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East Oregonian
CTUIR: Brigham will
be sworn in Feb. 13
Continued from 1A
there to help work on (those
issues),” she said.
Brigham lives on the local
reservation, and has six grand-
children and four great-grand-
children. She will be sworn in
during a ceremony at 8 a.m.
Monday, Feb. 13 in the Nixy-
aawii Governance Center.
Chief Judge William Johnson
will conduct the ceremony,
followed by remarks from
Burke, the board chairman.
The CTUIR board secre-
tary is responsible for all
Board of Trustees files and
records, as well as issuing
public notices, recording
official actions and keeping
minutes of meetings.
Tribal member Terrie
Brigham filed a recall petition
on May 31, 2016 to remove
Close from office on four
charges: failure to fulfill the
tribes’ constitution, bylaws
and oath of office; violation
of the board’s procedures
and policies; elder abuse;
and abuse of position. Voters
recalled Close on Oct. 4,
2016, by a margin of 312 to
257.
Close later registered
his own complaints with a
tribal court, though the board
and tribal government were
cleared of any wrongdoing.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
SCHOOL: Only one board member voted against the measure
Continued from 1A
of parents and teachers
would
rather
convert
teachers’ Monday morning
professional development
time into instructional hours
to make up for lost time.
“When we send out a
survey, and we don’t adhere
to the majority of what’s on
that survey, I think that puts
us in a difficult spot,” he
said.
Board member Steve
Umbarger said there were
some options in the survey
they shouldn’t have offered
because
they
weren’t
feasible, like an option that
directed the school district
Continued from 1A
said the tribe is “undaunted”
by the Army’s decision. Even
if the pipeline is finished and
begins operating, he said, the
tribe will push to get it shut
down.
An assessment conducted
last year determined the
crossing would not have a
significant impact on the
environment.
However,
then-Assistant Army Secre-
tary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen
Darcy on Dec. 4 declined
to issue permission for the
crossing, saying a broader
environmental study was
warranted.
ETP called Darcy’s deci-
sion politically motivated
and accused then-President
Barack Obama’s admin-
istration of delaying the
matter until he left office.
The Corps launched a study
of the crossing on Jan. 18,
two days before Obama left
office, that could have taken
up to two years to complete.
President Donald Trump
signed an executive action
Jan. 24 telling the Corps to
quickly reconsider Darcy’s
decision.
The court documents filed
Tuesday include a proposed
Federal Register notice
terminating the study.
“I
have
determined
that there is no cause for
completing any additional
environmental
analysis,”
Acting Assistant Army
Secretary Douglas Lamont
said in a memo.
The Standing Rock Sioux
argues that under the Fort
Laramie Treaties of 1851
and 1888, the federal govern-
ment is obliged to consider a
tribe’s welfare when making
decisions that affect the tribe.
“The Obama administra-
tion correctly found that the
tribe’s treaty rights needed
to be respected, and that
the easement should not
be granted without further
review and consideration
of
alternative
crossing
locations,” Hasselman said.
“Trump’s reversal of that
decision continues a historic
pattern of broken promises to
Indian Tribes and violation
of treaty rights. They will be
held accountable in court.”
North Dakota’s congres-
sional delegation and its
governor welcomed the
Army’s
announcement.
But environmental groups,
including the Sierra Club,
Greenpeace, Amnesty Inter-
national USA and the Center
for Biological Diversity,
issued statements saying
the Trump administration
is putting corporate profits
ahead of the rights of Native
Americans and the environ-
ment.
ETP has been poised to
begin drilling under Lake
Oahe as soon as it has
approval. Workers have
drilled entry and exit holes
for the crossing, and oil
has been put in the pipeline
leading up to the lake in
anticipation of finishing the
project. ETP spokeswoman
Vicki Granado didn’t imme-
diately respond to a request
for comment on the Army’s
decision, but CEO Kelcy
Warren told The Associated
Press in November that the
company should be able to
finish the project in a little
over three months once it has
the go-ahead.
Those at the protest
encampment have at times
clashed with police, leading
to nearly 700 arrests. The
camp’s population thinned
to fewer than 300 as harsh
winter weather arrived and
as Standing Rock officials
pleaded for the camp to
disband before the spring
flooding season. The Corps
has notified remaining
protesters that the govern-
ment-owned land will be
closed Feb. 22.
But Phyllis Young, a
protest leader and member
of the Standing Rock Sioux,
believes the Army’s decision
may draw some people back.
Opposition to oil pipelines
“is our life struggle, and
we’re going to continue
fighting however we have
to do it,” she said without
elaborating.
The area where the
company will drill is about
half a mile to the north of
the protest camp, and road
access is north of a highway
bridge outside the camp
that’s been blocked by the
state since October. A frozen
river and snowy hills are
between the drill area and the
camp. The construction area
is surrounded by a wall and
barricades such as razor wire.
to apply for the state waiver
while taking no further
action.
The district teachers’
union offered its own
proposal, which would move
professional development
time from Monday morning
to after school.
But some board members
pointed out that this measure
would not make up enough
time to make meet the state’s
instructional-hour require-
ments. After the meeting,
superintendent
Andy
Kovach said after-school
professional development
would also conflict with
teachers that use that time
to coach sports or hold
individual education plan
meetings.
Board member Dave
Krumbein said adding days
at the end of the year was
their best option.
“I’ve probably talked
with 30 teachers and I’ve
been investigating around
the state too,” he said.
“People are saying, ‘20
minutes here, 30 minutes
there is not a good way to go.
If you’re going to educate
your kids, you’ve got to add
full days.’”
Board vice chair Lynn
Lieuallen said adding days
at the end of the year wasn’t
ideal, but the board’s hands
were tied. Kovach said
adding days was the only
option that didn’t affect the
budget.
Freeman was the only
board member who voted
against the five-day exten-
sion while board chair
Debbie McBee was absent
because of a family emer-
gency.
With the meeting taking
place while snow fell
outside, Krumbein said
the board could adjust the
calendar as needed if more
school cancellations were in
the future.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
AUSTRALIA: Couple fell in love with the beauty of the countryside
Continued from 1A
PIPELINE: Protests at camp
have lead to nearly 700 arrests
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
“The clerk evidently was
getting bored, because there
were beautiful little sketches
all through the book,” Garry
said. “I doubt the judge
knew that was going on.”
Those little flashes of
personality have been
preserved in boxes at the
Public Records Office
Victoria, known more
commonly as the PROV, in
a vast warehouse of shelves
Garry described as reminis-
cent of Indiana Jones and
the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Each day Garry, Sheila,
and four to eight other
church volunteers would
pull documents out of boxes
and gently remove the string
or ribbon that held them
together. After pressing the
creases out, they would use
a machine with a mounted
camera to create a high-
quality digital picture of the
document.
The pictures will be
available to the public
through the PROV, but — in
return for all the free volun-
teer labor provided — will
also be made available to the
LDS church’s family history
website familysearch.org,
where volunteer “indexers”
from all over the world can
type the document’s details
into a digitally searchable
database for people looking
for clues to their ancestor’s
past.
Although most people
associate Mormon mission-
aries with pairs of young
men going door to door
in shirts and ties, married
couples whose children are
grown can also apply to
go on service missions that
can include anything from
running a church welfare
ranch to giving tours of
Temple Square in Salt Lake
City.
While the Reynolds
worked to help others with
their family history, Garry
also used the opportunity
to collect more information
about his own. His father,
a Merchant Marine, met
his mother while stationed
in Australia and the two
were later married by proxy
over short wave radio so
she could immigrate to the
United States. Living in
Australia gave Garry the
opportunity to meet rela-
tives on his mother’s side
and to find family history
documents
including
the World War II service
records of his grandfather,
who was wounded in
France.
“He knows what his
grandfather looked like
now,” Sheila said.
On weekends, eager
to escape the windowless
rooms in the PRAV,
Sheila said she and her
husband enjoyed getting to
know Melbourne and the
surrounding area.
“It’s very artsy, with 4
million people, and parks
everywhere,” she said.
The climate was warm
and temperate, with sweet-
smelling Eucalyptus trees
and flocks of red and blue
parrots known as Rosellas
that would descend on the
street where the Reynolds
lived in a little third-floor
walk-up.
“They mate for life,
so you’d see little pairs,”
Garry said.
The couple fell in love
with the beauty of the
countryside, the brilliant
blues of the ocean and
Australian landmarks such
as the “massive” Sydney
Harbor that Sheila said was
like nothing she had ever
seen. Garry said it wasn’t a
pleasant sight to be greeted
with snow when they
landed at the Pasco airport.
“We had just come from
a beautiful summer day,”
he said.
Even though Australia
is an English-speaking
first world country, there
were still differences in
culture, language and food
to get used to, as well as
the animal life. Sheila said
she missed cottage cheese
but enjoyed the abundant
fish and chips, and they
found out that Australians
eat pumpkin on just about
everything,
including
spaghetti and pizza.
While in Australia the
Reynolds befriended their
neighbors, including a
woman who worked as a
solicitor (a type of attorney)
in the court system. When
she found out Garry is a
former attorney and retired
Circuit Court judge, she
invited them to a sentencing
hearing and to tea with the
judge so they could learn
more about Australia’s
court system.
The courtroom is much
more formal, Garry said,
with the attorneys in robes
and wigs and everyone
bowing to each other.
“It was fun to see how
different things are,” he
said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Building Farm Resiliency
Adaptive Strategies for Dryland Agriculture
February 24th 2017
10 AM—2 PM
Blue Mountain Community College
Science and Technology Theater 200
Long-term rapid changes in climate patterns pose a risk to dryland
agricultural practices in Umatilla County, and farmers need to be
prepared. This workshop addresses strategies farmers can implement
to improve risk management and diversity for their operations.
Enter for a chance to
win a Panasonic 19”
LED TV!
RSVP and Double Your
Chances to Win!
Free Registration
Refreshments Provided
Presenters include
Nitrogen Amendments: Changes in Management
Dr. Don Wysocki, OSU Dryland Ag CBARC
Barley and Change
Dr. Pat Hayes. OSU Barley Research and Extension
Forest to Farm: Using Biochar for Soil Organic Matter
Jim Archuleta, USFS Umatilla National Forest
Presented by
For more information or to RSVP
Contact EOC3 at eoclimatechange@gmail.com
Or visit our website
www.umatillaclimate.org
EOC3
Eastern Oregon Climate Change Coalition