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
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Brown — the next in line in succession
Senate President Peter
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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.
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quarantined residents,
most schools shut down
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Flu seems a mild inconvenience
for most Americans — an unlike-
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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
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waves, killing an estimated 40-
100 million people who often died
quickly, drowning in their own
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ghostly blue.
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Pendletonians would likely have
lined up in droves for them. The
town’s residents watched the most
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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
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came on October 10, 1918. A sick
Marine arrived by train and was
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the disease may have made it to the
city before that. By the next day,
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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.
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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
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lished in the library room at the city
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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-
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tists and reduce their overall sup-
port staff, said center director and
research leader Dan Long.
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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
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initiatives within the ARS.
CPCRC could lose up to
See FUNDING/8A