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