REGION
Saturday, August 6, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
S. Korea resumes buying U.S. wheat
By MATTHEW WEAVER
EO Media Group
Contributed photo by City of Hermiston
Mayor David Drotzmann, left, and Portland Com-
missioner Dan Saltzman squared off Friday in a wa-
termelon seed-spitting contest in Portland before
Hermiston gave away 6,000 pounds of watermelons.
South Korea has resumed normal
purchases of U.S. wheat now that it has
a test in place that can detect genetically
engineered wheat, U.S. Wheat Associ-
ates says.
The USDA Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service is investigating 22
genetically engineered wheat plants
found June 14 in a Washington state
ield. The wheat is MON 71700,
developed by Monsanto and used in
trials from 1998 to 2001 but never
commercialized.
A farmer noticed the wheat after
the ield was sprayed with glyphosate.
MON 71700 wheat is resistant to the
herbicide.
South Korea was holding U.S. wheat
from mills until the test, developed by
Monsanto and validated by USDA,
could be put in place.
The country will continue testing
U.S. wheat, as it has since 2013, when
a different Monsanto variety was found
in an Eastern Oregon ield. The new test
can detect both GE varieties.
“We are very pleased that the test
was available so quickly and that (the
South Korea Ministry of Food and Drug
Safety) deployed the test within just a
few days to assure U.S. wheat remains
safe and reliable,” said Steve Mercer,
vice president of communications for
U.S. Wheat. “Customers in Korea may
resume milling and purchasing U.S.
wheat with little or no disruption, as
expected.”
APHIS says there is no evidence
Capital Press File
Wheat is shown growing in a ield. South Korea has resumed its
purchases of U.S. wheat now that the nation has a new test in place for
genetically engineered wheat.
that any genetically engineered wheat
is in commercial U.S. wheat supplies.
Genetically engineered wheat is not
commercially available.
“We think this adds conidence
in other markets that nothing has
changed the U.S. wheat supply chain’s
ability to deliver wheat that matches
every customer’s speciications,”
Mercer said.
Japan also temporarily suspended
purchases of Western white wheat, a
blend of soft white wheat and subclass
club wheat grown in the Paciic North-
west and sold to customers in Japan and
Taiwan.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries is customizing
the test for its use. U.S. Wheat expects
the test to be ready by mid- to late
August.
Mercer noted that Japan has four
wheat tenders in August for October
delivery, which leaves room to make up
any difference caused by the disruption.
Japan and South Korea rank irst and
ifth in the top customers for U.S. wheat
overall. Japan has purchased an average
of 997,000 metric tons of white wheat
each year for the last ive years, and
South Korea has purchased an average
of 679,000 metric tons per year.
Hermiston gives
away 6K pounds
of watermelons Bus service may HERMISTON
come in early 2017
in Portland
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Yearly tradition
started in 1980s
East Oregonian
Hermiston
oficials
showed Portlanders that
life is sweet in Eastern
Oregon on Friday with a
giveaway of more than
6,000 pounds of Hermiston
watermelons.
Mayor David Drot-
zmann, City Manager
Byron Smith, members of
the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce and a dele-
gation of city councilors
and staff arrived at Pioneer
Courthouse Square in
Portland on Friday and
handed out free melons to
eager Portland residents as
part of an annual tradition
to promote Hermiston
agriculture.
The tradition was started
in the 1980s by then-mayor
Frank Harkenrider, who
took a pickup truck full of
Hermiston watermelons to
Portland and challenged
then-mayor Bud Clark to
a seed-spitting contest.
The tradition petered out
in 2007 but was revived in
2015.
Produce was donated
by local growers. Last year
Hermiston also gave away
potatoes, but assistant city
manager Mark Morgan
said that the other options
weren’t nearly as popular
as the watermelon so this
year they just stuck with
the city’s famous fruit.
Hermiston won the
seed-spitting contest last
year and again this year,
with city councilor Doug
Primmer’s winning effort
of 29 feet.
The event is designed
to foster better relations
between the city of
Hermiston and the city of
Portland, according to a
news release from the city.
“We’re really happy
we can continue this great
event, and continue to build
on our relationship with
our partners in Portland,”
Drotzmann said.
PENDLETON
Future farm to hold
irst ‘drone rodeo’
East Oregonian
With rodeo season in
full swing, the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Range wants to get in on
the action.
Oregon Future Farm, the
agricultural arm of the test
range, will host a Drone
Rodeo in Pendleton Aug.
18-19.
Although the rodeo
won’t feature any cowboys
struggling to stay atop a
bucking quadcopter, it will
contain
demonstrations
from several agricultural
UAS.
The irst day starts at
the Oregon National Guard
Armory in Pendleton.
Attendees will travel 20
minutes out of town to
Linn Airstrip, where they
will see multiple drones ly
missions. Representatives
from drone manufacturers
and operators will be avail-
able to answer questions
before the bus returns to
Pendleton.
Attendees will return to
the armory on the second
day, which runs from 8:30
a.m. to 2 p.m., where they
will hear agricultural drone
data presentations and
discussions.
Registration can be
found at www.pendleton-
drone.rodeo. For more
information, contact event
organizer Jeff Lorton at
jeff@dukejoseph.com or at
503-989-6933.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
Hermiston could get a
ixed-route public bus system
as early as January.
The city council will
discuss
the
possibility
Monday during a work
session at 6 p.m. at city hall.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said the city
has discussed a ixed-route
system with the Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation for years, but the
discussion always “collapsed
under its own weight and
never really got anywhere.”
This year, however, after
the city set aside money to
create a Dial-a-Ride program
starting January 2, Morgan
said ODOT changed its tune
and became more willing to
speed up the process.
“ODOT would prefer we
go the ixed route,” he said.
The plan now is to partner
with
the
Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation on their Kayak
Public Transit program,
which travels between cities
and currently has two stops
in Hermiston. Morgan said a
route hasn’t been set yet and
some of the funding details
still need to be worked out.
But a tentative plan would
be for a second Kayak bus to
be sent over from Pendleton
each morning, spend all day
driving around a ixed route
through Hermiston and then
help bring people back to
Pendleton in the evening.
“It will probably cost us
more (than a Dial-a-Ride
program) but the level of
service would increase
dramatically,” Morgan said.
Monday’s agenda doesn’t
have any action items
concerning the bus system,
but the hour-long work
session before the council’s
regular 7 p.m. meeting will
give councilors a chance to
get up to speed on the latest
developments and give staff
input on what they would like
to see.
During the regular 7
p.m. meeting the council
will consider adoption of a
public art plan. The city’s
Community Enhancement
Committee has been devel-
oping one with the help of
consultant Rebecca Couch.
The plan does not set
aside money for art, but
rather gives suggestions for
policies, locations and types
of art to use as money comes
available through community
donations or grants.
“We’re
not
locking
ourselves into anything,”
Morgan said.
The plan recommends
public
art
displayed
throughout the community
at places like parks and
street corners fall under ive
themes: water, transportation,
agriculture, heritage and
watermelons.
It also recommends 37
locations for art. The most
preferred sites, according to
public input gathered at the
Eastern Oregon Arts Festival
and Hermiston Saturday
Market, are:
• An arch on Main Street
and Highway 395 welcoming
people to downtown
• Functional art such as
decorative benches, lights
and bike racks downtown
• “Welcome to Herm-
iston” signs at city entrances
• A medium-sized sculp-
ture at the intersection of
Southeast Second Street and
Highway 395
• Decorative lighting
and landscaping at the old
Armand Larive arch on
Ridgeway Avenue
• Metal wall art and “yarn-
bombing” at the Hermiston
Public Library
• A medium sculpture and
decorative fencing at Belt
Park
• Decorative fencing along
the Public Works property on
Elm Avenue near Sunset Park
• A medium sculpture and
mural on the sewer lift station
wall at the intersection of
Diagonal Road, Seventh
Street and Main Street
• A mural on the storm-
water building on Southeast
Seventh Street
• A mural at Northeast
Fourth Street and Catherine
Avenue
•
Sculpture
plinths
between Good Shepherd
Medical Center and Elm
Avenue for a rotating art
gallery
• Vinyl wraps on utility
boxes at all signalized inter-
sections
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at
jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
BMCC to again offer classes in Union County
La Grande Observer
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College will return to
Union County after almost
nine years away.
The Union County Board
of Commissioners approved
an out-of-district contract on
Wednesday that will provide
the funding and support
BMCC needs to again offer
classes in Union County.
The contract calls for
BMCC to provide classes,
including vocational and
continuing education courses
via a cooperative agreement
with Union County and the
La Grande School District.
“We are pleased to be
able to do this,” said Union
County Commissioner Mark
Davidson. “We had a vital
need, and we met this need.”
Union County will pay
about $14,000 a year to
BMCC, and the La Grande
School District will provide
ofice space for a program
coordinator. The coordi-
nator’s ofice will be at La
Grande High School and
will be provided with phone
and internet service.
For about a year, the La
Grande School District,
Union County and BMCC
have been negotiating to
reach the agreement inal-
ized Wednesday.
“It was deinitely a team
effort. The residents of
Union County are the bene-
factors of the effort,” said
La Grande School District
Superintendent Larry Glaze.
Classes that may be
offered by BMCC include
those for welding, emer-
gency medical technician
certiication, ofice manage-
ment and mechatronics.
Mechatronics
involves
ields where electronics and
mechanical engineering are
combined.
Classes will be offered
based in part on the needs
of the community. For
example, if a Union County
company indicates that it
needs workers with a speciic
skill set, BMCC may offer
classes addressing this need,
Glaze said.
“They will gain voca-
tional skills, which will help
them be more competitive in
the workforce,” Glaze said.
High school students
in Union County will pay
Welcome
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a discounted tuition rate
of $32 per credit hour and
adults will be charged $96
per credit hour, BMCC’s
standard rate, said the school
president Cam Preus.
Preus and Glaze said the
addition of BMCC will help
Union County’s economic
development. They noted
that according to economic
development experts, one
thing holding back La
Grande when trying to
attract new businesses is that
it has not had a community
college available to provide
the training need for its
workforce.
An advisory committee
of Union County residents
will be appointed to oversee
the BMCC program. Preus
said the committee will have
the important role of keeping
the program on track.
“We want to make sure
that we are providing what
Union County wants,” Preus
said.
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Full Service Menu u I Items Made to Order
( $ 10 Minimum)
Burger Special
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32 oz Soda $
7 50
2012 NW Carden Avenue
Pendleton
541-276-1522