FLYNN IN
TALKS WITH
CONGRESS
ATHLETE OF
THE WEEK:
JACOB SPEED
NATION/9A
SPORTS/3B
leg for the fourth-place
P arent
Eastern Oregon
INSIDE:
at the season-opening
TIPS FOR
PARENTS
on March 23. He also
placed fifth in the 100
April 2017
Later-in-life
parenting
PAGE 5
Ditch your gummy
vitamins? PAGE 3
Reading in the
great outdoors PAGE 13
Baby shower
basics PAGE 10
EE
FR
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017
141st Year, No. 119
Your Weekend
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Umatilla airman Austin Bieren dies in Syria
East Oregonian
•
•
•
Tylor and the Train
Robbers live at 40 Taps
Arbor Day tree giveaway
at Smitty’s Ace Hardware
Itts Cuzzen live at the
Pheasant, Hermiston
For times and places
see Coming Events, 6A
One dollar
Staff Sgt. Austin Bieren,
25, of Umatilla died Tuesday
while serving as an Air Force
security forces airman in
northern Syria.
The Department of
Defense released Bieren’s
name Thursday and stated
that he appeared to have
died from natural causes in a
non-combat situation.
His mother Tracy Finck
said joining the
years, Rachel, sister
military had been
Brianne Bieren and
her son’s plan from
a nephew Jaren,
a young age.
“who he adored,”
“He
was
as well as parents
amazing,
kind,
Tracy and Jody
smart,
always
Finck and John
wanted to join the
and Amber Bieren.
service,” she wrote
His identical twin
in a brief message
brother, Thomas,
to the East Orego- Austin Bieren
died at age 14.
nian.
Finck
said
She said he leaves behind Bieren played basketball and
an “amazing” wife of six football as a Umatilla High
School student.
According to AirForce
Times, Bieren is the second
American
serviceman
known to have died in
Syria. There are currently
about 900 U.S. troops there
providing support to Opera-
tion Inherent Resolve in the
fi ght against ISIS.
Bieren was assigned to
the 21st Space Wing at Colo-
rado’s Peterson Air Force
Base.
A post by the Peterson Air
Force Base’s Facebook page
said Bieren “was a valuable
and beloved member of
our team and will be sorely
missed. His dedication to
his country was evident in
his actions – he was a superb
Airman.”
Rep. Greg Smith (R-Hep-
pner) led the Oregon House
of Representatives in a
moment of silence Thursday
in honor of Bieren.
Catch a movie
BOARDMAN
Health
problems
plague
UmCo
Paramount Pictures via AP
Scarlett Johansson stars in
the live-action adaptation
of the popular manga and
anime, “Ghost in the Shell.”
Public health director
sees glimmers of hope
For showtime, Page 5A
Weekend Weather
Fri
56/39
Sat
62/39
Sun
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
care of the animals.
Umatilla County Sheriff Terry
Rowan said his department will be
reimbursed with the funds from the
sale, and any remaining money will be
returned to Hockensmith.
Rowan said as part of the agree-
ment, Hockensmith cannot participate
in the purchase of livestock, nor can he
ask a third party to purchase livestock
Umatilla County ranked
near the bottom of Oregon
counties in a new national
report that scrutinizes health
behaviors.
In the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation’s annual
County Health Rankings
report, Umatilla County was
31st of the state’s 36 coun-
ties. Researchers considered
smoking, binge drinking,
lack of physical activity,
sexually transmitted diseases,
teen births and other behav-
iors to reveal which counties
are healthy and which are
lagging behind.
For Umatilla County,
the news was mostly grim,
but the report included at
least one glimmer of hope.
Smoking fell from 23 percent
of the adult population in
2012 to 17 percent, which
has held steady over the past
two years. Seventeen percent
is average among Oregon
counties, but higher than the
nation’s 14 percent.
Obesity, poverty, inac-
tivity, sexually transmitted
infections and poor access to
health care continue to plague
the county, though it made
incremental improvements
in lowering alcohol use and
number of alcohol-impaired
driving deaths.
A third of residents
struggle with obesity, up
from 26 percent in 2012.
Teen births numbered 51 per
1,000 females aged 15-19,
up from the state average of
27 and the national average
of 17.
Twenty-six percent of
Umatilla County children
live in poverty, compared
with the state’s 20 percent
and a national rate of 12
percent. At 6.5 percent, the
county unemployment rate
tops the state (5.7) and the
nation (3.3).
Meanwhile,
Morrow
County fared a little better
than its eastern neighbor,
ranking 20th among 36
counties. Fifteen percent of
adults smoke. The county
boasts fewer sexually trans-
mitted diseases, better rates
of mammography screening
and less violent crime than
the state average.
Both counties have a
shortage of primary care
physicians, dentists and
mental health providers. The
ratio of primary care doctors
to residents are 3,730-to-one
in Morrow County and 1,970-
to-one in Umatilla County.
See CATTLE/10A
See HEALTH/10A
58/36
Fired DEQ
commissioners
defend hiring
of director
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Three former
state environmental quality
commissioners say they were
fi red Wednesday by Gov. Kate
Brown because they defi ed
the governor in selecting a
director for the Department
of Environmental Quality.
Commissioners kept the
Governor’s Offi ce informed
every step of the way in their
search for a new director, but
Gov. Brown did not make her
wishes known until the “11th
hour,” former commission
chairwoman Colleen Johnson
wrote in a statement.
“She went so far as to
suggest that any decision
contrary to her wishes could
have negative consequences,”
Johnson wrote.
The three commissioners
— Johnson, Morgan Rider
and Melinda Eden — received
a phone call early Wednesday
informing them of Brown’s
decision. The governor’s
See DEQ/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Ordnance Brewing out of Boardman began canning the fi rst of its products on Thursday starting with their
EOD Double IPA.
CAN-DO BREWERY
Ordnance begins canning, distilling to reach new markets
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
A row of empty 12-ounce cans
rattled down the mobile conveyor
Thursday inside Ordnance Brewing,
where they were washed, date-
stamped and fi lled with a hoppy West
Coast IPA.
Craig Coleman, one of the
managing partners for the Boardman
craft brewery, stood by as thousands
of cans were sealed and snapped into
orange plastic six-pack holders. For
the fi rst time, Ordnance has started
canning some of its signature beers,
which Coleman said will open new
markets to the young business.
“We’re doing what we can to get
our beer in front of people,” Coleman
said. “It’s a real crowded and loud
marketplace out there.”
In addition to EOD double IPA,
Ordnance will be canning its Bloops
blueberry wheat, made with locally
grown blueberries. By the end of
Friday, Coleman expects to fi nish
canning 14 pallets, each containing
about 9,000 individual cans.
Six-packs should start hitting
shelves across Oregon and Washington
in early April.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A crew cans IPA on the fl oor of Ordnance Brewing on Thursday in
Boardman. This is the fi rst run of canned product from Ordnance.
“It’s a package that works,”
Coleman said. “Not everybody does
bottles.”
In fact, aluminum cans have some
distinct advantages over glass bottles,
Coleman said. First, cans do not allow
light to penetrate into the beer, as over-
exposure to light can break down the
alpha acids in hops and leave the beer
tasting skunky.
Cans are also easier to take on the
go, which is especially useful for beer
drinkers who enjoy an active lifestyle.
“There are a lot of places you can’t
take a bottle,” Coleman said.
Ordnance hired Craft Canning
See ORDNANCE/10A
HERMISTON
Cattle from neglect case sold in auction
Hockensmith barred from
owning livestock for 5 years
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Months after being found neglected
and starving on a Hermiston ranch,
more than 100 cattle were sold at the
Hermiston Livestock Commission on
Tuesday. A few are left on the property
and scheduled to be sold next week.
According to George Murdock, a
Umatilla county commissioner, Tues-
day’s sale brought in $141,656 before
expenses including yardage and feed
were deducted.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Department has taken the lead in
caring for the animals since they
were seized from owner Michael
Hockensmith in January, and has spent
more than $50,000 in feed, water and