59/38
BASEBALL/1B
FAMILY, FRIENDS
REMEMBER FALLEN
AIRMAN BIEREN
REGION/3A
BUCKS
START
LEAGUE
RIGHT
TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017
141st Year, No. 131
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Gun bills
evoke strong
emotions at
state Capitol
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — At age 24, Jenna Yuille lost
her mother in a mass shooting at the Clack-
amas Town Center in 2012. Four years
later, her father committed suicide using a
fi rearm.
“I have now lost not one but both of
my parents to gun violence,” Yuille said. “I
knew that my dad wasn’t doing too well,
but I didn’t know how to help him.”
A bill in the Legislature would provide a
tool for families to block loved ones’ access
to fi rearms if they posed a risk to themselves
or others.
The legislation would create an extreme
risk protection order process. Families
could obtain the temporary order — up to
a 12 months — by petitioning to the court.
The subject of the order could contest its
issuance in court.
Once issued, the protection order could
be renewed annually.
“What we’re trying to do is provide the
best course of action to give family a chance
to help themselves to prevent their veterans
and other family members from killing
themselves, prevent suicide by cop and
worse, killing family members in despera-
tion,” said Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas.
Oregon has one of the highest suicide
rates in the nation, including among
veterans, Boquist said.
See GUNS/8A
Pendleton and
Umatilla make
world robotics
championships
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Umatilla County will be well repre-
sented at the world robotics championship.
For the fi rst time, two county schools
compete at the same FIRST Robotics
Competition — Umatilla High School
and Pendleton High School.
Both schools will travel from Eastern
Oregon to Houston, where they will be
able to test out their robots on the world
stage against teams from Canada, Mexico,
China, Israel, Australia and more.
Superintendent Heidi Sipe said Umatil-
la’s robotics program, now in its sixth year,
used to be one of the few in the region that
participated in competitions.
But in the past few years, robotics
programs have proliferated to other
schools like Hermiston, Helix and Pend-
leton.
“We’re thrilled that it’s starting to
See ROBOTICS/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Lobbyists Craig Campbell, center, and Danelle Romain, right, chat while waiting to talk to representatives outside of the
House of Representatives on Thursday during the session in the Oregon Capitol Building in Salem.
The other representatives
Lobbyists promote legislation that will help their Eastern Oregon clients
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
In the marbled hallways of The
Building, as those in state politics
affectionately call the Salem
capitol, every interaction is an
opportunity.
Business is conducted on the
House fl oor and in the offi ces
of senators, but also in friendly
hallway chats and in line for
coffee at the café in the basement.
“Serendipity in this building
is probably the best thing in the
world,” said Craig Campbell, a
lobbyist from the fi rm The Victory
Group. “Things happen through
casual conversations more often
than through setting up meetings.”
Campbell counts Hermis-
ton-based Umatilla Electric
Cooperative among his clients,
and like the rest of those in the
“government relations” business,
he works for UEC’s interests by
spending plenty of time in The
Building during the legislative
session.
Some of that time is in sched-
uled sit-downs, but lobbyists also
roam the halls looking for oppor-
tunities to speak with legislators,
aids and department heads about
upcoming bills. If a lawmaker is
Everyday citizens
make their voices
heard in Salem
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Lobbyists Katie Fast and Jenny Dresler talk with Sen. Bill
Hansell’s legislative director Branden Pursinger about an
amendment to the Sick Leave Fix Bill on Thursday at the Ore-
gon Capitol Building in Salem.
on a tight schedule, their assistants
will try to steer them clear of the
hallway outside of the committee
rooms, where they will almost
always get waylaid by lobbyists or
others who want a word. At other
times, a representative may step
outside the chamber during a fl oor
session after a page delivers them
a handwritten note from a lobbyist
asking to borrow a moment of
their time.
The average citizen often
knows who represents them in the
legislature, but not necessarily to
the legislature. While the word
“lobbyist” tends to bring to mind
slimy lawyers from Wall Street or
a big oil company, Eastern Oregon
farmers, electric cooperative
members, teachers, correctional
offi cers, real estate agents and
See LOBBYISTS/8A
“It’s fun being a lobbyist, and helping shape state policy.”
— Danelle Romain, of The Romain Group
While full-time lobbyists
work hard behind the scenes
to educate legislators on the
effects of proposed laws,
everyday citizens trying to
make their voices heard are
also a fi xture at in Salem.
On Wednesday, 800 real
estate agents — fi ve percent
of the total number of Real-
tors in Oregon — converged
on the capitol to talk with
representatives and senators
about issues affecting home
ownership.
While a massive white
tent offering free lunch to
capitol staff and lawmakers
was set up across the street,
creating the opportunity for
casual conversations on the
issues, eight real estate agents
from Umatilla and Morrow
counties also met with
Representative Greg Smith
(R-Heppner) and Senator Bill
Hansell (R-Athena) to voice
their support or opposition to
several bills.
Suzi Frederickson, presi-
dent of the Columbia Basin
Board of Realtors, said they
See VOICE/8A
Singer talks about
growing up black
BMCC Arts & Culture
Festival kicks off
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Professor Deletta Gillespie gestures while performing her piece “Black Lives
Matter: A Performing Artist’s Perspective” in the theatre in Pioneer Hall during
Art and Culture Week at BMCC in Pendleton.
Deletta Gillespie learned her
fi rst painful lesson about racism
at age fi ve.
“My best friend Jeanette
was a little white girl who lived
three doors down from me,”
said Gillespie on Monday to an
audience at the Blue Mountain
Community College Arts &
Culture Festival. “She’d come
over after school to my house.
We’d watch cartoons together.
More inside
For a list of festival events
see page 10A
We’d color in our coloring
books. We’d play with dolls.”
When the friend was late one
day, Deletta walked over to her
house. She just reached the yard
when the door opened and an
older sister came out and said,
“She’ll be right out. Go on and
walk home.”
Later, Deletta asked her
friend why they never played
See GILLESPIE/10A