SPORTS/1B
BOOST TO MILITARY,
CUTS DOMESTICALLY
52/36
TRUMP’S FIRST BUDGET/8A
BMCC
RODEO
STAYS
ON TOP
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017
141st Year, No. 108
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Federal
judge puts
travel ban
on hold
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
and GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
HONOLULU — For the
second time, a federal court on
Wednesday blocked President
Donald Trump’s efforts to freeze
immigration by refugees and
citizens of some predominantly
Muslim nations, putting the
president’s revised travel ban on
hold just hours before it was to
take effect.
This time, the ruling came from
a judge in Hawaii who rejected
the government’s claims that
the travel ban is about national
security, not discrimination. U.S.
District Judge Derrick Watson
also said Hawaii would suffer
fi nancially if the executive order
constricted the fl ow of students
and tourists to the state, and that
Hawaii was likely to succeed on
a claim that the ban violates First
Amendment protections against
religious discrimination.
EO Media Group and Lee Williams photos
See TRAVEL/10A
From upper left: the tartan, rescue dogs, ospreys, marionberry pie, Border collie and Kiger mustangs are being discussed
as possible state symbols this Legislative session.
The Symbol State
Oregon considers adding border collie, Kiger mustang, marionberry pie to 29 other offi cial symbols
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
“ Is it the most important thing
Oregon may be known as
the Beaver State, but the state
animal is only one of 29 different
symbols adopted by the state
legislature.
The state also has a state
beverage (milk), a state dance
(the square dance) and a state
outdoor pageant (Pendleton’s
own Happy Canyon), to name a
few. This legislative session six
more state symbols are up for a
vote.
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena,
said he lends his name to bills
proposing state symbols some-
times because he tries to be
responsive, where possible, to
constituents who come to him
we do? No, not even close.
But it is something people
are interested in.”
— Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena
with requests.
“Is it the most important thing
we do? No, not even close,” he
said. “But it is something people
are interested in.”
Hansell’s name is on two state
symbol bills this year — one
he sponsored at the request of a
constituent to make the border
collie the state dog, and one that
Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualitin
asked him to join in proposing the
Kiger Mustang become Oregon’s
state horse.
State symbols and commem-
orative days (of which there are
seven proposed this session) can
draw constituent complaints that
the legislature is wasting time on
unimportant issues. But Hansell
said a state symbol can create
awareness for something that is
important to Oregon. Naming
the Dungeness crab as the state
crustacean, for example, draws
attention to something that brings
a lot of income and tourism to the
state.
“It can highlight a particular
aspect of the culture or environ-
ment or what makes the state
unique,” he said.
The Kiger Mustang, for
example, is native to southeastern
Oregon and named after the
Kiger Gorge there. According to
the Bureau of Land Management
website, the horses are “one of
the best remaining examples of
the Spanish Mustang” and highly
sought after in BLM auctions. A
Kiger Mustang with the breed’s
See SYMBOLS/10A
UMATILLA
Solar array
gets OK for
farmland
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners granted an
exemption to allow a solar farm
on 80 acres of high-value farm-
land.
Commissioners and county
staff noted the area does not
have a water right and has never
produced crops, and its high-value
designation has to do with state
rules and the site residing within
the Columbia Valley American
Viticulture Area, which applies to
much of the county.
The Umatilla Electric Coop-
erative sought the exemption to
expand its Moyer-Tolles Solar
Station on the south side of
Highway 730 near McNary on
the exclusive farm use land. The
See SOLAR/10A
Wildlife Services says
it’s working to avoid
future wolf harm
By ERIC MORTENSON
EO Media Group
The state director for
USDA Wildlife Services
in Oregon said the agency
has removed M-44 cyanide
poison traps from “areas
of immediate concern”
following the unintended
poisoning of a wolf in
Wallowa
County
in
February.
Director Dave Williams
said Wildlife Services has
reviewed what happened
and shared that information
with Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, which
manages wolves in the state.
The two agencies are in
ongoing discussions about
how to prevent another wolf
death, Williams said.
More inside
For an info-graphic on
how M-44 cyanide traps
work see Page 10A
“We don’t feel good
about that,” he said.
Williams said Wildlife
Services
has
removed
M-44s from areas identifi ed
by ODFW as places wolves
are present. ODFW offi cials
confi rmed that took place.
“We appreciate that Wild-
life Services has voluntarily
removed M-44s,” ODFW
Wildlife Division Adminis-
trator Doug Cottam said in a
prepared statement.
“We also recognize
See WOLVES/10A
Water rising in the Umatilla
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
The Umatilla River gushes around tree trunks Wednesday. The National Weather
Service predicted minor fl ooding for Northeast Oregon, particularly the Umatilla
River near Gibbon. The warning is in effect until 3 p.m. Thursday.