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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2015)
WEEKEND EDITION SPORTS/1B Buti yoga bliss LIFESTYLES 1C ALL-EO PLAYER OF THE YEAR REGION: Crews extinguish fi re on Hermiston Butte 3A NATION: U.S. report fi nds Iran threat remains 12A JUNE 20-21, 2015 139th Year, No. 177 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD War on wage hike ALL FIRED UP Chamber of Commerce opposes increase to state minimum wage By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian &ODVVRI¿UH¿JKWHUVWUDLQ IRUZKDWPD\EHDGLI¿FXOW VHDVRQLQDGU\KRW:HVW Staff photo by Kathy Aney A fi re school participant holds a wildland fi refi ghting tool called a pulaski, which combines an axe and an adze. About 100 fi refi ghters from various agencies spent four days in a classroom learning about fi re behavior, weather, suppression, tools and other topics before going into the woods Friday to practice techniques. By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian A cloud of white smoke rose from the woods Friday morning in the Blue Mountains between Pendleton and La Grande. In response, seasonal ¿UH¿JKWHUVTXLFNO\PRYHGWRDQHDUE\ hillside along Summit Road. 0DUFKLQJVLQJOH¿OHWKHKDQGFUHZV SDXVHGWRDVVHVVWKHÀDPHVVPROGHULQJ in mostly downed branches and tree stumps. After checking for snags and hazards, they worked together to dig a ¿UH OLQH DQG VWRS WKH WLQ\ EOD]H LQ LWV tracks. The incident was only a simulation, but for DERXW\RXQJ¿UH¿JKWHUVLWZDVDFKDQFHWR test themselves in preparation for what fore- FDVWHUVVD\ZLOOEHDQRWKHUORQJKRWZLOG¿UH season across the Northwest. )ULGD\¶VWUDLQLQJRQOLYH¿UH²GRQHZLWKLQD prescribed burn area of the Wallowa-Whitman 1DWLRQDO)RUHVW²PDUNHGWKHHQGRIDZHHN ORQJ¿UHVFKRROOHGE\WKH86)RUHVW6HUYLFH Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Indian Affairs. The course combined class- room learning with hands-on practice in forest near Mount Emily. Come July, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise predicts an above-average SRWHQWLDO IRU ODUJH ZLOG¿UHV WKURXJKRXW Oregon and Washington. Those conditions are expected to linger through September. $1.50 In between the usual announcements of ribbon cuttings and professional luncheons, the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce recently sent out an email urging its members to contact state legislators. The June 16 letter detailed the renewed push of House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, to pass House Bill 2012, which initiates a minimum wage increase from $9.25 per hour to $11 next year, $12 in 2017 and $13 in 2018. The letter encourages members to contact Kotek, state Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, and state Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, and voice their opposition to the bill. “We are closely watching this issue and Oregon State Chamber of Commerce is working to ensure the bill does not get traction this session,” the letter states. Pendleton chamber Executive Director Gail Nelson said the intent of the letter was to keep members abreast of activity that might affect them. “Small businesses just don’t have the ability to absorb those costs,” she said. Whether a minimum wage increase would be a boon or bane to the economy has long been a source of contention among economists. But the state chamber, which is funded by and promotes businesses, cites a study that predicts a loss of 52,000 jobs across the state if the minimum wage is raised to $12 per hour. For her part, Kotek has said the boost See WAGE/14A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Fire school participants walk single fi le Friday to a practice fi re near Mt. Emily Road on the Umatilla National Forest. If the 2015 season is anything like last year, 1RUWKZHVW ¿UH¿JKWHUV FRXOG EH LQ IRU D ZLOG ride. Fire burned an estimated 1.3 million acres in Oregon and Washington in 2014, including the 256,108-acre Carlton Complex that was the largest blaze in Washington state history. Andrew Livingston, 23, of Baker City, remembers spending 10 days on the Carlton, an experience he described as “controlled chaos.” “It’s a really fast-paced environment when it’s happening like that,” Livingston said. “You really need to have faith in your leaders.” Now in his sixth season as a seasonal ¿UH¿JKWHU /LYLQJVWRQ UHWXUQHG WR ¿UH VFKRRO to learn how to become one of those crew OHDGHUV+HSODQVWREHFRPHFHUWL¿HGDVD7\SH 5 incident commander before the end of the See FIRE/14A “The most important thing about fi refi ghting is paying attention so you can come home at night.” — Andrew Livingston, training to be incident commander Umatilla County folds human services, overhauls addiction treatment program Fourth department closed by commissioners By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Umatilla County’s troubled human services department is no more. The board of county commis- sioners dissolved the department Wednesday in the face of a possible criminal investigation of its former director and two alcohol and drug counselors. Commissioner George Murdock said addiction treatment and other services the department provided will continue under the purview of the Community Justice Department. “It might not be under commu- nity justice forever, but it will not be a separate department again,” Murdock said. Murdock and fellow commis- sioners Bill Elfering and Larry Givens have spent the past couple years winnowing the number of departments in county government from 12 to eight and eliminating or combining department heads. This revamp might be the biggest move yet and results in cutting two manager positions. In April, the county suspended then-human services director Carolyn Mason and husband-and- wife counselors Laura Aviles- Valdez and Juan Valdez while Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc. investigated the department. 7KH FRXQW\ ¿UHG WKH WULR -XQH 4, and GOBHI turned over its ¿QGLQJVWRWKH2UHJRQ'HSDUWPHQW of Justice for a possible criminal investigation. Murdock said the vacancies presented the county with an opportunity to restructure how it would provide addiction services. Murdock, outgoing community justice director Mark Royal, See SERVICES/14A +HDWZDYH FXWVGHHS LQWRZKHDW By ERIC MORTENSON EO Media Group Wheat yields are projected to take such a hit this summer that some Eastern Oregon growers may not even harvest their crop, a senior grain merchandiser said. Sparse rainfall and diminished snowpack has impacted producers all across the West, but an unseasonable heat wave in late May and early June hit developing wheat plants at exactly the wrong time, said Dan Steiner of Pendleton Grain Growers. Dryland wheat growers, who farm without irrigation, were hit especially hard as the National Weather Service recorded temperatures of 90, 96 and 102 degrees in the Pendleton area from May 29 to June 10. ³3URGXFWLRQ ZLOO EH GRZQ VLJQL¿ cantly,” Steiner said. He estimated a 20 percent yield drop overall from the statewide average of about 60 bushels an acre. “Some of the dryland areas are going to have zero,” he said. “Some ¿HOGVZLOOEHDEDQGRQHG´ Steiner said the heat wave came as ZKHDWSODQWVZHUHLQWKHVWDJHRI¿OOLQJ out their grain kernels. Evaporation stole what little water was left for plant development, he said. “It came at a very, very bad time,” he said. “A lot of moisture that could have gone to the kernel was simply lost.” If temperatures had been in the 70s See WHEAT/14A