43/32 JEWISH GRAVES VANDALIZED NIXYAAWII ADVANCES TO FINAL BRACKET NATION/8A SPORTS/1B Trump wants $54B surge for military NATION/8A TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2017 141st Year, No. 96 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD MISSION HERMISTON Tovey City council discusses replacing resigns as EOTEC board down home stretch CTUIR With less than six months until fair, councilors air grievances “There’s a lot of over-discussion and over-planning executive and not a lot of action. (It’s) literal- director ly and fi guratively By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Dave Tovey’s latest stint as executive director of the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has come to an end. The tribes announced Monday that Tovey has resigned, but did not give a reason for the departure. Tovey could not be reached for comment. T r i b a l spokesman Chuck Sams said the CTUIR Tovey Board of Trustees will meet Monday, March 6 to discuss hiring Tovey’s replace- ment. In the meantime, Debra Cros- well — the tribes’ deputy director — will serve as acting executive director. Tovey is a tribal member with a long history working for the CTUIR government. He started in 1986 after graduating from college, even- tually rising to executive director before leaving in 2002. From there, he landed similar roles with the Coquille Indian Tribe, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and Affi l- iated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corpora- tion. The CTUIR brought Tovey back in 2011, where he has stayed the last six years. “It has been my honor to serve my people in this capacity,” Tovey said in a brief statement. CTUIR Chairman Gary Burke said the tribes experienced “tremen- dous growth” under Tovey’s leader- ship. “We look forward to his future accomplishments in his new endeavors,” Burke said. This will not be the fi rst time Croswell has served as acting director for the tribes. She also fi lled the interim role in 2010 prior to Tovey’s second hiring. The decision was made when Tovey was hired in 2011 to split duties between Tovey and Croswell, and have them both report to the CTUIR Board of Trustees. The board now directly supervises both positions. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825. Frustration with progress on the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center has the Hermiston city council discussing a takeover of the project. Councilor John Kirwan proposed during Monday’s meeting that the council ask the Umatilla County commission — the project’s other partner — for permission to become EOTEC’s acting board until after construction is complete and the 2017 fair and rodeo are over. The rest of the council was less sure of the idea but agreed that they should discuss it in a special meeting with the county commissioners as soon as possible. Kirwan pointed out that it had been more than a month since the county and city had asked the EOTEC board to come back with an operations plan for who will run the center. The EOTEC board discussed a plan on Friday but did not approve it. “There’s a lot of over-discussion and over-planning and not a lot of action,” he said, calling EOTEC “literally and fi guratively bogged down in the mud.” City manager Byron Smith, who also serves as the EOTEC board chair, has estimated he spends 20 to 25 percent of his time on EOTEC. Kirwan said Smith’s time, along with “untold hours” from other staff members, donation of the 90 acres the project sits on and other in-kind donations means the city is “already See EOTEC/10A TOP DAWG bogged down in the mud.” — John Kirwan, Hermiston City Council member Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Valen Wyse throws his hands in the air after defeating Milwaukie’s Mikel Bremmer in the class 5A 170-pound match Saturday in Portland. The region had four local wrestlers claim state champion- ships this weekend. For more see Sports/1B. Lawmakers consider Miranda-like warning for searches By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Law enforcement agencies are speaking out against legislation that would require offi cers to advise people of their right to refuse a search during a traffi c stop. Proponents of the bill say the requirement would be similar to a Miranda warning, when arrestees are told they have the right to remain silent and to access to an attorney. “The consent search issue is something that is probably going to be controversial because it is used as major part of law enforce- ment in some places, and we’ve got to fi gure out how to deal with that in a way that seems fair to the community, not just arbitrary,” said Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Port- land, who sponsored the bill. Police offi cers may search a person or their vehicle with the person’s consent. Some jurisdic- tions, but not all, require written consent. Consent searches are “a common tool in a police offi - cer’s repertoire,” said Michael Selvaggio, a lobbyist for the Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs. “As such they have, in fact, resulted in a number of harmful or dangerous individuals, substances and weapons being taken off the street.” Selvaggio said the requirement would result in criminal cases See SEARCHES/10A Pressure on GOP to revamp health law grows, along with rifts The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Offi ce made things complicated recently by giving House Republicans an informal analysis that their emerging plan would WASHINGTON — President Donald be more expensive than they hoped and Trump declared Monday that “Nobody cover fewer people than former President knew that health care could be so compli- Barack Obama’s statute. The analysis cated.” Yet the opposite has was described by lobbyists long been painfully obvious “Nobody knew speaking on condition of for top congressional anonymity to discuss private Republicans, who face that health care conversations with congres- mounting pressure to scrap aides. could be so sional the law even as problems In a fresh blow, a leading grow longer and knottier. complicated.” House conservative said With the GOP-controlled late Monday that he was — Donald Trump opposing a preliminary Congress starting its third month of work on one of its version of GOP legislation marquee priorities, unresolved diffi culties that emerged last week. Rep. Mark include how their substitute would handle Walker, R-N.C., objected that the draft Medicaid, whether millions of voters would not immediately end the expansion might lose coverage, how their proposed of Medicaid under Obama’s health care tax credits would work and how to pay for overhaul and would create new tax credits the costly exercise. See HEALTH/10A By ALAN FRAM AND RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais President Donald Trump, fl anked by Independence Blue Cross CEO Daniel J. Hilferty, left, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina CEO Brad Wilson, speaks during a meeting with health insurance company executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday.