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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2017)
NATION/9A 21/16 PENDLETON WRESTLES HERMISTON LATEST ON DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE SPORTS/1B THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017 141st Year, No. 78 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Trump fuels anxiety as state legislature commences By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — President Donald Trump was omnipresent as state lawmakers commenced their 160-day legislative session at the State Capitol Wednesday. Outside the Capitol, hundreds of protesters stood on the building’s steps to rally against Trump’s exec- Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Left to right, Democratic Sens. Sara Gelser, Chuck Riley and Ginny Burdick talk about the mood at the Oregon Capitol on the fi rst day of the 160-day legislative session Wednesday. utive order last week temporarily banning refugees and visa holders from several predominantly Muslim countries from entering the country. Inside, state lawmakers began the process of policymaking as they face uncertainty about what policy changes could still come from the Trump administration, including a likely repeal of the Affordable Care Act and others that could affect the HERMISTON state’s federal funding. “My sense of it is with what is going on in Washington, D.C., espe- cially on issues like the Affordable Care Act, there is a growing sense that we are on our own,” said Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland. “There is so much confusion back there, so much that is See CAPITOL/10A Tribal members petition against gas plant expansion PGE applying to build two new units at Carty Station By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Former Hermiston Fire chief Pat Hart speaks after being named Man of the Year at the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Citizens Awards Banquet on Wednesday. Citizens embody compassion, selfl essness By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian In an evening of honoring some of Hermiston’s most compas- sionate and dedicated community members, the emotion in the room was most palpable when Charlie Clupny took his turn at the microphone to accept the Award of Merit at the Distinguished Citizens Awards banquet. “I was back there crying because I just thought I came here to dinner,” Clupny said, wiping his eyes. “I said I wanted to make a difference in the world but I didn’t think I’d get recognized along the way. I just thought that’s what you’re supposed to do in life.” Jesus Rome, a coordinator for Court Appointed Special Advo- cates, said Clupny was the “poster child” for advocating for foster children in the court system with integrity and passion. He also serves others through the prison ministry at Two Rivers Correc- tional Institution, Meadowbrook Springs camp for children with learning disabilities, the Lions Club, Relay for Life, the Catholic church and as a Parkinson’s support group co-facilitator. “He has devoted his time, his energy and his love to these organizations,” Rome said. Clupny responded with the selfl essness Rome had just See HERMISTON/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Charlie Clupny wipes a tear from his eye while accepting the Award for Merit at the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Citizens Banquet on Wednesday. Report looks at children’s health A third of children under 12 are overweight By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian A recently released children’s health report reveals interesting factoids about the nearly 20,000 children who live in Umatilla, Morrow and Union counties. They sleep an average of 10.1 hours a night. Each day, they spend on average 1.84 hours watching television, 1.33 hours reading, 0.84 hours on the computer and 0.84 hours playing video games. They miss an average of 3.9 days of school a year because of illness or injury. A third of children are overweight, with a fi fth classifi ed as obese. This is a glimpse into health data gleaned from the Umatil- la-Morrow-Union Counties Children’s Health Assessment Report 2016, which can be found at http://ucohealth.net/. The survey is a companion to a 2015 survey done of the general population in Umatilla and Morrow counties. The children’s survey narrowed the focus to children, aged 0 to 11. “The children’s health report is a chance to make sure we’re not missing anything with a key subset of the population that might get glossed over when you look at all ages combined,” said Umatilla County Public Health Director James Setzer. “We worry specifi cally about kids. They’re the most vulnerable. They’re the most at risk.” Survey questions addressed children’s health, health insur- ance, secondhand smoke, prenatal care, breastfeeding, preventative care, bullying, dental care, eating meals together as a family, parent’s health and many other topics. Eight organizations funded the study — the Blue Mountain Early Learning Hub, the Center for Human Development, Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, InterMountain Education Service District, Morrow County Health Department, Umatilla County Public Health, the Oregon Community Foundation and the See HEALTH/10A More than 100 members of the Confed- erated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser- vation have signed a petition opposing expansion of the natural gas-fi red Carty Generating Station on Tower Road near Boardman. A volunteer group of local tribal members began circulating the petition Saturday, condemning “extreme fossil fuel infrastructures that undermine our clean air, sacred water and land, and public “We’re interest of health and safety.” speaking Portland from a very General Elec- tric fi nished strong tribal construction of the 440-megawatt point of view. Carty gas plant last But it’s not year, right next door to the Boardman just our tribal Coal Plant which community. is slated to close or possibly convert to another source of It’s the entire fuel by 2020. community Now, PGE is applying to build we live in. It’s two new gas units not just our at Carty to poten- children. It’s tially recoup power that will be lost everyone’s after the coal plant is retired. That’s children. It’s not sitting well everyone’s with some tribal members who land, air and would rather see more investment water.” in clean wind and — Cathy Sampson- solar energy. Kruse, CTUIR member “So here we are, trying to garner community support through these petitions,” said Cathy Sampson-Kruse, an enrolled CTUIR member. Sampson-Kruse, along with her sisters Linda and Sandy Sampson, mother Arleta and father Carl Sampson — also known as Peo-Peo-Mox-Mox, head chief of the Walla Walla Tribe — are part of a core group of volunteers on the front lines of several fossil fuel developments across the Columbia Basin. In 2013, Linda Sampson was involved in protests that delayed the fi rst of three “megaloads” hauling oil refi nery equipment through Eastern Oregon to Alberta, Canada. In 2014, Carl Sampson spoke out against the Morrow Pacifi c Project, which sought to ship 8 million tons of coal annually down See CARTY/10A
