MIKE KINDLE
OF HEPPNER
CLERGY JOIN
PROTESTERS
FOR CEREMONY
Enjoy a
free coffee
at Obie’s
Express in
Hermiston
DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE/7A
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2016
141st Year, No. 14
Your Weekend
•
•
•
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
Oregon East Symphony,
“Worth the Wait”
Grillin’ for Grants dinner
and auction Saturday
PAWS benefi t fundraiser
at 40 Taps Saturday
For times and places
see Coming Events, 5A
Catch a movie
Jay Maidment/Disney/Marvel via AP
Benedict Cumberbatch
stars in the newest Disney/
Marvel superhero movie,
“Doctor Strange”
For showtime, Page 5A
For review, Weekend EO
Weekend Weather
Fri
Sat
Sun
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
63/41
63/46
58/45
HEPPNER
Wood-fueled
power plant
could see
new life
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
For more than a decade,
the wood-fueled power
plant formerly operated by
Kinzua Lumber in Heppner
has sat idle.
Now, a Pasco-based
developer has one year
to decide whether it is
economically feasible to
rejuvenate the 10-megawatt
facility, per an agreement
with the Port of Morrow.
Kinzua
closed
its
Heppner mill in 1999, and
since then the port has
owned the property on the
edge of town. That includes
the mill’s old co-generation
plant, which was built in
1985 and ran off wood
waste, according to a report
in the Heppner Gazette-
Times. The project cost $14
million, and the electricity it
produced was sold to Port-
Ipolito Maloy’s third-grade class reacts as a structure made of straws and tape collapses during an earthquake experiment on Thursday at
Rocky Heights Elementary School in Hermiston.
Shaking up Rocky Heights
Third-grade students experiment in earthquake-proofi ng methods
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
For third-graders at Rocky
Heights Elementary on Thursday, the
time had come for an earthquake.
A row of “earthquake-proof”
structures made of plastic straws
and tape stood along one wall of
Ipolito Maloy’s classroom, crafted by
teams of students after studying plate
tectonics and engineering. They were
ready for testing on a low-tech earth-
quake simulator made out of wood.
“We’re going to add weight until
the structure crushes, so everyone’s
structure is going down today,”
Maloy said.
Earlier in the week John Eckhardt,
who works for a local general
More online
See the experiment
in action at
eastoregonian.com
contractor, had volunteered his time
to share tips with the students about
constructing a structurally sound
building. The fi rst group predicted
that their structure would hold six
pounds because “we did really well
and listened to Mr. Eckhardt.”
Students clapped and squealed as
each one-pound bag of pebbles was
added and the earthquake machine
was given another shake. Finally,
after the seventh bag was added, the
See EARTHQUAKE/3A
“It’s been fun. I remember the science lessons as a kid. These are the ones that stick with you.”
— Ipolito Maloy, Rocky Heights Elementary School third-grade teacher
MALHEUR STANDOFF
PENDLETON
Occupiers who
took plea deals
weigh options
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
“I can’t truly articulate how
surprised I was,” he said.
A former mayor of Battle
Ground, Washington, Ciraulo
and his wife have started taking
root in Pendleton, opening
a Main Street business and
working with the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce to
re-establish a Christmas light
contest.
SALEM — When Jon Ritzheimer learned
that seven fellow occupiers of a national wildlife
refuge in Oregon had been acquitted of federal
charges last week, he celebrated a thousand
miles away.
“I was kind of jumping up and down in the
house, singing ‘Praise the Lord,”’ Ritzheimer
said in a telephone inter-
view late Wednesday from
his Arizona home.
Ritzheimer
pleaded
guilty to the same
conspiracy charge in a
deal with prosecutors two
months ago, and he hopes
the federal jury’s stunning
Oct. 27 verdict to acquit
key fi gures in the armed
standoff could affect his Ritzheimer
case.
Ritzheimer said his attorney is talking with
prosecutors and withdrawing his guilty plea is a
possibility. Lawyers for the 10 other defendants
who agreed to plea bargains are having similar
discussions, he said.
Seven others face a February trial. Prosecu-
tors are likely considering how to proceed, legal
experts say.
They might expect a different outcome in the
next trial or they might be more rigorous in jury
See CHIEF/10A
See STANDOFF/10A
See POWER/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton fi re chief Mike Ciraulo read the book “Let’s Meet a Firefi ghter” during career
story time Thursday at the Pendleton Public Library.
Fire chief brings stability to job
Oct. marks one year since taking position
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Fire chief Mike Ciraulo
admits he was “scared to death”
to move to Pendleton.
Having spent his career in
the Los Angeles and Portland
metro areas, most of his famil-
iarity with Pendleton came
from passing through on the
interstate and its reputation as
the Round-Up City.
Since taking the helm of the
fi re department more than a year
ago, Ciraulo said Pendleton has
exceed his expectations, and the
community has welcomed the
career fi refi ghter and paramedic
with open arms.