59/45
TOLLGATE
STORE MAY
HAVE BUYER
EARTHQUAKE
DEVASTATES
MEXICO
REGION/3A
WORLD/7A
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
141st Year, No. 242
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Bar lowered, fi nes raised for distracted driving
More than 3,100 people
die every year in cell
phone-related crashes
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Answering a text could cost you
a pretty penny after Oregon’s new
distracted driving law takes effect on
Oct. 1.
The more important thing, Oregon
State Police emphasize, is it could cost
you your life.
That’s why starting in October,
using a handheld electronic device
while driving will cost you $260 to
$1,000 for your fi rst offense, $435 to
$2,000 for your second and up to 6
months in jail for your third.
“I think the message is very clear
that the state takes distracted driving
seriously,” OSP Sergeant Michael
Berland said.
Previous distracted driving laws
in Oregon only covered texting and
talking on the phone. Since those laws
were put in place, however, drivers
have come up with an increasingly
long list of reasons to take their eyes
off the road. They send photos of the
scenery via Snapchat, search Google
for nearby restaurants, scroll through
a playlist for their favorite song, send
work emails or post updates to Face-
book.
Berland said one incident that
stands out in his mind was a rollover
crash he responded to a few years ago
where the female driver was killed.
“We found her iPhone and she was
in the middle of making a grocery list,”
he said.
Instead of spelling out every type
of use, the legislature took a more
comprehensive approach this year by
passing a bill banning all use of mobile
electronic devices while driving. Just
holding a phone in your hand while
driving is a violation, even if you’re
not actively using it when an offi cer
spots you. You can use it if you’re
legally parked on the side of the road,
but not while stopped at a red light or
stuck in a traffi c jam.
More than 3,100 people die every
year in cell phone-related crashes,
according to the Centers for Disease
Control. They leave behind thousands
See DRIVING/8A
Photo contributed by Hermiston Police Department
Jonathan Newkirk was killed June 25, 2011 in what po-
lice suspect was a distracted driving crash on Umatilla
River Road near Hermiston.
PENDLETON
REACH
to lease
old police
station
City approves $1 a month
deal for youth outreach group
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Pearce onto his back and Brown
began chest compressions.
“I got his heart working again,
and got him breathing. I probably
did chest compressions for about
10 minutes, and his breath prob-
ably stopped fi ve or six times,”
Brown said. “Just as the medics
got here, he started breathing
again.”
Brown said that in the process
of doing chest compressions,
A new facility for REACH Pend-
leton is within its grasp.
At a meeting Tuesday, the Pend-
leton City Council agreed to lease the
old police station at 109 S.W. Court
Ave. for $1 a month for 12 months to
the youth outreach nonprofi t. REACH
will have the option of renewing the
lease for an additional 12 months, but
the city retains the right to terminate
the lease at any time if another party
wants to purchase the building.
REACH had been using the
Pendleton Recreation Center, but the
controversy surrounding the displace-
ment of other community programs
caused the nonprofi t to hone in on the
police station.
The city’s right to terminate was
not a part of REACH’s original
proposal, and some councilors were
concerned about the possibility of
taking a surplus property off the
market. City Manager Robb Corbett
said the city has received two offers
on the vacant property, but both of
the potential buyers broke off negoti-
ations once the city came back with a
counteroffer.
Councilor Dale Primmer asked if
REACH board member Joe Jackson if
he would be amenable to a month-to-
month contract or a shorter lease, but
See CPR/8A
See PENDLETON/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Steve Brown of Hermiston performed CPR on a man who collapsed Monday evening at Desert Lanes bowling alley in Hermiston.
LANE 1 LIFESAVER
Hermiston man uses CPR to rescue fellow bowler
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Steve Brown thought he was
in for a quiet night of bowling,
but it didn’t quite work out that
way.
Brown, a league bowler who
rolls at Desert Lanes Bowling
Center in Hermiston several
times a week, is credited with
saving a man’s life Monday night
by administering CPR.
“I was down at this end of
the alley when I heard someone
yelling to call 9-1-1,” Brown
said.
Bob Lewis was the manager
on duty when the man collapsed
and called for an ambulance.
“He just went down straight
on his face,” Lewis said.
Brown ran over and found
the man he had just met a week
prior, Neal Pearce, struggling
for breath. Bystanders thought
he may have had a heart attack.
Brown checked for vital signs.
“He had shallow breathing,
and after about one minute he
completely stopped breathing
and lost his pulse,” Brown said.
Brown and another man rolled
PILOT ROCK
City council sets
sights on wild turkeys
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A pair of wild turkeys walk though a yard recently in Pilot Rock.
Pilot Rock city leaders
heard two choices for dealing
with the town’s growing
population of turkeys: Harass
the birds or kill them.
The surest method, state
wildlife
biologist
Greg
Rimbach said, is killing them.
Rimbach, of the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life, addressed the city council
during its meeting Tuesday
night. He said Pilot Rock
residents have complained
to him about the local turkey
population, which has fattened
up like a bird for Thanksgiving
dinner over the last few years.
Residents estimated there are
more than 60 turkeys around
the town most of each day.
“I think the biggest
problem is turkey scat on cars,
roofs and decks,” he said,
also noting that the birds tend
to damage property in other
ways too.
So what to do about it?
Hazing turkeys can be
effective, he said, if the
harassment outweighs than
See TURKEYS/8A