STATE
SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2020
THE OBSERVER — 7A
Oregon offi cials decry arrests by federal agents in Portland
By Andrew Selsky
and Gillian Flaccus
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Federal
agents in green camoufl age
uniforms have been taking
people into custody in the
streets of Portland, not close
to federal property they
were sent to protect, in what
the ACLU on Friday said
“should concern everyone
in the United States.”
“Usually when we see
people in unmarked cars
forcibly grab someone off
the street we call it kidnap-
ping,” said Jann Carson,
interim executive director
of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Ore-
gon.”The actions of the mil-
itarized federal offi cers are
fl at-out unconstitutional and
will not go unanswered.”
Gov. Kate Brown said
President Donald Trump,
who deployed Department
of Homeland Security offi -
cers to Portland, is looking
for a confrontation in the
hopes of winning political
points elsewhere.
The Democratic gov-
ernor on Thursday called
the actions “a blatant abuse
of power by the federal gov-
ernment.” Her spokesman,
Charles Boyle, said Friday
that arresting people
without probable cause is
“extraordinarily concerning
and a violation of their civil
liberties and constitutional
rights.”
Federal offi cers have
charged at least 13 people
with crimes related to the
protests so far, Oregon
Public Broadcasting
reported Thursday. Some
have been detained by the
federal courthouse, which
has been the scene of pro-
In southern Oregon,
someone has been
shooting cars on I-5
By Ryan Pfeil
Mail Tribune via AP StoryShare
ROSEBURG — Bul-
lets have struck at least
fi ve vehicles on Interstate
5 between Merlin and
Roseburg since mid-May,
Oregon State Police
reported Wednesday.
The latest one occurred
July 9, Oregon State
Police Lt. Stephanie
Bigman said in a tele-
phone interview.
“We may have more up
there we just don’t know
about,” she said.
As of Thursday, OSP
still had little to go on.
The caliber of the bullets
is under investigation, and
it’s not known whether
the shots were fi red from
another vehicle or from a
spot along the freeway.
The impacts occurred
somewhere along a
33-mile stretch between
mileposts 67 and 100,
according to OSP.
“That’s what we’ve got
right now is a rough esti-
mate,” Bigman said.
That estimate is based
on sounds the drivers of
the vehicles that were
struck heard, followed by
the discovery of damage
down the road.
There’s been no
apparent pattern to the
incidents. Two of the vehi-
cles were commercial
trucks and three were pas-
senger vehicles.
“It’s been fairly random
as far as the types of vehi-
cles that have been struck,
the time of day the vehi-
cles have been struck, the
direction that the vehi-
cles have been traveling,”
Bigman said.
No injuries or deaths
have been reported so far.
Most of the vehicles were
passing through to another
destination, which com-
pounds the diffi culty in
narrowing down the loca-
tions where the impacts
occurred.
“They hear a noise.
They’re like, ‘I ran over
something.’ They go up
the road, maybe pull in
a gas station and they’re
like, ‘Hey, look, there’s a
hole,’” Bigman said. “So
they don’t know exactly
where they were hit.”
Four vehicles were hit
once, and one had two
bullet holes, Bigman said.
Damage includes a fl at-
tened tire on a passenger
vehicle, a pierced coolant
hose on a semi and the
loss of power steering on
another.
For some vehicles, the
damage was identifi ed
quickly. Others took a
while.
The driver of the semi
with the pierced coolant
hose didn’t discover the
bullet hole until reaching
California.
“We’ve gone back and
been able to take photos
and stuff like that of the
bullet holes and deter-
mine that they are truly
bullet holes,” Bigman said.
“But, again, it’s diffi cult,
because people aren’t reg-
istering exactly what is
happening at the time, and
they’re not from here.”
OSP is asking the
public to call if they
believe their vehicle was
struck on the freeway.
State police also ask
residents living near the
I-5 corridor who hear
random gunshots to call
the OSP Southern Com-
mand Center at 1-800-442-
2068 or *OSP. The case
number is SP20-173444.
Photo by Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP
Police stand as protesters gather during a demonstration,
Thursday in Portland. Federal offi cers deployed tear gas
and fi red less-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters late
Thursday. The actions came just hours after the head of
the Department of Homeland Security called the protest-
ers “violent anarchists.”
tests. But others were
grabbed blocks away.
One video showed two
people in helmets and green
camoufl age with “police”
patches grabbing a person
on the sidewalk, hand-
cuffi ng them and taking
them into an unmarked
vehicle.
“Who are you?”
someone asks the pair, who
do not respond. At least
some of the federal offi cers
belong to the Department of
Homeland Security.
“Authoritarian gov-
ernments, not democratic
republics, send unmarked
authorities after protesters,”
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley said in a tweet.
The Council on Amer-
ican-Islamic Relations
Oregon chapter said in a
statement: “We are now
seeing escalating tac-
tics with protesters being
unlawfully detained by
unknown Federal law
enforcement entities.”
U.S. Attorney Billy
Williams in Portland said
Friday that, based on news
accounts that allege federal
law enforcement detained
two protesters without prob-
able cause, he has requested
the Department of Home-
land Security Offi ce of the
Inspector General to inves-
tigate the actions of DHS
personnel.
Oregon’s two senators
and two of its House mem-
bers announced they will be
asking the DHS inspector
general, as well as the U.S.
Department of Justice,
to investigate “the unre-
quested presence and vio-
lent actions of federal forces
in Portland.”
Thursday night, federal
offi cers deployed tear gas
and fi red less-lethal rounds
into a crowd of protesters,
hours after the the head of
the Department of Home-
land Security visited the
city and called the demon-
strators, who are protesting
racism and police brutality,
“violent anarchists.”
State fair canceled, but corn dogs available
By Jake Thomas
Salem Reporter via AP StoryShare
SALEM — Like almost
all summer outdoor
events, the Oregon State
Fair is canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. But
those missing elephant
ears, turkey legs and other
grease or sugar-laden sta-
ples sold at the annual
event are in luck.
A fair vendor has
opened a drive-thru at the
fairgrounds offering corn-
dogs, elephant ears, lem-
onade and other classics
throughout the summer.
Brian Bradbury, the
operations manager at
Pacifi c Rim Food and
Beverage, said this year
was supposed to be the
fi rst year his company
operated the food booths
scattered throughout the
fairgrounds.
But in May, Brad-
bury got word the fair had
been canceled due to the
pandemic.
“It was just unbeliev-
able,” said Bradbury,
who can’t remember the
Oregon State Fair ever
being canceled while
growing up in Salem.
While the fairgrounds
were temporarily con-
verted into a hospital,
he recalled talking with
co-workers and coming
up with the idea for a
drive-thru selling fried
Twinkies, mounds of
curly fries and other fare.
So the Taste of a Fair
drive-thru was launched
three weeks ago with
plans for it to remain open
through Labor Day when
the Oregon State Fair
would normally end. The
drive-thru is open on Fri-
days from 4-8 p.m. and on
weekends from 12-8 p.m.
Bradbury said his com-
pany will come up with a
new specialty each week.
There are plans to serve
turkey legs and “donut
dogs,” hotdogs encased in
maple bars. He also said
there have been weekly
variations on curly fries
that have included garlic
and pulled pork.
Bradbury said orders
are completed with
social distancing mea-
sures in place and cus-
tomers don’t get out their
cars to receive their bas-
kets of food. He said some
hungry customers will
park in the lot in front of
the fairgrounds and eat
right there.
“People are absolutely
thrilled by it,” he said.
“It’s been awesome to
see.”
He said one challenge
has been fi nding ways
to package three-pound
orders of curly fries and
other jumbo-sized food
not intended to be a to-go
item.
“It’s big and it’s bulky,”
he said. “It’s not like
wrapping up a little ham-
burger and french fries.”
Kim Grewe-Powell,
the fair’s interim CEO,
said in an email it has
been exciting to see the
Taste of a Fair help fi ll
the void after the fair was
canceled.
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics proudly welcomes:
David Ingram, MD
To the Grande Ronde Hospital team as a Emergency Department Physician
Join us in welcoming Dr. David Ingram to the Grande Ronde Valley! Dr. Ingram has spent the last
two years in Temple, Texas, where he completed his residency after finishing medical school at
the Medical College of Wisconsin. Prior to medical school,
Dr. Ingram received his Master’s degree as well as his
undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and
Utah State University, respectively. He also spent two years
serving a church mission in Taipei, Taiwan. Dr. Ingram and his
family enjoy the outdoors through hiking, skiing, photography,
and general recreational travel. In his free time, he also enjoys
wood working and furniture building. Dr. Ingram looks forward to
working alongside the Emergency Department team to care for
you when you need us most.
Grande Ronde Hospital
David Ingram, MD
900 Sunset Drive, La Grande • grh.org
Learn more about Dr. Ingram in our online
Provider Directory at www.grh.org today!
Boardman to Hemingway:
POWERING POSSIBILITIES
Bringing jobs and opportunities
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The Boardman to Hemingway (B2H)
transmission line will bring jobs to
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