Your ballot, three health care chiefs on one stage, and Halloween hour by hour

1. 1Number 1.

   Due Tue, Nov 3 · 8 PMYour ballotThree 24-hour boxes; the clerk’s office inside the courthouse on weekdays

   Your ballot is due Tuesday at 8 PM, in a box or postmarked by then

   For Voters · Everyone

   The county’s twenty local seats are on it, and only one, the Wallowa mayor’s, has two names. Joseph’s ballot alone carries a city question: whether to bar licensed psilocybin manufacturers and service centers inside town. Above the local lines are the governor’s race, Oregon’s 2nd congressional seat, House District 58 and the statewide measures.

   Ballots due

   8 PM, Tuesday, November 3

   Boxes, 24 hours

   The courthouse, 101 S. River, Enterprise · Joseph City Hall, 201 N. Main · Wallowa City Hall, 104 N. Pine

   Inside the courthouse

   Clerk’s office, Room 100, weekdays 8:30 to 5 · 541-426-4543

   By mail

   Counts if postmarked by Tuesday and received within seven days

   Tally test

   Thursday, October 29, 10 AM, courthouse; public, call ahead

   Why it matters. Oregon counts a mailed ballot postmarked by election day if it arrives within seven days, under a 2021 law. The clerk still asks for boxes, because a late postmark cannot be argued with. The count starts Tuesday night and the clerk posts it; the Record will carry the local results with the certified numbers when they come.

   The ballot-tally test at 10 this morning in the courthouse is open to anyone; call the clerk first to reserve a seat.

   Drop box locationsJoseph’s ballot titleWhat the Record heard at the forum

   Source: Wallowa County Clerk, official ballot drop sites and the tally-test notice of October 22; City of Joseph, notice of ballot title, August 14, 2026; Oregon Secretary of State, drop box locator, checked Oct 24

2. 2Number 2.

   Thu, Oct 29 · 5:30 to 7:30 PMHealthEnterprise Odd Fellows Hall, 105 NE 1st St.

   Three health care chiefs take questions tonight at the Odd Fellows Hall

   For Everyone · Health

   The chief executives of Wallowa Memorial Hospital, Winding Waters Medical Clinic and the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness, together, on what is hard about rural health care, what changing policy does to it, and what comes next. Rotary Club of Wallowa County is the host.

   “Three organizations. Three perspectives. One shared commitment to healthier community.”

   Why it matters. The three organizations are the county’s hospital, its community health center and its mental health and addiction provider. People told the Record in October that health coverage is the benefit they protect most, because few employers here offer it. This is the first time this fall the three leaders answer questions in one room.

   Free, no sign-up listed. The Record will report what is said, held to the speakers’ own words.

   The listingThe hospital on the RecordAdd to calendar

   Source: Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce calendar, checked Oct 24

3. 3Number 3.

   Thu, Oct 29 to Sat, Oct 31SaturdayEnterprise, Joseph, Wallowa, Lostine and the lake

   Halloween, hour by hour: nine things from this morning’s bake sale to karaoke in Lostine

   For Families · Everyone

   Halloween is Saturday. Main Street in Enterprise closes for Trunk or Treat at 5; downtown Joseph hands out treats from 4; the lake has a witches’ paddle at 11:30. Friday has a ghost walk from the Pioneer Arch and a team showdown in Wallowa. Each line below is one listing; open it before you drive.

   • Thu 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM · Hospital Auxiliary Halloween bake sale, Wallowa Memorial Hospital lobby, Enterprise
   • Thu · Wallowa Fall Festival, Wallowa School; details from the school at 541-886-2061
   • Fri 6:00 to 8:00 PM · Downtown Enterprise haunted walking tour, meet at the Pioneer Arch by the courthouse; the host says it may not suit small children
   • Fri 9:00 PM to midnight · Halloween Showdown at Wallowa Woodsmen, Wallowa: teams of six, axe throw, zombie dodgeball, escape room, costume contest
   • Sat 11:30 AM · Fourth annual Wallowa Lake Witches Paddle, state park picnic area at the head of the lake
   • Sat 1:00 to 6:00 PM · Howl-O-Ween open house at the new Joseph Veterinary Clinic, 203 N. Main, Suite 2: treats for children and pets, photo booth for the Humane Society
   • Sat 4:00 to 6:00 PM · Watch for the Witch, downtown Joseph businesses
   • Sat 5:00 to 7:00 PM · Trunk or Treat, Main Street, Enterprise; the street is closed to cars
   • Sat 7:30 PM · Halloween karaoke and costume contest, Lostine Tavern; children welcome until 9

   Clocks go back an hour at 2 AM Sunday.

   Trunk or Treat, EnterpriseThe Chamber calendar

   Source: Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce calendar, nine listings, each opened, checked Oct 24

4. 4Number 4.

   Mon, Oct 26 to Thu, Nov 5DecisionsJoseph, the courthouse, Enterprise, Wallowology

   Three land-use decisions this week, one more Thursday, and a meeting on the East Moraine trails

   For Everyone · Voters

   Joseph’s planning commission took up the 20-acre subdivision Monday; the county’s took up the airport zone and farm-store rules Tuesday; Enterprise held its hearing on backyard homes Wednesday. What each decided is in the tracker below as the minutes and agendas say so. Thursday at 6 the Joseph council gives the public-contracting ordinance its second consideration, and Wednesday at 9 the county board holds its first November meeting.

   Why it matters. Wednesday evening is the one open door this week: the county asks how people use the trails of the East Moraine Community Forest and how they want them managed, 5 to 7:30 at Wallowology in Joseph. The board discussed trail oversight on October 14 and said it needs someone to check the trails and a smaller advisory committee.

   Agendas for the county board and the Joseph council post early in the week; the tracker links will carry them.

   East Moraine trails meetingThe trackerAdd to calendar

   Source: City of Joseph agendas, Wallowa County Planning, City of Enterprise, the Chamber calendar; Wallowa County Chieftain, October 15, checked Oct 24

5. 5Number 5.

   Read October 23From the RecordThe county’s record on the Record

   Where the county’s lodging tax goes, by the county’s own ordinance

   For Business · Everyone

   A lake business owner asked why the lodging tax her guests pay seems to buy the lake nothing. The answer is in the 2004 ordinance: 20% to the hospital district’s ambulance service, 10% to Search and Rescue, 5% to solid waste, 15% to projects a review board recommends, and 50% to the Chamber of Commerce, which must spend at least half of that on promotion. The tax brought in $612,998 in fiscal 2025.

   Ambulance service

   20%

   Search and Rescue

   10%

   Solid waste

   5%

   Review-board projects

   15%

   Chamber of Commerce

   50%, at least half of it for promotion

   Fiscal 2025 receipts

   $612,998

   Why it matters. The state’s rule that 70% of a lodging tax go to tourism covers taxes adopted or raised after July 2003; the county was already splitting its money this way in fiscal 2003-04, so the floor never governed it. On October 14 the commissioners agreed to reassess the tax and possibly put a change to voters, citing the cost of law enforcement.

   The county’s page on the Record now carries the split and its sources. A Main Street shop’s smoke-season figure, down about 20%, joined the long account this week.

   The county’s recordThe ledger, in the long account

   Source: Wallowa County Transient Lodging Tax Ordinance; ECONorthwest survey, 2008; Wallowa County Chieftain, October 15, 2026, checked Oct 23

1. Thu29

   8 AM Hospital bake sale · 8 AM Morning wheel, Josephy · 10 AM Ballot tally test, courthouse · 10 AM Storytime, Enterprise · 2 PM Parenting Now! · 5:30 PM Health care forum, Odd Fellows Hall · 6 PM Business course, Wallowa · Fall Festival, Wallowa School · 7-12 conferences, Joseph Charter

2. Fri30

   Football, Joseph at Dufur · 7-12 conferences, Joseph Charter · 10 AM Storytime, Wallowa · 10:15 AM Storytime, Joseph · 12:30 PM Bingo, Community Connection · 6 PM Haunted walking tour, Pioneer Arch · 9 PM Halloween Showdown, Wallowa Woodsmen · County juvenile-tracker job closes

3. Sat31

   Halloween: all nine, hour by hour, under The five things

4. Sun1

   2 AM Clocks go back an hour · 5 PM Community dinner, Wallowa Senior Center

5. Mon2

   5:30 PM Handbuilding, Josephy · 11:59 PM Gift of Art entries due

6. Tue3

   Election day: ballots in a box by 20:00 · 2 PM Donation clinic, Joseph · 6 PM Dance club, Fishtrap · 6 PM Poems in Pieces, online · 6 PM Wheel intro, Josephy

7. Wed4

   9 AM County board · 10 AM Mini Mountaineers · noon Rotary · 5 PM East Moraine trails, Wallowology · 5 PM Clay Club, Josephy · 6 PM Trivia, Stubborn Mule · 7 PM Matt Mitchell and Graham Farrow, Range Rider

8. Thu5

   Eagle Cap Film Festival opens · 8 AM Morning wheel, Josephy · 10 AM Storytime, Enterprise · 10 AM Travel-trade workshop · noon Soroptimist, hospital conference room · 2 PM Parenting Now! · 6 PM Joseph council

Source: Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce calendar, Building Healthy Families, the Josephy Center, Joseph Charter School, the City of Joseph and Wallowa County, checked October 24

Also open, no date set: Enterprise’s police chief search, with an interim chief in place (council minutes November 9), and the county’s Citizens Advisory Committee on the Land Development Ordinance (four seats, meetings November to May).

Enterprise

Health care forum Thu 5:30; hospital bake sale Thu 8 to 3; haunted walk Fri 6; Trunk or Treat Sat 5 to 7; dance club Tue 6; Range Rider Wed 7; county board Wed 9; storytime Thu 10.

Joseph

Howl-O-Ween at the vet Sat 1 to 6; Watch for the Witch Sat 4 to 6; 7-12 conferences Thu and Fri; football at Dufur Fri; Gift of Art entries due Mon; donation clinic Tue 2; East Moraine trails Wed 5 at Wallowology; council Thu 6; film festival opens Thu.

Wallowa

Fall Festival Thu; business course Thu 6; Halloween Showdown Fri 9; storytime Fri 10; community dinner Sun 5.

Lostine

Halloween karaoke and costume contest at the tavern Sat 7:30, children until 9.

Wallowa Lake

Witches Paddle Sat 11:30, state park picnic area.

Flora

Nothing posted this week; Sip-n-Sew at the school is Friday, November 6.

Imnaha

Nothing posted this week.

Troy

Nothing posted this week.