Hermiston girl makes big Requa bronze on track to be return to basketball SPORTS/1B unveiled July 11 REGION/3A FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015 139th Year, No. 86 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Dems ask Kitz to quit Brown: Kitzhaber situation ‘bizarre, unprecedented’ By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau SALEM — Secretary of State Kate Brown says she is unsure what to make of a meeting between her and Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is under pressure to resign. Brown, who will succeed Kitzhaber if he resigns, said the governor asked her this week to return to Ore- gon as soon as possible from a conference in Washington, D.C., to discuss a transition in the governor- ship. Kate Brown But when Secretary of State Brown arrived home Wednes- day afternoon and was wisked into a private meeting with the governor, Kitzhaber questioned why Brown cut short her trip and said he had no plans to resign. Brown recounted the series of events in a statement Thursday morning, after her abrupt departure from the conference fueled rumors See BROWN/2A Party leaders say trust is gone said. Courtney said he and Kotek made the same request when they met Tuesday. Kotek said Kitzhaber requested the Tues- SALEM — Gov. John Kitzhaber is day meeting. now under renewed pressure by Demo- Courtney said he had expected cratic leaders to resign in response to the Kitzhaber to announce his intentions LQÀXHQFHSHGGOLQJ DOOHJDWLRQV DJDLQVW Wednesday, when Secretary of State Kate KLPDQG¿UVWODG\&\OYLD+D\HV Brown — the next in line in succession Senate President Peter ±² ÀHZ EDFN HDUO\ IURP D Courtney, D-Salem, said conference in Washington, KHDQG+RXVH6SHDNHU7LQD More inside D.C. at the governor’s re- Kotek, D-Portland, urged For a timeline of quest. the Democratic chief exec- events leading up But instead, Kitzhaber – utive to resign — just one to this week’s call through his lawyer, his press month into his fourth term for Kitzhaber’s RI¿FHDQGLQFRPPHQWVZLWK — when they met in the resignation, see Portland television station JRYHUQRU¶V SULYDWH RI¿FH Page 2A. KOIN – said he had no such Thursday. intent. Kitzhaber’s response? Courtney said his call for “The man is struggling,” Courtney told UHVLJQDWLRQZDVOHVVDERXWWKHVSHFL¿FDO reporters afterward, though he declined legations and more about the distractions to speculate about the mental state of they cause, even though lawmakers are AP Photo by Don Ryan moving ahead with budgets and bills. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber speaks during a guberna- Kitzhaber, who turns 68 on March 5. Kotek was also unsure of Kitzhaber’s torial debate on Oct. 10, 2014, in Portland. “It just seems to me that the percep- plans. tions and distractions have reached a “I really don’t know,” Kotek said. “I point” where Kitzhaber cannot interact UHDOO\GRQ¶WNQRZ+HGLGQRWJLYHDQ\LQ with lawmakers effectively, he said. dication either way.” State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, in a sep- Although Courtney and Kotek agreed arate statement, minced no words in call- Kitzhaber should resign, they cited differ- ing on Kitzhaber to resign. ent reasons. “Unfortunately, the current situa- “It has become clear to both of us that tion has become untenable, and I cannot the ongoing investigations surrounding imagine any scenario by which things im- WKHJRYHUQRUDQG&\OYLD+D\HVKDYHUH prove,” he said. “Oregon deserves a gov- sulted in a loss of the people’s trust, and ernor who is fully focused on the duties have undermined his ability to effectively Peter Courtney Ted Wheeler Rep. Tina Kotek See KITZHABER/2A Senate President Treasurer House Speaker lead as our state’s chief executive,” Kotek By PETER WONG and HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau Your Weekend • • • PENDLETON Obama’s budget could cut research funding “Twelve Angry Jurors” at Bob Clapp Theater Valentine’s luncheon and style show Oregon Hunters Associ- ation annual banquet For times and places see Coming Events, 5A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Scientists, programs face termination Sun By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian 55/42 57/35 53/29 Watch a game vs. Pendleton vs. Hermiston Friday, 5:15 p.m., at Hermiston For the love of the sport Staff photo by E.J. Harris Dan Arnold of Pendleton fi shes for steelhead near the Eighth Street bridge Thursday on the Umatilla River in Pendleton. Arnold, who says he tries to fi sh every day of the season, is allergic to them and releases everything he catches. “I just love to fi sh,” Arnold says. $FHQWXU\DJRÀXUDYDJHG3HQGOHWRQ )ODJVÀHZDWKRPHVRI quarantined residents, most schools shut down By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Flu seems a mild inconvenience for most Americans — an unlike- O\ WKUHDW RI WKUHHWR¿YH GD\V RI misery and several days off work. Fewer than half of us were vacci- nated last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Among those who are young and healthy, the vaccination rate is even more dismal. Perhaps a journey back to 1918 is in order. That’s when Spanish LQÀXHQ]DFLUFOHGWKHJOREHLQWKUHH waves, killing an estimated 40- 100 million people who often died quickly, drowning in their own ERG\ ÀXLGV WKHLU VNLQ WXUQLQJ D ghostly blue. ,I ÀX VKRWV KDG EHHQ DYDLODEOH Pendletonians would likely have lined up in droves for them. The town’s residents watched the most YLUXOHQW ÀX YLUXV HYHU NQRZQ ULS through their community. East Or- egonian reports from late 1918 and early 1919 reveal a community in turmoil. Before the epidemic abated, the city would close schools and businesses, establish an emergency hospital in the library, spray city streets with sheep dip and require ÀXÀDJVEHÀRZQDWKRPHVRITXDU DQWLQHGÀXYLFWLPV 3HQGOHWRQ¶V¿UVWUHSRUWHGFDVHG came on October 10, 1918. A sick Marine arrived by train and was WDNHQWR6W$QWKRQ\+RVSLWDOEXW the disease may have made it to the city before that. By the next day, ¿YH SHRSOH KDG FRPH GRZQ ZLWK WKH GUHDGHG LQÀXHQ]D 3HQGOHWRQ Mayor J.L. Vaughn issued a proc- lamation that decreed the closure of “all schools, churches, lodges, libraries ... all clubs or associations in the City of Pendleton, and all pool halls, billiard parlors, bowling alleys, picture shows, opera houses and other public places of amuse- ment where people may assemble.” 3ROLFH DQG KHDOWK RI¿FHUV ZRXOG enforce the temporary regulations. ³,QÀXHQ]D LQ 3HQGOHWRQ´ stretched across the front page of the East Oregonian. By the end of October, all schools in Umatilla County had closed, except for the school in Adams. In early November, the Pendle- ton City Council voted to require ÀXÀDJVWREHÀRZQDWWKHKRPHVRI TXDUDQWLQHG LQÀXHQ]D YLFWLPV $Q HPHUJHQF\ ÀX KRVSLWDO ZDV HVWDE lished in the library room at the city KDOOWRKDQGOHWKHULVHLQÀXFDVHV The East Oregonian began listing the names and addresses of newly quarantined people. The number of cases waned, so Mayor Vaughn reopened schools on Nov. 30, but they closed again on Dec. 20. Almost 100 homes had See FLU/8A The Columbia Plateau Conser- vation Research Center in Pend- leton stands to lose nearly half its funding from the federal Agricul- tural Research Service in the Pres- ident’s proposed 2016 budget. Such deep cuts would force the center to end some research pro- JUDPVOD\RIIWKUHHRI¿YHVFLHQ tists and reduce their overall sup- port staff, said center director and research leader Dan Long. 7KRXJK WKH ¿QDO EXGJHW PXVW ¿UVW EH DSSURYHG E\ &RQJUHVV Long said it puts a dark cloud over station operations. CPCRC serves approximately 3 million acres of dryland crop production in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington, with projects aimed at improving farming practices, techniques and equipment. Since 2010, the station has helped local wheat farmers im- prove their soil management prac- tices to conserve water and pro- YLGHGVFLHQWL¿FSURRIWKDWUHGXFHG tillage fallow systems can outper- form conventional tillage systems — both in retaining moisture and controlling erosion. The tilled summer fallow pro- gram is one of 15 projects from across the country that would be cut back or eliminated in the Pres- ident’s budget in order to shift money to what the administration KDV LGHQWL¿HG DV KLJKHU SULRULW\ initiatives within the ARS. CPCRC could lose up to See FUNDING/8A