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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2016)
OFF PAGE ONE PLUTE: :LOOFRQWLQXHWRPDQDJHSURSHUWLHVIURPDIDU Page 10A East Oregonian Continued from 1A 3OXWHHYHQEULHÀ\FRQVLG- ered running for mayor, before a succession of local controversies soured him on Pendleton politics. Pendleton Plumbing sued Plute’s development company in 2013 over a billing dispute, and the two sides battled in court for years before reaching a settlement agreement this winter. To pay for his legal fees during his lawsuit, Plute fell behind on his property taxes, although he said he’s now mostly caught up. Plute’s political career was no less contentious during that time. Plute led a campaign to enact a 5-cent gas tax to help pay for road repairs across the city, but voters widely rejected the measure in November. In December, Plute joined ¿YH RWKHU FRXQFLORUV LQ approving a $5 street utility fee, an additional funding mechanism the council had previously decided to enact whether the gas tax passed or not. A group called Pendleton Citizens United used all of these events and more to launch a recall petition against Plute in January. ³:KHQ SHRSOH VWDUWHG questioning my character, it was time to leave Pendleton,” he said. Plute said one of the reasons he and his wife decided to move to Eugene is its city government already has funding measures like a gas tax in place. Pendleton Citizens United treasurer Larry Anderson said he was unsure if the group would continue collecting signatures for a recall, but ZRXOG EH VDWLV¿HG ZLWK D Plute resignation. To trigger a recall election, Pendleton Citizens United needs to collect 705 signa- tures by April 25. Anderson said they have already collected 600 signatures. A characteristically outspoken Plute was unsparing in his description of Pendleton Citizens United and their ilk, calling them the “village idiots.” As for the three down- town buildings that have been a source of both praise and scrutiny, Plute said he will continue to manage them from afar and return to Pendleton once a month to take care of his tenants’ needs. Mayor Phillip Houk said Plute should be proud of his time on the council and the investment he has made in the downtown area, while also noting his blunt demeanor. “Al just said what he thought ... you always knew where he stood,” Houk said. Plute plans to stay on the council through May, which would allow him to give input during the city’s budgeting process. Plute said his work on the city council wasn’t for the title or prestige but for the betterment of Pendleton and KHLVFRQ¿GHQWWKDWKLVLGHDV RQ ¿QGLQJ QHZ VRXUFHV RI revenue and sustainability will be vindicated. “I’ve given (the city) a road map to success, and its up to them whether to follow it,” he said. Plute’s last city council meeting will be May 17, he said. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. MEDALS: ‘He served our country and he earned them’ Continued from 1A II Victory Medal. Mellick watched with emotion as she stood in the background. After the short ceremony, guests gave Jones rock star treatment. They shook his hand. Members of the color guard saluted. Many took out their phones and got photos of Jones and his medals. Jones looked a tad dazed. “I didn’t know this was going to happen,” he said. He said he simply hadn’t applied for the medals. He had returned to the United States in 1945 to be reas- signed, likely for an assault on Japan, but the war ended with the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thoughts of medals drifted away as he got back to civilian life. Mellick thought her uncle should receive his medals. “He served our country and he earned them,” she Staff photo by Kathy Aney A photo of William Jones sits atop of a cake to celebrate the World War II veteran receiving long- overdue medals Saturday at the Columbia Grange Hall in Hermiston. said. “I’m very thankful for him and what he did.” She got offers of help IURP WKH RI¿FHV RI WZR Oregon Congressmen, Rep. *UHJ :DOGHQ DQG 6HQ 5RQ :\GHQ One of Jones’ fans on Saturday was Galen Jones, 23 years younger than his brother Bill, who said he has long admired the man. “He’s my hero,” Galen said. Galen said he noticed emotion on Bill’s face as he received the medals, but something else, too. “I could feel his sensitivity because of all the others who died, while he didn’t have to,” Galen said. “It takes a lot for him to open up about the war.” He said his brother isn’t hazy about the past or the present, and though he was having trouble hearing with all the background noise at the grange, Bill remains sharp. His brother, Galen said, is a world-class cribbage player who still plays in invitational tournaments in Reno. Near Galen, Halverson watched Jones with a smile. He had traveled 80 miles from where he lives now in .DKORWXV :DVKLQJWRQ WR award the medals, but said it was worth the drive. “It was really an honor for me to do this,” Halverson VDLG ³:H GRQ¶W KDYH WRR PDQ\:RUOG:DU,,YHWHUDQV OHIW :H ZDQW WR PDNH VXUH all of them are recognized as much as possible. It was a privilege.” ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. DEPOT: Pentagon insists it needs the water rights to wells “Their dilemma — and I think they’re sincere on this — is that they have a national security issue.” Continued from 1A Guard and have two wells split between entities. “It comes down to well number one,” Smith said. He said the Pentagon insists it needs the water rights to that well, but has also said it is open to leasing most of those rights to the authority if they worked together to put in infrastruc- ture needed to get the defunct well working again. “I genuinely think they want to reach a good reso- lution,” Smith said. “But their dilemma — and I think they’re sincere on this — is that they have a national security issue.” That issue is wanting to make sure they have the infra- structure in place, should the water be needed once again to support a war effort. They also want to have the water RQKDQGIRU¿UHVXSSUHVVLRQ Those issues were discussed when Smith and board members Kim Puzey (Port of Umatilla) and Gary Neal (Port of Morrow) met with Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commis- VLRQRI¿FLDOVLQ:DVKLQJWRQ D.C. in March. Puzey said the atmosphere of the meeting started off “bristly” and “prickly” but Smith did a good job of practicing the SULQFLSOH³VHHN¿UVWWRXQGHU- stand, then to be understood” — Greg Smith, executive director to the federal government and show them the types of projects that are being held EO file photo up because the conveyance Some structures involved in the destruction of chemical agents at the Umatilla Army Deport remain process was taking so long. The Columbia Devel- after the incinerating facility had been demolished. opment Authority is a part- and the tension in the room a Seattle-based company nership between Umatilla lowered considerably as specializing in utility-scale County, Morrow County, things went on. solar farms, was interested in Port of Umatilla, Port of Puzey said even though the leasing a section of depot land Morrow and the Confeder- water discussion was taking for a solar panel installation. ated Tribes of the Umatilla a long time, he believed that “I’ve been out there and Indian Reservation. taking the time to negotiate saw some sites we think are ——— was, in the end, going to be absolutely phenomenal,” she Contact Jade McDowell PXWXDOO\ EHQH¿FLDO IRU ERWK said. at jmcdowell@eastorego- the development authority :KHQDVNHGKRZELJRID nian.com or 541-564-4536. and the National Guard. project they were looking at, Smith said he felt that she said things could change DQRWKHU WULS WR :DVKLQJWRQ but they would consider D.C., in the next couple of somewhere in the ballpark weeks while Congress is of 20 megawatts. The solar going through the appropria- array Umatilla Electric tions process would be highly Cooperative just brought productive for moving things online in Umatilla County along. The board agreed. is 1.3 megawatts and puts At the beginning of the out enough energy for 112 meeting the board heard homes. from a potential client. Taylor Puzey said he thought One Steele said her employer, Energy Renewables would One Energy Renewables, be a good example to take Tuesday, April 5, 2016 WORLD BRIEFLY Supreme Court bolsters political iQÀueQce oI US Latinos :$6+,1*721$3 — The Supreme Court unanimously endorsed election maps that bolster the growing political LQÀXHQFHRI$PHULFD¶V Latinos on Monday, ruling that states can count everyone, not just eligible voters, in drawing voting districts. The decision rejected a challenge from Texas voters that also could have diluted the voting power of urban Democrats, WRWKHEHQH¿WRIUXUDO Republicans. The case offered a test of the principle of “one person, one vote,” the requirement laid out by the Supreme Court in 1964 that political districts be roughly equal in population. The issue here, though, was what population to consider: everyone or just eligible voters. All 50 states use total population as their basis for drawing district lines, but the challengers said the rural state Senate districts in which they lived had vastly more eligible voters than urban districts, making their votes count for less, in violation of the Constitution. In Texas, and other states with large immigrant populations, urban districts include many more people who are too young, not yet citizens, in the country illegally or otherwise ineligible to vote. All of them, recorded by the census, count for the purpose of drawing political districts. Civil rights groups said forcing states to change their method of constructing districts would have damaged /DWLQRSROLWLFDOLQÀXHQFH The court stopped short of saying that states must use total population. And it also did not rule on whether states are free to use a different measure, as Texas had asked. Federal report: global warming maNing US sicN :$6+,1*721 (AP) — Man-made global warming is making America sicker, and it’s only going to get worse, according to a new federal government report. The 332-page report issued Monday by the Obama administration said global warming will make the air dirtier, water more contaminated and food more tainted. It warned of diseases, such as those spread by ticks and mosquitoes, longer allergy seasons, and thousands of heat wave deaths. Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy said if that’s not enough, climate change affects people’s mental health, too. “It’s not just about polar bears and melting ice caps. It’s about our families. It’s about our future,” 0F&DUWK\VDLGDWD:KLWH House event unveiling the report. Climate change affects more people in more ways than anything doctors have seen in the past, said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He said the report allows doctors to better quantify “the sheer number of pathways through which climate affects health.” That includes air pollution worsened from power plants, pollen and HYHQZLOG¿UHVKHVDLG CRASH: Also investigating Monday morning crash near Baker City of .16 percent, twice the legal limit. to avoid the wrong-way Oregon State Police also driver. An ambulance also are investigating a crash took her to St. Anthony Monday morning near Hospital. Baker City that left an adult State police did not and a child dead. know yet if drugs or State police reported alcohol were a factor in the preliminary information crashes. indicates Monday at 5:34 The Oregon Department a.m. a 2006 Chevy Cobalt of Transportation, Umatilla was westbound and for Tribal Fire and Ambulance, unknown reasons left the Pendleton Fire and Ambu- roadway and rolled several lance, Umatilla County times, ejecting a child. Sheriff’s Department, The child and an adult Pendleton Police Depart- passenger died at the scene. ment and the Umatilla $QDLUDPEXODQFHÀHZWKH Tribal Police Department driver to Saint Alphonsus responded to the scenes. Regional Medical Center :KLOH RI¿FHUV ZHUH in Boise, Idaho, for treat- investigating the fatal ment of serious injuries. crash, a 1994 Ford Ranger State police closed one drove through the closed westbound lane of I-84 for scene. Tribal police approximately four hours stopped the pickup and following the crash. arrested Joshua Haynie, $QG-DPHV:&URZ 32, of Pendleton, for of Kennewick died March GULYLQJXQGHUWKHLQÀXHQFH 28 after crashing his semi- of intoxicants. He later tractor hauling a double provided a breath sample tanker of milk on Interstate with a blood-alcohol level 84 just west of Boardman. Continued from 1A The Forest Plan and You TRAVEL THE WORLD’S LEGENDARY RIVERS THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 6:30 PM AAA Pendleton 1729 SW Court Avenue RSVP: 541.276.2243 Join AAA Travel and river cruise expert, Michael Weldon, as we explore the value and comfort of a deluxe all-inclusive river cruise aboard award-winning Viking Longships. Spend less time getting there and more time being there. All events are open to the public and free to attend, but space is limited. Please RSVP. AAA.COM/TRAVEL 4.9 million acres of public land in Eastern Oregon are operating under plans and science that date back to 1990. Oregon Public Broadcasting will sit down with Malheur National Forest Supervisor Steve Beverlin and representatives from environmentalist, recreation, tribal and timber interests to talk about confl icts of interest and the path forward. This conversation is brought to you by Oregon Public Broadcasting and the East Oregonian Wednesday, April 6 6:30- 8p.m. (Arrive before 6:30p.m. for seating, forum will begin at 7p.m.) Blue Mountain Community College ST-200 Lecture Hall The forum will be broadcast on Think Out Loud on Thursday at noon and 8p.m.
