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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2016)
GRIFFEY HEADED TO HALL OF FAME 34/28 HERMISTON STARS READY TO DANCE REGION/3A BASEBALL/1B Look out for IRS scam calls REGION/3A THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016 140th Year, No. 59 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD ‘Pick up and go home’ Local tribe, community voice opinions on armed protesters By TERRENCE PETTY and MANUEL VALDES Associated Press BURNS — The leader of an American Indian tribe that regards an Oregon nature preserve as sacred issued a rebuke Wednesday to the armed men who are occupying the property, saying they are not ZHOFRPH DW WKH VQRZ\ ELUG VDQF tuary and must leave. The Burns Paiute tribe was the latest group to speak out against the men, who have taken several buildings at the preserve to protest policies governing the use of federal land in the West. “The protesters have no right to this land. It belongs to the native people who live here,” tribal leader &KDUORWWH5RGULTXHVDLG She spoke at a news conference at the tribe’s cultural center, about D KDOIKRXU GULYH IURP 0DOKHXU National Wildlife Refuge, which is being occupied by some 20 men led by Ammon Bundy, whose father Cliven was at the center of a standoff in Nevada with federal RI¿FLDOVLQRYHUXVHRISXEOLF lands. Ammon Bundy is demanding that the refuge be handed over to locals. 5RGULTXHVDLGVKH³KDGWRODXJK´ at the demand, because she knew Bundy was not talking about giving Transfer of depot lands hinges on water ‘solution’ By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Water remains the pivot point to transferring land at the former site of the Umatilla Chemical Depot to the Columbia Development Authority’s local control. Rep. Greg Smith of Heppner said he remains hopeful the transaction will happen in the near future. Smith is the project manager for the development authority. The bottom line, he said: “We’re getting really close to being ready to transfer the land.” Just how close is close, See DEPOT/8A AP Photo/Rick Bowmer Harney County Sheriff David Ward listens to concerns during a community meeting at the county fairgrounds Wednesday in Burns. the land to the tribe. 7KH DFUH %XUQV 3DLXWH Reservation is north of the remote town of Burns in Oregon sagebrush country. The reservation is separate from the wildlife refuge, but tribal members consider it part of their ancestral land. As with other tribes, the Burns Paiutes’ link to the land is marked E\ D KLVWRU\ RI FRQÀLFW ZLWKZKLWH settlers and the U.S. government. In the late 1800s, they were forced off a sprawling reservation created by an WUHDW\WKDWZDVQHYHUUDWL¿HG Some later returned and purchased property in the Burns area, where about 200 tribal members now live. Bundy’s group seized buildings See STANDOFF/8A More inside Diverse interests split on best way to manage public land Page 8A PENDLETON City sets crosshairs on old wood stoves Zero interest loans available to those with XQFHUWL¿HGVWRYHV By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian *UDGXDOO\ LQHI¿FLHQW ZRRG stoves are vanishing from Pendleton homes, but the pace has slowed. In 2000, the city started offering zero interest loans of up to $3,000 to homeowners with wood stoves WKDWDUHQ¶WFHUWL¿HGE\WKH(QYLURQ mental Protection Agency or Oregon Department of Environmental 4XDOLW\'XULQJWKH¿UVWWZR\HDUV 93 residents replaced their stoves with cleaner burning gas, electric or FHUWL¿HGZRRGXQLWV Though the city boosted the loan amount to $3,500 in 2004, use of the program has dwindled over WKH SDVW IHZ \HDUV ,Q ¿VFDO \HDU QRERG\DSSOLHG/DVW\HDU there were only two. Altogether, 172 stoves were replaced using city loans since the program’s inception. City employee Steve Quinn DSSOLHG WR UHSODFH DQ XQFHUWL¿HG ¿UHSODFH LQVHUW DERXW HLJKW PRQWKV ago when he moved into a new home on Jay Street. On Tuesday, the new Neptune gas unit glowed in his OLYLQJ URRP ÀDPH YLVLEOH WKURXJK a glass door. His yellow lab puppy, Rudy, lay near the brick hearth as Quinn rubbed the dog’s ears. Quinn said he loves the new stove for a pair Staff photo by E.J. Harris Steve Quinn of Pendleton replaced his uncertifi ed fi replace insert with a new gas burning one using a loan program through the city of Pendleton. of reasons. Number one — “I don’t have to chop wood,” he said. “It’s nice to push a button and be done with it.” Secondly, his expenses dropped to $120 a month in the winter for electricity and $35 for gas. Pendleton’s regulatory specialist Klaus Hoehna and Umatilla County Public Health Director Meghan DeBolt hope more people will use the loan program. The city seeks to UHLJQLWH LQWHUHVW DQG ¿QLVK WKH MRE RI FRQVLJQLQJ DOO WKRVH LQHI¿FLHQW stoves to the recycling center. “There’s been a steady decline in use of the loan program,” said DeBolt, who is a member of the Pendleton Air Quality Commission. The commission doesn’t know if most of the stoves have been replaced or if people are unaware See STOVES/8A Backers of track event donated heavily to Kitzhaber campaign world championships in Eugene, they ZHUH PHW ZLWK FRROQHVV DQG VNHSWL cism, newly released emails show. $IWHU /DQDQQD JDYH DQ LQSHUVRQ EUGENE — When Vin Lananna, president of TrackTown USA, and pitch to Kitzhaber on July 7, Kitzhaber Paul Weinhold, president of the economic policy adviser Vince Porter University of Oregon Foundation, sent a scathing assessment of the ¿UVW FRQWDFWHG WKHQ*RY -RKQ UHTXHVW WR WKH JRYHUQRU DQG KLV WRS .LW]KDEHU LQ PLG WR UHTXHVW D advisers. Talks should continue, Porter PLOOLRQ VWDWH VXEVLG\ IRU7UDFN Town’s bid to hold the 2019 track wrote, but “there are a lot of hurdles By SAUL HUBBARD The Register-Guard to get over before it becomes much more than a pipe dream.” 1RQSUR¿W 7UDFN7RZQ¶V UHTXHVW contained “probably as much as $20 million that we would never want to consider subsidizing,” he added. “I don’t think the state should be even considering something larger than $20 million” to help fund the event in Eugene, he wrote. 7KH VXEVLG\ UHTXHVW ² ZKLFK ZRXOGUHTXLUHWKUHH¿IWKYRWHVLQERWK chambers of the Legislature — also was met coolly by Salem’s two most powerful legislators, Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek, both Democrats, Porter’s emails indicate. <HW RQO\ ¿YH PRQWKV ODWHU Kitzhaber publicly pledged to “use all See KITZHABER/8A