REGION
Friday, July 21, 2017
East Oregonian
Forests increase public use restrictions
Campfires now allowed
only in designated areas
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Summer recreation season
is in full swing, and forest
officials in the Blue Moun-
tains are ramping up precau-
tions to avoid unnecessary
human-caused wildfires.
The Umatilla, Wallowa-
Whitman and Malheur
national forests have all
implemented
Phase
B
public use restrictions as
of Thursday, which among
other things limits the use
of campfires to designated
campgrounds and recreation
sites.
Phase B is the second level
of public use restrictions, and
are generally enforced when
the fire danger is high. Large
swaths of central and Eastern
Oregon are now listed as
“abnormally dry,” according
to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
In addition to restrictions
on campfires, Phase B
prohibits the use of chainsaws
or other internal combustion
engines on the forests. Gener-
ators are allowed, but only if
they are placed in a pickup
truck bed or in areas cleared
of flammable material within
a 10-foot diameter.
PENDLETON
City creates rules
for mobile vendors
East Oregonian
Photo contributed by U.S. Forest Service.
The Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur national forests have implemented
Phase B public use restrictions to protect against wildfire.
Smoking is only allowed
only in enclosed vehicles,
buildings and developed
recreation sites, or when
stopped in an area cleared of
flammable material. Driving
off-road is prohibited, except
when traveling to or from
campsites located within 300
feet of an open road.
As of Thursday, the
Blue Mountain Interagency
Dispatch Center reports there
have been 25 total fires on
Forest Service land — eight
of which were caused by
humans. Human-caused fires
have burned just 1.5 acres
within the district, while
lightning fires have torched
1,010 acres.
The largest wildfire in
Oregon, the Ana Fire, is now
fully contained after burning
5,874 acres near Summer
Lake in rural Lake County.
It has been ruled as human-
caused, and remains under
investigation.
In Washington, the largest
blaze is the lightning-sparked
Snake River Fire, consuming
3,100 acres east of Pomeroy.
Like the Ana Fire, it is now
100 percent contained.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
BRIEFLY
Umatilla council approves
annexation and rezone
for Amazon subsidiary
UMATILLA — The Umatilla City
Council voted Tuesday night to annex
269 acres off of Lind Road into the city.
The resolution, along with a
rezoning of 190 acres of the property
from farm use to industrial, was passed
at the request of Vadata, the name
under which Amazon does business in
Umatilla and Morrow counties.
City manager Russ Pelleberg said
representatives of Vadata and Umatilla
County planning director Tamra
Mabbott testified in favor of the two
resolutions. The land was originally
zoned for F-1 exclusive farm use by
the county and designated by the city’s
comprehensive plan for residential and
natural resource uses.
The rezone covers a section of
land stretching between Lind Road
and Umatilla River Road just south of
Power City.
Pelleberg said Vadata is on a
“pretty tight timeline” for its plans for
developing the property, so the city is
prepared to do what it can to help move
things along for them.
“We’re pretty stoked to have these
folks in our town,” he said.
EOU board retreat
to be held in Pendleton
PENDLETON — Members of the
Eastern Oregon University Board of
Trustees will meet in Pendleton on
Tuesday, Aug. 1 and Wednesday, Aug.
2 for their annual retreat. The event will
be at the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute,
at 47106 Wildhorse Boulevard,
Pendleton.
Board members meet each year in a
different location throughout the region.
On both days of the retreat, trustees
will hold meetings that are open to the
public. On Tuesday from 1 to 4 p.m.,
the meetings will be related to the
college’s philanthropic goals, and on
Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon,
the meetings will cover a variety of
subjects.
On Tuesday, there will also be a
reception for all community members
at 4:30 p.m. at the Pendleton Center for
the Arts, 214 N. Main St., Pendleton.
EOU president Tom Insko and board
chair David Nelson will address the
group about the college’s partnerships
in Umatilla County.
“We’re grateful for the connection
made at these community events,”
Nelson said. “It’s a wonderful
opportunity for the board to hear
directly from leaders, community
members and partners in the region.”
More information about the event is
available at 541-962-4101.
White Eagle Grange
sets planning meeting
PENDLETON — A planning
meeting for the White Eagle Grange
will include discussion about
fundraisers and grange activities.
The event is Saturday at 8:30
a.m. at the grange hall, 43828 White
Eagle Road, located off Highway 395
between Pendleton and Pilot Rock.
The public is invited to attend and
provide input about fundraisers for the
Pendleton fireworks fund, ideas about
a float entry for the Dress-Up Parade
and other activities throughout the
year. The group will fire up the grill to
make pancakes, French toast, ham and
eggs. Donations for the meal will be
accepted.
For more information, contact Gail
Wilson at 541-310-9655, 541-276-3778
or gail11wilson@gmail.com.
Heritage Station offers
folklife conversation
PENDLETON — Beadworker
Margaret Johnson and folklorist Josh
Chrysler will share about living cultural
traditions of Eastern Oregon.
The Oregon Folklife Community
Conversation is Tuesday at 7 p.m. at
Heritage Station Museum, 108 S.W.
Frazer Ave., Pendleton. The program is
free of charge.
Johnson was born to a Scots father
and Crow/Chippewa/Cheyenne
mother, and grew up near the Colville
Reservation in Washington. She
learned to bead when she was about 14
from elders at Colville. Her husband
and children are enrolled members at
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
Chrysler, staff folklorist at Four
Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario,
has been hired on contract through a
grant from the National Endowment
for the Arts. His mission is to produce
programs and exhibits that celebrate
the traditional culture and folklife of
Eastern Oregon.
For more information, call
541-276-0012 or visit www.
heritagestationmuseum.org.
Meacham sets annual
community yard sale
MEACHAM — For a chance to find
some treasures or sell items you don’t
want, be sure to head to the Meacham
Community Yard Sale.
The event is Saturday, Aug. 5 from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Oregon Trail
Store & Deli parking lot, downtown
Meacham. Located in the Umatilla
National Forest, Meacham is about
30 miles southeast of Pendleton off
Interstate 84 at Exit No. 238. Free
spaces are available on a first-come,
first-served basis for anyone wanting
to sell items. Bring a sale table (or use
your pickup tailgate), items and a chair.
A parade is planned at 9:30 a.m.
Those who would like to participate in
the parade need to be ready to line up
by 9 a.m.
In addition, Mtn. Millie’s famous
hamburgers will be sold on site during
the event. After bills are paid, all
proceeds will go to the Oregon Pioneer
Cemetery at Meacham and publishing
the monthly Meacham Gazette.
For more information, call Karen
Edmonds at 541-969-8227.
Please Welcome
Page 3A
Pendleton’s
mobile
food vendors now have
to answer to a set of rules
created by the city.
At a meeting Tuesday,
the Pendleton City Council
unanimously approved an
ordinance that regulates
mobile food vendors.
City Attorney Nancy
Kerns told the council
that the ordinance applies
to sidewalk vendors and
mobile vendors like food
trucks and trailers. Vendors
at approved community
events are exempted from
this ordinance.
The city’s law requires
mobile food vendors to
obtain a municipal busi-
ness license and sets time
and place parameters.
A vendor won’t be
able to park in a parking
lot where their presence
pushes a parking lot below
the minimum number of
parking spots.
A vendor also won’t be
able to locate their cart or
trailer within 100 feet of a
business that sells similar
food. Kerns clarified that
the 100-foot buffer zone
only applied to brick and
mortar businesses, a fact
that the council asked staff
to make explicit in the
language of the ordinance.
The ordinance desig-
nates the Riverfront Plaza
on
Southwest
Court
Avenue as a “food vendor
plaza” where multiple
vendors could set up shop.
Kerns said she was unsure
how vendors would be
supplied with water or
electricity but would meet
with staff to find out.
During recent inter-
views, two mobile vendors
parked on the 300 block
of Southwest Emigrant
Avenue weren’t happy
with the thought of paying
for
another
business
license, but didn’t seem too
concerned about the other
regulations.
Although there are new
rules imposed on mobile
food vendors throughout
the city, there could be
more coming down the
pike.
The ordinance gives the
city manager authority to
create new rules, including
a list or map of places
where vendors can operate,
a lottery for vendor spaces
and specific rules for the
different types of vendor
licenses.
The ordinance included
a declaration of emergency
and will go into effect
immediately.
HERMISTON
Inmates raise $7,266
for backpack program
East Oregonian
The Agape House
already has a third of its
funding for the coming
school year’s backpack
program thanks to a
fundraiser by inmates at
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution.
TRCI chaplain Don
Hodney presented a check
for $7,266 to Agape House
director Dave Hughes on
Thursday. The money will
go to a program that sends a
backpack full of food home
with students in poverty to
help feed them through the
weekend.
Hughes said the money
presented by Hodney is
enough to get the program
through about a third of the
2017-2018 school year. He
said the donation is just the
latest example of the prison
staff and inmates being
a “great support” to the
Agape House.
“We’re thrilled,” he
said. “It’s just great. Two
Rivers is such a great
community partner.”
Hodney said in the past,
a committee of inmates has
come up with fundraisers
that have raised about
$4,000 for the Agape
House’s Christmas meals
for families, so Thursday’s
donation
was
almost
double anything they’ve
done before.
The committee wanted
to do another fundraiser
sooner than Christmas and
came up with the idea to let
residents of the prison place
orders of approved snack
food like trail mix or candy
from Wal-Mart, with the
profits going to the back-
pack program. Hodney said
considering an incarcerated
person’s paycheck may
be $25 a month, most of
which goes toward toilet-
ries, the orders represented
a significant investment for
the more than 700 men who
participated.
“It’s not about the
indulgence,” he said. “I’ve
been told over and over
again that they’re happy to
be able to do something for
someone else.”
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
The solar eclipse is coming
August 21
Aimee Rogers, MD
Urologist
Now Scheduling Appointments
541-966-0535
Dr. Rogers is originally from Southern California and
graduated from Loyola University in Chicago. She
attended medical school at the University Of Louisville
School Of Medicine, and completed her residency in
Urology in Morgantown, West Virginia at West Virginia
University. She then spent three years at Reid Hospital
in Richmond, Indiana. Dr. Rogers is Board Certifi ed,
American Board of Urology. Dr. Rogers has purchased a
home in Pendleton and looks forward to being involved
in the community.
St. Anthony Clinic
3001 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, Oregon
www.sahpendleton.org
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Pick some up for your friends
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East Oregonian
1-800-522-0255
211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton 333 East Main St. Hermiston