PENDLETON’S New skate park
could roll into
4 PITCHERS
SOFTBALL/1B
62/39
Hermiston
3A
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015
139th Year, No. 125
WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
One dollar
County
awaits
drought
request
Umatilla wetter
than south, central
Oregon counties
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Streams are À owing low
and reservoirs are yet to be
¿ lled across the Umatilla
Basin, with perilous little
snow in the Blue Mountains
to count on for summertime
relief.
Yet conditions are wring-
ing-wet compared to other
areas in the state — primarily
south and central Oregon —
where Gov. Kate Brown has
already declared a drought
emergency.
On Monday, Brown ex-
panded her drought declara-
tion into Crook, Harney and
Klamath counties, joining
Malheur and Lake counties
in qualifying for assistance
See DROUGHT/8A
Hayes got
involved in
policy with
gov’s blessing
PORTLAND (AP) — The
94,000 emails between for-
mer ¿ rst lady Cylvia Hayes
and staff in the governor’s
of¿ ce show Hayes regularly
inserted herself in policy dis-
cussions with the blessing of
her ¿ ancee, then-Gov. John
Kitzhaber.
The emails also show that
few staffers pushed back,
and Hayes regularly adopt-
ed a supervisory tone when
addressing employees in the
governor’s of¿ ce.
Those are among the ¿ nd-
ings of The Oregonian’s re-
view of many of the emails,
which were released last
week by Gov. Kate Brown,
who succeeded Kitzhaber af-
ter his decision to step down
in February. The Portland
newspaper says more than 20
reporters and editors pitched
in to review the massive
trove of documents.
Throughout his 2014
re-election campaign and af-
ter his fourth inauguration in
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Soil scientist Stewart Wuest gestures to the varying heights of wheat growth in a test plot on Wednesday at Columbia Plateau Conser-
vation Research Center outside of Mission.
Ag research headed for threshing
Pendleton station stands to lose
$911,000 in Obama’s budget
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore-
gon, is lobbying Secretary of Ag-
riculture Tom Vilsack to maintain
support of the Columbia Plateau
Conservation Research Center
north of Pendleton.
The station stands to lose
$911,000 — nearly half its annu-
al funding — in President Barack
Obama’s proposed 2016 budget.
Such deep cuts would force the
center to end its research into no-till
farming for winter wheat and lay off
three staff scientists.
Established in 1970, the station
is part of the federal Agricultural
Research Service, or ARS, which
serves as the USDA’s principal in-
house research agency. Located on
Tubbs Ranch Road, the Pendleton
center shares a building with Or-
egon State University’s Columbia
Basin Agricultural Research Center,
though they are two different pro-
grams.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Vil-
sack, Wyden said the President’s
budget would end critical research
on cropping systems for the Co-
lumbia Plateau, one of the largest
wheat producing areas in the Paci¿ c
Northwest.
Wyden also hopes to save forage
and turf grass research on the ARS
chopping block in Corvallis.
“The research developed in Ore-
gon will have lasting impacts on ad-
vances in precision agriculture and
have clear bene¿ ts to farm produc-
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Soil scientist Stewart Wuest holds a thermometer he uses to mea-
sure soil temperatures below the surface of a crop.
tivity and pro¿ tability of wheat pro-
duction nationwide,” Wyden said.
Wyden had proposed a budget
amendment to continue funding
for all agricultural research through
2025, though it was not adopted
See RESEARCH/8A
Happy Canyon horse and rider
headed to Las Vegas World Cup
Fireworks, rock music, and
strobes don’t rufÀ e Chinook
See HAYES/8A
EO fi le photo
Bryson Bronson holds the U.S. fl ag while riding Chi-
nook under a crescent moon during the opening cere-
mony of the Pendleton PBR Classic at the Happy Can-
yon Arena in 2013.
out Tuesday for an 850-mile drive to Las
Vegas for an April 18 appearance at the
Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI)
World Cup. Presenting the colors at the in-
By KATHY ANEY
ternational dressage and jumping event is
East Oregonian
something of a trial run for a possible ap-
pearance at the National Finals Rodeo in
Another star is headed to Vegas.
December.
This time around, the celebrity has four
Black isn’t worried about Chinook los-
fetlocks, a black mane and a whinny.
ing his composure during the FEI appear-
A paint horse named Chinook is well ance. Though event organizers asked how
known to spectators at
he would react to the glare
Pendleton’s Profession-
of a spotlight, 16-year-old
“We’re confi dent Chinook
al Bull Riding event and
keeps his cool
Happy Canyon Indian Chinook will impress. even around strobe lights
Pageant and Wild West
and driving rock music,
The endgame is for said Black.
Show. Each night, Chi-
nook clomps up a steep
“He’s been in a lot of
wooden ramp to a plat- Chinook and Bryson strange
environments,”
form high above the open-
to present the colors she said. “Darkness with a
air Happy Canyon Arena
spotlight won’t bother him
at the NFR.” in the least.”
where he and rider Bryson
Bronson form a tableau
Black said Chinook,
— Carl Culham,
during the singing of the
Pendleton Round-Up director the great-grandson of
national anthem.
Secretariat, got his name
Bronson, dressed in
because of the warm Chi-
leather leggings, a feather bonnet and a nook wind that blew on the day of his birth,
beaded chest plate, sits bareback and holds melting six inches of ice and snow. Besides
an oversi]ed À ag as Chinook poses un- appearing at Happy Canyon, the paint
À inchingly during a rendition of “The Star leads the Pendleton Round-Up Westward
Spangled Banner” that is peppered with Ho! Parade.
¿ reworks and a barrage of loud pops.
Jason Hill, president of the Happy Can-
Now, the regal pair will go on the road. yon Board of Directors, said conversations
The paint horse, along with Bronson
See CHINOOK/8A
and trainer/owner Rusty Black, will set