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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2019)
2A — THE OBSERVER D AILY P LANNER MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 LOCAL Westward Ho! for the LHS marching band TODAY Today is Monday, Sept. 16, the 259th day of 2019. There are 106 days left in the year. Murdock to see for himself U.S. southern border By Phil Wright EO Media Group TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On Sept. 16, 2001, President George W. Bush, speaking on the South Lawn of the White House, said there was “no ques- tion” Osama bin Laden and his followers were the prime suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks; Bush pledged the government would “fi nd them, get them running and hunt them down.” ON THIS DATE In 1893, more than 100,000 settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the “Cherokee Strip.” In 1910, Bessica Medlar Raiche of Mineola, N.Y., made the fi rst accredited solo airplane fl ight by a woman in the United States. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Se- lective Training and Service Act. In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford announced a condi- tional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft-evaders. In 1976, the Episcopal Church, at its General Convention in Minneapolis, formally approved the ordi- nation of women as priests and bishops. In 1987, two dozen coun- tries signed the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to save the Earth’s ozone layer by calling on nations to reduce emissions of harmful chemicals by the year 2000. In 2005, President George W. Bush ruled out raising taxes to pay the massive costs of Gulf Coast recon- struction in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying other government spending had to be cut to pay for the recovery effort. LOTTERY Megabucks: $1.6 million 3-14-20-26-28-33 Mega Millions: $192 million Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group The La Grande High School marching band marches Friday morning down SE Court Ave. in Pendleton during the Westward Ho! Parade. The parade is part of the annual Pendleton Round-Up, which came to an end on Saturday. Umatilla prison boss resigns By Phil Wright EO Media Group UMATILLA — Troy Bowser is out as superinten- dent of the state prison in Umatilla. Bowser served as the boss of Two Rivers Correctional Institution since 2017. He was under a human resources investigation since April and on administrative leave since June for allegations of inap- propriate and unprofessional conduct. Michael Gower, assistant director of operations for the Oregon Department of Cor- rections, sent an email Friday morning to all department employees stating Bowser tendered his resignation ef- fective the day before. Beyond that, Gower stated, Tyler Blewett will continue as acting superin- tendent until further notice. The East Oregonian fi led a public records request for Bowser’s resignation letter. The Department of Correc- tions denied the request. Union president Robert Hillmick in an email replied the “overwhelming majority” of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees at the prison “are very happy about TRCI moving on to a new Super- intendent” and excited about the future. Hillmick triggered the investigation in April when he emailed corrections director Colette Peters, al- leging Bowser disparaged veteran employees, made a sexist comment to a woman employee and ignored the sexual assault of another employee. He sent the email to AFSCME members, other corrections staff and to state lawmakers, including Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, and Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena. After the East Oregonian broke the story, Hillmick reported, other TRCI em- ployees “had the confi dence to come forward and bring more issues to light.” PENDLETON — Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock leaves Monday on a fact-fi nding visit to the United States’ southern border. Murdock, commissioner since 2013, is one of the fi ve vice chairs on the National Association of Counties’ Im- migration Reform Task Force. NACo, a pro-county lobbying organization, put 54 mem- bers on the task force, and Murdock is the lone Orego- nian. About a dozen task force members are traveling to El Paso, Texas, he said, and over the course of next week will go into Mexico to see fi rst- hand what is happening on the border. The group plans to meet with local offi cials there as well as members of the U.S. Border Patrol. “One of our major focuses is trying to fi nd ways we can bring workers into the country,” Murdock said. While immigration is a hot political issue, Murdock said NACo is nonpartisan and looking for practical solutions to a serious problem coun- ties are facing — the need for migrant labor. He said Umatilla County alone relies on 8,000-10,000 Hispanic workers in multiple job sec- tors. Agriculture tops that list, and Murdock said local farmers have reminded him they need migrant labor. “It’s not like we have people lining up to harvest crops,” he said. The group also will visit detention centers, which have received political and media scrutiny for unhealthy and even inhumane and dangerous conditions. Ac- cording to various reports, at least seven children have died since September while in U.S. custody at the border. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, has worked to shine a light on the effects of U.S. policy and practices at the southern border. In March he visited the U.S. port of entry at Tijuana, and in June he tried to visit a detention center for child immigrants in Brownsville, Texas. Merkley on Friday was in Pendleton for the Round- Up and said he and Murdock talked about the upcoming trip. Going for several days will allow Murdock and the other offi cials to get a better sense of what’s happening, Merkley said, but he encouraged Mur- dock to check out key points. People seeking asylum have crowded bridges at ports of entry, he said, and the U.S. policy to assess whether those seekers have credible fears forces them to become refugees in Mexico and wait weeks in anticipa- tion of a court hearing they can’t possibly prepare for. They lack access to a law- yer, money, computers and more, he said, and immigra- tion judges know this. The senator also stressed the harm from detention policies separating children from families. “That infl iction of trauma on children is beyond the pale,” Merkley said. Murdock said the NACo group is keen to take in as much as it can, including fi nd- ing out about the treatment of refugees at detention centers. FAMILY OWNED 215 Elm Street La Grande (541) 963-5440 northwestfurnitureandmattress.com 6-16-37-59-62-5-x2 Powerball: $70 million 11-27-31-36-67-11-x2 I got screened. Now, I’m talking about it. Win for Life: Sept. 14 12-23-26-37 Pick 4: Sept. 15 • 1 p.m.: 4-8-0-2 • 4 p.m.: 4-4-6-2 • 7 p.m.: 3-9-5-9 • 10 p.m.: 6-5-3-0 Pick 4: Sept. 14 • 1 p.m.: 4-1-4-2 • 4 p.m.: 1-5-7-5 • 7 p.m.: 8-6-9-6 • 10 p.m.: 2-9-4-7 Pick 4: Sept. 13 • 1 p.m.: 8-5-1-6 • 4 p.m.: 7-8-8-0 • 7 p.m.: 7-6-5-8 • 10 p.m.: 4-1-4-2 Screening can prevent colorectal cancer or catch the #2 cancer killer early when it’s highly treatable. Most people get screened because they’re encouraged by someone they know and trust. So if you’ve been screened, please talk about your experience. And encourage others to get screened too. NEWSPAPER LATE? Every effort is made to de- liver your Observer in a timely manner. Occasionally condi- tions exist that make delivery more diffi cult. If you are not on a motor route, delivery should be before 5:30 p.m. If you do not receive your paper by 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, please call 541-963-3161 by 6 p.m. If your delivery is by motor carrier, delivery should be by 6 p.m. For calls after 6, please call 541-975- 1690, leave your name, address and phone number. Your paper will be delivered the next business day. QUOTE OF THE DAY “Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.” — Laurence J. Peter, Canadian writer COLORECTAL CANCER The cancer you can prevent. TheCancerYouCanPrevent.org Karen King Pendleton, Oregon A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded campaign
