REGION
Saturday, June 6, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 3A
IRRIGON
Snowpack at all-time low in Oregon Man indicted
for
emergency in 15 counties, including
Umatilla and Morrow counties.
Scott Oviatt, NRCS snow survey
Oregon has endured historically supervisor, said there is usually at
low snowpack in 2015, exacerbating least some snow still left this time of
GURXJKWFRQGLWLRQVIRUIDUPV¿VKDQG year in the northern Blue Mountains.
However, most of the snowmelt this
forests heading into summer.
The U.S. Department of Agricul- year peaked around February, with
ture Natural Resources Conservation virtually none left to replenish streams
Service released its June water supply and reservoirs into summer.
In fact, of the 81 snow sites across
report on Friday, which shows 60
percent of the state’s snow telemetry Oregon, only one has any measurable
sites measured their lowest snowpack snow left, Oviatt said.
“Water managers and water users
on record last winter.
In the Umatilla, Walla Walla and just need to be prudent,” he said.
Willow basins, snowpack peaked at “There’s not going to be as much
about 50-60 percent of normal and water as we’re accustomed to using
melted off between four and nine for irrigation and other uses, but if
weeks earlier than usual, according conservation measures are applied,
to the report. The Umatilla River is there should be adequate supplies.”
The governor’s drought declaration
H[SHFWHGWRÀRZWKURXJK3HQGOHWRQDW
just 38 percent of its average volume does allow water managers greater
ÀH[LELOLW\WRKHOSLUULJDWRUVZLWKHPHU-
from June through September.
The report says water managers gency water use permits and temporary
VKRXOG H[SHFW ³VLJQL¿FDQW ZDWHU transfer of water rights, if needed. The
shortages” this summer. Gov. Kate NRCS has also made available up to
Brown has already declared a drought $2.5 million for farmers, ranchers and
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
forest landowners in those counties to
enhance their conservation practices.
Applications are due to the local
USDA Service Center on Friday, 26.
Meanwhile,
dry
conditions
prompted the Oregon Department
RI)RUHVWU\WRGHFODUHWKHVWDUWRI¿UH
season Saturday in the Central Oregon
District, which covers 2.2 million acres
of private and public forest and range-
land in Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam,
Grant, Harney, Hood River, Jefferson,
Morrow, Wasco and Wheeler counties.
Fire season has not yet been
declared in the Northeast Oregon
District, though Mitch Williams, wild-
land protection supervisor for ODF in
La Grande, said they also expect an
early start unless conditions change.
The most recent U.S. Drought
Monitor shows nearly all of Eastern
Oregon in either severe or extreme
drought.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4547.
A royal
visit to the
Capitol
Governor Kate Brown
meets the Pendleton
Round-Up court and
Happy Canyon
princesses Thursday
at her office in Salem.
The courts presented
Brown with a
Pendleton blanket.
Photo contributed by
Gov. Kate Brown’s office
allegedly killing
10-month-old
daughter
Attorney Robert Klahn
of Pendleton represented
Martin. Temple set a pretrial
The Irrigon father in jail hearing for June 18 at 8:15
for killing his 10-month-old a.m. in Heppner.
KaSandra Martin last
daughter faced manslaughter
charges and more Friday Thursday took her infant
afternoon, based on a grand daughter, Savannah, with
her on an errand, according
jury indictment.
Morrow County District to Nelson, and in Pendleton
Attorney Justin Nelson said the mother discovered the
the grand jury Thursday child would not wake up.
indicted Travis Michael KaSandra Martin sought
help, and an
Martin, 21, on
ambulance took
two counts of
the girl to St.
¿UVWGHJUHH
Anthony Hospital,
manslaughter,
Pendleton, which
two counts of
sent her on an
second-degree
HPHUJHQF\ ÀLJKW
manslaughter,
to a children’s
three
counts
hospital
in
RI
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Spokane where
criminal
she died.
mistreatment and
That sparked
two counts of Martin
a
criminal
second-degree
investigation,
Nelson
assault.
Those were the same as said, and police found
the initial charges Nelson Travis Martin threw the
brought against the suspect infant to the ground the
Monday. Nelson said the night before she died. The
grand jury added nothing charges against Martin
new and Circuit Judge Eva also indicate he abused the
Temple kept Martin’s bail at child in September 2014
and in January. Nelson said
$500,000.
The grand jury heard KaSandra Martin worked
evidence from Pendleton nights and knew nothing
police
detective
Rick about any abuse and does
Jackson and Dr. Sally Aiken not face charges.
The Morrow County
of the medical examiner’s
RI¿FH LQ 6SRNDQH &RXQW\ 6KHULII¶V 2I¿FH DUUHVWHG
Washington. Nelson also Travis Martin at his home
said the grand jury watched the night of May 29 and
videos of police questioning booked him into the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
Martin.
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
Sister-city students working toward $10K goal
Group looks to
sushi night for
big trip fundraiser
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Six
Pendleton-area
students are working their
way to resuming the cultural
exchange with Minamisoma,
Japan.
Getting to Pendleton’s
sister city, though, will
require earning at least
$10,000 before they depart
in July.
Pendleton High School
students Haley Kendrick,
Riley Kendrick, Stephen
Machado, Raeana Mikel and
Cheney Chrisman and Nixy-
aawii Community School
student Katie Ward are
about $4,000 shy of the goal.
Roberta Lavadour, executive
director of the Pendleton
Center for the Arts, agreed
to chaperone the group on
the trip July 13-28. She said
if they make more than they
need, that money would help
pay to host the Japanese
students and their chaper-
ones, who come in August.
Pendleton and Mina-
misoma started sending
students back and forth
in 2000, but the exchange
ended for Pendleton in 2011
when the Tohoku earthquake
and tsunami devastated
Minamisoma and caused
a meltdown at a nearby
nuclear power plant.
“This
lapse
was
because of a monumental
catastrophe,” Lavadour said.
“And anyone who works
with an organization knows
that when something gets
mothballed for four years,
you kind of have to reinvent
the wheel.”
The reinvention has
meant the students and Lava-
dour reached out to local
charities and organizations
for funds, including Cayuse
Technologies Community
Outreach Committee, which
donated $1,000.
A seven-member delega-
tion from Pendleton visited
Minamisoma for two days
in April 2014 to assess the
situation there, among other
objectives, and found it was
safe to send local students.
Families in Minamisoma
will host the Pendleton
group for the two-week stay,
so they will get a sampling
of daily life in the area. They
will also get to see Mina-
misoma’s big festival — a
recreation of a millennia-old
battle involving dozens of
men clad in samurai armor
racing on horseback across
D ZLGH ¿HOG WR FDSWXUH D
banner.
Seven students from
Minamisoma in August will
make the reverse trip for two
weeks with Pendleton host
families. The group used to
come in September for the
Pendleton Round-Up, but
WKDW PDGH LW WRXJK WR ¿QG
Japanese students willing
to skip out on two weeks of
high school.
Karin Power was an
exchange chaperone in
2006 and hosted a number
of Japanese students and
adults. She said this latest
group of Pendleton students
is learning basic Japanese
greetings and a smattering
of “survival Japanese.” They
also are meeting with Hiroko
Cannon, a Pendleton artist
from Osaka, Japan, to learn
about Japanese etiquette
and how to avoid making a
common faux pas. Power
said that is more than most
exchange groups have done.
“I was just really
impressed
with
how
prepared they will be,” she
said.
The team of soon-to-be
exchange students made and
sold crafts at the Pendleton’s
Farmers Market and have a
car wash fundraiser Sunday
and another June 14 at
Dave’s 12th Street Food
Mart, Pendleton. The group
also went to the Web to seek
funds at www.gofundme.
com/sistercityexchange.
And the group’s big event
is a sushi night Monday,
June 14, at Virgil’s at
Cimmiyotti’s in downtown
Pendleton. Tickets are $35
per person, with a social hour
at 5 p.m., dinner at 6 and a
silent auction that includes
a one-of-a-kind Pendleton/
Minamisoma kimono and
WZR ÀLJKW YRXFKHUV IRU
Seaport Airlines and a night
in a Portland hotel. Lava-
dour said the event features
Cimmiyotti’s signature sushi
rolls, such as the California
Roll and the Cowboy Roll,
traditional ramen, saki
tasting and more. There
also will be a “non-sushi
alternative,” according to
Lavadour, “for those with
less adventurous palates.”
Lavadour
also
said
people can give tax deduct-
ible donations in the form of
checks payable to Pendleton
School District, 1100 South-
gate, Suite 8, Pendleton, OR
97801.
The visit to Japan will be
D¿UVWIRUDOOWKHVWXGHQWVDQG
Lavadour. She said sending
local youth to see other parts
of the world has value, and
the fundraising effort the
group has shouldered is
helping lay a foundation for
future exchanges.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
When Caring, Quality and Commitment
Make a Difference.
bla
Ha ol
Se spañ
E
Call Today for your FREE
Assessment Providing
Personalized In-home
Care 24/7
The Rivoli Restoration Coalition
recognizes and thanks the Pendleton
Foundation Trust for their support of
the Rivoli Coalition Architectural and
Engineering Project!
Please support the
Pendleton Foundation Trust
www.pendletonfoundationtrust.com
541-429-8099
920 Frazier Ave ste 212
Pendleton Or 97801
www.aqhcinc.com
• Personal Care
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Congratulations
Class of 2015!
BRIEFLY
EOU to raise in-state tuition 4.9 percent
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University’s board
of trustees proposed a tuition increase Thursday for the
2015-2016 academic year.
The increase would raise resident undergraduate
tuition by 4.9 percent and non-resident tuition by 3
percent. The result would be an annual tuition of $6,345
for undergraduates from Oregon and $16,560 for
non-residents.
The recommendation is being sent to the Oregon
State Board of Higher Education for approval, although
the university’s board will have the authority to raise
tuition on its own starting July 1.
“EOU will still be the lowest-cost public university
in the state, even with the proposed increase,” said
outgoing president Jay Kenton.
Oregon outdoor education tour
set for Eastern Oregon
Leaders from the Oregon Outdoor Education
Coalition and Environmental Literacy Plan will hold
a series of meetings in Eastern Oregon to explain the
EHQH¿WVRI2XWGRRU6FKRROWRORFDOSDUHQWVWHDFKHUVDQG
community members.
The presentations will explain the vision for
Oregon’s Environmental Literacy Program and provide
a legislative update on the coalition’s efforts to fully
IXQG2XWGRRU6FKRROIRUHYHU\¿IWKDQGVL[WKJUDGH
student statewide.
7KH¿UVWPHHWLQJZLOOEH7XHVGD\-XQHDW
Pendleton City Hall from 6:30-8 p.m. A pair of meetings
ZLOOEH:HGQHVGD\-XQH¿UVWIURPDPWR
1 p.m. at the Anderson Perry Building in La Grande,
and then from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Baker School District
2I¿FHLQ%DNHU&LW\
For more information about the Oregon Outdoor
Education Coalition, visit www.oregonoutdoored.org.
———
Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Music
on the
Lawn
Saturday, June 6
Jen, John &
Margaret
6-9 P
H AMLEY S TEAK H ouse & S aloon
COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON • 541.278.1100
Eagle Cap Excursion Train
Bandits are planning their escape!
Plan yours!
Advanced
Orthopedic
& Sports Medicine Institute
Saturday, June 20
541.289.7075
Departs from Elgin
at 10 a.m. or 3 p.m.
Fun for the whole family!
620 NW 11th St., Ste. 201, Hermiston
www.hermistonortho.com
800.323.7330 eaglecaptrainrides.com