WEEKEND EDITION
WHAT
INSPIRES
A EUGENE
SCULPTOR MILITARY ATTEMPTS COUP
SECRET CHAPTER OF 9/11
INQUIRY RELEASED 12A
LIFESTYLES/1C
IN TURKEY 14A
JULY 16-17, 2016
140th Year, No. 196
Brown
takes
aim at
guns
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Gov.
Kate Brown has unveiled
a multi-pronged plan for
decreasing gun violence in
the state.
The plan, “Oregonians
United to End Gun Violence,”
involves state legislation to
close loopholes on existing
gun control measures and
executive orders to keep
better records on gun transac-
tions and gun-related deaths.
“Since I was sworn in as
governor 17 months ago,
more than 600 Oregonians
have died from violence
infl icted by a gun,” Brown
said. “Violence answers
nothing, offers nothing,
solves nothing.”
Brown said she plans
to propose legislation in
2017 to close the so-called
“Charleston”
loophole,
which allows a gun purchase
to move forward if law
enforcement hasn’t deter-
mined the buyer’s eligibility
within three days.
She said she also intends
seek to close the “Boyfriend
Loophole,” which expands
the types of relationships that
qualify for gun dispossession
when convicted of domestic
violence charges. Her third
proposal would outlaw future
purchases of extended-ca-
pacity gun magazines. These
magazines enable fi ring
repeatedly without having to
reload.
Brown also plans to
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
CRY FOR HELP
Man survives plunge from
Golden Gate Bridge, talks about
impulsive nature of suicide
New rodeo
arena in
danger of
missing
deadline
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Kevin Hines couldn’t take it anymore.
Severely depressed, the 19-year-old Califor-
nian heard voices inside his head screaming that
he was useless and should kill himself. He paced
the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran-
cisco, his thoughts frothing and tumbling. Finally,
he jumped.
Hines remembers
being “shocked into
reality” the moment
his hands left the
railing.
“What have I
done? I don’t want to
die. God please save me,” he recalls thinking.
He hit the water. Perhaps the quick prayer
made the difference. Maybe it was the way he
adjusted his body and entered the water feet-fi rst.
Hines shot down into the murky depths, his back
broken, but he was alive.
Hines joined an exclusive group that day
in 2000. Not many have survived the 200-foot
plunge from the pedestrian deck of the Golden
Gate Bridge.
“Of the 36 survivors, 19 came forward in a
study,” he said. “They had the same instant regret
I did.”
Often the decision to kill oneself comes quickly
and is fl eeting. A study in the New England Journal
of Medicine suggests that 80 percent of all suicide
attempts are impulsive. A quarter of suicide survi-
vors included in the study said they had decided to
kill themselves less than fi ve minutes before they
made the attempt. Seventy percent had decided
within an hour.
The Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center’s construc-
tion manager is “enormously
concerned” about getting
the rodeo arena completed
before the 2017 Farm-City
Pro Rodeo, but said with the
right contractor they might
meet the deadline.
“Whoever is selected is
going to have to be fast,” said
John Frew, president and
CEO of Frew Development
Group, at Friday’s board
meeting.
The EOTEC board met to
approve a contract amend-
ment making Frew Develop-
ment Group the construction
manager for all remaining
work, excluding the rodeo
grounds.
Frew announced Knerr
Construction out of Herm-
iston will be their local
partner, providing day-to-day
supervision on the ground for
subcontractors.
Frew said he felt comfort-
able that the two companies
working together could
deliver the fairgrounds and
barns on budget and on time
for the 2017 Umatilla County
Fair.
The rodeo grounds, which
experienced
months-long
delays in the design process,
will be trickier.
Frew said it was still
possible to get the arena done
in time if Frew Development
Group helped with some
of the stock pens and other
components of the project
and the right contractor was
brought on board. Bids for
construction of the rodeo
arena are due July 28 and
Frew said pre-bid interest has
been encouraging.
“We saw no reason to
disrupt that,” he said.
The
EOTEC
board
expects to award the rodeo
arena contract during its next
meeting on July 29.
Meanwhile, Frew said
his company will begin
coordinating with Knerr
Construction and an execu-
tive committee made up of
See SUICIDE/16A
Contributed photo
Kevin Hines decided he wanted to live the
instant he jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge
in 2000. Hines, a rare survivor of the 200-foot
plunge, speaks in schools in a quest to prevent
others from choosing suicide.
Method of suicide in Oregon, 2014
Firearm
365
Suffocation
Poisoning
Jumping
Sharp object
57 422
139 44 183
63
54 117
20 (Men: 17, Women: 3)
17 (Men: 15, Women: 2)
Drowning 7 (Men: 4, Women: 3)
Fire 1 (Men: 1, Women: 0)
Men
Women
Source: Oregon
Violent Death
Reporting System,
Oregon Health
Authority
2 Number of Oregonians who die every day by suicide.
graders who had serious thoughts of suicide
1 in 6 8th
in the last year.
56 Percentage of American suicides involving a firearm.
80 Percentage of suicides involving a firearm in rural America.
25 Number of people who attempt suicide for one who dies.
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
See GUNS/16A
MARY DEARBORN
OF PILOT ROCK
Visit the Pendleton Chamber
of Commerce for a free
charm trail starter bracelet
See EOTEC/16A
Contractors face challenges over state border
Lack of license
reciprocity stifles
some certified trades
“Some jobs I can’t
bid on because I
can’t man them.”
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
— Rick Rock, owner of Rock
Electric in Hermiston
State lines may be invisible, but
for contractors looking to work in
both Washington and Oregon the
border might as well be a towering
wall.
Despite the number of residents
who pass between the two states
daily on their way to work, Oregon
and Washington do not have license
reciprocity agreements for a number
of trades, including plumbing and
electrical work.
“It’s the exact same work, just
a different side of the road,” Walla
Walla Electric President and CEO
Charlie Barron said.
His Washington-based compa-
ny’s offi ces sit just fi ve miles
from the Oregon border, but if an
employee wants to work on the
other side of the state line they
must start from scratch on working
the number of hours necessary to
become a licensed electrician in
Oregon. As a result, Barron said
he has four employees who live in
Umatilla County but can’t perform
See LICENSE/16A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Electrician Pat Sweeney, with Walla Walla Electric, loads his tools into
his work truck after fi nishing a job at Washington Elementary School
on Friday in Pendleton.