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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2017)
102/65 LEGAL TOBACCO AGE RAISED TO 21 IN OREGON FARM-CITY BREAKS IN NEW ARENA NORTHWEST/2A SPORTS/1B THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2017 141st Year, No. 213 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WESTON Fire burns barn, 250 acres By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Krista Gannon and friends Lisa Youncs and Jacob Ramirez leads her three horses and a mule away from a fi re that sparked near Weston on Wednesday afternoon and threat- ened the barn where the animals are kept. Firefi ghters curtailed two wildland blazes Wednesday that burned a barn and about 250 acres near Weston. The fi rst emergency call came at 1:10 p.m., according to Suzy Pyle Reitz, spokesperson for the East Umatilla County Rural Fire Protection District. Crews got that burn under control early, according to some onlookers. But the fi re torched scrub and grass- land along with standing wheat fi elds on Weston Mountain. Police closed Highway 204 and evacuated homes on some rural roads north and east of Weston. Reitz said there were two separate fi res that together burned about 250 acres. “Both the state fi re marshal and the Umatilla County fi re investigator are working together to fi nd the causes of both fi res,” Reitz said. Robert Pardee rushed to the scene, still in his work clothes from the Pend- leton Walmart’s auto center, to fi nd two Oregon State Police cars blocking access on Kirk Road. Pardee said he rents a trailer up the draw with his roommates, one of whom was home and called him about the emergency. “Police came to the door and said you need to go,” Pardee said. The fi re burned less than a mile from the double-wide, he said, but his roommates were safe, along with their cat and two dogs. Pardee said he was only a couple of days away from See FIRE/8A ALL THE RIGHT MOO-VES FFA student develops her own cattle program By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian The livestock barns at the Umatilla County Fair are a cacophony of mooing cows, bleating sheep, squealing pigs and crowing roosters as students with FFA and 4-H prepare their show animals for fi nal confi rmation and judging. Yet all the activity Tuesday did not seem to bother Wyoming, the lumbering, mellow steer, as he was led around the show ring by his owner, Isel Tejeda Urenda. “He started off with a poor attitude, but then he and I really formed a bond,” said Tejeda Urenda, 16, who will be starting her junior year at Herm- iston High School. “Now, he’s like my little puppy dog.” Judging for market steers will not begin until Thursday morning at the fair, but practice makes perfect for Tejeda Urenda and her half-ton “puppy dog.” She tugs gently on Wyoming’s halter and uses her show stick to maneuver the animal into profi le stance, front legs parallel and back feet slightly staggered. After practice, it’s back to the stall where Tejeda Urenda gives Wyoming a brushing and checks in on her two yearling heifers, Boons and Miss America. Both heifers have already been bred, and will give birth to calves sometime next March. The herd is like a big, happy family, Tejeda See CATTLE/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston junior Isel Tejeda Urenda leads one of her FFA breeding heifers in the crossbreed class while showing the animal Wednesday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. Animals require constant care to beat the heat By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton sophomore Ethan Russell washes adhesives off his Hereford steer after showing the animal Wednesday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. At this point, everyone has heard the tips for keeping cool during the scorching heat at the Umatilla County Fair. But keeping animals safe and comfortable in the high temperatures is it’s own special skill. It’s more than just dousing animals with water every few hours — the animals require a lot of time and attention. “When you’re washing the animals, you want to make sure the water’s cool, but you can’t just spray them or they’ll go into shock,” said Kennidy Baker, a Hermiston High “With the pigs, there’s a lot of skincare needs. Their skin’s like ours, so we use gentle soap. We also put sunscreen on them.” — Kennidy Baker, Hermiston High School sophomore who shows beef, lambs and pigs School sophomore who shows beef, lambs and pigs and has been showing at the fair for six years. “You start at the feet, and work your way up.” It’s also important to make sure the animals have clean, fresh water, and keep them cool in between showings. In addition to wetting down the animals’ bedding, competitors will also sprinkle water on the animals’ skin, or wipe them down with cloths. “When they’re hot or overheated, you put water in their armpits or put a cloth on them,” said Tali Leetch, 19, from Pendleton who shows a market lamb named Wilma. Leetch said she See CARE/8A BOARDMAN Defunct tire recycling plant goes to auction Reklaim shut down facility in 2016 By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian A $25 million former tire recycling and energy manu- facturing plant at the Port of Morrow is set to hit the auction block. The facility, run by Seat- tle-based Reklaim Inc. until it was shut down last year, is located on eight acres within the port’s East Beach Industrial Park. An on-site auction will take place Sept. 20 at 71722 Columbia Blvd., Boardman. Reklaim originally commis- sioned the facility in 2008, using specialized technology to recycle end-of-life tires. Thomas Redd, the company’s president, said the U.S. gener- ates more than 300 million scrap tires every year, about half of which are either burned or sent to landfi lls. “It’s a market that really needs good recycling,” Redd said. That’s where Reklaim hoped to fi nd its niche in Boardman. The company built a plant at the Port of Morrow initially capable of handling roughly 700,000 See REKLAIM/8A Photo contributed by Maas Companies The $25 million Reklaim manufacturing plant at the Port of Morrow will be sold at auction later this summer.
