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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 2015)
More questionable work by Oregon’s fi rst lady BUCKS BEAT LA GRANDE BASKETBALL/1B 53/36 STATE/8A WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 139th Year, No. 74 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON ROOM TO PLAY One dollar Ranchers get more latitude to kill wolves Success in Eastern Oregon moves species to Phase II By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Elizabeth Collins of Kennewick walks along the exercise path at Riverfront Park Tuesday in Hermiston. Collins said she is in Hermiston to be with her ill mother and often takes a break to go on a “walkabout” in the park. City considers adding new parks for skaters, dogs, east-side residents By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Hermiston’s population has outgrown its park system, ac- cording to Parks and Recreation director Larry Fetter. Fetter told the city council during a Monday work session that the city needed to start seri- ously looking for opportunities to add another park. “We are under-served rela- tive to the national standard,” he said. That national standard sug- gests cities have 10 acres of park space per every 1,000 res- idents. Hermiston, then, should have about 175 acres of city parks but has only 101. That shortage is particular- ly noticeable to families living on the east side of town, Fetter said. Highway 395 splits the city’s population roughly in half, but 94 of the city’s 101 acres of parks are located west of the highway. That is because, he said, Hermiston “has enjoyed park growth mostly through donated See WOLVES/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Sunset Park is one of three Hermiston Parks on the east side of Highway 395. The city plans to double the size of the park and add new equipment. property.” The result has been that the increased property val- XHVDQGRWKHUEHQH¿WVRIQHLJK borhood parks have mostly fall- en to residents on the west side. The city did just purchase a See PARKS/8A Toddler suffers stroke “This is a reality check — Tiny stroke victim might anything could happen be youngest person ever to at any time.” receive clot-busting drug By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Photo by Kayla McKinstry Ezra McKinstry rests in the hospital in Phoenix after having a stroke Sunday. The toddler is likely the youngest person in Ar- izona to receive the clot-busting drug tPA to improve odds of recovery. Eastern Oregon’s wolf population reached a key milestone in 2014 that not only gives ranchers more leeway to protect their livestock, but could lead to removing the predators from the state Endangered Species List entirely. For the third year in a row, the Oregon De- partment of Fish & Wildlife counted at least four breeding pairs of wolves among packs east of highways 395, 78 and 95, triggering Phase II of the agency’s Wolf Management and Conservation Plan. $ EUHHGLQJ SDLU LV GH¿QHG E\ 2'): DV D pair of adult wolves which produce at least two pups that survive to the end of the year. Of the nine wolf packs in Oregon, seven were breed- ing pairs in 2014 — six in the state’s north- east corner. Only the Imnaha pack was found without a breeding pair, and the Umatilla River pack has not yet been surveyed. Under Phase I of the management plan, ranchers were already allowed to shoot wolves in the process of biting, wounding or killing livestock. Now under Phase II, ranchers can shoot a wolf caught chasing after herds on the The average stroke victim is older than 65. So forgive parents Casey and Kay- la McKinstry that they didn’t instantly realize their 11-month-old son Ezra was having pre-stroke symptoms Sunday. The toddler had woken up that morning out of sorts. “He was kind of off, irritable and drooling more than usual,” Casey said. “He didn’t have much of an appetite.” Midday, Kayla put him in his high- chair and gave him lunch. He used his left hand to feed himself, but the food — Casey McKinstry, Ezra’s father fell from his mouth. His alarmed parents also noticed that the little boy’s right arm hung limp and started twitching. “His right hand was spasming,” Kay- ODVDLG³+HNHSWFOHQFKLQJKLV¿VW´ The couple called 9-1-1. In short order, EMTs loaded the toddler into an ambulance and drove about 30 min- utes to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Doctors started him on a battery of tests including an MRI, heart echocardio- gram and blood tests. The MRI revealed a swollen section of brain with no blood ÀRZ(]UDKDGVXIIHUHGDVWURNH See EZRA/8A Driver charged in car wreck that killed Hermiston man East Oregonian A Klamath County grand jury Monday in- dicted the driver in the Dec. 28 crash that killed 22-year-old Hermiston man Garrett Zimmer and another passenger. Gauge Lee Gray, 22, of Klamath Falls was FKDUJHG ZLWK WZR FRXQWV RI ¿UVW DQG VHF ond-degree manslaughter and driving under WKH LQÀXHQFH RI LQWR[LFDQWV IRU WKH VLQJOHYH hicle rollover that killed Zimmer and Marri D. Young-Wellbaum, 26, of Eagle Point. Gray was arrested without incident and is lodged in the Klamath County Jail. Zimmer and Young-Wellbaum died in the early morning wreck on Highway 140 near Klamath Falls. They were traveling west when the Ford Ranger pickup driven by Gray left the roadway. The vehicle collided with a lamp post and highway sign before rolling several times and coming to rest in a pasture. The two passengers died at the scene after being ejected from the vehicle and emergency workers took Gray to Sky Lakes Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. None were wear- ing seat belts, according to Oregon State Police. Zimmer had recently stepped into the shoes of longtime insurance agent and his grandfather, 'HOO5D\=LPPHUZKRZDVVHWWRRI¿FLDOO\UH tire Jan. 1. He was also the youngest member of Hermiston Rotary. Kitzhaber to offer ideas on Measure 91 implementation Favors merging recreational, medical systems ic recommendations are likely to emerge later as the OLCC and law- makers work through the process. Although Kitzhaber plans SALEM — Gov. John to draft a letter to the Kitzhaber plans to re- OLCC, he acknowl- lease a statement soon edges that lawmakers about what he wants will have to be in- the Oregon Liquor volved in some of the Control Commission ideas he wants studied. and lawmakers to con- 7KH ¿YH PHPEHUV sider as they implement of OLCC has begun a recreational use of mar- statewide tour soon to ijuana in Oregon. shape its rulemaking Kitzhaber, at a meet- ing Tuesday sponsored Gov. Kitzhaber process, and lawmak- ers begin their 160-day by The Associated Press, FILE/Associated Press said he would present a “series session on Feb. 2. A sample of marijuana is shown inside the dispensary at Collective Awaken- of principles” probably later this ings in 2014 in Portland. Gov. John Kitzhaber said he supports merging the See MARIJUANA/8A medical marijuana system with newly passed recreational uses. week. He said his more specif- By PETER WONG Capital Bureau