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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2015)
REGION Saturday, February 7, 2015 East Oregonian HERMISTON BRIEFLY Pet Rescue complaints on council agenda Umatilla County OKs reimbursement for wolf costs By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The city of Hermiston’s contract with the Eastern Oregon Humane Society Pet Rescue will be a topic of discussion at Monday’s city council meeting after the city received complaints from residents about how the animal shelter is run. The council will discuss a report pre- pared by City Manager Byron Smith, which concludes that Pet Rescue is meeting the requirements of its contract with the city and recommends the city council continue with the contract. Pet Rescue has a $30,000 contract with the city to house animals the city has collected and to administer the city’s dog licensing program. Suzanne Phillips, who runs a blog dedicated to criticism of Pet Rescue, was joined by three other residents during a January city council meeting in encouraging the city to examine the hu- mane society’s practices. They claimed the shelter had a higher euthanasia rate than necessary and turns away volun- teers and offers of help regularly. “We don’t need to settle for substan- dard practice and care,” Phillips said. Pet Rescue owner Beau Putnam de- clined to comment, but has said through Facebook and other venues that oppo- nents’ claims are misleading. Putnam told the Hermiston Herald that while the shelter does have to euth- anize some animals not adopted in order EO Media Group photo by Sean Hart Humane Society of Eastern Oregon Pet Rescue volunteer Saige Borrego, 14, Hermiston, feeds the dogs at the shelter in January. The city council will discuss renewing its contract with the animal shelter at its Monday meeting. to make room for new ones, the shelter’s 39 percent kill rate also includes animals that are too aggressive or sick to adopt RXW DQG WKRVH WKDW RZQHUV VSHFL¿FDOO\ bring in to be euthanized. He said the shelter welcomes volun- teers and recently announced that the Oregon Humane Society will increase the number of animals it takes from Pet Rescue starting this month. In other news, the council will also DSSURYHWKH¿QDOODQJXDJHRIWZREDOORW measures for the May election. One asks voters to approve an updated version of the city’s charter and the other amends that charter to change the city’s munic- ipal judge from an elected position to a appointed one. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdow- ell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564- 4536. +LJKO\SDWKRJHQLFELUGÀXPDNHV(DVWHUQ2UHJRQGHEXW ODFW collects six infected ducks in one day &RXQW\²KDGELUGÀX All 10 ducks had an H5N2 virus, a mix of Eur- Wild ducks collected in asian and North American Morrow County have tested strains. Migratory ducks positive for highly patho- are immune from the highly JHQLFELUGÀXWKH¿UVWFRQ- contagious virus’ ill effects, ¿UPHGFDVHVLQ(DVWHUQ2UH- but pass the disease along to gon of the virulent Eurasian poultry, and raptors, which virus spreading into the U.S. die. 7KH ¿QGLQJV FRQ¿UPHG West. The U.S. Department of that highly pathogenic bird $JULFXOWXUH FRQ¿UPHG )HE ÀX LV FLUFXODWLQJ DPRQJ 2 that three wood ducks and waterfowl in different re- three northern shovelers gions of Oregon. Until shot by hunters at the Uma- this week, the USDA had tilla National Wildlife Ref- FRQ¿UPHG RQO\ WZR DYLDQ uge in early January were ÀX FDVHV LQ PDOODUG GXFNV shot in Lane and Columbia infected. The USDA also con- counties. The Oregon Department ¿UPHGWKDWIRXURWKHUGXFNV shot in Oregon in early Jan- of Fish and Wildlife collect- uary — three in Columbia ed samples from fewer than County and one in Lane 100 hunter-harvested ducks By DON JENKINS EO Media Group on Jan. 30 in Morrow Coun- ty, ODFW’s migratory game bird coordinator, Brandon Reishus, said. Finding six with the disease on one day “was a little bit surprising,” he said. “We’re keeping track of (the virus in wild birds) as a service to the poultry indus- try, so they can know where it’s at, so they can take ap- propriate actions to protect WKHLUÀRFNV´KHVDLG The USDA has now FRQ¿UPHG FDVHV RI GLV- HDVHFDXVLQJELUGÀXLQZLOG birds since mid-December. Besides Oregon, highly SDWKRJHQLF DYLDQ ÀX KDV been found in wild birds in Washington, Idaho, Califor- nia, Nevada and Utah. The ducks in Columbia County, two mallards and a northern pintail, were har- vested Jan. 5 at the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area near Portland. The mallard in Lane County was harvested Jan. 7 at Fern Ridge. Oregon’s duck season ended Jan. 25. Reishus said he expects the USDA to re- port more cases as the Na- tional Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, tests samples collected later in the hunting season. +HDOWK RI¿FLDOV VD\ WKH virus does not pose a risk to humans. Captive falcons have died after eating infect- ed duck meat. The virus also has been found in non-commerical ÀRFNV LQ :DVKLQJWRQ 2UH- gon and Idaho; a game bird farm in Washington and a Foster Farms turkey opera- tion in California. Eastern Oregon Forum to discuss local climate change East Oregonian A facilitated discussion of what climate trends are being experienced locally is fea- tured in the upcoming East- ern Oregon Forum. In addition, panelists will explore the impacts and op- portunities related to the Blue Mountain uplands, forests and local agriculture during “Climate Change: Impacts to the Mid-Columbia Basin.” The forum is Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Science & Tech- nology Building room ST- 200 at Blue Mountain Com- munity College, 2411 N.W. Carden Ave., Pendleton. Tickets are $6 at the door and students are admitted free. Jeff Blackwood of the Umatilla County Climate Change Focus Group will in- troduce the speakers and fa- cilitate the panel discussion and question and answer session. Blackwood is a re- tired forest supervisor on the Umatilla National Forest. The speakers include Mary C. Wister, science and RSHUDWLRQVRI¿FHUDWWKH1D- tional Weather Service in Pendleton; David Powell, re- tired forest silviculturist and climate change coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service; and Chad Kruger, director of the Washington State Uni- versity Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Re- sources. The March 10 Eastern Oregon Forum will focus on climate change impacts to ZDWHU¿VKZLOGOLIHDQGSXE- lic health. The Eastern Oregon Fo- rum is a collaborative effort among leaders from Blue Mountain Community Col- lege, InterMountain Edu- cation Service District, the East Oregonian, American Association of University Women and Harriet Isom, former United States ambas- sador. For more information, call Karen Parker at 541- 966-3177. PENDLETON — Umatilla County Board of Commissioners approved paying the Cunningham Sheep Co. of Pendleton more than $20,000 to protect livestock from wolves. Cunningham Sheep in December sought $20,469 from the county’s wolf depredation compensation fund. County commissioners approved the expenditure at their meeting Wednesday. County documents show the money will compensate the company for several costs to abate wolves, including a new sheep camp and herder, two employees for wolf monitoring and four sheep dogs. The county board also approved a $10,000 economic development grant to the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center. The money will come out of tourism and economic development funds. The chamber asked for a $15,000 grant. The chamber in its grant application stated it lost nearly $15,000 a year due to restructuring of transient room tax in Umatilla three years ago. That punched a hole in the chamber’s budget, PDNLQJ³LWGLI¿FXOWIRUWKH chamber to function on a ¿UP¿QDQFLDOIRRWLQJ´ The chamber, according to the application, will use the funds for operating costs and the manager’s salary for a few months. Umatilla County opposes voter registration bill PENDLETON — The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners opposed a state House bill Wednesday that would expand voter registration. House Bill 2177 would mandate voter registration through driver’s licenses. The bill would cost www.pendletonpsych.com 541-278-2222 INSURANCE Bisnett Insurance is proud to announce J OE Y OUNG is now part of the Bisnett Insurance team in Pendleton. Joe has over 10 years of insurance experience and is excited to be back in a position where he can again assist people with their insurance needs. He specializes in farm/ ranch and commercial insurance, and will soon be pursuing his Agribusiness & Farm Insurance Specialist designation. 121 S. Main Street • Pendleton • 541.276.1418 Online at bisnett.com • 800-303-0419 the county $35,000 a year to mail ballots to approximately 14,000 new registered voters. Board chairman George Murdock questioned adding so many people who show no interest in voting. But more problematic, he said, is the “undue burdens and hardships” the bill would put on the county. If the state attached funds, he said, it could be a different matter. The board voted 3-0 on an order against the bill. CAPECO trains people to identify elder abuse PENDLETON — While society has made great strides in identifying child abuse, the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon’s Gatekeepers program wants to elevate awareness of the other end of the spectrum — elder abuse. Started in Spokane in 1978, Gatekeepers trains people that regularly work with elderly people in how to identify abuse. The program has since spread to Portland and is now in Umatilla and Morrow counties for the ¿UVWWLPH Max Jones, CAPECO’s Gatekeeper coordinator, said he’s been targeting bank tellers, mail carriers and meter readers because of their frequent interactions with the elderly community. The program VSHFL¿FDOO\WHDFKHV employees how to learn the warning signs of a senior in need of help, gather more information and get them the help they need. Jones mostly leads trainings at workplaces, but said he’s available to anyone who’s interested in the Gatekeeper program. He can reached at 541- 278-5672. ——— Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports, and press releases. Email press releases to news@ eastoregonian.com CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS Oregon - Utah - Valid 35 States PENDLETON Red Lion - 304 SE Nye Ave. February 18 th • 1:00 pm or 6:00 pm Walk-Ins Welcome! OR/Utah: (Valid in WA) $80.00 or Oregon only: $45 www.FirearmTrainingNW.com • FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com 360-921-2071 P SYCHOLOGICAL S ERVICES OF P ENDLETON , LLC Page 3A
