REGION
TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Pendleton responds to reporting on drone crashes
Bloomberg reports
Amazon drones crashed
five times in four-month
period in 2021
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pendleton city
offi cials are pushing back against
a Bloomberg News article that
reported several drone crashes at the
Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Sys-
tems Range.
According to an article pub-
lished Sunday, April 10, Bloomberg
reviewed internal documents, read
government reports and spoke with
13 current and former employees
associated with Amazon Prime Air,
a drone package delivery project
that has conducted tests in Pend-
leton, among several other sites
across the country. The news agen-
cy’s reporting revealed safety con-
cerns and crashes hampered Ama-
zon’s testing program.
“While experimental aircraft are
Ben LonerganEast Oregonian, File
A logo for the Pendleton UAS Range adorns a trailer in the World War II-era hangar
at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport during an event on Wednesday, May 19,
2021, announcing BMCC’s UAS program and new additions to the range’s facilities.
expected to crash during test fl ights,
current and former employees say
pressure to get the program back
on track has prompted some man-
agers to take unnecessary risks that
have put personnel in harm’s way,”
reporters Spencer Soper and Matt
Day wrote.
Bloomberg reported Amazon
drones crashed fi ve times during
a four-month period in 2021 and
obtained a 911 record detailing a fi re
in a wheat fi eld that a drone crash
set off near the Pendleton airport.
An Amazon spokesperson told
Bloomberg that Pendleton city offi -
cials hadn’t previously made public
comments about the crashes. But
during an interview Wednesday,
April 13, with the East Oregonian,
City Manager Robb Corbett and
Economic Development Director
Steve Chrisman, who oversees the
airport and UAS operations, talked
about the Bloomberg article and
test range was committed to safety
how transparent they should be
but would not go out of its way
about drone crashes.
to advertise crashes, especially
because they were happening
Chrisman touted the
in sparsely populated areas
growth of the test range from
and did not hurt anyone. Cor-
an entity that saw few oper-
bett said some of these inci-
ations in its early years to a
dents were like when “an
busy hub for drone activity
ambulance backs into a car in
that frequently attracts the
a parking lot,” a situation that
world’s top tech and aviation
Chrisman
might generate a 911 call but
companies. Chrisman didn’t
not a public record.
mention Amazon or other
Range Manager Darryl
companies by name, citing
Abling said the UAS range
nondisclosure agreements
makes a record of every test
the city signed, but he said “a
operation and sends the data
very small number of mis-
to offi cials at the Univer-
haps” paled in comparison to
sity of Alaska Fairbanks, the
the thousands of operations
institution that oversees Ore-
Corbett
the range has hosted.
gon’s test range system, who
“Those were disgruntled
then forward it to the Federal Avia-
employees that had an ax to grind,”
tion Administration. A crash might
he said, referring to the sources in
trigger an extra layer of reporting
the Bloomberg article. “As far as
to the FAA or NTSB depending on
reporting, I don’t know that we’ve
the severity of the incident, but not
ever called (the East Oregonian)
every malfunction or emergency
when a Cessna wheel fell off or
when a crosswind blew over a plane. landing needed to be cataloged.
Abling also said he didn’t know
If you call us we certainly respond.
But we’re not the National Transpor- where Bloomberg sourced its infor-
mation, but its reporting didn’t align
tation Safety Board.”
with the range’s internal data.
Chrisman and Corbett said the
Planned Parenthood moving into Ontario on the Idaho border
Nonprofit has not yet confirmed
plans with leasing space
By AMELIA TEMPLETON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
ONTARIO — Planned
Parenthood is renting med-
ical offi ce space in the town
of Ontario, on the Ore-
gon-Idaho border.
It’s the latest strategic
move by pro-abortion rights
groups in Oregon. Earlier
this year, in a quiet cam-
paign, they successfully
lobbied the Legislature to
set aside $15 million in an
unrestricted fund for repro-
ductive health equity.
Planned Parenthood has
not confi rmed its plans for
the space, but it has said it
is preparing for an infl ux of
out-of-state patients seeking
abortions in Oregon in light
of multiple legal challenges
to abortion rights.
“No matter what hap-
pens we will be there for
our in-state and out-of-
state neighbors, and con-
tinue to meet the needs of
our patients,” said Kenji
Nozaki, the chief of affi l-
iate operations at Planned
Parenthood Columbia
Willamette.
“We are prepared to
support anyone who seeks
their legal right to decide
whether and when to
become pregnant.”
A clinic in Ontario could
be a signifi cant high desert
outpost for access to abor-
tion and other reproduc-
tive health care services, in
advance of a U.S. Supreme
Court decision antici-
passed a law, modeled
pated this summer that
after legislation in Texas,
many believe will overturn
that would ban all abor-
Roe v. Wade, the nearly
tions after about six weeks
50-year-old landmark abor-
of pregnancy by allowing
tion ruling.
family members to sue
The small Oregon town
abortion providers.
is an hour’s drive from
The Idaho law was set to
Boise, Idaho
take eff ect
— one of
on Friday,
“We are prepared
the fast-
April 22, but
est-growing to support anyone
the Idaho
metro
Supreme
who seeks their
areas in the
Court issued
country.
a stay while
legal right to
Idaho has
it hears a
decide whether and legal chal-
two trigger
laws crim-
lenge fi led
when to become
inalizing
by the
abortion at
Planned
pregnant.”
all stages of
Parenthood
— Kenji Nozaki, with
pregnancy
affi liate in
Planned Parenthood Columbia
that would
Idaho.
take eff ect in Willamette
Oregon
the event of
has no
a successful legal challenge legal restrictions on abor-
to Roe v. Wade.
tion, but the state has just
More recently, Idaho
one clinic that performs
Baker City Police chief proposes limits on camping
Ordinance is
designed to curtail
homeless camping
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Police
Chief Ty Duby is asking the
city council to approve an
ordinance limiting where
and when people can camp
in parks and other public
property.
Duby, who presented
Ordinance 3383 to coun-
cilors during a recent
meeting, said the document
is intended to address prob-
lems with homeless people
camping on public property.
The ordinance states, in
part: “It shall be unlawful
for any person to set up
tents or any other tempo-
rary shelter or to use house
trailers, campers or auto-
mobiles for the purpose of
overnight camping in any
city park, nor shall any
person remain in any city
park after closing hours;
provided, however, orga-
nized youth groups under
competent adult supervision
may be permitted overnight
camping privileges.”
The ordinance defi nes
parks as including the Leo
Adler Memorial Parkway.
The ordinance also pro-
hibits camping in several
other specifi c public prop-
erties, including within 150
of any school, preschool or
child care center, or at the
Baker Heritage Museum at
2480 Grove St., the Baker
County Courthouse, Sam-O
Swim Center, the YMCA
gym on Church Street and
to the public must be objec-
the YMCA Fitness Center
tively reasonable as to time,
on Pocahontas Road.
place and manner with
The ordinance also states regards to persons experi-
that if someone is living in
encing homelessness.”
a vehicle, it must be
Baker City does
moved at least every
not have such an
24 hours and for at
ordinance now, but
least the distance of a
Duby said ordinance
city block.
3383 would serve
“Really what
that purpose.
we’re doing, we’re
According to state
Duby
looking for solu-
law, “A person expe-
tions to work with homeless riencing homelessness may
issues that regularly arise in bring suit for injunctive or
our community,” Duby told declaratory relief to chal-
councilors.
lenge the objective reason-
The police chief said last ableness of a city or county
summer that he intended to
law.”
bring an ordinance to coun-
The law states that “rea-
cilors to consider.
sonableness shall be deter-
He was prompted by a
mined based on the totality
bill that the Oregon Legis-
of the circumstances,
lature passed earlier in 2021 including, but not limited
and that Gov. Kate Brown
to, the impact of the law
signed into law on June 23.
on persons experiencing
The law — introduced as homelessness.”
House Bill 3115 and passed
Duby said that once
by the Democratic majori-
House Bill 3115 passed, he
ties in both the state House
looked at what other cities
and Senate — is based on
had done, fi nding that Coos
a 2019 federal court ruling
Bay and North Bend had
in a Boise case that in eff ect come up with an ordinance
prohibited cities and coun-
similar to Baker City’s pro-
ties from making it illegal
posed ordinance 3383.
for people to sleep outdoors
“We feel like House Bill
in public spaces if the juris- 3115, while off ering com-
diction doesn’t provide
passion and support to
indoor alternatives.
those experiencing home-
Baker County’s two
lessness, can fail some-
state legislators, Sen. Lynn
times to protect both the cit-
Findley, R-Vale, and Rep.
izens of our community and
Mark Owens, R-Crane,
the very homelessness the
both voted against the bill.
law is designed to protect,”
The new Oregon law
Duby told councilors at the
states that cities or counties meeting.
that have ordinances regu-
Duby said the pro-
lating “the acts of sitting,
posed Baker City ordinance
lying, sleeping or keeping
would prevent camping on
warm and dry outdoors on
public property in residen-
public property that is open tial zones, while it would be
allowed, with time restric-
tions, on public property in
general commercial, gen-
eral industrial and light
industrial zones.
The time restriction
states that people can’t
camp on public property
between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
He emphasized that
the ordinance applies to
public property. People
are not allowed to camp
on someone else’s private
property regardless of the
zone.
“I feel like we’re being
reasonable and we’re
allowing space,” Duby said.
abortions east of the Cas-
cade Mountains, in Bend.
For those seeking abor-
tions in eastern and north-
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