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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2017)
Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Thursday, March 16, 2017 SYMBOLS: Marionberry was developed at OSU TRAVEL: DHS report “They’re beautiful Hansell the reason Oregon contributions of Oregonians found nationality an animals, sturdy and hardy,” has never named a state dog with Scottish ancestry, a characteristic gold coloring he said. before may be because there proposal to replace the and dark mane was used Hansell also sponsored a isn’t a particular breed of western meadowlark with ‘unlikely indicator’ of as the model for the title bill naming the borer collie dog that stands out for its the osprey as Oregon’s state character of the animated as Oregon’s state dog, at ties to Oregon. And while bird, and a proposal to name terrorism threats movie “Spirit: Stallion of the the request of Ron Folck dog’s are “humankind’s best marionberry pie as the state’s Cimarron.” of Unity. He felt a working friend,” people’s favorite official pie in recognition of Continued from 1A Hansell said Devlin asked him to add his name to the bill that would name the Kiger Mustang as Oregon’s state horse, and Hansell agreed, thinking of the Kiger Mustangs that a family in Athena owns. dog like the border collie was a good representation of Oregon, but Rep. David Gomberg, D-Central Coast, had a different idea and is sponsoring a bill to name dogs rescued from a shelter as the state dog. breed of dog varies greatly. “All my kids and I, we love the corgi, because that was our family’s first dog,” he said. This session there are also proposals to name a state tartan to honor the the fact that the marionberry was developed at Oregon State University and was named after Marion County. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. SOLAR: Project development will take at least three years said, “and if we find “I don’t see any way around it for UEC to he enough scab ground to put in county planning commission take farmland parcels that aren’t productive.” on, I’m fine with that.” Continued from 1A in February voted 4-3 against the exemption. The county board of commissioners held a public hearing on the matter Wednesday morning in Pendleton. Tamra Mabbott, county planning director, told the board the planning commission discussed the policy “conundrum” of abiding state rules to protect farmland while the state also mandates utilities to deliver renewable energy. UEC over the next 15 years, she stated in her report, must provide 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources to meet that mandate. Mabbott said assistant planner Brandon Seitz reviewed industrial land within UEC’s service area in Umatilla County and came up with a “thumbnail — Tamra Mabbott, county planning director sketch” showing about 320 acres are suitable for solar or other renewable energy. The utility, however, will need 600-700 acres to meet its 100 megawatt require- ment of renewable energy. “I don’t see any way around it for UEC to take farmland parcels that aren’t productive,” Mabbott said. Tommy Brooks, attorney for UEC, told the board the site is near electrical transfer lines and would not affect nearby farms. While some industrial land is available, he said, those sites would require electrical infrastruc- ture and thus cost more, as well as create a “patchwork” of solar arrays around the county. Dave Price, with Blue Mountain Alliance, spoke against the development. The land is not in production now, he said, but could be in the future. And if the county allows the expansion on this 80 acres, UEC and other energy companies will ask for more. Brooks countered granting this exemption would not set precedent because each case would have its own set of unique facts to consider. Commissioner George Murdock said he wanted to be clear “UEC would not be warmly received by one commissioner” if its plans took a crop out of production. “If we’re going to have solar power, we’re going to have to have it somewhere,” Commissioner Bill Elfering said this comes down to the highest and best use of the land, and in this case that’s solar generation. Larry Givens, board chairman, asked how soon the project would begin development. Robert Echenrode, UEC general manager, said the project is in a two-year planning phase and development would take at least three years. The company also will have to ask the county for a separate conditional use permit for the solar panels. County commissioners voted 3-0 to allow the exemption for the solar expansion. ——— Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0833. WOLVES: Taken off state endangered species list in 2015 Continued from 1A we want to increase our communication between our agencies,” he said. “We want to develop a more effective system to ensure that Wild- life Services’ staff working in areas with wolves know what ODFW knows about wolf activity.” OR-48, a 100-pound male from the Shamrock Pack, died Feb. 26 after it bit an M-44 device, which fires cyanide powder into a pred- ator’s mouth when it tugs on a baited or scented capsule holder. Wildlife Services set the trap on private land in an attempt to kill coyotes. The federal agency kills predators or other wildlife that damage or pose a threat to property, livestock or humans. The agency describes M-44s as an “effective and environmen- tally sound wildlife damage management tool,” but the wildlife activist group Predator Defense calls them notoriously dangerous. The devices are designed to kill canids such as coyotes and foxes. The cyanide powder reacts with saliva in an animal’s mouth, forming a poisonous gas that kills the animal within one to five minutes. Brooks Fahy, executive director of Pred- ator Defense, said M-44s indiscriminately kill dogs attracted by the scent and are a hazard to children or others who might come across them in rural areas. The Wallowa County incident is complicated by Oregon’s management and protection of gray wolves Poison capsule M-44 Cyanide Traps Lure head Bait/lure material Trigger lock ring Surface grade M-44-style traps, also known as Canid pest ejectors, or CPEs, were first developed in the U.S. in the 1930s as a way to autonomously control pest species. Trigger Piston Ejector body Spring When the animal pulls on the baited lure head, the trigger releases the piston. Under pressure of a mechanical spring, the piston strikes the poison capsule, ejecting a lethal dose of sodium cyanide into the animal’s mouth. Ground spike Sources: www.predatordefense.org; www.smithandgeorg.com.au; www.aphis.usda.gov over the past decade as they entered the state from Idaho, formed packs, quickly grew in population and spread geographically. Previously, Wildlife Services did not use M-44s in what the state designated as Areas of Known Wolf Activity. After wolves were taken off the state endan- gered species list in 2015, it was ODFW’s understanding that Wildlife Services would continue to avoid using M-44s in such areas. “We discussed our concerns specifically regarding M-44s,” ODFW spokesman Rick Hargrave said last week. “We didn’t want those devices in those Alan Kenaga/ Capital Press areas. “We believed it was clear what our concerns were,” Hargrave said. Williams, the Wildlife Services state director, said he wants to focus on preventing another wolf death rather than “who messed up here.” He said the Wallowa County case was the first time the agency has killed a wolf in Oregon. Overall, the agency has recorded “lethal take” of “non-targeted” animals — ones it didn’t intend to kill — in 1.3 percent of cases, he said. He said the agency twice unintention- ally caught Oregon wolves in foothold traps, which March 4-5-6, 2016 | Spokane Fair & Expo Center | Spokane, WA “We discussed our concerns specifically re- garding M-44s. We didn’t want those devices in those areas. — Rick Hargrave, ODFW spokesman nonetheless allowed ODFW to put tracking collars on them before releasing them unharmed. “Some of our tools are more forgiving than others,” Williams said. He said Wildlife Services puts on workshops to help ranchers protect livestock with non-lethal methods. In one case two summers ago, agency personnel spent 260 hours over four weeks helping protect a sheep flock from Umatilla Pack wolves, he said. The work allowed ODFW to avoid having to kill wolves due to depreda- tions, he said. Meanwhile, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association views the Wallowa County incident as a matter of agency to agency interaction and is “staying on the sidelines” in the investigation, said Todd Nash, a Wallowa County rancher who is the group’s wolf policy chair. Livestock producers, of course, have a keen interest in the state’s wolf management policies and outcomes. “It’s never a good time politically to have a dead wolf,” Nash said. Continued from 1A Watson criticized what he called the “illogic” of the government’s arguments and cited “significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus” behind the travel ban. He also noted that while courts should not examine the “veiled psyche” and “secret motives” of government decision-makers, “the remarkable facts at issue here require no such imper- missible inquiry.” “For instance, there is nothing ‘veiled’ about this press release: ‘Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,’” Watson wrote, referring to a state- ment Trump issued as a candidate. Trump called the ruling an example of “unprece- dented judicial overreach” and said his administration would appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also called his new travel ban a watered-down version of the first one, which he said he wished he could implement. “We’re going to win. We’re going to keep our citizens safe,” the president said at a rally in Nashville. “The danger is clear. The law is clear. The need for my executive order is clear.” The judge issued his 43-page ruling less than two hours after hearing Hawaii’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop the ban from being put into practice. The hearing was one of three held Wednesday in federal courts around the country. U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle, who blocked the initial travel ban last month, did not immediately rule on a request from an immi- grant-rights group to block the revised version. Neither was there a ruling from U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland in a challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups. In all, more than half a dozen states are trying to stop the ban. A case brought by Washington state argues that the new order harms residents, universities and businesses, especially tech companies such as Wash- ington state-based Micro- soft and Amazon, which rely on foreign workers. California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon have joined the claim. Trump’s initial travel ban, issued on a Friday in late January, brought chaos and protests to airports around the country as travelers from seven nations — Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen — were barred from entering even if they had prior permission to come to the U.S. The State Department canceled up MULTI-MEDIA SALES Press Position March 17-18-19, 2017 Great work environment. Super awesome team. Good pay. Retirement plan. Weekends off. Interested? Press person need- ed at East Oregonian newspaper. Our operation prints an array of weekly, bi-weekly and monthly publications. To join our team, you’ll need web press operation skills, an eye for color, mechanical ability, be a good com- municator and work well with others. Must be able to lift 50# and go up/down stairs on a regular basis. East Oregonian has an opening for multi-media sales. No multi-media experience? That’s fine, as long as you understand the importance of customer service, working hard and a desire to enjoy your job. Could this be you? OVER 150 NORTHWEST ARTISANS FINE ART | HAND CRAFT | SPECIALTY FOODS TRAC Center Pasco, WA FREE PARKING CusterShows.com Friday 10 AM —8 PM Saturday 10 AM —6 PM Sunday 10 AM —4 PM to 60,000 visas, but later reversed that decision. Robart ordered the government to stop enforcing the ban, which also suspended the nation’s acceptance of refugees from around the world, and a three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously declined to reinstate the ban. The administration subsequently rewrote the ban, emphasizing more of a national security rationale, dropping Iraq from the list of banned countries and spelling out some reasons that travelers from the listed nations might be granted waivers allowing them into the U.S. despite the policy. The new ban does not apply to travelers who already have visas. Critics of the ban said the changes made it more palatable, but they still argued that it violated both the Constitution and federal immigration law, and they tweaked their lawsuits to target the revised order. Watson is a 2012 appointee of President Barack Obama. He is the only Native Hawaiian currently sitting as a federal judge and the fourth in U.S. history. He received his law degree from Harvard in 1991. In his order, he found little evidence the travel ban would aid national security, noting a point brought up by the state: that a draft report from the Department of Homeland Security found nationality to be an “unlikely indicator” of terrorism threats. If the administration seeks an emergency stay of Watson’s decision at the 9th Circuit, the matter would be heard by different judges from the three who ruled on the case last month. That’s because the panel of judges assigned to such cases rotates every month, said court spokesman David Madden. The 9th Circuit on Wednesday declined to reconsider the 3-0 decision not to reinstate the original ban. In a dissent, five judges said they considered that decision incorrect and wanted it vacated. “Whatever we, as indi- viduals, may feel about the president or the executive order, the president’s deci- sion was well within the powers of the presidency,” Judge Jay Bybee wrote for the five. In Seattle, Robart grilled lawyers on two seemingly conflicting federal laws on immigration — one that gives the president the authority to keep any class of aliens out of the country and another that forbids the government from discrim- inating on the basis of nationality when it comes to issuing immigrant visas. In Maryland, the judge weighed whether the measure discriminates against Muslims. Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group PO Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com Base wage plus commissions, benefits and mileage reimbursement. Benefits include Paid Time Off (PTO), insurances and a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. Send resume and cover letter stating salary requirements to: EO Media Group PO Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 or fax: (503) 371-2935 or email: hr@eomediagroup.com. Benefi ts include Paid Time Off (PTO), insur- ances and a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group., PO Box 2048, Salem, OR 97308-2048, by fax to 503-371-2935 or email hr@eomediagroup.com