BMCC LOSES
TO YAKIMA
BASEBALL/1B
69/42
Crude oil
train crash
NATION/7A
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
139th Year, No. 145
WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
One dollar
UMATILLA
City halts handouts
New ordinance targets offramp panhandlers
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
EO Media Group photo by Sean Hart
Joseph Day holds a sign asking for help from people
driving by near the southbound Interstate 82 offramp
on Highway 730 in Umatilla in April. Day said he has
been homeless “off and on” for 20 years.
Panhandling is still legal in Umatilla,
but the city council just made it more
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The council passed an ordinance on
Tuesday making it illegal to transfer
anything between a pedestrian and a
vehicle in a lane of travel.
That means handing money or food
to panhandlers holding signs at the
Interstate 82 offramp could result in a
ticket for both the driver and the person
receiving the gift.
Last month citizens complained to
the council that panhandlers standing
by the interchange were creating a bad
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Umatilla. At Tuesday’s meeting residents
also noted they had seen people holding
signs almost get hit by trucks taking a
wide turn.
“It’s a safety issue,” Elaine Shepherd
said.
Panhandling is constitutionally
protected free speech, but City Manager
Bob Ward told the council the ordinance
would at least deal with the potential
safety hazards created by pedestrians
walking up to cars at busy intersections.
See PANHANDLING/8A
EOU search
for president
nearing end
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A mother and her waddlers
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A family of Canada geese walk through the grass Wednesday at Hat Rock Park east of Hermiston.
PILOT ROCK
Cellphone photos lead to child porn charges
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
A mother who found inappropriate
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cellphone led police to arrest a Pilot Rock
man for child pornography.
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on a warrant Tuesday for using a child in
a display of sexually explicit conduct,
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luring a minor. Umatilla County Sheriff
Terry Rowan said the victim lives in
Morrow County so the district attorney’s
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Sheriff’s detective Kacey Ward wrote
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cellphones involved in the case.
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came to Rowan in late January with her
daughter’s cellphone and reported she was
in love with a much older man who was a
close friend of the girl’s father. The parents
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Ward found the phone had multiple nude
photos the girl took herself, including some
that were sexually explicit.
She told investigators she had a crush on
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She cried during police questioning and she
said she felt like a bad person for sending
the photos to a married man.
The early photos Rowe asked for were
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to send nude and sexual photos. He sent her
messages that stated he envisioned a pretty,
young girl falling for an old cowboy.
Ward reported he found no evidence
the two had sex. The girl told investigators
the two had never even kissed, though the
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medical examination.
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style cellphone on Feb. 14 at his Pilot Rock
home. Ward found the phone went through
a “hard reset” four days before, a process
that restored the phone to factory settings
and overwrote data.
The girl admitted she used a friend’s
phone on Feb. 10 to warn Rowe of the
police investigation.
In spite of the reset, Ward reported he
found 2,900 images on the phone, though
many were distorted. He also found images
and messages going back to 2013.
Rowan said the case is now in the hands
of Morrow County District Attorney Justin
Nelson. Rowe is out of jail on $7,500 bail.
At a crucial time for the school, EOU has not
yet decided who will be the next president of the
university.
“I can’t tell you which it’s going to be,” said
David Nelson, Eastern
Oregon University board
of trustees and search
committee president.
The board plans to
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ists in executive session on
Thursday.
Nelson said all three
are good choices, but the
school’s search committee Tadlock
has to decide if it wants
a president with business
experience or one from a
more traditional academic
background.
“It’s such a diverse pool
of candidates,” he said.
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ence and energy and they all
bring different strengths.”
Cynthia Pemberton is Insko
provost and vice president
for academic affairs at
Dickinson State University
in Dickinson, N.D.
Martin Tadlock was
provost and vice president
for academic affairs at
Bemidji State University
in Bemidji, Minn. and has
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at Northwest Technical Pemberton
College since 2014.
Tom Insko is area
manager of Boise Cascade’s Inland Region in La
Grande and is on the EOU board of trustees.
Nelson said some people in the community
and on the board feel that a businessman like
Insko could be the right choice to take the reins
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and enrollment over the last few years. But he
said students and faculty seem to be leaning
toward someone with experience running a
university.
See EOU/8A
Farmers get approval to spray crops from drones
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A drone large
enough to carry tanks of fertilizers and
pesticides has won rare approval from
federal authorities to spray crops in the
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The drone, called the RMAX, is a
remotely piloted helicopter that weighs
207 pounds, said Steve Markofski, a
spokesman for Yamaha Corp. U.S.A.,
which developed the aircraft.
Smaller drones weighing a few pounds
had already been approved for limited use
to take pictures that help farmers identify
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time a drone big enough to carry a payload
has been approved, Markofski said.
The drone already has been used
elsewhere, including by rice farmers in
Japan. The FAA approved it for the U.S.
on Friday.
“I certainly understand their cautious
approach,” Markofski said. “It’s a daunting
task given our airspace is complicated.”
The drone is best suited for precision
spraying on California’s rolling vineyards
and places that are hard to reach from the
ground or with larger, piloted planes, said
Ken Giles, professor of biological and
agricultural engineering at the University
of California, Davis. Giles tested the
drone in California to see if it could be
used here.
“A vehicle like this gives you a way to
get in and get out and get that treatment
done,” Giles said.
Brian Wynne, president and CEO of
the Association for Unmanned Vehicle
Systems International, said in a statement
that the approval highlights other potential
uses.
“The FAA is taking an important step
forward to helping more industries in the
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nology has to offer,” he said.
AP fi le photo by Rich Pedroncelli
The drone large enough to carry tanks of fertilizers and pesti-
cides has won rare approval from federal authorities to spray
crops in the United States, offi cials said Tuesday.