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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2017)
TRAVEL PENDLETON’S NEW DIRECTOR BARCELONA VAN ATTACK KILLS 13 REGION/3A WORLD/6A FREEMAN’S FINAL FLIGHT SPORTS/1B FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 141st Year, No. 219 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend PENDLETON March Against Racism takes to Main Street • • • Pendleton Rock & Roll Camp Finale Concert Portable Planetarium Program in Weston Athena Block Party downtown Friday For times and places see Coming Events, 5A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Demonstrators walk down Main Street during the Pendleton March Against Racism on Thursday. More than 100 supporters gathered and marched through downtown to speak out against hate and violence. Catch a movie More online By EMILY OLSON and ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The March Against Racism in Pendleton on Thursday had something the previous demonstrations didn’t — a prominent elected offi cial. As the marchers gathered at Museum Park near the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce, Pendleton Mayor John Turner gave a short speech in support of their cause. For video of the march visit eastoregonian.com Turner bookended his speech with refer- ences to the Pledge of Allegiance “The Pledge is a collection of sentences that we learn as children,” he said. “We kind of mumble through it half the time without giving it a lot of thought. But this afternoon, See MARCH/10A Fingerprint Releasing/Bleecker Street An all-star cast assembles to pull off a big-time heist during a NASCAR race in “Logan Lucky.” For showtime, Page 5A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 91/58 83/55 83/58 UMATILLA Mabbott gives up county post for city job By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Longtime Umatilla County planning director Tamra Mabbott is leaving the county to become the city of Umatilla’s new community development director. Mabbott has been in county planning for 26 years, including 15 as plan- ning director for Umatilla County. She said in a state- ment that the job would be a change from what she’s used to but she is excited to be part of Umatilla’s future. “Citizens are engaged. City Council and staff are focused and enthu- siastic. New development is coming to Umatilla. It’s the perfect recipe for success in the community,” she said. Mabbott, who lives just outside Umatilla, has been working with the city in See MABBOTT/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Yamaha Fazer unmanned crop spray helicopter fl ies a demo fl ight over a vineyard Wednesday during the Future Farm Expo at Echo West Ranch & Vineyard outside of Echo. The era of robotics Expo sets the stage for Future Farm program with local and international growers By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian A hush fell over the crowd Wednesday afternoon as Kevin Gould prepared to fl y the Aqweo QR-200 drone over rows of premium wine grapes at Echo West Ranch & Vineyard. Not that Gould, founder and CEO of Hawk Aerial based in San Fran- cisco, had much to do with the actual fl ying. The aircraft is programmed to follow a predetermined fl ight path, meaning it essentially runs on autopilot while surveying fi elds with a multi-spectral camera. “It’s a pretty straightforward process,” Gould explained. “There’s really not a lot to do in fl ying it, other than keeping an eye on it.” Several hundred spectators watched from beneath a large white tent during fi eld demonstrations as part of the Future Farm Expo, a three-day exhibition of unmanned vehicles, robots, drones, mobile apps and other technology meant to trans- form farming in the 21st century. The conference, which began Tuesday and wrapped up Thursday morning in Pendleton, is meant to connect high-tech developers with local agriculture professionals, bringing in large companies like Yamaha Motors and John Deere for a meeting of the minds with growers in the fi eld. Organizers believe the expo could also attract more of these innovators to the Columbia Basin, a region responsible for tens of billions of dollars in farm gate value. Field demonstrations allowed Gould to show off the QR-200, which buzzed like a swarm of bees as it See FARM/10A “We believe there is plenty of labor for agriculture, if you remove the requirement they have to be physically present where the labor is needed.” — Young Kim, Digital Harvest CEO HEPPNER Fair draws Morrow County faithful, hopes to attract curious travelers By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Moun- tains, usually quiet Heppner will get a double dose of crowds this weekend: visitors coming to watch the eclipse, and the usual crop of people attending the Morrow County Fair. The fair, in its 104th year, started on Wednesday and by Thursday was bustling with a small crowd of locals, some of whom have been coming to the fair for a long time. “We were born and raised in Heppner,” said Sandra Blanke, who was there with her brother and sister-in-law Gary and Doris Jones. “We entered in the fair when we were growing up. Our grandma often won blue ribbons.” Many of the longtime residents of Heppner said the fair has continued to attract a small but faithful crowd of locals, but acknowledged that it’s smaller than when they fi rst started attending — like the town of Heppner itself. See FAIR/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Janae Warren, 9, of Vancouver, Wash., holds a La Man- cha/Boar cross goat kid on Thursday at the Morrow County Fair in Heppner.