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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 2015)
69/42 Second positive test for West Nile in Morrow Co. 3A HERMISTON’S NEW QB PREPARES FOR HANFORD FOOTBALL/1B THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2015 139th Year, No. 230 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Mustang tamer prepares to showcase unique act Staff photo by E.J. Harris Bobby Kerr of Hico, Texas, sits on his mustang, Pancho, in the grass outside of the Round-Up Pavilion on Wednesday in Pendleton. Kerr and his mustangs will be performing in this year’s Pendleton Round-Ip. From rags to Round-Up Bobby Kerr to perform at rodeo By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Trigger, a six-year-old mustang, stands in the back of a pickup truck Wednesday at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds. Trigger is part of the Bobby Kerr Mustang Act which involves stunts and tricks with horses that were once wild mustangs. Clad in leather chaps, a denim shirt and a worn cowboy hat, 58-year-old Bobby Kerr looks like a cowboy lifer. When he left his home in Ontario, Canada at the age of 14 to become a cowboy, he didn’t have the foresight to realize his career would take him far off the ranch before thrusting him into the national spotlight as a rodeo performer. Kerr is staying in Pendleton this month in anticipation of his ¿ rst Round-Up, where he’ll introduce the audience to his act, which includes jumping, roping, shooting and other stunts aboard his two mustangs, Pancho and Trigger. On Wednesday, Kerr took Pancho on a short ride around Fallen Field before prompting the nine-year-old horse to collapse on his side. As the horse calmly munched on some grass in the out¿ eld, its hard to believe he was wild for the ¿ rst ¿ ve years of his life. When Kerr was ¿ rst intro- duced to Pancho in 2011, he was tasked with taming him See KERR/8A PENDLETON Residents, councilors air grievances about city By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Several people took the city of Pendleton to task for its lack of progress on various issues Tuesday, including members from the Pendleton City Council. The tongue lashing began with Sign Men Neon Co. owner Ed Miltenberger, who used the public comment section of the city council meeting to criticize the city’s sign ordinance. Miltenberger said it takes too long to get a sign approved under the ordinance and was overly restrictive in the size of signage it allows. He added that it takes 10 days to get a sign approved by the Pendleton Planning Depart- ment whereas surrounding communities approve signs in less than half the time. Miltenberger singled out City Planner Evan MacKenzie and permit technician Julie Chase for further muddling the sign approval process. “It’s such a struggle to go into a planner’s of¿ ce and run into somebody who has no idea how businesses (grow),” he said. A ¿ rst reading of some minor changes to the sign code were on the city’s council agenda, and the council will consider them at its Oct. 6 meeting. While neither MacKenzie or Chase were at the meeting, MacKenzie acknowledged the need to improve the code in a See PENDLETON/8A PENDLETON Mario Zubiria leaves À avorful legacy By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Mario Zubiria’s legacy includes the garlic-laden aroma of barbecued lamb that wafts through the air during the Pendleton Round-Up. Zubiria, who died Friday at 86 after battling Parkinson’s disease, started selling lamb to the rodeo crowd in 1984. Son Tony Zubiria began running the family business, Mario’s Basque BarB-Q, when Mario retired several years ago. Mario Zubiria had discovered lamb kabobs as an 18-year-old Spanish soldier serving in Northern Africa where he noticed people cooking cubed meat over camel dung ¿ res. Zubiria later e[perimented with the technique, sans camel dung. At age 30, Zubiria left his tiny village in Spain as his country entered into an economic depression. He traveled to Oregon for employment at the Cunningham Sheep See ZUBIRIA/8A Contributed photo Mario Zubiria tends to his grill at the Pendleton Round-Up where he has fed the rodeo crowd since 1984. Zubiria died on Friday. One dollar Evacuations lifted near John Day -OHN DAY AP ² Fire¿ ghters battling a destructive wild¿ re near -ohn Day are allowing people who have been evacuated for weeks to return to their homes. The last evacuation alerts were lifted Wednesday, but residents in several neighbor- hoods were told to be ready to leave on short notice. The ¿ re has destroyed 43 homes and burned more than 165 square miles. It is 52 percent contained. Crews focused Wednesday on containing spot ¿ res that broke out beyond the contain- ment lines during More inside a period of hotter EOU to hold fi re temperatures and lower relief fundraiser humidity Tuesday. REGION 3A They were hopeful that cooler, more humid conditions Wednesday would allow ¿ re¿ ghters to control the À ames and strengthen their containment lines. IDAHO: Fire crews are aggressively working to prevent À ames from e[panding on a 3-week-old blaze in west-central Idaho that has already burned 143 square miles of dry timber. More than 900 ¿ re¿ ghters are battling the ¿ re, but it was only 30 percent contained. It’s burning in terrain surrounded by large amounts of unburned fuel. Crews focused their efforts Wednesday on protecting structures along the Salmon River corridor, and rafters were still being stopped and evacuated before entering the ¿ re perim- eter. In northern Idaho, À ames crept overnight as close as a mile and a half to the historic Fenn Ranger Station, causing mandatory evacua- tions. Idaho currently has 1 large ¿ res, the most in the nation, the National Interagency Fire Center says. WASHINGTON: In north-central Wash- ington, the largest wild¿ re in state history was 45 percent contained after destroying 231 square miles. More than 2,000 ¿ re¿ ghters are working on the two big groups of ¿ res that have burned more than 140 residences. Many other homes are still under evacuation orders. Fire¿ ghters on Wednesday worked to on building ¿ re lines around the blazes and mopping up hot spots inside their borders. Knowing the facts helps seniors avoid Medicare penalties By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Signing up for Medicare can be confusing, but help is available to avoid ending up with a penalty or the wrong plan. Senior Health Insurance Bene¿ ts Assistance has been hosting a series of workshops in the area, and on Wednesday ¿ eld of¿ cer Cynthia Hylton was busy educating residents in Umatilla. Hylton went over the differences between Medicare Part A, B, C and D and discussed the details of various plans, but she also “If they make had general advice a mistake they for people signing up for Medicare. have to fi x it, She said the ¿ rst mistake people but you have to make is thinking that their Medicare document that.” eligibility is tied — Cynthia Hylton, to when they start Senior Health Insurance taking their Social Benefi ts Assistance Security bene¿ t, fi eld offi cer when Medicare starts at age 65 for everyone regardless of retirement situation. As more Baby Boomers delay retirement, she said, more are getting a 10 percent penalty on their premium for not enrolling in Medicare within three months of their 65th birthday. “If you don’t take the right action at the right time you will be penalized for the rest of your Medicare life and you don’t want that,” she said. The only way to avoid the penalty is to sign See MEDICARE/8A
