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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