Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2017)
97/66 KILTS, CABERS AND MORE Prosthetic arm on a 3-D printer CALEDONIAN GAMES/6A OREGON/7A WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017 141st Year, No. 187 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD FOURTH OF JULY IN PENDLETON Rural nursing homes on edge Administrators worry about lack of access as state eliminates beds By LES ZAITZ The (Malheur) Enterprise ONTARIO — The elderly woman had heard rumors of closure in the hallways of Presbyterian Community Care Center. She learned the rumors were true when Cathleen Sullivan, the nursing home administrator, came to her room to tell her she would have to fi nd a new home. “When do I have to leave?” the resident asked. Similar scenes played out in room after room as Sullivan delivered the news. And word of the impending closure rocketed through Eastern Oregon’s nursing home industry. The challenges of rural health care had claimed another victim. Reliance on nursing homes has See NURSING/10A Suicide gun bill heads to House Staff photos by Kathy Aney Easton Carlson waits for the start of the Fourth of July parade in Pendleton on Tuesday. AT RIGHT, FROM TOP: Thelma Lindner watches the parade. A classic car motors along the route. A young girl shows her patriotic spirit as she watches the parade. Kaylee Stroder shows her patriotic spirit as she watches the parade. Flagapalooza By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The House will consider a bill modeled after a law enacted by Washington voters in 2016 to allow loved ones and law enforcement to obtain an emergency order to block a suicidal person from access to deadly weapons. The House Committee on Rules voted 5-to-2 to recommend passage of the bill. The Senate approved the bill 17-to-11 May 1. Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, proposed the bill to create extreme risk protection orders as way to prevent the kind of suicides he has experienced as a father and a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran. Boquist’s 31-year-old, a U.S. Navy veteran, committed suicide Feb. 16, 2016, in the midst of the Legisla- ture’s session. Boquist wrote a statement read by Senate President Peter Courtney the day after the suicide that said his son, Seth Sprague, had “never fully recovered from the tragedy of war.” See SUICIDE/10A down Main Street,” said Fred Bradbury, the event’s principal organizer. “As a little kid, I used to fi ght for space to get up front. All the As a judge for Pendleton’s Fourth of July stores were open, the crowds were six deep parade, Sharon Cook knows American spirit and it brought a lot of business into town. When [the parade] started, I wanted it to go when she sees it. down Main Street. We’re the “If we look at the entry and only parade that does that we immediately want to get now.” up and salute, that says you’re More inside The parade entries were patriotic,” she said. Stanfi eld’s Fourth of met by waving spectators, Cook, the outgoing VFW July celebration draws candy-seeking children and Auxiliary president and one large crowd downtown. plenty of American fl ags — of three judges at Tuesday’s the VFW distributed roughly 6th annual parade, said she 500 this year. loves to see folks having fun. “A parade’s not a parade if you don’t have Hosted by the VFW “Let ’er Buck” Post 922, the parade featured 42 entries decked fl ags,” Bradbury said. He added that the out in red, white and blue. Everything from symbol means everything to veterans, and buses and antique cars to riders on horseback the VFW aims to help residents “realize how and a marching Little League team traveled important freedom is.” There seemed to be more people in atten- from city hall to the convention center, with a scenic detour down Main Street. See PARADE/5A “All the parades in the early days went By EMILY OLSON East Oregonian “You can’t intellectualize this stuff. You can’t treat it with drugs. You just have to feel.” — Tom Skerritt, actor and co-founder of the Red Badge Project Veterans write to tame trauma Red Badge writers share their stories at Walla Walla reading By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Skip Nichols walked to the podium, breathed deeply and shared one of his most agonizing life experiences. Nichols, a Vietnam veteran and retired managing editor of the East Oregonian, had cobbled together the words during a Red Badge Project writing workshop and later agreed to share them with an audience at the Gesa Power House Theatre in Walla Walla. On Friday night, he joined fi ve other workshop participants, two Red Badge instructors and actor Tom Skerritt, who served in the Air Force. The Emmy-win- ning actor co-founded the Red Badge Project as a way to help veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder fi nd their voice and reboot their sense of purpose. At the podium, Nichols morphed back into the 19-year-old Marine he once had been, standing guard with two other soldiers near the perimeter of Camp Carroll, just south of the demilitarized zone. They noticed a boy on a water buffalo heading toward the concertina wire encir- cling the camp. The sight put the soldiers on edge. The boy, who appeared to be about 12, carried a bamboo cane to prod the water buffalo and had arms and legs that were “little more than sticks.” A brown cloth bag hung from his neck. “Did it contain rice balls or hand grenades?” Nichols remembered wondering. “Were we looking into the eyes of the enemy or an innocent boy?” Nichols, a radio operator and See RED BADGE/10A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Actor Tom Skerritt speaks about the Red Badge Project on Friday at the Gesa Pow- er House Theatre in Walla Walla. Skerritt co-founded the project, which helps veter- ans with PTSD fi nd their voice and rebuild their sense of purpose.
