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OCTOBER 7-8, 2017
141st Year, No. 255
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
BOARDMAN
Students
test fi t of
blue collar
port jobs
Morrow County
students get glimpse
of local opportunities
on Manufacturing Day
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
ABOVE: A group of walkers use the trail during a Walk Hermiston event on Wednesday at Riverfront Park in Hermiston. BELOW: An old
rope swing hangs from a tree over the Umatilla River at Steelhead Park outside of Hermiston.
Parks and
reclamation
Government agencies balance priorities
on western stretch of Umatilla River
Riverfront View
Development of parks, trails and wildlife habitats along the western
Umatilla River help more members of the public access the river.
W. Elm Avenue
222-acre Oxbow
reclamation area
p R
R
N.W. 11th Street
till a
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ive
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Pri
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Lo
Good
Shepherd
Health Care
System
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oa
Powerline Road
rai
bow T l
Ox
W. Orchard Avenue
207
W. Highland Avenue
a
Um tilla Ri
ve
HERMISTON
r
S.W. 11th Street
5.12-acre
Steelhead
Park
property
Riverfront
Park
t
ree
S.W. 17th St
There are a number of ways
to work in manufacturing. On
Friday, some Morrow County
students got to see just a few
of them up close.
For National Manufac-
turing Day, the Port of Morrow
hosted 15 students from
Heppner, Ione, Irrigon and
Riverside high schools, talking
to them about certifi cation
programs at Blue Mountain
Community College, working
in data centers, and job oppor-
tunities in and around Morrow
County.
“Morrow County ranks
third in Oregon for the highest
annual-wage jobs,” said Kalie
Davis, the Port of Morrow’s
workforce development coor-
dinator. “We want (students)
to know what’s available and
what the needs are.”
Before heading off to Lamb
Weston for a tour, students
spent time talking to Jerry
McMichael, the department
chair of the Industrial Systems
Technology program, about
the different skills they can
learn. He walked students
through a lab with several
stations, each set up with
equipment they’d learn to use
in different jobs.
He walked them through
the pneumatics system, or
air powered pistons and
air motors, hydraulics, and
mechanical drive systems,
which includes chains, belts
and pulleys. He showed them
examples of rigging and lifting
systems, and pump systems.
He encouraged students
to keep an open mind as they
look for a career.
“I bet you money that the
guys who work with pumps,
they didn’t start out saying, ‘I
want to be a pump tech,’” he
said. “But when they look at
these systems, their eyes light
up. Sometimes that passion
comes later.”
While the college doesn’t
teach electrical systems,
See JOBS/14A
1,000 feet
Sources: Bureau of Reclamation; City of Hermiston
Alan Kenaga / EO Media Group
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
As the Umatilla River winds its way
from the Blue Mountains to the Columbia
River, the caretakers of its banks are
working to strike a balance between resto-
ration and recreation.
Near Hermiston, a 220-acre former
ranch known as the Oxbow site was
purchased by the Bureau of Reclamation
with habitat restoration in mind. Three
years ago volunteers planted 7,000 trees
on the land to restore the natural fl oodplain
and establish more wildlife habitat. About
56 percent of those trees have survived.
“We’ll see how they continue to do out
here, but I think it was a pretty successful
planting,” Bureau of Reclamation natural
resources specialist Chet Sater said.
After problems ranging from a hungry
beaver to a particularly hot summer, Sater
said the bureau expected more like 50
percent to survive. Some species did not
fare so well, but hundreds of ponderosa
pines and cottonwoods are still standing.
As the trees continue to grow they will
provide cooling shade, attract wildlife and
send clearer water back into the river.
Not all trees are good news. Sater
said the biggest thing the property needs
is removal of the invasive Russian olive
trees and other non-native vegetation,
something he said would be a “massive
undertaking.”
“About every other plant out here is
some kind of invasive species,” he said.
Invasive species like Russian olives
proliferate quickly, choking out other plant
life that is more suited to the ecosystem.
Full removal and replacement with native
species could run into the millions of
dollars, but every little bit can help. Sater
said the volunteer group Tour of Knowl-
edge has been dedicated about removing
See RIVER/14A
Governor renews push
to close gun ownership
loopholes in 2018
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Running for the hills
A woman takes a pair of horses out for a run through a stubble fi eld under the
foothills of the Blue Mountains on Friday near Adams.
SALEM — Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown renewed
a push to tighten state laws
restricting gun ownership
Friday.
Days after a deadly
shooting in Las Vegas that
took 58 lives and injured
hundreds, Brown called on
Oregon lawmakers to “put
politics aside” and pass two
proposals that failed in the
2017 legislative session.
But it’s not apparent what
will change lawmakers’
minds in the upcoming
35-day legislative session,
which is due to begin Feb. 1,
2018.
One proposal, according
to the Governor’s Offi ce,
would prevent a person from
purchasing a fi rearm “unless
and until” Oregon State
Police verify they are eligible
to do so. As it stands, people
in Oregon can still purchase
a gun without background
check if OSP doesn’t verify
them in 72 hours. This often
called the “Charleston loop-
hole,” after the shooter in the
Charleston church killings
was able to purchase his gun
See GUNS/14A