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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
THE JUICE WILL BE LOOSE: O.J. SIMPSON GRANTED PAROLE FORESTS INCREASE PUBLIC USE RESTRICTIONS NATION/6A REGION/3A FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017 141st Year, No. 199 Your Weekend • • • One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON “The Fire” at Pendleton Center for the Arts John Nilsen in concert in Hermiston Celebrate Agriculture at SAGE center For times and places see Coming Events, 6A Catch a movie Vikram Gounassegarin/STX Entertainment A pair of intergalactic hotties have action-packed adventures in space in “Valerian and the City of a Thousdand Planets.” For showtime, Page 5A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun Staff photo by E.J. Harris A motorcyclist pulls out of a long line of parked motorcycles on Main Street in front of Hamley Steakhouse on Thursday in Pendleton. 88/59 94/65 99/67 Gonorrhea on the rise in Oregon By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian What’s going on with gonorrhea? The sexually transmitted disease is not only on the rise in Oregon and around the globe, but its ability to shape-shift has the World Health Organization warning of an antibiotic-resistant strain of super gonorrhea on the horizon. Gonorrhea has nearly tripled in Oregon since 2012. In 2016, Multnomah County led the way with 250 cases per 100,000 residents. Morrow and Umatilla coun- ties followed with the second and third highest rates of 160 and 110. The state averaged 107. In actual numbers of cases, Multnomah had 760 and Umatilla reported 88. Morrow, the least populated of the three, had 19 cases. Despite the dubious distinction of having the third highest rate in the state, See GONORRHEA/10A Bike Week attracts riders near and far By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian John Hansen left his home in The Dalles and covered about 1,500 miles on his Harley-Davidson touring bike before arriving Wednesday in Pendleton. “I was on the road for 10, 11 days,” he said. Hansen, 65, said he took off for Glacier National Park, Montana, and with the Canadian line so close by he decided to cruise along that country’s Highway 3, visiting small towns. Dipping back into the United States a few days ago, he said, he actually gave a cheer. His Harley was one of hundreds at the Pendleton Convention Center for Pendleton Bike Week 2017, but a few Indian Motorcycles and foreign bikes dotted the wide parking lot. Convention Center manager Pat Beard said the riders run an array from bricklayers to doctors, and the thing that have in common is the love of a certain lifestyle. And perhaps some disposable income. Originally from Prineville, Hansen said he is retired from the U.S. Forest Service, where he worked as a business manager. He said he rode all kinds of motorcycles in his youth, but 20 years ago he and Staff photo by Phil Wright Retired U.S. Forest Service employee John Hansen of The Dalles rode his 2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide about1,500 miles before arriving Wednesday for Pendleton Bike Week. And that’s a jaunt, he said, compared so some riders at the annual event. his wife moved to Hawaii and he sold the machines. After 13 years in the Aloha State, he said his wife Debbie missed having four seasons and found a job in The Dalles. To entice him to come, she promised him a new Harley. “Holy crap!” he told her. “I’m on the plane, dear.” While they have been in The Dalles a while now, he said last year’s Bike Week brought him to Pendleton for the fi rst time. The couple had such a blast they came back. Learning about new places, he said, is one on of the reasons he rides. Even taking a road that goes nowhere, he said, is part of the journey. “If your wife isn’t with you, you’re not lost,” he quipped. Bike Week founder Eric Folke- stad said that’s the attitude these folks bring. Many come from Port- land and Seattle, and they want new experiences. And Pendleton delivers that in spades. Around 16,000 registered for Bike Week last year, and Folkestad said this year is up about 25 percent. He said that’s a healthy amount of growth. One of the big attractions could be Harley-Davidson. The event’s primary sponsor has a big pres- ence, with dozens of motorcycles available for full-on test drives. And Folkestad said plenty of riders are coming to take on The Rattlesnake 400, a 400-mile loop through the Blue Mountains, north to Clarkston, Washington, east all the way to Rattlesnake Mountain Harley-Da- vidson in Kennewick, then back to Pendleton, but with a stop fi rst in Helix to Holton Secret Lab. Riders who prove they completed the endurance ride in 12 hours earn a pin. Folkestad said bikers are coming from Texas and Tennessee for that pin. Hansen said he takes about two big trips a year on the Harley Street Glide, and he already put in a bit of an endurance ride, so maybe next year he will take on the Rattlesnake. And for now, he said, he had to get ready for his wife’s arrival and make sure the beer was cold. Hundreds stay after Rainbow Gathering to clean up mess By RYLAN BOGGS EO Media Group As Don Joseph picks his way through a pine forest used by the Rainbow Gathering, it’s obvious people were here. Paths snake in between trees and sites where tents and latrines were set up a couple weeks ago for more than 13,000 attendees, but it’s hard to say where exactly they “The idea is to were. Beyond a few orange make it look like peels, there’s no garbage we were never in a small chunk of forest used by several hundred here, but we’ll nev- Rainbow Gathering er achieve that.” attendees who stayed behind after the July 1-7 — Scott, member of gathering to clean up. the clean-up crew Joseph, a Vietnam veteran and regular gath- ering attendee, takes pride in the condition in which the gathering attendees leave their sites. As with the gathering, many volunteers on the clean-up crew prefer not to give their full name, including Scott. He The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Lesa sorts recycling after the Rainbow Gathering Friday, July 14. See RAINBOW/10A
