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GOP HEALTH
CARE PLAN
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NATION/7A
SPORTS/1B
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017
141st Year, No. 197
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
One dollar
Steelhead numbers hit lowest in decades
Summer fi sh returns drastically low across Bonneville Dam
The latest research suggests a
big part of the recent population
decline may be tied to factors soon
after juvenile steelhead enter the
ocean, such as predation, parasites
and industrial contamination.
A study published June 26 in
the Canadian Journal of Fisheries
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Summer steelhead returns are
off to a dismal start in 2017, with
75 perfect fewer fi sh than usual
crossing Bonneville Dam so far
this season.
and Aquatic Sciences takes a closer
look at Pacifi c Northwest steelhead
runs from the lower Columbia
River and Puget Sound, tracking
the survival of smolts early in their
ocean life.
Neala Kendall, research scien-
tist and project leader with the
Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife in Olympia, said the
study did not specifi cally examine
upper Columbia steelhead, though
ocean conditions apply to all fi sh
runs.
“This is important for interior
Columbia
River
steelhead,”
Kendall said. “They are experi-
encing the same ocean as lower
Columbia
River
steelhead,
New wheelchair provides opportunities for quadriplegic hunter
certainly.”
The publication comes at a time
when fi sheries managers across
the Columbia Basin are projecting
the lowest steelhead returns in 37
years. According to data, just 4,075
steelhead have passed Bonneville
Dam since July 1, compared to
16,996 at the same time last year.
See STEELHEAD/8A
PENDLETON
Fireworks
fundraising
explodes
out the gate
Already halfway to goal
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Nels Hadden gets help sitting up in his new wheelchair from his nurse Miranda Amwoka, left, and his care provider Martin Fuentes,
right, as Pete Hedbert, with Pacifi c Healthcare Associates, makes adjustments to the chair on Tuesday at his home in Walla Walla.
Hadden was paralyzed nearly nine years ago while helping a motorist on Interstate 84 west of Arlington.
Breath of the Wild
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Nels Hadden may not be able to
move his arms or legs, but he can still
take down a deer with a crossbow.
There’s no magic spell or use of
the Force, just the power of tech-
nology that lets quadriplegic men and
women do things that would have
been impossible years ago.
Hadden was paralyzed from the
neck down in 2009, when he stopped
to help at the scene of a crash on Inter-
state 84 and was struck by another car
that slid out of control on the ice. He
lived in Milton-Freewater at the time
and has since moved to Walla Walla.
On Tuesday the nonprofi t Inde-
pendence Fund gifted Hadden an
upgraded wheelchair with 16-inch
pneumatic wheels and four wheel
drive that will allow him to roll across
uneven terrain. He can’t wait to use
it to hit the beach for the fi rst time in
more than eight years.
“This is going to give some of
those things back that were taken
away from me,” he said.
Hadden has always been able to
move about and control a cell phone
using puffs and sips of air into a straw
near his mouth, but his other chairs
have always been designed for fl at,
even surfaces.
One of the biggest things the
all-terrain chair will help with is
hunting. Hadden was an avid hunter
before the accident, and still is today.
He may not be able to hug his children
Photo contributed by Nels Hadden
Nels Hadden poses with the hunting guide Gary Parson
with the buck he shot with a crossbow last September
outside of Dayton, Wash.
See HADDEN/8A
About a week into an effort to
restart the Pendleton Fourth of July
fi reworks show, fundraisers are
already halfway to their goal.
The cancellation of the 2017 show
spurred Jerry Imsland of the Pend-
leton Rotary Club to begin organizing
a fundraising drive to bring back the
Independence Day fi reworks display.
With an expanding base of support,
the Rotary Club has been able to
raise
more
than $5,000, “I like the idea
or more than
h a l f w a y of kids getting
toward
the
involved.”
organization’s
$10,000 goal. — Jerry Imsland,
While the
of the Pendleton
fundraising
Rotary Club
effort seems to
be coalescing
around the Rotary Club, Imsland
wasn’t the only person interested in
reviving the fi reworks show.
Thirteen-year-old
Sunridge
Middle School student Devan Dris-
kell intended to lead an effort of his
own with the $1,000 he earned deliv-
ering newspapers, until he joined
forces with Imsland after Driskell
and his father learned more about
Imsland’s campaign.
According to George Murdock,
Umatilla County commissioner and
the president-elect of the Rotary Club,
the organization offi cially created a
fi reworks committee Monday and
named Imsland and Driskell the
committee co-chairs.
“I like the idea of kids getting
involved,” Imsland said.
Donations will be processed
through the Pendleton Rotary Foun-
dation, making them tax deductible.
The Rotary board also threw in
$3,000 of its own to bolster the cause.
See FIREWORKS/8A
HERMISTON
Desert Rose Ministries
to open restaurant
Aiming to create jobs
for those that need work
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Desert Rose Ministries has made
a name for themselves as a place
to help people get back on their
feet. They hope to live up to that
reputation with their newest project:
Last Supper Dining, a restaurant
located next to the church that will
create jobs for people who may have
trouble getting them elsewhere.
Desert Rose took over the vacant
restaurant at the corner of East Fifth
and Main streets earlier this year, and
its members have been hard at work
turning it into a place for the public.
The restaurant, which had its soft
opening this weekend during the
3-on-3 basketball tournament, will
have a biblical theme, according to
pastor Jason Estle, serving things
like “Samson sirloins” and “Rabboni
ribeyes,” as well as scriptures on the
menus and cards for prayer requests
on the tables.
“We’re going to have fun with the
names,” Estle said. “And if someone
wants to have their meal blessed, we
can do that.”
See RESTAURANT/8A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Andrew Eickstaedt fl ips a burger Saturday shortly after the opening of
The Last Supper, a restaurant associated with Desert Rose Ministries.