GET YOUR
WIENERS
READY
73/55
GUNMAN WOUNDS
LAWMAKER, THEN
KILLED BY POLICE
Special
counsel
eyes the
president
NATION/6A
NATION/8A
REGION/3A
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017
141st Year, No. 173
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MISSION
One dollar
Rainbow
Family eyes
Eastern
Oregon for
gathering
By RYLAN BOGGS
EO Media Group
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Physician’s assistant Erika Acuna performs a physical exam on Nicholas Walton recently at an in-house clinic at Cayuse
Technologies in Mission.
In-house clinic lowers
premiums at Cayuse Tech
17 months in,
employees are
healthier, more
productive
Eastern Oregon could host an annual
assembly of thousands known as the
Rainbow Family gathering.
Adam Buxbaum, a Rainbow gathering
attendee, said it’s not yet known where
the gathering will be held. He said the
decision would be made within the month
at the Spring Council, taking place now on
the Umatilla National Forest in northern
Grant County.
“This is an open circle which anyone
can attend and participate in,” he said. “It
is the circle which will make the determi-
nation by consensus of which site we will
use to host the annual Rainbow gathering.”
Following the council’s decision,
which usually takes between two and
fi ve days, those present will move to the
decided upon area and begin preparing
the site, he said. That is when most of the
infrastructure is developed, according to
Buxbaum.
“The Rainbow gathering could land
See RAINBOW/8A
Walden earns
top dollar in
campaign
fundraising
By LES ZAITZ
The Malheur Enterprise
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Two years ago, Cayuse Tech-
nologies CEO Billy Nerenberg
felt stymied after the company’s
health
insurance
provider
announced an enormous rate hike.
“Our insurance company,
Cigna, was going to raise our
rates 25 percent,” Nerenberg
said. “When I went to talk to
them, they told me we had an
unhealthy population.”
Many of the 300 Cayuse
employees
struggled
with
diabetes and other health issues.
Some had no primary physician
and used the emergency room for
care.
Cigna was losing money on
the Mission-based technology
company. For every $100
received in premiums in 2015,
$163 was paid out. Cayuse’s
premium rate was slated to rise
That’s when Nerenberg’s
wife, Rhonda, a nurse and nutri-
tionist, made a suggestion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep.
Greg Walden was busy early this year
— leading a powerful Congressional
committee, sitting at President Trump’s
elbow at meetings, holding all-night hear-
ings on new health care legislation.
He was also busy
raising
campaign
cash — more than
any other member of
the Oregon delega-
tion in the fi rst three
months of this year.
He collected nearly
$1 million in 90 days
with an eye on an
election that is more Walden
than a year away.
The committee Walden for Congress
reported $789,270 in contributions. U.S.
Sen. Jeff Merkley came close, reporting
$760,193. No one else was near that total:
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, $242,550; U.S. Rep.
See CLINIC/8A
See WALDEN/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Registered nurse Rhonda Nerenberg, right, goes over health goals with patient Rosanne
Badgett recently at an in-house health clinic at Cayuse Technologies in Mission.
25 percent and bump up another
25 percent the following year.
Nerenberg shopped around,
but other insurance companies
echoed Cigna’s assessment.
The company wasn’t quite
big enough to self-insure. He
researched wellness programs,
but was unconvinced they would
turn the situation around.
PENDLETON
Youth outreach upstart setting roots in rec center
Nonprofi t group to
deal with teen issues
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
A local nonprofi t is looking to expand
its reach, using the Pendleton Recreation
Center as a home base.
Hoping to fi ll in the gaps not covered
by other youth organizations, REACH
Pendleton intends to provide services
from the former Helen McCune Junior
High School adjacent to city hall. The
city owns the building and rents out the
gym and downstairs room for a variety of
community and private events.
A video on REACH’s website
previews the type of teen issues the
nonprofi t is looking to address: alcohol
and drug use, physical and sexual abuse,
teen pregnancy, criminal activity and
more.
“Somewhere along the line, there’s a
cog missing,” REACH board member
Joe Jackson said about the teens who deal
with those issues.
Jackson said he and other people
involved in youth services around town
formed REACH — Reaching Every
Adult and Child Through Hope — in
January and approached city offi cials
about what type of youth services Pend-
leton needs.
Jackson said that both sides concluded
that the existing services that serve
children and teens need to be brought
together rather than replicated.
See REACH/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Austin Mota, 16, of Pendleton dives head fi rst down a slip-and-
slide on Wednesday at Rice-Blakey Park in Pendleton. The event
was put on by the First Church of God and REACH Pendleton.