Tillamook
Creamery on the Oregon Coast,
with a plexiglass window where
people can watch the process.
Check the Elkhorn Custom
Meats and Deli Facebook page
for updates.
BAKER CITY — Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative announced it
is holding its annual meeting virtu-
ally due to restrictions related to the
COVID-19 pandemic and concern for
the health and well-being of customers.
The meeting takes place Saturday,
May 15, starting at 10:30 a.m., and
three positions on the OTEC Board of
Directors are up for election, but only
Position 4, the Union County seat, is
a contested race. Attorney Charles
Gillis of La Grande is trying to unseat
Grande Ronde Valley farmer G. Austin
Bingaman, who has served nine years
on the OTEC board.
Incumbents are the only candi-
dates in the other two races. Wayne
Overton seeks election to Position 5
(Baker County), and Gary Miller seeks
to serve again in Position 6 (Grant
County).
All candidates are running to serve
a three-year term, and OTEC will
announce the results of the races at the
meeting.
Board President Charlene Chase
will conduct business as necessary,
and CEO Les Penning will provide an
update on the state of the cooperative.
Watch for your election ballot in the
mail after and return it by May 7 using
the prepaid colored envelope. Read the
instructions on the ballot, OTEC urged
in the press release. And if you are
unable to mail your ballot, drop it off
at the secure drop boxes at your local
OTEC office no later than May 14 or at
OTEC headquarters in Baker City on
May 15 before 10 a.m.
Each ballot comes with a voter’s
guide with candidate profiles. Candi-
date profiles and other election details
also appear on www.otec.coop/annu-
al-meeting-board-elections and will be
included in the May issue of Ruralite.
Customers voting by mail have the
chance to win one of three $100 energy
credits.
All of OTEC’s customers —the
member-owners of the cooperative —
can vote in the election. Members can
view the annual meeting virtually on
May 15 on the homepage of www.otec.
coop or on OTEC’s Facebook page.
Members who do not have access to
a computer will be able to call in to
listen to the meeting. The toll-free
call-in number is 1-877-309-2073. The
access code is 798-185-293.
If you have any questions on the
state of the annual meeting or any
questions about your ballot or the elec-
tion, call OTEC’s communications
office at 541-524-2858 or email com-
munications@otec.coop.
Water rights enforcement Nail tech brings ‘fakes’ to Enterprise
bill gains traction
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — A bill that
would alter the process for
enforcing Oregon water rights
has gained traction after sup-
porters scaled back changes
that adversely affected junior
irrigators.
The original version of
House Bill 2244 would have
partially eliminated the
“automatic stay” provision
of Oregon water law, under
which junior irrigators can
file lawsuits to prevent water
shut-offs.
A revised version of the
bill would retain the “auto-
matic stay” provision but
accelerate the legal process
to avoid prolonged uncer-
tainty about water rights
enforcement.
“We know if we don’t
handle these quickly, either
the fish die or the crops
die,” said Rep. Marty Wilde,
D-Eugene.
A vote on HB 2244 is
scheduled for the House floor
on April 20 after the House
Water Committee approved
the bill 5-3 with a “do pass”
recommendation.
The automatic stay pro-
vision has come under crit-
icism in recent years by the
Klamath Tribes, who’ve
argued it’s effectively been
used to thwart the enforce-
ment of their “time immemo-
rial” water rights.
Litigation takes longer
than the irrigation season,
allowing junior users to con-
tinue diverting water despite
the tribes’ “water call” for
enforcement action, according
to critics.
The farm industry has
defended the automatic stay
as protecting due process
for junior irrigators who dis-
agree with the Oregon Water
Resources Department’s find-
ings that they’ve infringed on
senior water rights.
For example, the automatic
stay provision was invoked
when groundwater irrigators
disagreed with OWRD’s claims
that wells were interfering with
surface water flows.
Proposals to eliminate or
curtail the automatic stay
were debated during the 2019
and 2020 legislative sessions
but died in committee upon
adjournment.
See, Water/Page 2B
ENTERPRISE —
Dajah LaFave saw a
need in Enterprise and
set up a Eastern Oregon
Nail Co. to meet it.
She only recently
learned that despite
numerous beauty reg-
imens available here,
no one did “fake” nails.
By “fake,” she clari-
fied that means acrylic
nails or nail extensions,
in addition to a regular
manicure of one’s nat-
ural nails.
She said that last
year, her parents had
the opportunity to buy
a bed and breakfast in
Imnaha and encouraged
her to check out Wal-
lowa County.
“They were, like,
‘Oh, the atmosphere
here is so amazing,’ so
I decided to check it out
and I found out nobody
down here does (fake)
nails,” she said. “When
I heard nobody here
was doing fake nails,
I thought my business
would do well here.”
LaFave opened shop
Tuesday, April 6, by
renting space at Belle
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain/Wallowa County Chieftain
Dajah LaFave recently opened the Eastern Oregon Nail Co. at
Belle Salon in Enterprise. She spoke of her new venture Thursday,
April 8, 2021. Below. La Fave shows the design on her own nails.
Salon, at
200 W.
Main St.
She
said that
when she
posted
her
opening
on Face-
book, response was
overwhelming.
“The response I
got was just insane.
I booked 25 people
last night,” she said
Thursday, April 8. “I
got home and when my
phone
got ser-
vice, it
was like,
‘ding,
ding,
ding,
ding,’
people
wanting
to get their nails done.
I’m going to do so
well. I’m so excited to
be able to meet every-
body here and get to
know the community.
Everybody here knows
everybody.”
But, she said, it’s
more than just about
doing business — it’s
about becoming part of
the community.
“I’ve had people
come in and say, ‘Hi,
how’s your mom?’ but
I don’t know who any-
body is,” she said. “But
I want to be able to get
that closeness.”
LaFave had been
operating a business
in Forest Grove, near
Portland before coming
to Enterprise. Her dad,
Rick LaFave, recently
moved his welding
and fabricating shop,
Renaissance Design
Fabrication and Powder
Coating from Forest
Grove. Her mom, Carey
LaFave, is a stay-at-
home mom.
Dajah’s immediate
family consists of her
two dogs.
“I have a ‘wiener
dog’ named Oscar
Meyer Wiener and a
pit bull named Thor,”
she said, but otherwise,
she’s single.
“I’m only 20 years
old. I’m too young,” she
See, Nails/Page 2B