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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2015)
Happy Canyon board announces princesses BUCKAROOS GET PINNED BY EAGLES WRESTLING/1B REGION/3A FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2015 139th Year, No. 61 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend • • • One dollar BOARDMAN PENDLETON Leaders support pot ban Dancing with Hermiston Stars on Saturday Scholarship and FAFSA Fair on Saturday Handbell Concert at First Presbyterian Church Local petition could keep recreational marijuana out of city For times and places see Coming Events, 5A By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Catch a movie AP photo/ 20th Century Fox Liam Neeson returns as ex-government operative Bryan Mills in “Taken 3.” For showtime, Page 5A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 36/27 38/30 39/30 Obama proposes free community college proposal Associated Press WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday announced a proposal that President Barack Obama said would make communi- ty college “free for every- body who is willing to work for it.” But administration of cials provided no details about the program’s costs or where the money would come to pay for it. Obama planned to for- mally announce the plan Friday at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee. He gave a preview in a video- taped message shot aboard Air Force One and posted on Facebook. “It’s not just for kids,” Obama said. “We also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to con- stantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better bene ts.” Obama provided few speci cs, and White House and Education Department of cials on a conference call with reporters Thursday eve- ning said the funding details See COLLEGE/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Law enforcement offi cials from all over the region responded to an armed standoff Thursday at the Castle Rock Apartments in Boardman. The standoff began as a domestic dispute before it escalated into a stand- off. The standoff ended without incident and the suspect was arrested. Standoff ends in surrender Nearby schools locked down as police coax man from apartment By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian An hour-long standoff at Castle Rock Apartments in Boardman end- ed with the subject surrendering to law enforcement on Thursday. The incident began shortly before noon, when Boardman police re- sponded to a report of a disturbance at the apartments. According to a news release from Chief Rick Stokoe, of cers who ar- rived on scene spoke to an injured woman, who said her boyfriend had hurt her and was barricaded in the apartment in possession of a gun. After the man refused to answer the door, Boardman Police Depart- ment and Morrow County Sher- iff’s Of ce evacuated apartments, locked down two nearby schools and blocked off roads for more than an hour. Staff photo by E.J. Harris A Morrow County Sheriff deputy directs traffi c at a roadblock Thursday on South Main Street in Boardman. A SWAT team headed by Pend- leton Police Department was dis- patched, but according to the news release, “prior to arrival of the SWAT team, the barricaded subject spoke with an of cer via phone and surren- dered.” Stokoe said Thursday afternoon that his department was still investi- gating the incident and had not led charges yet or released the suspect’s name. He said the man’s girlfriend was transported to the hospital but did not specify the nature of her injuries. Members of the Pendleton Progress Board on Thursday said they would back plans to ban recreational marijuana in the Round-Up City. The discussion came on the heels of a report from Pendleton police Chief Stu- art Roberts about the con- sequences Pendleton could face when Measure 91 goes into effect July 1. Voters statewide in No- vember approved the mea- sure that allows people 21 and older to possess in their house 8 ounces of weed, four marijuana plants, 1 pound of solid, homemade pot prod- ucts and 4.5 pounds of liquid homemade pot products. It failed in Umatilla County by about a two-to-one margin. The law also allows adults to possess up to an ounce while in public, and to give pot and homemade pot prod- ucts to others. Roberts said most law- makers and the general pub- lic do not understand just how big these quantities are. He said a typical plastic sandwich bag holds an ounce of pot. And one plant can produce up to three pounds of product. “If you think for a second those folks are going to con- sume all of that ... that’s igno- rant,” he said. Roberts also questioned the sensibility of having the law go into effect while the Oregon Liquor Control Commission will not deliver its regulations for recreation- al pot until Jan. 1, 2016. And See MARIJUANA/8A Prospects for immigration IMESD victim of reform remain uncertain network attack By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonain By DAN WHEAT EO Media Group Farm labor leaders have mixed opinions on the pros- pects of Congress and the president reaching a deal on immigration reform, and whether illegal immigrants will sign up in large numbers for temporary legal status under President Obama’s ex- ecutive action. They foresee agricultur- al labor shortages getting worse as fewer people want physical work. Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League in Fresno, Calif., said major- ity Republicans in Congress will do something on immi- gration to diffuse it as an is- sue for 2016 elections. They likely will adopt a new agricultural guest work- er program, like the one in the Senate bill last session, and will address the immi- grants who the president’s action doesn’t include, Cunha said. The president’s program only pertains to those with children who are legal residents. Obama will sign a bill if it has those things and is not Scott Smith/Associated Press In this Dec. 22 photo, Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League, poses in front of a vine- yard in Fresno, Calif. Cunha says Republicans in Con- gress are likely to reach some deal on immigration with President Obama to defuse the issue before the 2016 election. just border enforcement, he said. “He has been support- ive of a new guestworker program. I’ve never heard him say he would veto that,” Cunha said, while admitting some unions oppose guest- worker programs. Dan Fazio, director of the Washington Farm Labor Association in Olympia, said he’s optimistic the House will address immigration. Jeff Stone, executive di- rector of the Oregon Asso- ciation of Nurseries in Wil- sonville, is hopeful but not necessarily optimistic. He said it depends on if Repub- licans eying presidential runs gure out whether a pro-im- migration outlook helps them win the White House. Lee Wicker, deputy di- rector of the North Carolina Growers Association, Vass, See IMMIGRATION/8A The Intermountain Education Service District was the victim of a denial-of-service attack Tuesday, temporarily shutting down Internet and digital devices of school districts across Eastern Oregon. An IMESD press release stated the attack started at the Umatilla School District, which has been targeted repeated- ly over the past few months, and eventually spread to the en- tire service district covering four Eastern Oregon counties. IMESD staff were able to restore access to the network within 30 minutes and no data was breached during the at- tack. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security de nes a distributed denial-of-service attack as an individual using a computer to overwhelm a network with massive amounts of data or spam emails. Cheri Rhinhart, director of information technology services for the IMESD, likened the attack to 1,000 peo- ple calling 9-1-1 simultaneously for non-emergency calls, blocking real emergency calls from getting through. “They’re annoying and malicious in the fact that they disrupt service,” she said. Nineteen school districts across Umatilla, Morrow, Bak- er and Union counties and other public entities like Blue Mountain Community College were affected by the attack. Rhinhart said attacks like these are common across the country. Despite their frequent occurrences, an article on denial-of-service attacks by the Department of Homeland Security states there aren’t any concrete methods to com- pletely prevent future attacks. The department does recommend installing anti-virus software and rewalls as extra forti cation against attacks, measures the IMESD already employs. While complete prevention isn’t attainable, Rhinhart said the IMESD is looking into additional ways to avoid future attacks.
