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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2017)
ROCKETS CRUISE TO DISTRICT TITLE 1B PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE NORTHWEST/2A 44/29 Trump picks new national security adviser NATION/7A TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017 141st Year, No. 91 AP fi le photo One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Day Seven: Be prepared A plastic casting of the skull was made from the bones known as Kenne- wick Man. The ancient skeleton was buried in a Washat ceremony Satur- day in southeastern Wash- ington. A long awaited burial ‘Kennewick Man’ reburied after 20 years By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian The Ancient One has once again been laid to rest. More than 200 members from fi ve Columbia Plateau tribes gathered on a chilly Saturday morning to rebury the 9,000-year-old bones of their ancestor, commonly known as the Kennewick Man, at an undisclosed loca- tion in southeast Washington. The ceremony caps more than 20 years of legal chal- lenges and scientifi c studies that ensued after two college students fi rst discovered the Kennewick Man’s remains along the Columbia River. Scientists in 2015 fi nally announced that DNA from the skeleton was most closely related to that of modern day American Indians. On Friday, the remains were repatriated to fi ve area tribes including the Confed- erated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confed- erated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Wanapum Band of Indians. “We always knew the Ancient One to be Indian,” said Aaron Ashley, member of the CTUIR Board of Trustees and chairman of the Cultural Resources Committee. “We have oral stories that tell of our history on this land and we knew, at the moment of his discovery, that he was our relation.” Convincing the U.S. government, however, would take decades. Though tribal leaders immediately put in claims for the remains, another group of scientists EO fi le photo Friends and family watch as four Oregon Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopters with the 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment, fl y in formation over the runway at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, Pendleton in October 2015. The airport would become a critical resource if the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake strikes the Pacifi c Northwest. A week later, Umatilla County could still experience aftershocks By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian If a 9.0 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake hits the western half of Oregon, Umatilla County residents could still be ducking and covering a week later. The initial earthquake’s damage to the eastern side of the state is expected to be light to moderate. But Larry Givens, Umatilla County commissioner and former chair of the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries board, said the aftershocks will move differently, possibly creating earthquakes up to a 6.0 magnitude in parts of Eastern Oregon for weeks after the initial event. The 2010 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile, for example, created 19 aftershocks larger than Editor’s note: This is part two of a fi ve-part series about a possible 9.0 Cascadia subduction zone earthquake in the Pacifi c Northwest. a magnitude 6.0 — some hundreds of miles away — for a month after the main event. The state’s Cascadia Subduc- tion Zone Earthquake and Tsunami Operations Plan assumes the impacts to Eastern Oregon will be indirect, leaving eastern counties free to serve as staging areas for sending resources west and receiving evacuees. “I’m hoping we don’t underes- timate what the damage will be on the east side,” Givens said. Aftershocks or not, Eastern Oregon residents could still be without electricity, internet, phone service, natural gas, vehicle fuel and groceries a week after the event. Steve Eberline, preparedness presenter for the Red Cross, said in those conditions families should have a plan in place and review it twice a year. He and his wife, for example, plan for her to wait two hours at home for him to show up before setting out to pick up their youngest child at school, while he would work to get to the oldest two. They have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C for where to camp out after. All of their extended family in the Pacifi c Northwest also have a relative in Chicago that they have designated to each check in with should they have an opportunity at a shelter to make a phone call or send a message. Mutual aid In 2015 Umatilla County signed a “sister county” agreement with Tillamook County, agreeing to send its public works director and other staff to the coast to help in the event of a major natural disaster. Public works director Tom Fellows said he and his Tillamook County counterpart have both taken multiple trips to their sister county to tour infrastructure, meet employees and get familiar with the available resources. “The initial thought is that if something happens down there, there’s not only going to be chaos, See CASCADIA/10A Bill would expand Oregon Health Plan to undocumented children See BURIAL/10A By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau No need to act sheepish Staff photo by E.J. Harris Kindergartner Kale Nuzum hugs a lamb named Skittles while Pendleton soph- omore Breanna Spencer holds the animal Monday in Pendleton. The Pendleton High School FFA was holding a petting farm as an activity on conjunction with national FFA week. SALEM — When 12-year-old Raul Perez was diagnosed with a heart problem last fall, his fami- ly’s immediate question was how could they afford to pay for medical treatment. Because Raul came to the United States undocu- mented at age 3 and lacks a Social Security card, he is ineligible for coverage under the Oregon Health Plan. His mother, a house- keeper, said she and his father, a landscaper, cannot afford the surgery he will eventually need to repair the hole between the top two chambers of his heart. “Right now, he does not have health insurance, so I cannot sleep at all,” she said. “For me, it is really hard to see how much it’s going to be, how much it’s going to cost for us.” When Raul speaks, there is no hint of his Mexican origin in his voice. His accent sounds Oregonian as he spouts perfect standard English and helps his mother articulate her thoughts in her adopted language. Meanwhile, Raul’s 5-year-old sister qualifi es for the state Medicaid program because she was born in this country. Gov. Kate Brown, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocates argue that Perez should receive the same benefi ts as See HEALTH/10A
