OFF PAGE ONE
MEALS: Free to all kids ages 1 to 18
Page 10A
East Oregonian
Friday, July 14, 2017
Continued from 1A
Elementary School, is the
only program in the area that
offers dinner.
Some of the students at
McNary Heights are there
for summer school, but
others come just for the
lunchtime events.
She said the activities
have been a good addition to
the program.
“I think it draws in more
kids. At Kiwanis Park, we
had kids lined up all the
way to McNary Market, and
they were all in circles doing
yoga,” Larsen said.
Head Start offers art proj-
ects and literacy activities,
as well as lessons geared
toward the parents.
“We had the OSU exten-
sion service come and do
food sampling,” said Toni
Eddy, the child nutrition
manager for the local Head
Start. “The kids get to try the
foods, but the parents can
take home the recipes.”
Other locations are near
playgrounds or pools, and
some sites have field trip
opportunities for students.
Eddy said the program is
funded by the USDA. This
year, she said they received
a supplemental grant from
Partners for a Hunger-Free
Oregon, which allowed
Head Start to expand to
another summer lunch
program in Irrigon.
In order to meet USDA
requirements, Eddy said they
have to serve certain things:
two ounces of protein, a
serving of grain, and a
combined serving of 3/4 cup
of fruits and vegetables.
“We do sandwiches,
wraps and salads,” Eddy
said. “Tuna, chicken salad
sandwiches. And we’re
starting to get local fruit in.
We had blueberries donated
from a local farm, and
starting next week we’ll
EO file photo/E.J. Harris
In this June 16 file photo, Mormon crickets congregate on top of a wood pile in
the yard of a residence on Hemlock Street in Arlington.
West is battling crop-killing
swarms of Mormon crickets
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Juliah Williams, 7, paints a picture at the Umatilla-Mor-
row County Head Start summer lunch program.
“I think it draws in more kids. At
Kiwanis Park, we had kids lined up all
the way to McNary Market, and they
were all in circles doing yoga.”
— Rikkilyn Larsen, the child nutrition director
for the Umatilla School District
have watermelon and canta-
loupe donated.”
Eddy said donations from
local farms help keep Head
Start’s food costs low, and
allow students to enjoy fresh
produce.
The program is free to
all kids ages 1 to 18, and
Larsen said they encourage
parents to come and eat with
their children as much as
possible.
“We charge $2 for adult
meals, and it’s an unlimited
salad bar,” she said. “We
try to have a variety so the
kids can find something they
like.”
———
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan
at
jramakrishnan@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4534
BOISE (AP) — Farmers
in the U.S. West face a creepy
scourge every eight years
or so: Swarms of ravenous
insects that can decimate
crops and cause slippery,
bug-slick car crashes as they
march across highways and
roads.
Experts say this year could
be a banner one for Mormon
crickets — 3-inch-long bugs
named after the Mormon
pioneers who moved West
and learned firsthand the
insect’s devastating effect on
forage and grain fields.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Animal Plant
Health Inspection Service
reports “significantly higher
Mormon cricket popula-
tions” on federal land in
southwestern Idaho, agency
spokeswoman
Abbey
Powell wrote in an email to
The Associated Press.
“There isn’t a clear expla-
nation why populations are
so much higher this year,”
Powell wrote. “We know that
populations are cyclical. ...
In Idaho, in a few locations,
we have seen populations as
high as 70 per square yard.”
The bugs can start to be
detrimental to rangeland and
crops when they number
about 8 per square yard, state
officials said.
The federal agency says
the bugs— actually katydids,
an entomological cousin
to grasshoppers — are
stretched in a band across
southwestern Idaho, concen-
trated around Winnemucca,
Nevada; and sprinkled
throughout Oregon, Wash-
ington, Montana, Wyoming,
Arizona and Colorado.
Residents in Arlington
started dealing with Mormon
crickets in June, scrambling
to protect gardens and farm
crops and trying to keep the
bugs from invading homes
through open windows and
doors.
Out-of-control swarms
can mean big economic
losses for states. In 2003,
some counties in Idaho
and Nevada were forced to
declare states of emergency
because of cricket-caused
damage. Estimates of crop
damage in Utah reached
more than $25 million in
2001.
Police and transportation
workers also keep an eye on
invasions. The bugs are juicy
when squished, and when
swarms cross the road, they
can make the pavement as
slick as ice.
Idaho State Police Lt.
Col. Sheldon Kelley has
responded to wrecks and
slide-offs caused by the bug
slicks.
“Most people don’t know
they are coming” until their
car is almost on top of the
swarm, he said.
Drivers who see pave-
ment that looks like it is
moving should slow down
and drive as if they are on icy
roads, he said. Police work
with transportation officials
to post warnings and, if
necessary, sand roads fouled
by cricket carcasses.
Lloyd Knight, a division
administrator with the Idaho
Department of Agriculture,
said he hoped last winter’s
huge snowstorms would
naturally limit their numbers.
Female crickets can lay up
to 100 eggs each summer,
which hatch the following
spring.
As it turns out, the deep
snow cover helped insulate
and protect the eggs, he said.
The department has
received more than 100
complaints about infesta-
tions this year, but that’s still
within expected norms for
the region, Knight said.
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Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A member of the Stageline crew begins the process of transforming a semi-truck
into a sound stage on Thursday morning at the Round-Up Grounds in preparation
for the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest. The process took several hours.
MUSIC: As soon as band leaves the stage
crews will begin disassembling equipment
Continued from 1A
The stage rolled onto
the Round-Up Grounds
on a semi-truck Thursday
morning, a large box that will
mechanically expand over
several hours. The production
crew will spend the ensuing
time adding the lights, video
screen and additional staging.
Setser said the setup
will be a little different this
year, but nothing that will
be noticeable to the average
audience member. And there
will be no pyrotechnics.
With a larger audience
coming into town and a Main
Street kick-off event added
to the revelry, local hotels
and restaurants must stay
prepared.
America’s Best Value
Inn owner Arun Butta said
customers started booking
rooms as soon as Maroon
5 was announced as the
headliner in early March.
The rooms for Saturday are
now booked solid and even
Friday’s rooms are mostly
filled.
The Southeast Court
Avenue motel is less than
a mile away from the
Round-Up Grounds.
Butta said this year’s event
definitely feels bigger than
the inaugural concert and it’s
his business’ responsibility
to make sure their stay in
Pendleton is a good one.
As soon as Maroon 5
leaves the stage, Setser’s
crew will immediately begin
disassembling equipment.
By Sunday, the arena
should look like it did at the
beginning of the week, the
only evidence of a massive
concert coming from some
disturbed grass.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
WIND: NextEra bills itself as the world’s largest
generator of renewable energy from wind and sun
Continued from 1A
Energy released a statement
saying the project “will
create tremendous economic
opportunities for the region
as well as bring more
low-cost,
emission-free
energy to Oregon.”
Once completed, Wheat-
ridge will generate up to 500
megawatts of energy. The
turbines are designed to be
built over two main areas
— Wheatridge West, located
entirely within Morrow
County about seven miles
northwest of Heppner, and
Wheatridge East, about 16
miles northeast of Heppner
and crossing into Umatilla
County. The two areas will
be 25 miles apart, connected
via 230-kilovolt overhead
power lines.
Transmission onto the
electricity grid was not
addressed in the project’s
application, as developers
had intended for a third party
own and construct those lines
separately. The hope was
that by establishing a single
designated
transmission
corridor, multiple projects
including Wheatridge could
link up on a single set of lines
without having a spiderweb
of lines crisscross the land-
scape. There was particular
concern multiple transmis-
sion systems could interrupt
farming and take high-value
land out of production.
NextEra says it is currently
working on solutions to
connect onto the power grid,
and evaluating its options for
selling the power generated
by Wheatridge.
As of 2016, NextEra
and its subsidiaries had a
consolidated revenue of
$16.2 billion and 45,900
megawatts of generating
capacity. NextEra Energy
Resources bills itself as the
world’s largest generator of
renewable energy from the
wind and sun.
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