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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2016)
Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Saturday, October 1, 2016 Zika illnesses are mild at worst CTUIR: Harry James teens, young children plans to buy a horse with in NEW U.S. YORK (AP) — A fi rst the bulk of them were older kids look at U.S. teens and young chil- in their teens. Only 16 were age the settlement dividend dren who were infected with Zika 4 or younger and only four were Continued from 1A The dividend from the settlement will be in addition to the quarterly dividends, which average about $2,000 per year, that tribal members receive from gaming revenue. While the fi nal amount is still being tabulated, some tribal members are already planning how they will spend the money. Sitting in front of Mission Market Friday afternoon, Harry James said he plans to buy a horse and saddle with the settlement dividend. James injured his knee in 1982 when a horse bucked him off its back, forcing him to use a walker to get around. Although horse riding was the source of his ailment, James said he has been riding horses since he was a child and doesn’t anticipate an accident happening again. Walking to Mission Market with a young relative, Victoria Star said she wants to go shopping and buy clothes and other personal items with her check. “It’s very exciting,” she said. Star said her parents are looking at larger invest- ments, like things that could be bought for their home and maybe even a new car. The impact won’t be felt just on the reservation, but the many tribal members who live off the reservation. Cece Hoffman talked over the phone from Seattle, where she’s starting her freshman year at the Univer- sity of Washington. Hoffman said she shares the excitement with her fellow tribal members, but something as signifi cant as an equine purchase probably isn’t in her future. “Honestly I’m going to save it for tuition or anything that comes for college,” she said. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. Staff photo by Kathy Aney A elevated view of the Echo Crazy Corn Maze gives a glimpse of some of the almost two miles of pathways inside the eight-acre corn fi eld. Work on the maze was scheduled to fi nish on Friday. MAZE: Will have a corn kernael pit for kids to jump in Continued from 1A other activities. People are encouraged to bring cash for purchases under $10. Additional activities include a Crazy Train Ride for kids, corn cannons, a straw bale maze and a corn pit. A zip-line may be added if insurance coverage can be sorted out, Gina said, and fi re pit rentals and space for private parties are also available. Gina is excited about having an array of activi- ties to draw people to the attraction. Setting up the corn pit, she said, includes putting hay or straw bales in a U-shape. “We’ll dump in a bunch of kernels of corn in there and kids can jump in there and have a good time,” she said. “It’s a different texture, but it’s kind of like jumping into the pits with balls.” Gina is energized by the sense of community as her family has worked on the maze and activities. A number of businesses have extended their hand in support. She also is happy to teach people about the connection from farm to table through “agritainment.” “It’s a fun way to get in the dirt and learn a little bit about agriculture,” she said. “We’re a working farm.” For more information, visit www.echocornmaze. com, www.facebook.com/ echocrazycornmaze or call 509-528-5808. ——— Contact Community Editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4539 POWERFUL TOOLS FOR THE CAREGIVER Build a tool kit for taking better care of yourself while caring for a loved one. FREE, must pre-register, please call 541-667-3509. 3:00pm - 4:30pm Thursdays starting Oct. 13 through Nov. 17 Conference room 7 PREVENT T2 INFO SESSION O ne out of every three American adults has prediabetes - and 90% don't know it! Learn how the Prevent T2 program can help prevent or delay the progression to type 2 diabetes. (Prevent T2 classes will be scheduled to meet participants needs.) FREE. 4:00pm - 5:00pm OR 6:00pm - 7:00pm Wednesdays, Oct. 19 Nov. 16 or Jan. 11 Must pre-register, call 541-667-3509 LIVING WELL WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS Find positive and practical ways to deal with chronic health issues and make a step-by- step plan to improve your health. Six weekly classes. FREE but please pre-register. Starts Oct. 11 3:00 - 5:00pm Call 541-667-3509 to pre-register BABYSITTING BASICS For babysitters ages 10-15. Learn childcare techniques, children's developmental stages and what to expect, basic first aid and infant and child CPR. $35, includes lunch & all class materials. 9:00am - 3:00pm Oct. 8 or Nov. 5 $35 - Must pre-register and pre-pay, call 541-667-3509 Information or to register call (541) 667-3509 or email healthinfo@gshealth.org www.gshealth.org suggests the virus typically causes at worst only a mild illness. Zika infection during preg- nancy can cause severe brain-re- lated birth defects. But the report seems to confi rm health offi cials’ belief that infections after birth in children are similar to infections in adults— most people don’t feel sick, and some develop only mild symptoms like fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. Some experts say there’s not enough data to answer questions about the virus’s potential impact on the developing brains of infants and small children, however. The report, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is based on 158 infections from earlier this year in kids ages 1 month to 17 years. All the children picked up the virus while traveling abroad, and under a year old. Experts are worried about very young children because they can be more severely affected by infections in general, and because their brains are devel- oping rapidly. “I’m really concerned about birth through the fi rst birthday,” said Dr. Carrie Byington, a University of Utah researcher who focuses on infections in children. None of the children studied died, and none developed a paralyzing condition seen in some infected adults called Guil- lain-Barre syndrome. But Guillain-Barre is rare, seen only once in every several thousand Zika illnesses in adults. It may be that kids can still get it, but there weren’t enough cases for it to surface, said Dr. Ganeshwaran Mochida, a pediatric neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. EOTEC: Event center will host safety training in Nov. Continued from 1A things are coming together. “Having the opportunity to work with two great local contractors ... has really allowed us to accelerate where we’re at,” he said. “These guys are doing an incredible job for us.” On Friday, the EOTEC board approved a plan for Umatilla County and the fair board to use space in the northwest corner of the EOTEC property to store the fair’s equipment that must be moved from the current fairgrounds by January. The county commission approved $30,000 last week to purchase fi ve shipping containers, fencing and lighting to build a secure storage space. Umatilla County Emergency Manager Tom Roberts told the board that when the state asked county emergency managers about a location for an Event Security Planning for Public Safety Professionals training, he volunteered EOTEC to host it. The training will take place Nov. 17-18 in the event center. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@ eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536. DISPATCH: Sheriff gets fi nal say in what happens in dispatch center Continued from 1A its name, was not part of the group’s work. Rowan said with the fi nancial work done, he sees the group transitioning predominantly to police, fi re and ambulance reps focused on improving how the dispatch center functions. Some of that work, he said, has been happening on an agency-to-agency basis for a while now. Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts said the name of the group “is a little bit subjective” because the advising was strictly about how to pay for the service. Hashing out a payment formula that is equitable to all users is a boon, he said, but that is not what brought people to the table. Roberts said the agencies that use the dispatch center wanted a voice in directing its operation. “If I’m going to pay almost 400 grand a year,” he said, “I ought to have a say.” Basing the payment on assessed value jacked up Pendleton’s dispatch contri- bution to $378,196.66 this fi scal year, about $93,000 more than the year before. Roberts stressed his criticism was not about the dispatchers, who “work very hard and ... have a very diffi cult job to do.” And he said he appreciated having input in the funding formula, which he advo- cated for. But he said there is a reluctance from the county to “drill down” and correct problems, such as the dispatch center’s failure to notify police on Jan. 21 after a 9-1-1 caller reported possible gunshots near Pilot Rock Elementary School, a failure Rowan apologized for. In an effort to communi- cate more formally, Roberts appointed Roger Youncs, a sergeant in the police department, to talk directly with dispatch heads when something comes up, such as when Pendleton offi cers confi rmed with dispatch that a man had a warrant for his arrest only to take him to the county jail and fi nd out it was the wrong person. “You can’t afford for those kinds of things to occur,” he said. And this is a two-way street, Robert said. A dispatch supervisor can tell Youncs when a Pend- leton offi cer was rude, for example. Then the appropriate heads for either agency can address and correct the problem. “It’s a good thing the county was receptive to allow that relationship to exist,” he said. Rowan said the county has that same relationship with a representative from fi re and ambulances services, and it works better than a large group meeting once a month or less. Concerning issues pop up daily in dispatch, he said, and the calls are so varied that one policy can’t cover everything. “We want to make sure we can correct these adjustments more rapidly,” he said. “That’s why its important to have these discussions often.” The advisory committee, he said, would not focus on these smaller matters, but would discuss, for instance, if the dispatch needed to add more staff, a move that would affect cost. Scott Stanton, chief of Umatilla County Fire District 1, said since the group turned the corner on fi guring out funding, it should be looking at what he called “phase two” — improving the operations. “I think that’s going to be this winter’s topic,” he said, “what’s the next phase and the performance aspect of it and where we’re at.” Elfering said while giving advice is one thing, the committee would not function as a board of direc- tors. The county’s 9-1-1 and dispatch center operates under the umbrella of the sheriff’s offi ce, Elfering said, and the sheriff gets the fi nal say in what happens in the dispatch center. ——— Contact Phil Wright at 541-966-0833 or pwright@ eastoregonian.com
