NATION/WORLD
Saturday, August 6, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 11A
OYCC: Crew rescued a starving bald eagle Kerry to visit Turkey
amid strained ties
Continued from 1A
counties. Grant funding comes from
OYCC through CAPECO.
Case, leader of the Umatilla County
crew, has observed his foursome with
awe. Thursday, he stood watching them
scrape laking brick-red paint from
the Summit Cabin. They were deep in
concentration, working in a compact
group.
“I’ve been impressed with their
ability to work with each other,” he
said. “They are really eficient. There
isn’t a lot of standing around.”
He said they aren’t wild about having
to wear long-sleeved shirts, jeans,
boots and hardhats in sizzling summer
weather, but they don’t complain. For
two crew members, this is a irst job.
Over the summer, the crew has
concentrated its efforts on Forest
Service campgrounds, including Jubilee
Lake, Woodward and Target Meadows
campgrounds. They picked up trash,
cleaned ire rings, raked, pulled weeds
and placed parking barriers. One day,
they plucked 137 pounds of trash
from the banks of the Umatilla River
in Pendleton on a two-and-a-half-mile
stretch from the Ken Melton Little
League ields to Rudy Rada Skate Park.
Since starting work seven weeks
ago, the four individuals have meshed
into one cohesive unit.
“We learned to work as a team,” said
Mikel. “We learned that you’ve got to
pull your weight.”
“We learned that if one person
complains, it drags the entire group
down,” said Heay.
Their most memorable day included
the rescue of a starving bald eagle
spotted by some campers at Jubilee
Lake — a rescue they jokingly named
“Operation Make America Great
Again.” Though the workday was
almost done, the crew opted to stay
late to search for the bird and attempt a
rescue. With campers, they managed to
capture the ledgling eagle in a marshy
area and pass it off to Lynn Tompkins of
Blue Mountain Wildlife. According to
Tompkins, the bird is putting on weight
and will most likely be released in the
fall.
Case, who teaches physical educa-
tion at Sunridge Middle School, is in his
irst year as crew leader after inheriting
the job from outgoing crew boss John
Summerield, who encouraged Case to
apply. It was an easy sell to someone
who loves both the outdoors and teen-
agers.
“I like being around kids,” Case said.
“That’s why I became a teacher.”
Case works in historical stops during
their trips into the woods. On Thursday,
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Members of Umatilla County’s Oregon Youth Conservation Corp listen as
Jeff Bloom, recreation program manager for the Walla Walla District, gives
the forest workers a tour of a vintage Forest Service barn during a break
Thursday on the Umatilla National Forest.
Photo contributed by Blue Mountain Wildlife
A malnourished female bald eagle
was rescued near Jubilee Lake and
taken to Blue Mountain Wildlife in
Pendleton. Lynn Tompkins, who
runs the bird rehabilitation center,
hopes to release the bird this fall.
they stopped along the Oregon Trail
at a place on Spring Mountain where
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman stopped
before descending into Meacham
Creek. At Summit Cabin, Jeff Bloom,
of the U.S. Forest Service, lined out
the crew for the day, but also told them
about the Civilian Conservation Corps
of the 1930s and 1940s and showed
them a vintage CCC-built barn.
The experience has helped the four
crew members solidify their future
goals. Heay, of Mission, hopes to
eventually do conservation work for
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
River’s Natural Resources Department.
She has come a long way since her time
as a rebellious teen in California.
“I stopped coming home. I got into
trouble. I was in the juvenile system
and had to go into treatment,” she said.
“I was so far behind in school that it
seemed impossible to ever catch up.”
A teacher took her under her wing
and boosted her conidence. After
coming to Oregon, she connected with
Stuvland, who encouraged her to apply
for the crew.
Magers, a sophomore at Pendleton
High School and the comedian of the
crew, has his eye on two distinctly
different career paths — acting or diesel
mechanics.
Mikel, who also works at Pendleton
microbrewery Prodigal Son, plans
to study at the California Maritime
Academy to work as a Merchant Marine
on an oil tanker. Van Dusen will enter
Portland State University in the fall to
study mechanical engineering.
None of the four had much prior
outdoor experience, save the occasional
camping trip, but now plan to spend
more time in the outdoors. All have new
appreciation for those who maintain
recreational areas.
Friday was the team’s last day. Case
said the four made the most of their
time.
“They learned teamwork. They
learned what hard work looks like,
and,” he said, laughing, “their social
skills have lourished.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@
eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-
0810.
ANKARA,
Turkey
(AP) — U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry is
expected to arrive in Turkey
later this month, Turkey’s
foreign minister said Friday,
amid strained relations
with Washington over the
possible extradition of a
Muslim cleric accused of
being behind an attempted
military coup last month.
The Turkish government
has expressed growing
annoyance with what it
regards as a lack of soli-
darity from international
allies in the aftermath of
the failed coup, as well as
increased frustration over
perceived
foot-dragging
by the United States over
a Turkish demand that
U.S.-based Muslim cleric
Fethullah Gulen be returned
to Turkey to face trial.
Turkey accuses Gulen,
a former ally of President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
who lives in self-imposed
exile in Pennsylvania, of
masterminding the July
15 coup attempt by rene-
gade oficers in Turkey’s
military. It has designated
his movement, which runs
charities, schools and busi-
nesses across the world, as
a terrorist organization and
has launched a widespread
crackdown on suspected
members.
Gulen
has
denied
involvement
or
prior
knowledge of the violent
coup attempt that left more
than 270 people dead.
Washington for its part,
has asked for evidence of
the cleric’s involvement,
and has said the extradition
process must be allowed to
take its course.
Turkish
Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu
said Kerry was scheduled
to arrive in Turkey Aug.
24, the state-run Anadolu
Agency reported. He also
spoke of the possibility of a
separate visit by U.S. Vice
President Joe Biden.
Turkey on Thursday
issued a warrant for Gulen’s
arrest for allegedly ordering
the failed coup, a move seen
as a prelude to a formal
extradition request.
In New York, Taha
Ozhan, chairman of the
Turkish
Parliament’s
Foreign Affairs Commis-
sion who is leading a
delegation to brief U.S.
oficials on the failed coup,
said “Gulen orchestrated the
coup” and continued to pose
threat to Turkey.
Ozhan said “many docu-
ments have been sent” and
“we are doing our home-
work in Turkey” where
“prosecutors are forming a
case.” He added that the FBI
should be monitoring Gulen
and he should be detained.
“He’s still a threat and we
don’t want to have another
tsunami caused by July 15,”
Ozhan said.
But Gulen’s U.S. lawyers
expressed conidence that
he will not be extradited,
saying the Turkish govern-
ment doesn’t have any
evidence against their client
that would satisfy the U.S.
legal system. Speaking
Friday in Washington,
Attorney Reid Weingarten
suggested that the only
evidence
the
Turkish
government may have
against Gulen is testimony
from his sympathizers in
Turkey, possibly obtained
through torture.
“We haven’t seen any
evidence, direct or indirect,
that would be persuasive
to a fact inder that there
is a scintilla of evidence
- electronic or otherwise
- implicating Mr. Gulen,”
Weingarten said. “And
these tortured confessions
that they are expecting, that
wouldn’t work in a U.S.
court either,” Weingarten
said.
Since the coup attempt,
nearly 70,000 people
suspected of links to Gulen
have been suspended or
dismissed from the civil
service, judiciary, educa-
tion, health care and the
military. About 18,000
people have been detained
or arrested.
BRIEFLY
Amazon unveils
cargo plane as it
expands delivery
network
SEATTLE (AP) —
Seattle-based Amazon is
unveiling its irst branded
cargo plane, one of 40
jetliners that will make up
the e-commerce giant’s own
air transportation network as
it takes more control of its
delivery process.
The latest push to speed
delivery of its products
comes as the company
ships an increasing number
of packages worldwide.
Amazon’s parcel volume
was an estimated 1 billion
packages in 2015. By way
of comparison, in the 2016
iscal year FedEx delivered
about 3 billion packages for
hundreds of thousands of
customers.
Amazon has had issues
with the reliability of
air freight services. In
2013, it offered refunds to
customers who received
their Christmas orders late
after bad weather and a jump
in online shopping caused
delays for UPS and FedEx.
Analysts say it makes
sense for Amazon to use an
air leet it controls as another
way to get its products to
online shoppers drawn to
fast, no-extra-cost delivery.
“They’re such a big
online retailer,” said Satish
Jindel, president of shipping
consultant ShipMatrix.
“There’s so much volume
that if you have to add
transportation for yourself,
why would you pay a retail
price when you can get
wholesale? It makes sense.”
Amazon revealed its irst
branded “Prime Air” cargo
plane, designated Amazon
One, on Friday at the annual
Seafair Air Show. The plane
buzzed over Seattle’s Lake
Washington just before the
Navy’s Blue Angels took to
the skies.
Amazon leased 40
Boeing jets from Atlas Air
Worldwide Holdings and Air
Transport Services Group
Inc., which will operate the
air cargo network. Eleven
of the planes already are
delivering packages for
Amazon’s annual Prime
loyalty program, which
offers free two-day shipping
and other perks. The
remaining freighters will be
rolled out in the next couple
of years.
Steady hiring is
now beneiting a
broader group of
Americans
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Years of steady job
gains have inally begun
to beneit a wider range of
Americans, including those
with less education and in
lower-paying jobs.
A second straight
month of robust hiring
— 255,000 jobs added in
July — pointed to employer
conidence that suggested
that the economy is
powering through a slump
that struck early this year.
The unemployment rate
remained a low 4.9 percent,
the Labor Department said
Friday.
Hiring has been solid for
six years, but for most of
that time there were caveats:
Average hourly pay was
stagnant. And millions were
no longer either working or
looking for work, leaving a
smaller proportion of adults
in the labor force.
Evidence is emerging that
those long-running weak
spots are inally improving.
Many businesses are
offering higher pay to attract
workers as competition to
ill jobs heats up. Average
pay is up 2.6 percent from
a year ago — matching the
best 12-month gain since the
Great Recession ended in
2009 and comfortably above
inlation of just 1 percent.
The resilient job market
is encouraging more
Americans to begin looking
for a job — a key trend that
helps offset a drag from the
growing retirements of aging
baby boomers.
Taken together, the two
trends suggest that the
economic recovery, now
seven years old, is inally
beneiting a broad spectrum
of the population.
WHAT ENERGY SAVINGS
AWAIT YOUR HOME?
LET’S FIND OUT.
Start by doing a free online Home Energy Review from Energy Trust of Oregon.
You’ll get customized energy-saving recommendations and learn all kinds of
ways to get more from your energy. Plus Energy Trust can help you with cash
incentives and inding a trade ally contractor for your home energy project.
+ Get more from your energy.
Visit www.energytrust.org/start or call us at 1.866.368.7878.
Serving customers of Portland General Electric,
Paciic Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas.