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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2016)
78/47 OFFICIALS SIGN PACT TO TEAR DOWN DAMS BMCC SPLITS DOUBLE HEADER NORTHWEST/2A SPORTS/1B Politicians, celebs in spotlight over offshore accounts NATION/7A THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 140th Year, No. 124 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar PENDLETON UAS range bets the farm on its future Grant focused on agriculture could help attract drone companies By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The drone industry has long said that the future of agriculture is in the sky. The Pendleton Unmanned Aerial Systems Range is about the put serious resources into that prediction. Pending a $10,000 match from the city, the Pendleton UAS Range is set to receive a grant of $150,000 from SOAR Oregon, a statewide 8$6IRFXVHG QRQSUR¿W WR HVWDE lish the Oregon UAS Future Farm. The Future Farm is the brain- child of Jeff Lorton, the director of the Carlton advertising agency Duke Joseph, and Young Kim, the CEO of Digital Harvest, a Virginia-based UAS company specializing in agriculture. Using their combined expertise in promotion and technology, Lorton and Kim want to use Future See UAS/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Jeff Lorton, creative director of Duke Joseph advertising agency, is one of the creators behind the Pendleton UAS Range’s Future Farm concept. Shakespeare troupe takes on bullying at Pendleton school Judge sets Sept. trial for refuge standoff By STEVEN DUBOIS Associated Press Staff photo by E.J. Harris Actors Clint Bidwell, Ron Williams and Cyndi Kimmel play out a scene from the Shakespearean play “Twelfth Night” recently at Sunridge Middle School in Pendleton. To bully, or not to bully Play presents examples of bullying and the consequences By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Shakespeare might not initially seem the best source for anti-bullying advice. After all, the Bard packed his plays with bloodshed, treason, poisonings, pranking, sword- play, beheadings and a multi- tude of other assorted mayhem. Shakespeare taking on bullying might seem as absurd as Bernie Madoff teaching ethics. But Shakespeare understood human behavior, said Ron Williams, executive director of Shakespeare Walla Walla. Williams believes Shakespeare plays are rife with examples of bullying and the consequences. He and two other actors from his troupe presented “Twelfth Night” on Friday to sixth graders at Sunridge Middle School and then proceeded to the classroom where they put bullying under the microscope and examined its ugly nature. Shakespearean characters often bully one another, Williams said. In “Twelfth Night,” for example, two characters — Malvolio and Sir Andrew — are tormented unmercifully throughout the play. Sir Andrew, a rich buffoon, is an easy target. Malvolio, a JUXPS\ DQG RI¿FLRXV EXWOHU LV like the smart kid in class who everyone else loves to hate. “The relationships between Shakespeare’s characters are always extremely clear,” he said. “It’s easy to exaggerate See BULLY/8A UMATILLA City raises wages and utility rates Some workers will see a 42 percent jump in pay By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Utility rates and wages for city of Umatilla employees will both be going up during the 2016-2017 ¿VFDO\HDU On Tuesday the city council approved a wage increase for non-unionized workers in pay scales A through G, matching a similar hike in pay for the city’s upper three pay scales earlier in the year. The largest jump in pay — a 42 percent raise — went to step G, which includes the police sergeant and wastewater plant supervisor. Step one of their pay scale went from $49,860 a year to $70,620. The smallest raises, for general RI¿FH ZRUNHUV OLEUDU\ DLGHV wastewater operators and main- tenance workers, were 5 percent. Other raises ranged from 9 percent to 31 percent. Councilor Mary Dedrick was the only one who voted against the pay increases. She said she had heard from too many citizens angry that city workers were being given raises while fees and utility rates for residents kept going up. “People are getting very upset,” she said. City manager Russ Pelleberg More inside City denies zoning change for housing development in McNary Page 3A DQG ¿QDQFH GLUHFWRU 0HOLVVD ,QFH said that the raises were long overdue to keep the city competitive for attracting skilled employees. Ince said she did a wage study that separately compared Umatilla sala- ries with the state averages, Eastern Oregon and similarly sized cities in Oregon. She said many positions were about 20 percent below state and Eastern Oregon levels. She said more than 50 percent See UMATILLA/8A PORTLAND — The federal judge overseeing Oregon’s wildlife refuge standoff case scheduled a September trial on Wednesday and reinforced her decision to send Ammon and Ryan Bundy to Nevada next week for a court appearance. U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown made those decisions during a testy hearing in which she repeatedly admonished lawyers for making repet- itive points and threatened to remove one of the defendants from the court. The packed courtroom included a majority of the 26 defendants charged with taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for 41 days this winter in a protest over land policy. Lawyers for all the defendants were there as well, and their competing interests and schedules add to the complexity of the case the judge must oversee. Brown scheduled jury selection to begin Sept. 7, despite objections from several attorneys who said that wasn’t enough time to prepare and wanted the trial pushed back to 2017. Other lawyers supported the late summer date. The judge left open the possibility for an eventual delay, but she said the right to a speedy trial is paramount for now. There’s also the chance of two different trials, one for defendants who want to go early and one for those who want next year. Also Wednesday, the judge upheld her decision to have the Bundy brothers DQGWZRRWKHUGHIHQGDQWVÀRZQWR/DV Vegas next week for a court appearance and then returned to Oregon within 10 days. The men face charges stemming from a 2014 standoff at Cliven Bundy’s ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada. Defense lawyers have said it’s improper to make their clients defend two cases at once in different states. They have asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule Brown. The appellate court has yet to indicate when it will rule. Defendant Jason Patrick nearly got tossed from the courtroom after the judge, who had been snapping at lawyers to stay on point, told him to stop talking. “I was just asking if there will be more violent outbursts by the judge,” Patrick replied. Brown ordered courtroom personnel to remove Patrick, but ultimately let him stay. Later, another defendant, Kenneth Medenbach, who’s acting as his own attorney, demanded that Brown prove VKHWRRNDQRDWKRIRI¿FHDQLVVXHKH has raised previously. Brown told him she publicly took the oath in November 1999. “Why is there no record of it?” a supporter of the occupiers shouted from the gallery. Brown said she wasn’t spending any more time on the issue.
