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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2017)
94/59 16-year-old remains missing CANO HITS HOMER IN THE 10TH TRUMP JR. RELEASES EMAILS REGION/3A ALL-STAR GAME/1B NATION/9A WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017 141st Year, No. 192 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON Rotarian, newspaper carrier restart fundraising efforts for fi reworks show By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The Pendleton Fourth of July fi reworks show hasn’t had a consistent sponsor since the local chapter of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce folded, but now a former Jaycee is leading the charge to revive the Independence Day display. Although the Fraternal Order of Eagles have organized the show for the past three years, a lack of fundraising killed the show this year Jerry Imsland, a former member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and current real estate broker and Port of Umatilla commissioner, is proposing that the Pendleton Rotary Club become the new sponsors for the fi re- work show. Imsland remembers launching fireworks from the Round-Up Grounds as a member of the Imsland Jaycees in the 1970s and 80s and was disappointed when the tradition was discontinued this year. Imsland is the early stages of studying how to coordinate a modern-day fi reworks show — he plans to meet with Becky Marks, the Eagles member who helped helm the fundraising effort during their tenure, and the Wildhorse Resort & Casino, which does a fi reworks show every year during the casino’s anniversary in March. Like his predecessors, Imsland wants to raise $10,000 for a show that would be staged near the Wal-Mart. When he spoke about restarting the fi reworks show at a recent Rotary Club meeting, he ginned up enough enthu- siasm to raise $500 in promised donations. Imsland’s next major donation could come from a Sunridge Middle School eighth grader. When news broke that the Pendleton wouldn’t get a fi reworks show this year, Max Driskell and his 13-year-old son, Deven, started talking about potential solutions. “Instead of whining, let’s do something about it,” Max said. After Max “put a bug in his ear,” Deven started running New health bill likely keeping tax boosts on wealthy By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A revised Senate Republican health care bill will likely retain a pair of tax boosts President Barack Obama imposed on wealthier Americans that have helped fi nance his law’s expansion of coverage, a leading Senate Republican said Tuesday. The two levies — one on investment income and another on the payroll tax that helps fi nance the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly — are among the biggest that Obama’s 2010 statute imposed. Some of the money would be used to increase a fund the GOP bill would disperse to states to help insurers contain consumers’ premiums and deductibles, said No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas. Preserving those taxes “seems to be where we’re headed,” Cornyn told reporters. He said the reworked bill will also provide $45 billion over a decade to help states combat abuse of drugs including opioids, and make it easier for states to get federal waivers to decide how to spend money under their Medicaid health programs for the poor, elderly and nursing home patients. Cornyn spoke after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he will introduce his party’s altered health care bill Thursday and begin trying to muscle it through the Senate next week. The effort comes with the fate of the GOP measure in doubt, with internal divisions threatening to mortally wound their top-tier goal of repealing much of Obama’s overhaul. See BILL/10A Hot weather prompts forest restrictions Staff photo by Kathy Aney Deven Driskell, determined that Pendleton will have Fourth of July fi reworks next summer, decided to give $1,000 he earned as an East Oregonian paper carrier to the cause. He hopes Pendleton businesses and clubs will match him. with the idea of leading the coordination efforts for the Fourth of July show. Deven said he has $1,000 saved in his bank account from his job delivering newspapers for the East Oregonian. Their plan was to challenge busi- nesses to match his $1,000 donation until they were able to raise at least $5,000. Now that Imsland has gone public with his plans, Max said he and Deven would be happy to join their effort. Deven can still donate the money and play an active role in fundraising, Max said. Even if the Rotary Club passes on sponsoring the fi re- works show, Imsland plans to press on with the effort. People interested in donating to the fi reworks show can contact Imsland at jerry@imsland- offi ces.com. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. an Oregon driver’s license would no longer have been suffi cient to get through a TSA checkpoint at the airport starting in January. Now Oregonians will have the option to pay an extra fee to get a license or other state ID that complies with all See SESSION/10A See FORESTS/10A By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Sen. Hansell Rep. Barreto He said the most signifi cant is Senate Bill 374, which will allow Oregonians to continue to use their driver’s licenses to board commercial fl ights and enter federal facilities. The state was previously out of compliance with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, and if the legislature had not acted By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Northeast Oregon is feeling the summer heat, and local forests have started phasing in guidelines meant to minimize the risk of human-caused wildfi res. Both the Umatilla and Wallowa- Whitman national forests have implemented Phase A public use restrictions, which regu- late campfi res, smoking, off-road travel and chainsaw use. A similar set of restrictions, known as regulated use closures, have also been set on the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Northeast Oregon District, covering more than 2 million acres of private, state, county, municipal and tribal forestland. The district formally entered fi re season on June 26. So far this year, the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center in La Grande has reported 26 fi res burning roughly 87 acres, including 18 lighting-caused fi res and eight human-caused fi res. Fire danger is moderate to high across the region, as lighter grasses become dried out at lower elevations. In order to keep people from accidentally starting wildfi res, the Forest Service enacts public use restrictions that dictate certain activities on national forest land. Phase A restrictions include: • No off-road or off-trail vehicle travel in areas not cleared of standing grass or other fl ammable material. • Smoking is allowed only in enclosed vehicles, buildings or cleared areas. • Chainsaw use is not allowed between 1-8 p.m. Operators need to stick around for one hour after work is completed to watch Legislators reflect on session As legislators return to their normal lives after months in Salem, they are bringing back to their districts tales of triumph — and of ways the legislature fell short this session. It was Sen. Bill Hansell’s fourth regular session since he was elected in 2012. The senator from District 29 said there were bills he was proud of passing, but he also found it disappointing that the legislature did not make progress on tackling the Public Employees Retirement System’s massive unfunded liability or passing more cost-containment measures to keep state spending in check. Hansell was a sponsor of 42 bills signed by the governor. Trying to curtail wildfi re risk Rep. Smith
