82/54
BLAZERS
BATTLE IN
PLAYOFFS
NATION/6A
TUBMAN
TO REPLACE
JACKSON
ON $20 BILL
BASKETBALL/1B
How Oregon
pot dealers
pay taxes
NORTHWEST/2A
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016
140th Year, No. 134
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Tribes
defend
hatcheries
Litigation puts ¿ sheries
at risk, CRITFC says
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
Bronzes to start talking back
Council approves funding for self-guided tour of statues
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Pendleton’s bronzes have
inspired plenty of conversation
and now they’ll make some of
their own.
The Pendleton City Council
approved funding for the Pend-
leton Bronze Trail, a self-guided
tour of 15 city statues that uses a
mobile website to provide tourists
with historical information.
The city divided the $5,375 cost
of developing and establishing the
trail between the urban renewal
district and the city’s art fund.
The Duke Joseph Agency,
a Carlton-based advertising
agency that’s also involved in the
city’s Oregon Unmanned Aerial
Systems Future Farm project, will
develop the website and host it for
its ¿ rst year.
According to material provided
by Duke Joseph, the trail website
will feature an interactive map
with GPS and walking directions
to each statue.
Each statue will have its own
page with photographs, a 60 to
75-word summary describing the
person and their exploits and an
See BRONZES/8A
Columbia River tribes are speaking
out against litigation that calls into
question federal funding for hatchery
programs across the Northwest.
The Wild Fish Conservancy, a
nonpro¿ t conservation group based in
Duvall, Washington, has sued the U.S.
Department of Commerce and National
Marine Fisheries Service, accusing the
agencies of violating the Endangered
Species Act by not properly weighing
the negative impact of hatcheries on
wild ¿ sh populations.
At least $12 million has been allocated
every year to hatchery programs in the
Columbia Basin under the Mitchell Act,
which passed in 13 to mitigate ¿ sh
losses from dams, irrigation, pollution
and logging. But the Wild Fish Conser-
See FISH/8A
Mosquitoes,
microbes
and Zika
Biologist gives primer
on virus at BMCC
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
An old bicycle adorns a planter on a street corner on Main Street in Echo.
Sascha McKeon knows mosquitoes.
The Blue Mountain Community
College biology instructor talked
about mosquitoes and the Zika virus
Wednesday during BMCC’s Arts &
Culture Festival.
McKeon spent
three years as a
¿ eld researcher
studying
the
blood-sucking
insects in the
Brazilian Amazon.
Her team gathered
mosquitoes from
diverse locations
from the jungle to McKeon
livestock corrals,
running into the occasional tarantula,
jaguar and crocodile. She collected
larvae. She lured adult insects with her
own carbon dioxide-rich breath and
then sucked them into an instrument
called a mosquito aspirator.
McKeon drew a laugh from the
audience in BMCC’s Bob Clapp
Theatre while describing herself and
fellow mosquito researchers.
See ZIKA/2A
Small town living
Echo a ‘hidden gem’
of Eastern Oregon
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Echo fourth-graders Isiic Wade and Dominic Curiel make bark rub-
bing on a tree in George Park on Wednesday in Echo.
As small towns test
strategies to attract economic
development, Echo’s approach
might best be described as
“Plant it and they will come.”
It’s a sort of reversal of
many cities’ strategy: Instead
of focusing on attracting busi-
nesses in order to grow the tax
base and have money to beau-
tify the city, Echo is focused on
beautifying the city to attract
Incumbent faces upstart
in city council Ward 1 race
The
Pendleton
City
Council Ward 1 race is a study
in contrast.
Councilor Becky Marks
is a two-term incumbent
who touts her experience in
government and the progress
the city has made at the Eastern
Oregon Regional Airport and
the downtown area during her
tenure.
That progress includes 84
percent occupancy rate for the
downtown area, leasing all
vacant building at the airport
and establishing the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Range.
Her opponent is James
Tibbets, a young upstart who
wants to upgrade the city’s
technology and has a troubled
past.
The tagline “Get the Good
Ol’ Boys Gone!” is featured
prominently in much of his
campaign material.
“Why are we getting
statues that very few people
care about"” he wrote in the
Oregon Primary Election
See ECHO/8A
Becky Marks
PENDLETON
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
more growth.
“Basically, is the chicken
¿ rst or the egg"” asked Diane
Berry, city manager.
Berry, supported by the city
council and private and public
partners, has aggressively
sought grants for art, trees,
À owers and historical preserva-
tion in the city of 715 people.
The city has also worked to
extend that beauti¿ cation to
residences through programs
Voters’ Pamphlet. “Last I knew,
statues don’t ¿ ll potholes or
lower taxes. I hear complaints
from residents about the condi-
tion of Pendleton all the time,
and I’ve had it!”
A third candidate — former
tribal public defender Renee
Caubisens — is listed in the
ballot but has dropped her bid
after the withdrawal deadline
because of an health reasons.
That leaves two people to
vie for the seat, which primarily
represents the downtown area,
See COUNCIL/8A
Age: 67
Occupation:
Hometown: Carlton
Years in Pendleton: 24
Highest Level of Education:
Bachelor’s degree, Eastern
Oregon University
Family: Married, fi ve children,
seven grandchildren, four
great-grandchildren
James Tibbets
Age: 28
Occupation: Owner of James A.
Tibbets Technology Solutions
Hometown: Hillboro
Years in Pendleton: 11
Highest Level of Education:
Some college at BMCC
Family: Single
*Renee Caubisens is listed on the
ballot but ended her campaign after
the withdrawal deadline