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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2016)
Visit the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce for a free charm trail starter bracelet RAYMOD WISE OF PENDLETON ACE LESSONS CARRIE FISHER DIES SPORTS/1B RECORDS/5A 40/28 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016 141st Year, No. 52 Backers of state control of U.S. land gear up for new push Trump signals shift from Obama’s foreign policies The Associated Press RENO, Nev. — Backers of a plan to force the federal government to turn over control of millions of acres of land to Nevada are gearing up for new efforts in Congress and hoped-for support from President-elect Donald Trump. They’re starting with plans to convince a skeptical public that state control of nearly 7.3 million acres currently under the U.S. Bureau of Land Management wouldn’t disrupt hunting, wildlife and off-highway riding — or stick taxpayers with big bills for fi ghting wildfi res. “If they put this on the ballot today it would fail,” said Nevada state Sen. Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, who supports the effort. “We are just looking for the opportunity to showcase the state can manage these lands better,” he told the Reno Gazette-Journal. The most detailed plan is a former By JULIE PACE AP White House Correspondent For eight years, President Barack Obama’s foreign policy doctrine has been rooted in a belief that while the United States can take action around the world on its own, it rarely should. “Multilateralism regulates hubris,” Obama declared. His successor, President-elect Donald Trump, has derided some of the same international partnerships Obama and his recent predecessors have promoted, raising the prospect that the Republican’s “America First” agenda might well mean an America more willing to act alone. “The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time,” Trump tweeted days after the UN Security Council approved a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jeru- salem. Both Israel and Trump called on the U.S. to use its veto power to block the measure, but the Obama administration instead abstained. Trump’s criticism of the United Nations is shared by some in his party, including a handful of GOP lawmakers who have called for Congress to withhold funding for the body following the settlements vote. Some of Trump’s other posi- tions have drawn swift rebuke from Republicans, particularly his criticism of NATO during the presidential campaign and his suggestion that the U.S. might not defend partners that don’t fulfi ll fi nancial obligations to the longstanding U.S.-Euro- See TRUMP/10A More inside •Donald Trump appoints Bush-era aid to his national security circle and a Trump Organization fi gure to make international deals. •Israel says it has “iron- clad” information that the White House helped craft a U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements in oc- cupied territories illegal. Page 10A One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD See LAND/10A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Trucks and cars exit from the eastbound lane of Interstate 84 at exit 216 Tuesday after the freeway was closed from Pendleton to Ontario. Winter weather stalls traffi c through the Blues PENDLETON EOCI still on lockdown after Christmas brawl East Oregonian By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian It’s been a brutal cold season for the Eastern Oregon section of Interstate 84. The Oregon Department of Transportation has closed traffi c at Cabbage Hill several times due to winter conditions this year, including Tuesday when ODOT closed all lanes of traffi c between Pendleton and Ontario from the early morning to the mid-afternoon because a storm brought fresh batch of snow and ice. Some state highways in the mountains were closed as well. The telltale sign of a road closure formed at the base of the Blue Mountains — a line of semis parked at the side of the road near Exit 216, which leads drivers to the Wildhorse Resort & Casino and Arrowhead Travel Plaza. The infl ux of blocked travelers seems like it would be a boon to the Wildhorse complex, which features a hotel, casino, movie theater, multiple restaurants and State prison inmates brawled with corrections offi cers on Christmas night, sending one staff member to the hospital, according to a prison offi cial. Jackie Peck, spokesperson from Eastern Oregon Correctional Institu- tion, Pendleton, said in an email the “altercation” occurred Sunday around 9:55 p.m. on an east-side housing unit and ended with 10 inmates going to the medium-security prison’s disciplinary segregation unit. St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton, also treated and released the employee who suffered a non-serious injury, according to Peck. EOCI remains on lockdown status due to the incident, she said, though video visits and phone lines are open. Peck did not return a call Tuesday afternoon for more information. One corrections offi cer took to Facebook and posted the inmates were “drunk on homemade prison alcohol” and assaulted six prison staff. He later removed the posting, but other corrections sources who do not have the authority to speak offi cially for the prison confi rmed the report. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Trucker Timothy O’Rourke chills after he was forced to leave the freeway at exit 216 Tuesday after Interstate 84 was closed from Pendleton to Ontario because of wintry weather and crashes. a gas station. Wildhorse spokeswoman Tiah DeGrofft said road closure do bring some economic benefi ts. “The restaurants are little more busy, the parking a little more full, especially with trucks,” she said. But any benefi t is balanced by the road closure itself, which keeps away some of Wildhorse’s customer base. Instead of gambling or catching a movie, DeGrofft said the wintry conditions keep some of their customers at home. OUR NEW NEIGHBORS New air controller also ready with the ref’s whistle By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Mark Gentry referees Tuesday during a basketball tourna- ment at Nixyaawii Community School. Mark Gentry has his eyes on Pendleton skies. The 6-and-half-foot-tall, 230-pound former Navy man is the air traffi c controller at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, Pendleton. “... I love my job,” he said, “so to me it’s like I don’t work.” Gentry, 57, said he and his wife, Nadine, a former x-ray technician, moved to Pend- leton on Sept. 26 from Indianapolis, where for a few years he ran a limousine service. But he said he missed air traffi c control so much, he sold the cars, found a job opening, applied and landed in the Round-Up City. Gentry said he joined the Navy at 18 and learned the air traffi c trade there. When he got out of the military, he took a civilian air traffi c job and worked in the fi eld for almost 35 years. While Indianapolis has a population more than 50 times that of Pendleton’s, Gentry said he and Nadine love it here. “When we were in Indianapolis, every- thing there was fl at,” he said, and they come from the same small town of about 10,000 people in Pennsylvania near the scenic Pocono Mountains. Gentry said Pendleton and the surrounding area looks a lot like where they grew up. See GENTRY/10A
