NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Friday, June 10, 2016
Fire near Sisters 30 percent contained
to drop ire retardant to prevent
afternoon winds from pushing
the lames past containment lines
toward homes on the north end
of the 1,930-acre ire, the Oregon
Department of Forestry said on
its Facebook page. Light rain
produced higher humidity and
favorable conditions for ire-
ighters, who were using bulldozers
and hand tools to ight the so-called
Akawana ire north of Sisters and
near Lake Billy Chinook, the
department said.
Authorities said the blaze was
30 percent contained two days after
it started.
About 900 homes are still
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
BEND — Fireighters trying to
put out an early-season wildire in
central Oregon were assisted by
rain showers and low winds on
Thursday, and a plane used in the
battle blew a tire while landing,
causing the regional airport to
temporarily close.
Disruptions at the Redmond
airport were minimal while the
plane was removed from the
runway, said airport operations
manager Winton Platt. He said no
one was injured in the incident.
An airtanker was being used
TRAINS: 161st
anniversary of
U.S. treaty with
the Yakamas
the wildire.
Fields said that because of
cooler conditions and the snow-
pack, the 2016 ire season had been
expected to start later.
“This is the irst major ire of
the season,” Fields said. “It is much
earlier than expected.”
Lightning sparked the blaze
Tuesday and it was spread by
strong winds. Downed trees, some
killed by beetles, added fuel to the
ire.
The Department of Environ-
mental Quality urged residents in
central and southern Oregon to
limit their exposure to smoke by
keeping windows and doors closed.
considered threatened and resi-
dents must be prepared to leave
at a moment’s notice, the forestry
department said.
“The winds here have subsided
quite a bit,” department spokesman
Tom Fields said Thursday morning
over the phone from a staging area
in Sisters. “Yesterday, winds were
greater than 20 miles per hour.”
Some 400 ireighters and
support staff were expected to work
on the ire, using bulldozers and
backed by a helicopter dropping
water on the lames, Fields said.
Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday
authorized ireighters and equip-
ment from around Oregon to ight
Continued from 1A
general council, rang a bell before
leading the group in what he
called a “messenger song,” which
the tribe used to honor a small bird
whose arrival signiied the return
of the Columbia River each year.
“This is his song that we use,”
Washines said. “It’s a messenger
song and I hope that from this
day the message gets stronger.
This is for the land, the water, the
children.”
The tribal leaders said they
were especially sad to be gath-
ering to discuss the derailment
on the 161st anniversary of the
U.S. government’s treaty with the
Yakamas, an event that was to be
marked with a weekend of cele-
brations including a parade and
powwow. The pollution caused
by oil spills threatens the ishing
rights reserved in the treaty, the
tribe said.
Among the two dozen tribal
members who attended were
leaders of the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs and the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Reservation in Oregon and the
Lummi Nation in Washington
state.
“We are farmers of the river,
farmers of the sea, farmers of the
land, and we have been since time
immemorial,” said Jay Julius,
a member of the Lummi tribal
council. “The ish always returned
because we gave them great
respect. Where are we at today?”
An organization representing
8,000 union ireighters in Wash-
ington on Wednesday asked Gov.
Jay Inslee to urge federal regula-
tors to halt oil trains through the
state until there’s a full investiga-
tion into the cause of the Oregon
derailment.
“What happened in Mosier
could have just as easily happened
in a population center like Spokane
or Seattle, resulting in even
greater tragedy,” Dennis Lawson,
president of the Washington State
Council of Fire Fighters wrote in
a letter.
Refuge occupier pleads guilty to conspiracy
six months of home detention
when Flores is sentenced Dec. 8.
The charge carries a maximum
penalty of six years in prison, but
Flores is a irst-time felon and he
gets points for the early resolution
of his case.
A member of the Tulalip Tribes
north of Seattle, Flores admitted
to U.S. District Court Judge
Anna J. Brown that he traveled to
Oregon with seven irearms — a
mixture of handguns and riles —
and performed guard duty during
the Ammon Bundy-led takeover
of the Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge.
By STEVEN DUBOIS
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Eric Lee
Flores, one of the youngest people
to take part in the occupation of an
Oregon bird sanctuary, accepted
a plea deal Thursday that might
keep him out of federal prison.
Flores, 22, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to impede oficers of
the United States. In exchange,
prosecutors dropped a charge of
irearms possession in a federal
facility.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig
Gabriel said he will recommend
izzled out a couple weeks later.
The occupiers wanted the
federal government to relinquish
public lands and free Dwight and
Steven Hammond, two Oregon
ranchers imprisoned for setting
ires. Neither demand was met.
Flores is the second of the
26 defendants indicted on the
conspiracy charge to accept a plea
deal. A September trial has been
scheduled for the remaining 24
defendants, including Ammon
and Ryan Bundy.
A status hearing on the
complex case has been set for
June 15.
He acknowledged his actions
intimidated Interior Department
employees, preventing them from
doing their jobs.
“I thought I was doing the right
thing,” Flores told the judge when
asked why he participated. “I
thought it was public land.”
The takeover and ensuing
standoff began Jan. 2, lasted
nearly six weeks and included the
fatal shooting by police of rancher
and occupation spokesman Robert
“LaVoy” Finicum.
Flores left after Finicum’s
Jan. 26 death and was arrested in
Washington when the occupation
WORLD BRIEFLY
sought to reassure Democrats that
Clinton shares their values and is
ready for the job.
“Look, I know how hard
this job can be. That’s why I
know Hillary will be so good
at it,” Obama said. “I have seen
her judgment. I have seen her
toughness. I’ve seen her commit-
ment to our values.”
Obama’s testimonial came less
than an hour after the president
met privately with Sanders at
the White House to discuss the
future of the senator’s “political
revolution” — one that will not
include him taking up residence
at the White House. Sanders
emerged from the meeting
subdued and indicated he had
gotten the message.
Although he stopped short of
endorsing Clinton, the Vermont
senator told reporters he planned
to press for his “issues” — rather
than victory — at the party’s July
With careful staging,
Obama backs Clinton,
nudges Sanders
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Testifying to Hillary Clinton’s
grit and experience, President
Barack Obama endorsed his
former secretary of state’s bid
to succeed him on Thursday
and urged Democrats to line up
behind her. It was all part of a
carefully orchestrated pressure
campaign aimed at easing Clinton
rival Bernie Sanders toward
the exit and turning fully to the
ight against Republican Donald
Trump.
Obama’s long-expected
endorsement, delivered via an
online video, included a forceful
call for unity and for “embracing”
Sanders’ economic message,
which has ired up much of the
liberal wing of his party. Obama
Oficial: U.S. moving
to expand airstrikes in
Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (AP) —
After months of debate, the
U.S. is close to a decision to
expand the military’s authority
to conduct airstrikes against
the Taliban as the violence in
Afghanistan escalates, a senior
U.S. defense oficial said
Thursday.
The oficial said a inal
decision has not been made, but
the discussions are in their inal
stages. There is a broad desire
across the Obama administration
to give the military greater ability
to help the Afghans ight and win
the war. The oficial said the U.S.
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
SATURDAY
TODAY
Variable clouds,
showers; cooler
Clouds and
sunshine
67° 47°
70° 45°
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
Partly sunny and
pleasant
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
77° 50°
75° 47°
68° 46°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
73° 49°
74° 45°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
77°
76°
103° (1918)
54°
51°
39° (1999)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.09"
0.10"
0.50"
5.69"
4.99"
7.05"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
80°
78°
98° (2015)
56°
52°
41° (1985)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.05"
0.08"
0.23"
4.31"
3.14"
5.37"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
First
Full
5:06 a.m.
8:44 p.m.
11:15 a.m.
12:17 a.m.
Last
New
June 12 June 20 June 27
78° 52°
72° 46°
Seattle
64/51
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
81° 52°
July 4
Today
TUESDAY
Spokane
Wenatchee
58/44
71/51
Tacoma
Moses
63/49
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 72/47
56/42
59/49
62/47
72/44
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
61/49
66/49 Lewiston
73/50
Astoria
62/49
61/49
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
65/52
Pendleton 55/38
The Dalles 73/49
67/47
69/50
La Grande
Salem
60/40
64/50
Albany
Corvallis 64/48
67/47
John Day
60/42
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
79/53
66/46
61/34
Caldwell
Burns
81/53
65/34
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
61
59
61
60
65
55
66
63
73
60
62
60
55
71
57
62
79
73
67
65
63
64
58
57
63
66
72
Lo
49
38
34
47
34
38
46
42
49
42
32
40
38
45
47
49
53
49
47
52
35
50
44
37
50
49
44
W
t
sh
c
c
c
sh
c
sh
sh
sh
c
sh
sh
c
c
sh
pc
sh
sh
t
c
t
sh
sh
t
sh
sh
Hi
62
63
61
65
64
60
69
67
74
65
67
64
61
75
59
63
75
75
70
65
64
67
64
60
63
71
72
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
66
81
58
57
57
47
58
63
68
50
67
W
t
t
s
pc
t
pc
pc
t
pc
s
pc
Lo
49
33
34
48
30
38
43
43
45
41
35
39
33
46
45
49
46
46
45
50
34
47
44
35
48
48
44
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
sh
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
t
pc
sh
pc
pc
Sat.
Hi
88
90
77
66
72
59
68
78
82
67
80
Lo
62
83
62
55
56
49
56
65
65
51
68
W
pc
t
s
sh
t
sh
t
pc
pc
s
pc
WINDS
Medford
71/45
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
62/32
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Variable cloudiness today
with a couple of showers. A passing shower
tonight.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Intervals of
clouds and sunshine today; a couple of
showers and a thunderstorm.
Western Washington: Variable clouds today
with showers. A passing shower tonight.
Eastern Washington: A couple of showers
and a thunderstorm today, except dry in
central sections.
Cascades: Variable cloudiness today with a
couple of showers; cooler in the south.
Northern California: Partly sunny today.
Clear tonight. Partly sunny tomorrow.
Today
Saturday
WSW 8-16
WSW 6-12
WSW 8-16
WSW 8-16
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
1
2
4
5
4
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
92
90
75
70
76
63
72
78
85
68
80
NEWS
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
is likely to expand the authority
of U.S. commanders to strike
the Taliban and do whatever
else is necessary with the forces
they have to support the Afghan
operations.
The 9,800 U.S. troops still in
Afghanistan, however, would still
not be involved in direct combat.
The oficial was not autho-
rized to talk publicly about the
discussions so spoke on condition
of anonymity.
The expected decision comes
as the Afghans struggle with a
resurgent Taliban, particularly in
the south. But it is fraught with
political sensitivities because
President Barack Obama had
made clear his commitment to get
U.S. forces out of Afghanistan.
That effort, however, has been
stalled by the slow pace of the
development of the Afghan
military and the resilience of the
Taliban.
convention and would meet with
Clinton “in the near future” to
discuss ways to defeat Trump.
1
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: While the Northeast will stay cool today, heat will hold and expand
in the Central states. Storms will rim the heat in the Midwest. Showers will cool the
Northwest. The cool air will take aim at the Southwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 106° in Needles, Calif.
Low 27° in Spincich Lake, Mich.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
95
92
75
81
89
94
82
68
90
84
92
82
94
92
81
99
71
92
83
88
88
89
90
101
93
76
Lo
68
72
61
62
61
72
52
54
72
65
72
69
75
63
68
76
52
64
72
72
69
70
72
78
72
62
W
pc
s
s
s
pc
s
pc
pc
s
pc
t
s
pc
t
s
pc
pc
t
pc
t
pc
t
s
s
s
pc
Sat.
Hi
91
94
79
90
82
93
72
74
90
94
94
92
91
91
93
95
69
86
83
88
92
90
93
98
95
74
Lo
64
74
72
72
56
74
48
62
73
68
62
64
76
62
64
73
50
63
74
73
72
69
73
74
74
60
Today
W
t
s
c
t
pc
s
pc
s
pc
pc
t
t
s
pc
t
t
c
s
pc
t
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
Hi
Louisville
92
Memphis
94
Miami
88
Milwaukee
86
Minneapolis
94
Nashville
95
New Orleans
91
New York City
77
Oklahoma City
91
Omaha
97
Philadelphia
79
Phoenix
101
Portland, ME
66
Providence
72
Raleigh
85
Rapid City
91
Reno
81
Sacramento
85
St. Louis
95
Salt Lake City
97
San Diego
70
San Francisco
69
Seattle
64
Tucson
95
Washington, DC 81
Wichita
92
Lo
69
73
76
70
74
67
77
59
71
74
58
81
49
52
67
61
51
54
73
70
64
53
51
74
67
71
W
pc
s
t
t
t
s
t
s
pc
s
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
t
t
s
s
Sat.
Hi
94
95
89
91
92
98
89
78
91
98
87
104
70
75
95
97
78
90
96
81
70
77
63
97
91
93
Lo
72
75
76
59
67
70
76
68
72
75
73
78
55
61
73
62
52
59
77
59
65
55
52
73
75
73
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
pc
s
t
t
s
s
t
t
pc
s
t
t
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
s
t
pc
pc
pc
t
t
s