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.