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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2017)
CORPS TO OK DAPL COURT BUCKS TAKE A DATE PAIR SET 22/15 REGION/7A SPORTS/1B NATION/7A WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017 141st Year, No. 77 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD ODFW investigating avian cholera outbreak Several hundred dead ducks found near Stanfi eld, Milton-Freewater By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Avian cholera may be spreading among waterfowl in northeast Oregon after several hundred dead ducks were found over the weekend on private land near Stanfi eld and Milton-Freewater. Wildlife offi cials in Washington have already confi rmed an outbreak of avian cholera around the Tri-Cities, where more than 1,200 dead ducks were reported last week. The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife is still awaiting test results from the state veterinary diagnostic lab in Corvallis, though Brandon Reishus, ODFW water- fowl coordinator, said the deaths were likely caused by avian cholera. “To my understanding, they all showed the classic cholera symp- toms,” Reishus said. Birds infected with avian cholera often appear lethargic and display a mucous discharge from the mouth and nose. Reishus said the birds may also lose control of their motor functions, convulsing and swimming in circles. Death usually follows quickly, sometimes in as few as six to 12 hours, according to the U.S. Geologic Survey National Wildlife Health Center. “It gets people’s attention, because it has the potential to kill a lot of birds in a short period of time,” Reishus said. See CHOLERA/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Never too cold to cast a line Marty Perrine of Pilot Rock casts his rod while fi shing for steelhead in the Umatilla River on Tuesday in Pendleton. Snow fell again Tuesday in northeastern Oregon, but temperatures were above freezing for much of the day. For this week’s forecast, see Page 2A. HERMISTON Trump taps Gorsuch Disc golf course, Sunset Park redesign for Supreme Court Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer’s fl air, to the Supreme Court Tuesday night, setting up a fi erce fi ght with Democrats over a jurist who could shape America’s legal landscape for decades to come. At 49, Gorsuch is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in a quar- ter-cen- tury. He’s known on the Denver- based 10th Circuit Court of A p p e a l s Neil Gorsuch f o r clear, colloquial writing, advocacy for court review of government regulations, defense of religious freedom and skepticism toward law enforcement. “Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support,” Trump declared, announcing the nomination in his fi rst tele- vised prime-time address from the White House. Gorsuch’s nomination was cheered by conservatives wary of Trump’s own fl uid ideology. If confi rmed by the Senate, he will fi ll the seat left vacant by the death last See GORSUCH/8A in the works when winter goes away By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Snowy weather has put a damper on park use this winter, but Hermiston parks and recreation director Larry Fetter is still excited about projects coming up when the weather thaws. One of those projects is a disc golf course. Fetter said he is discussing agreements right now with Good Shep- herd Health Care System and Hermiston Irrigation District that would allow the city to place a course across from the hospital near the corner of Northwest 11th Street and Elm Avenue. “We’ve already started seeking funding,” he said. Fetter said the parks and recreation committee has also looked into what will be needed to get the course offi cially ranked by professional disc golf associations for tournament play. The 18-hole course would likely be utilized by a mix of serious disc golfers and people who just wanted to “go out and have a good time,” Fetter said. Staff photo by Jade McDowell Discarded Christmas trees at Butte Park that the city hasn’t fed through a wood chipper yet are one thing the parks department has delayed due to snow. As for parks projects already underway, Fetter said the snow and the prolonged freezing weather did halt some concrete work at Sunset Park, which the city has been working to expand and renovate. “We would have made some winter progress on Sunset Park, but that’s really ground down to zero,” he said. However, when the weather gets better the department will continue to work on concrete borders, landscaping, basketball hoops and a new set of playground equipment that will arrive in the spring. Fetter said the backstop screen at Newport Park will also be installed “as soon as the weather breaks.” Newport Park’s softball fi eld was lowered by a couple of feet to help catch water that was fl ooding neighboring homes during rainstorms, but Fetter said when a portion of the snow melted last week it did so slowly enough that it didn’t turn the park into a lake. In the spring or summer the parks department will also begin work on a planned overhaul of Green- wood Park, the half-acre neighborhood park tucked away on Beech Street. Fetter noted that the department has had to delay its annual wood-chipping of all the Christmas trees people drop off at Butte Park each January. The chips are used as mulch at parks around Hermiston, but Fetter said the snow keeps delaying use of the wood chipper. He said the extra snow this year shouldn’t cause too many extra maintenance problems in the spring, unless a rapid thaw causes the Umatilla River to over- fl ow its banks at Riverfront Park. “If it’s like it was four years ago (when the park fl ooded), we would have to go in and do some resto- See PARK/8A
