The 17 seniors on the Heavy Metal
team try to get traction in the
gelatinous pit of sludge during
Pendleton High School’s Mud
Wars on Wednesday night at the
Happy Canyon arena. The slippery
event is in its 21st year.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016
140th Year, No. 259
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MILTON-FREEWATER
Lawmakers
looking at
changes to
Measure 97
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Residents of the Locust Mobile Village in Milton-Freewater have been without potable water for more than fi ve months,
since by the Oregon Health Authority issued an E. coli contamination warning in May.
Don’t drink the water
Unsafe water remains constant at Locust Mobile Village
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Residents living in a
trailer park on the outskirts
of Milton-Freewater have
been without clean drinking
water for fi ve months.
They must buy drinking
water by the gallon from
town, and the chlo-
rine-treated water that comes
HARRY HEADLEY
OF WESTON
Visit the Pendleton Round-Up
Gift Shop for a free keychain
out their pipes is harsh on
their skin and caused at least
one child to break out in
welts.
Park owner Nancy Shaw
said she is doing all she can
to combat the presence of E.
coli bacteria in the water at
Locust Mobile Village, 1501
N. Elizabeth St., which has
been a problem in the park’s
well for many years.
“We’re putting a lot of
chlorine in the water,” Shaw
said, but the chemical is
beginning to erode the park’s
two water storage tanks.
The manufactured homes,
camp trailers and vehicles
along the park’s potholed
road stand in various states
See WATER/8A
SALEM — Before Oregonians even cast
their vote on a $3 billion corporate sales tax
proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot, state lawmakers
are considering ways to redesign the tax in the
2017 legislative session.
The “gross receipts” tax, contained in
Measure 97, requires “C” corporations to pay
the state 2.5 percent of their annual Oregon sales
exceeding $25 million.
If Measure 97 passes, “this will be the
dominant issue of 2017,” said Sen. Mark Hass,
D-Beaverton, chairman of the Senate Finance
and Revenue Committee. Hass’s committee
already has fi led placeholder bills to address the
measure after the election.
While Gov. Kate Brown released some
general goals in June to dampen the negative
impact on certain businesses, this is the fi rst time
lawmakers have spoken publicly about possible
proposals they could offer next session.
See MEASURE 97/8A
Depot land
handoff stalls
over water
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Locust Mobile Village resident Jose Diaz holds a drinking
water warning that was reissued to residents Oct. 6 by the
Oregon Health Authority, cautioning them about E. coli in their
drinking water.
Water is still a sticking point in the transfer
of the Umatilla Chemical Depot land to local
control, which the Army now estimates won’t
happen until December 2017.
At a Columbia Development Authority
meeting Wednesday, executive director Greg
Smith told the board that after the CDA and
Oregon National Guard worked out an agree-
ment to give the National Guard 23 percent
of the depot’s water, he received a “string of
emails” from the National Guard bureau in
Washington, D.C., saying that less than 44
percent was unacceptable.
“That 23 percent represents almost double
the amount needed, based on their own study,”
See DEPOT/8A
One killed in
train collision
By TIM TRAINOR
East Oregonian
A train collided with a
vehicle Wednesday night,
dragging the truck for about
a half mile and killing the
driver.
The crash occurred about
5:30 p.m. at White Road, a
designated crossing about 10
miles east of Pendleton near
River Road on the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
A Union Pacifi c train was
heading eastbound when it
struck the vehicle, according
to Justin Jacobs, corporate
relations and media director
for the company.
Pendleton Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo confi rmed the person
who was driving the truck
was killed, and there were no
other injuries.
Ciraulo said bystanders
saw the crash and attempted
to perform CPR, but the
victim was pronounced dead
at the scene.
Jacobs noted that motor-
ists “need to be very aware
of the hazards associated with
trains and should never be on
the train tracks or attempt to
cross anywhere other than
a designated crossing when
signs and signals permit.”
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Rescue personnel from Tribal Fire, Tribal Police and Pendleton Fire respond to the
scene of a truck that was struck by a train off of River Road east of Mission.