Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2016)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Tuesday, June 21, 2016 Wolf Creek ireighters, regularly confronted by angry citizens, raising money for body cameras purchase 10 small Wolfcom Vision body cameras, which would cost a total of $2,750. The cameras, the same kind that police oficers use, store 18 hours of video, 28,000 digital photos and 180 hours of audio. Crews would wear them while on duty. Scruggs got the idea when he used a video camera to get images of people hanging out on the contentious Edgewood Road bridge, located across from the historic Wolf Creek Inn. The bridge provides access to the ire department’s sleeper station. In 1999, county oficials declared the bridge as off limits. The Josephine County Sheriff’s Ofice added a second deputy to patrol Wolf Creek because of the prob- lems, but that was before loss of funding cut the agency’s stafing by two-thirds. A few weeks ago, someone chucked a full can of beer into the window of a ire truck crossing the bridge, and it hit the driver. When Scruggs started using the hand-held camera, people were lipping him off, but they cleared out when they realized they were on By PATRICIA SNYDER Grants Pass Daily Courier GRANTS PASS — A few weeks ago, says Wolf Creek ire Chief Steve Scruggs, a man walked up to a ireighter and spit beer on her while she and an engine crew waited for law enforcement before going to a call. Spitting beer, as it turns out, was hardly the worst offense committed against ireighters, most of them volunteers, in this tiny community north of Grants Pass. In recent months, inci- dents have ranged from confrontations and vandalism to alcohol-fueled threats and attacks. Scruggs says he’s been assaulted twice in the last year and a half. His glasses were knocked off and broken, and he had cut on the corner of his eye. Now Scruggs says equip- ping ireighters with body cameras will document inap- propriate or illegal behavior and hopefully discourage it. In what appears to be a irst in Oregon, the Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District has launched a crowd-funding attempt to video. He’s hoping body cams will bring the same type of response. “I think it’s a way to navigate the problem without somebody getting hurt,” he said. Statewide associations do not track use of body cameras by ire departments, but representatives at several associations — the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Ofice, the Oregon State Fireighters Council and the Oregon Volunteer Fireighters Asso- ciation — were not aware of any departments in Oregon that use body cameras. The Wolf Creek sleeper station, which has been a target of vandalism, allows stafing for around-the-clock response, part of improve- ments to the department that improved the insurance rating in March. It’s a boost that could save property owners about $200 in their insurance rates, Scruggs estimates. He suspects the depart- ment is being targeted because it is taking a stronger stance on illegal ire activity. When he arrived ive years ago, he steered practices toward educating people about ire laws ahead of taking action, but no longer. Some people appreciate that the law deines when and where you can burn debris on your property — an important tool in rural Oregon — but for others ire represents something else. “A lot of people use that for their recreation,” he said. Sometimes, the gatherings involve alcohol. Fires might involve noxious materials, such as tires and plastics. Fire setters might lack the water or equip- ment to extinguish escaped lames. “People have a tendency to start ires; they don’t have the means to put them out,” he said. Some people responded to educational efforts over the years. Others indicated they felt harassed. The department posted information that scoff- laws promptly tore down. Scruggs igured enough time had gone into education. In May the department imple- mented a policy citing people who violate existing ire laws. “If you have an illegal ire, you’re going to get a bill for us responding and putting it The ire department often depends on state police because the Sheriff’s Ofice averages just 10 hours of patrol coverage a day, some- times with only one deputy for the whole county, due to lack of funding. Scruggs’ voice tightens when he says he doesn’t know if the distraction was a factor in the driver not surviving. “We can take care of the patient, or we can take care of the crowd,” he said. Body cameras would also help offset complaints about ireighters, providing some liability protection, Scruggs hopes. Fire remains an issue related to the rollover, including conlict over a private memorial bonire downtown that oficials were concerned was too large and too near the Wolf Creek Inn’s wood shake roof. Fires have been set, then abandoned, several times at a crash site memorial. The site includes a ring built on the road’s shoulder inches from the white lane line. The department has responded multiple times to extinguish it. out,” he said. The department is basing the ine on the state ire marshal’s conlagration deployment guidelines. Fines vary according to the effort involved. Fire prevention is part of his job, Scruggs explained. “The people here are counting on us to protect them.” In the past few weeks, problems have escalated from ire scenes to other emergency calls, and Scruggs worries that people are listening to a dispatch scanner and showing up just to cause problems. One incident with ongoing repercussions happened May 21, when a 20-year-old man was fatally injured in a rollover crash on Lower Wolf Creek Road. After medics responded, several of the man’s friends and relatives showed up. People wanted a medical helicopter summoned, Scruggs said. The ire department requested one, but a helicopter wasn’t available. The scene turned confrontational, including someone driving recklessly and tailgating the ambulance as it left, according to a report to state police. Two years after Bundy standoff, federal land managers return BLM fully suspended work in the Gold Butte region after multiple gun shots were ired in the vicinity of student contractors.” No one was injured in the June 2015 shooting near researchers from the Reno- based nonproit Great Basin Institute. They had been moni- toring water seeps and springs in the area about 100 miles northeast of Las Vegas. They reported the gunire came at night, after they were irst approached by two men who asked what they were doing. Agency national chief Neil Kornze and state director John Ruhs toured parts of the area last week with a Clark County commis- sioner and a Las Vegas police captain, cataloging apparent vandalism and damage during stops at the scenic By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS — More than two years after an armed standoff with followers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy prompted a pullout of researchers from Gold Butte, federal land managers are returning to the scenic, historic and ecologically fragile area. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said work is resuming toward opening the area across the Virgin River from the Bundy ranch for hiking, camping and geolog- ical and archaeological exploration. “Very limited work continued after April 2014,” bureau spokesman Craig Leff said Monday. “Then, in the summer of 2015, the and assault charges. Bundy doesn’t recognize federal jurisdiction in the area where he’s accused of failing to pay more than $1.1 million in fees and penalties while illegally allowing his cows to roam. His lawyer, Joel Hansen, said the BLM has no authority in Gold Butte. He suggested that boundary shifts after Nevada became a state in 1864 left the federal government with no legal claim in the area where Bundy is accused of trespassing. “The Bundys are in full support of preserving the archaeological treasures of the Gold Butte area,” Hansen said. “However, that work should be undertaken by the state of Nevada. The state of Nevada owns Gold Butte, Whitney Pockets sandstone formation and the archaeo- logically signiicant Falling Man rock art site, according to the BLM. Nevada Sen. Harry Reid wants federal lawmakers to designate almost 550 square miles of the remote land northeast of Lake Mead as the Gold Butte National Conservation Area. The return by federal oficials to the area comes months after Bundy, four of his sons and 14 other men were arrested on federal charges in the gunpoint standoff that stopped govern- ment agents from rounding up cattle on public land. All 19 men remain jailed, with trial scheduled in February. Each has pleaded not guilty to various conspiracy, obstruction, weapon, threat Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255 before noon Tuesday through Friday or before 10 a.m. Saturday for same-day redelivery 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Ofice hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Copyright © 2016, EO Media Group REGIONAL CITIES Forecast TODAY WEDNESDAY Plenty of sunshine Sunny 81° 51° 83° 57° THURSDAY Sunny, breezy and pleasant FRIDAY Pleasant and warmer PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 77° 52° 72° 48° 81° 51° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 84° 49° 88° 60° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 78° 80° 103° (1900) 46° 53° 38° (1893) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 0.91" 0.91" 6.50" 4.99" 7.46" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE Yesterday Normals Records HIGH LOW 84° 81° 101° (1958) 46° 54° 42° (2012) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 0.41" 0.45" 4.64" 3.14" 5.59" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Last New June 27 July 4 First July 11 77° 49° 85° 50° Seattle 71/54 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 82° 56° 5:06 a.m. 8:48 p.m. 9:40 p.m. 6:32 a.m. Full July 19 Today SATURDAY An a.m. shower; some sun, breezy Spokane Wenatchee 75/52 80/56 Tacoma Moses 71/49 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 82/50 72/44 64/50 70/48 85/51 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 70/49 82/53 Lewiston 85/50 Astoria 81/51 66/51 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 75/54 Pendleton 73/43 The Dalles 84/49 81/51 82/53 La Grande Salem 76/46 76/51 Albany Corvallis 77/48 78/48 John Day 79/45 Ontario Eugene Bend 86/51 78/46 76/42 Caldwell Burns 83/48 77/39 Astoria Baker City Bend Brookings Burns Enterprise Eugene Heppner Hermiston John Day Klamath Falls La Grande Meacham Medford Newport North Bend Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Redmond Salem Spokane Ukiah Vancouver Walla Walla Yakima Hi 66 75 76 70 77 73 78 78 84 79 81 76 73 87 63 67 86 85 81 75 78 76 75 74 73 82 85 Lo 51 37 42 52 39 43 46 48 49 45 44 46 38 52 48 52 51 50 51 54 40 51 52 40 52 53 51 W pc s s pc s s pc s s s s s s s pc pc s s s pc s pc pc s pc s pc Hi 66 82 77 65 83 79 79 81 88 85 79 80 77 84 63 66 91 87 83 76 80 77 78 78 74 84 85 Lo 53 44 44 52 43 48 54 52 60 51 44 49 46 54 52 56 57 59 57 58 45 57 55 45 57 59 53 W pc s s pc s s pc s s s s s s s pc pc pc s s pc s pc s s pc s s WORLD CITIES Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Hi 94 92 89 70 70 82 70 79 86 64 75 (in mph) Klamath Falls 81/44 Boardman Pendleton Lo 74 84 69 57 53 65 61 62 68 51 69 W c pc s pc t pc sh pc c pc r Wed. Hi 97 93 89 73 71 74 81 82 85 66 78 Lo 72 82 70 61 54 59 68 66 70 50 69 W pc pc s t t pc t s t s pc REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Areas of low clouds early today; otherwise, mostly sunny. Partly cloudy tonight. Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly sunny today. Mainly clear tonight. Mostly sunny tomorrow. Western Washington: Clouds breaking for some sun today. Partly cloudy tonight. Clouds and sun tomorrow. Eastern Washington: Partly sunny today. A shower in the north and mountains; sunny across the south. Cascades: Sunny and pleasant today; how- ever, some clouds across the north. Northern California: Sunshine today. Partly cloudy tonight. Today Wednesday WSW 7-14 WSW 8-16 WSW 6-12 W 6-12 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 2 5 7 Classiied & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classiieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 • fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers in at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com 7 5 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Wed. WINDS Medford 87/52 Corrections Multimedia Consultants • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Terri Briggs 541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-966-0806 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Stephanie Newsom 541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • Chris McClellan 541-966-0802 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com • Amanda Jacobs 541-278-2863 • ajacobs@eastoregonian.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge www.eastoregonian.com The BLM said agency efforts will include projects to address the spread of noxious weeds and to reduce the threat of wildire. Plans also include road mainte- nance, communication line repairs and the establishment of a route numbering system to help visitors ind their way around. The Friday, June 10 article “Robbed of Justice” listed an incorrect phone number for Bernard and Julianne Lind. The correct number is 509-961-9309. The Saturday, June 18 article “Brown declines tradi- tional summer debate with Pierce” incorrectly stated Gov. Kate Brown’s ofice’s response to an invite to the ONPA governor’s debate. Her ofice did not ask for debate ques- tions in advance. The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. ADVERTISING Advertising Director: Jennine Perkinson 541-278-2683 • jperkinson@eastoregonian.com Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — not the BLM.” Hansen also blamed federal land policies for problems including invasive weeds and wildires, and alleged that designating the area as critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise and other plant and animal species is a Reid effort to please political backers. 2 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: Showers and locally severe thunderstorms will erupt from the central Plains to the lower mid-Atlantic today. A few storms will dot South Florida and coastal Texas. The Southwest will remain very hot. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 122° in Palm Springs, Calif. Low 30° in Boca Reservoir, Calif. NATIONAL CITIES Today Albuquerque Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Fargo Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Los Angeles Hi 97 90 81 89 94 92 83 84 90 82 83 83 96 95 83 97 59 82 85 90 85 88 92 115 95 87 Lo 70 72 67 66 52 71 55 63 73 62 64 64 78 62 60 76 51 59 74 74 66 65 75 87 78 66 W s s t t pc s s t s t pc pc s t pc s sh s sh t pc s t pc pc s Wed. Hi 100 91 82 88 85 92 91 77 94 83 82 81 96 86 81 103 69 75 85 92 82 93 97 113 96 82 Lo 70 73 68 67 56 72 58 59 76 69 66 67 77 62 63 77 48 55 73 72 72 70 74 85 79 64 W t pc s s s pc s pc pc t t t s pc t pc pc t pc s t pc pc pc s pc Today Hi Louisville 87 Memphis 95 Miami 87 Milwaukee 81 Minneapolis 83 Nashville 91 New Orleans 90 New York City 86 Oklahoma City 94 Omaha 92 Philadelphia 88 Phoenix 114 Portland, ME 82 Providence 85 Raleigh 93 Rapid City 93 Reno 95 Sacramento 99 St. Louis 89 Salt Lake City 97 San Diego 84 San Francisco 75 Seattle 71 Tucson 110 Washington, DC 90 Wichita 96 Lo 70 78 78 62 63 73 75 67 73 75 69 88 56 61 70 59 59 60 76 66 67 56 54 79 71 75 W t t t s s t pc pc s t pc pc pc t s s s s c s pc s pc s t pc Wed. Hi 86 95 90 77 79 94 90 84 96 94 88 113 75 83 91 86 95 95 99 95 76 72 69 108 89 101 Lo 77 78 79 62 60 75 76 65 74 67 69 88 54 58 72 53 58 58 80 70 66 56 55 79 73 77 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W t pc t t t pc s s s pc s pc pc s pc s s s pc pc pc s pc t s pc