REGION
Thursday, June 23, 2016
PENDLETON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
PILOT ROCK
Budget passed,
rates raised,
pot banned
Council
approves
10 percent
discount
on utilities
Climate change
educator has hope
PENDLETON — After
being a self-described
fence-sitter on global
warming, Peter Haug began
researching the topic and
taking online courses on the
subject.
Since then, the retired
journalist, systems ecologist
and veteran ESL teacher
in China, has become a
climate change educator.
Over the last year, Haug also
has given talks at libraries
and service organizations.
Haug will present Beyond
Climate Change: A Climate
of Hope Tuesday at 6 p.m.
in the Pendleton City Hall
community room, 501 S.W.
Emigrant Ave. The free
event will include a group
discussion.
Haug continues to learn
more about the rapidly
changing science behind
climate change. His talks are
designed to help interested
persons better understand
the practical implications of
climate change. His main
focus is on what individuals
and groups can do about
mitigating climate change
and working to reverse its
global ramiications.
For more information,
contact Ruth Hall at
541-429-0614.
Councilors also OKed
increasing the public safety
surcharge from $3 a month to
$3.50. And the council voted
for the new recreational park
ordinance.
Porter said no one is
building a park at this time,
but there has been interest
in the idea, and now the
city has guidelines in case
someone does want to build
an RV park.
The council also amended
the zoning ordinance to
prohibit marijuana-related
businesses. The council
already nixed having the
businesses operate in the
city. Changing the zoning
code is another measure
to ensure banning sales of
marijuana and marijuana-re-
lated products.
And local internet service
provider Wtechlink Inc.
received a telecommunica-
tions franchise from the city.
Wtechlink is running iber
optic cable in Pilot Rock,
and the franchise grants the
company the right to build,
operate and maintain a tele-
communications
network
in the city limits. Wtechlink
must pay a franchise fee
equal to 7 percent of reve-
nues from providing services
in the town.
Porter, who ills a lot of
roles in the local government,
will get to go on vacation in
July. The council voted to
approve that request as well.
Pilot Rock City Council
next meets July 5.
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The city of Pendleton will
apply a 10 percent water and
sewer discount to low- and
ixed-income
residents
starting Aug. 1.
Now they need to igure
out how to tell people about
it.
Applicants
will
be
screened for the new program
through nonproits Helping
Hand and Community Action
Program of East Central
Oregon, where employees
will determine whether a
household earns 125 percent
or less of federal govern-
mental poverty guidelines.
This was exactly the
kind of language Councilor
Becky Marks didn’t want
to use when advertising the
program.
Occasionally banging her
ists against the dais when
speaking, Marks said any
mention of poverty would
deter proud ixed-income
residents from accessing the
program. And she balked at
the suggestion of CAPECO
discussing the program at the
senior center.
“They know CAPECO is
for poor people,” Marks said.
Councilors Tom Young
and John Brenne also said
the program would scare off
ixed-income residents in
need of assistance.
Instead of promoting the
program requirements with
poverty guidelines, City
Manager Robb Corbett said
the city could use income
brackets to notify residents
whether they’re eligible for
the program.
Councilor Chuck Wood
said a one-person household
making 125 percent of the
poverty guideline would earn
$14,850 per year, two people
$20,250 and would continue
to go up from there based on
household size.
The council approved the
discount, 6-2, with a request
to create a public awareness
campaign for the program.
Young and Brenne voted
against the resolution.
City staff developed the
program to help mitigate the
effects of a $7 per month
increase in water and sewer
costs and a $5 per month
street utility fee.
The council also amended
the city’s transportation plan
to include an update focusing
on bike and pedestrian paths.
The council voted 6-2 to
pass the amendment, with
Young and Marks voting
against.
At the council’s next
meeting, it will vote on
amending the city’s uniied
development code to incor-
porate the updated transpor-
tation plan.
Page 3A
Photo contributed by Silvia Rondon.
Sapinder Bali discusses ongoing research into nematode resistance in po-
tatoes during the annual potato ield day at the Hermiston Agricultural Re-
search and Extension Center.
Nematodes nemesis
of potato farmers
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Potato breeders at Oregon State
University are hot on the tail of a micro-
scopic parasite lurking in farms across the
Columbia Basin.
Columbia root-knot nematodes might
be too small to see with the naked eye, but
they can cause noticeable damage to spuds
if left unchecked. The faculty at OSU’s
Hermiston Agricultural Research and
Extension Center is now working to iden-
tify the gene that makes certain potatoes
resistant to nematodes, which could then
be used to create new varieties.
Sapinder Bali, a postdoctoral scholar
with the HAREC plant breeding program,
is part of a team developing molecular
markers for the nematode-resistance gene
in potatoes. She discussed their progress
during the station’s annual potato ield day
Wednesday.
Nematodes infect both the roots and
tubers of potato plants, which can stunt
their growth or kill them altogether. By
developing a set of molecular markers,
Bali said researchers will be able to scan
potatoes at the DNA level to ind which
varieties are resistant and which are
susceptible to nematodes.
“These markers can help breeders
to conirm the resistant varieties before
crossing for choosing right parents and
evaluating the segregating populations
with higher conidence,” according to the
project summary.
That gives breeders like Sagar Sathu-
valli a leg up on creating new varieties
designed to save farmers money. Sathuvalli
works with the Tri-State Potato Breeding
Program with Oregon, Washington and
Idaho. It takes a minimum of 12 years and
thousands of samples before new varieties
are ready for commercial release, he said.
The program did release three new
varieties earlier this year, including Jester,
Cheshire and Vermilion. Three others are
also in the works. Sathuvalli said breeding
is done primarily for resistance to pests
like nematodes and diseases like Verticil-
lium wilt and potato virus Y.
“Our goal is to identify those genes
responsible for resistance,” he said.
Other ield day presentations included
updates on tiny Lygus bugs as a potential
vector for disease, as well as efforts to
monitor aphids in ields. The goal of
HAREC ield days is to provide the latest
information on growing tools and tech-
niques to make local farmers as eficient
and proitable as they can.
Station Director Phil Hamm said
HAREC is now home to 15 center-pivot
irrigation systems for their ields, mostly
due to the generosity of supporters. A
new Blue Mountain Community College
Precision Irrigation Agriculture building is
also under construction.
“It just keeps getting bigger and
bigger,” Hamm said. “I don’t think you
can go anywhere where they have more
faculty doing more with potatoes than we
have here.”
Umatilla schools summer feeding program begins
UMATILLA — The
Umatilla School District
summer feeding program
has begun. Throughout
the summer months kids
can eat for free breakfast,
lunch and dinner.
McNary
Heights
Elementary will serve
three meals a day, Monday
through Friday. Breakfast
runs from 8 to 9 a.m., lunch
will be served from 11 a.m.
to noon, and dinner will be
available from 4:30 to 5:30
p.m.
Umatilla High School
will offer breakfast and
lunch Monday through
Friday as well, with
breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m.
and lunch from 11:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m.
Lunch will be served
Monday through Friday
from 11 a.m. to noon at
South Hill Park. From
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at
Marina Park and from noon
to 1 p.m. at Kiwanis Park
Authentic Vintage
Rock in the Red
Lion Lounge. The
best of 70’s Rock
and Then Some.
June 25th
at 8pm
next to the McNary Market.
Meals also are available
for adults for a fee.
Breakfast is $1, lunch is
$2 and dinner will cost an
adult $3.
The summer menu can
be found on the Umatilla
School District website.
THANK YOU
to all of you who supported the
consolidation of the two districts. As
Umatilla County Fire District #1, we
will do all we can to provide you with
the fi re and emergency medical
service you deserve.
We look forward
to serving you for
many years.
Speeder and crasher
end up in jail for duii
to the Umatilla County
Jail, Pendleton, for the
duii and possession of
methamphetamine
and
driving while suspended.
A second trooper arrested
a Walla Walla man after a
crash Tuesday night near
Milton-Freewater.
Antonio Meza-Ibarra, 39,
was southbound on Highway
339 in a Nissan Altima when
he lost control a little before
11 p.m. near West Crockett
Road, drove through a front
yard and crashed into a fence.
The trooper contacted
Meza-Ibarra, according to
state police, and he showed
signs
of
impairment.
The homeowner and the
passenger said Meza-Ibarra
was behind the wheel, though
the state already suspended
his license for previously
driving drunk. He refused a
breath test this time.
Police booked Meza-
Ibarra into the county jail
on charges of duii (alcohol),
driving while suspended/
revoked, reckless driving
and recklessly endangering
another person.
East Oregonian
Two men with suspended
licenses ended up in jail after
getting the attention of Oregon
State Police troopers Tuesday
night in separate incidents.
State police reported a
trooper was westbound on
Interstate 84 near milepost
208 around 8:30 p.m. when
a silver Dodge Caravan
zoomed up from behind. The
trooper checked the speed
of the Dodge at 86 mph and
pulled it over.
The driver, Mario Ivan
Alferez, 26, of Pendleton,
showed
“indicators
of
impairment indicative of
controlled substance use,”
according to state police.
After a sobriety test, the
trooper arrested him for
driving under the inluence
of intoxicants.
A search of the Dodge
revealed marijuana pipes,
marijuana,
and
small
plastic bags “containing
a crystal residue,” which
the trooper tested positive
for
methamphetamine.
The trooper took Alferez
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The Boards of Directors, staff and
members of the Hermiston and
Stanfi eld Fire Districts send a big
Pilot Rock City Council
passed its budget Tuesday
night, increased sewer rates
and checked another box
banning marijuana busi-
nesses from the town.
Those
were
among
several votes the council cast
at its second meeting of the
month.
The council approved a
2016-17 budget just shy of
$2 million with a tax rate
of $2.8958 per $1,000 of
assessed value. The budget
also took into account an
increase in sewer rates to pay
for new wastewater lagoons.
The council, in a separate
vote, approved raising rates
25 percent.
That bumps up residential
rates $7 to $41.36 a month.
The council, though, did not
raise the low-income rate of
$19.93 a month.
The council also adopted
the facility plan for the new
wastewater system, which
the Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality
already approved, and
voted in favor of giving the
city the authority to issue
wastewater system revenue
bonds.
Teri Porter, the city
recorder, explained the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
required the bond as part
of the deal to provide the
funding for the new waste-
water lagoons.
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