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OCTOBER 1-2, 2016
140th Year, No. 251
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
CTUIR reaches $20M settlement with feds
Bulk of money will go to tribal members in dividends
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
It’s a court settlement 70 years
in the making.
The U.S. Department of Justice
and the U.S. Department of the
Interior announced Monday that it
reached a $492 million settlement
Dispatch
committee
readies for
new phase
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
agreement with 17 tribes across the
country, including a $20 million
agreement with the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
CTUIR spokesman Chuck Sams
said the tribes sued the federal
government decades ago because
it failed to properly compensate
the tribes for land use easement
agreements for things like timber
and agriculture.
Sams said the federal govern-
ment’s incomplete records of how
it used those easements means no
one will truly know how much the
tribes should be compensated, but
he credited the Obama adminis-
tration for approaching settlement
negotiations with more respon-
siveness than previous presidential
administrations.
Ten percent of the $20 million
settlement will go to Native
American Rights Fund and another
$100,000 to Rocky Hills Advisors,
the remaining $17.9 million going
directly to the CTUIR.
From there, the money is further
subdivided — 25 percent to the
CORN MAKES
A-MAZING RETURN
Umatilla
County’s
Dispatch
Advisory
Committee could be on track
to begin providing advice on
dispatch operations.
Sheriff Terry Rowan said
the transition might happen
as soon as this year.
The dispatch center is
under the umbrella of the
sheriff’s offi ce. Umatilla
County Commissioner Bill
Elfering created the advisory
group in the summer of 2015
in response to complaints
about the sheriff’s offi ce
charging cities and emer-
gency districts for services
while not giving them a say
in how the dispatch center
was operated. The group
met several times since and
hammered out a formula to
charge for services based on
a city or district’s assessed
property value.
Representatives
from
local cities shared the table
with police, fi re and ambu-
lance service administrators
to create the funding formula.
Advising
the
county’s
dispatch operations, despite
See DISPATCH/10A
REINHOLD FISCHER
OF HERMISTON
Visit Rick’s Car Wash
in Hermiston for a
free deluxe wash
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Brent Tyhuis, 2, son of organizers Bob and Gina Tyhuis, runs through a tunnel of corn Friday just off the
main pathway through the Echo Crazy Corn Maze.
Board of Trustees for economic
development and social program-
ming and the rest to CTUIR’s
3,000 enrolled members in the
form of dividends.
Sams said the exact amount
each member will get won’t be
determined until November, but as
it stands now, each member is set
to receive about $4,000.
See CTUIR/10A
Echo corn maze
opens Saturday
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Bob and Gina Tyhuis’ 2-year-old
son Brent is thrilled to have a corn
maze in his back yard.
“When we come down the hill
he points and says, ‘Corn maze,
mama.’” said Gina. “He absolutely
adores the farm, he loves farming.
Really, that’s the motivation for the
corn maze.”
The Tyhuis’ have been in Echo
for about 18 months, although
Gina’s family
has farmed in
“It’s a fun
the area for some
time. Juggling way to get
responsibilities
in the dirt
with
grape
harvest, Gina
and learn
has been busy
gearing up for
a little bit
the Echo Crazy
Corn Maze & about agri-
Haunt.
culture.”
The Tyhuis’
are
offering — Gina Tyhuis,
Echo Crazy Corn
a corn maze
Maze organizer
Thursday
through Satur-
days in October from 2-10 p.m. The
maze is located off Echo’s Main
Street. People should park at 111
W. Main St., Echo. The entrance to
the maze is several blocks north of
downtown, between the 100-200
block of North Dupont Street. The
cost is $10 for ages 3 and up. Major
credit cards and debit cards will be
accepted.
Special haunts are planned for
the maze Oct. 15, 22, 29 and 31 from
7-9 p.m. People will take a separate
path for the fright experience, so
participants can choose between the
mild or scary path.
The maze covers eight acres with
pathways of about 1.5-2 miles. Gina
Tyhuis said the maze wouldn’t be
possible without the help of Barton
Laser Leveling, who spent a couple
of days cutting the paths.
“If you get lost, you probably
need to Google our website for our
phone number and we’ll send a
runner to get you,” Gina said with
a laugh.
Inspired by the fall extravaganza
at Pasco’s Country Mercantile, the
site also includes concessions and
See MAZE/10A
HERMISTON
EOTEC promises arena in time for 2017 rodeo
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
With Hendon Construction at the
helm for construction of a new rodeo
arena, Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center members are feeling
confi dent the Farm-City Pro Rodeo
will ride into its new home in 2017.
“There has been a lot of discus-
sion, a lot of concerns about where
we’re going to be,” Dan Dorran said
at a board meeting Friday. “I have
none.”
Zeno Marvin, general manager
for the Umatilla-based contractor,
echoed that sentiment from the
audience, said that although the
year,” he said.
Concerns
about
fi nishing
the rodeo arena on
time cropped up
after drawings for
the facility were
supposed to be
fi nished in February
— Dan Dorran,
but weren’t ready
EOTEC executive board member until the end of
May. The fi rst set
company had been brought in “late of bids was then rejected and the bid
to the party” they planned to take an was re-issued, resulting in Hendon
aggressive approach to make sure the Construction not being hired until
arena is complete by August 2017.
September.
“I can unequivocally say that
EOTEC’s other major compo-
we’re going to have a rodeo next nent, livestock barns for the Umatilla
“There has been a
lot of discussion, a
lot of concerns about
where we’re going
to be. I have none.”
County fair, is being overseen by
Knerr Construction of Hermiston.
John Eckhardt of Knerr Construction
told the board Friday that the barns
had been reduced in size, and had
been through a “signifi cant amount
of refi ning,” after the original request
for proposals drew bids that were
over budget. He said the company
planned to bring back a new set of
bids to the board for approval during
a special meeting on Oct. 20.
Mike Kay, who represents the
rodeo board on EOTEC’s three-
person construction committee,
said despite prior bumps in the road
See EOTEC/10A