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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2017)
REGION Saturday, December 2, 2017 East Oregonian OSP grapples with poaching, waste By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Wildlife troopers in Eastern Oregon are investigating a string of animal poaching and waste cases that occurred over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division in Baker City is asking the public for help identifying whomever is responsible for shooting and wasting three mule deer, including one buck and two does, that were discovered Saturday, Nov. 25 on private property off of Hunt Mountain Lane. Both does were shot, driven over by a vehicle and left to waste, according to OSP. The buck was also shot, had its antlers removed and left to waste. Anyone with information is asked to call the Turn-In-Poachers hotline at 1-800-452-7888 or Sgt. Isaac Cyr at 541-523-5867, Photo contributed by Oregon State Police The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division in Bak- er City is asking for help locating those responsible for the unlawful taking and waste of three mule deer that were found on private property off of Hunt Mountain Lane. ext. 4170. Callers can remain anony- mous, and may be eligible for a reward offered through the Oregon Hunters Association. Meanwhile in Umatilla County, the OSP Fish and Wildlife Division is following up on another batch of cases involving animals that were dumped and left to waste on Saturday, Nov. 25. Sgt. Tim Brown said one of the incidents involved two elk carcasses located near the Athena Cemetery, and the second involved two deer carcasses left along East Birch Creek Road near Pilot Rock. Both cases remain under investigation. Brown said the animals may have been harvested legally, but dumping and leaving meat to waste are crimes. “This is kind of a common occurrence toward the end of elk season,” he said. A small doe was also found Nov. 25 two miles up Government Mountain Road near Milton-Freewater, which had apparently been shot and left to waste the previous evening. Brown said that is most likely a poaching case, and is under investigation. Brown said troopers were busier than normal over the weekend, which he largely attributed to the holiday. “Obviously, with the holiday weekend we had more people out and about, recreating,” Brown said. “The potential for more violations is there.” Crow’s Shadow celebrates holiday open house East Oregonian Tour the printmaking studio, view artwork and enjoy light refreshments during the annual Holiday Open House at Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts. In addition, people are invited to help bid farewell to longtime master printer Frank Janzen, and his wife, Marie, who has volunteered countless hours assisting in the studio. Janzen, who is a graduate of the Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been at Crow’s Shadow for 16 years. The open house and retirement party is Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at 48004 St. Andrew’s Road, Mission. Admission is free. Some of the newest prints currently on display on the gallery walls include works by founder James Lavadour, as well as 2017 artists-in-res- idence participants Demian DinéYazhi (Diné), Marie Watt (Seneca), Modou Dieng (Senegal) and Joe Cantrell (Cherokee). Housed in the historic St. Andrews Mission school, Crow’s Shadow was formed in 1992. Janzen’s tenure at the art institute began in 2001 when he became the first full-time resident master printer. Janzen’s expertise has been at the heart of the success at Crow’s Shadow. Oregon Public Broadcasting referred to him as “the artist whisperer” in a September interview. Through his work at Crow’s Shadow, Janzen has worked with hundreds of professional artists, emerging artists and guided students in the art of printmaking. Crow’s Shadow has received both national and international attention, including with Making Marks: Prints from Crow’s Shadow Press. It features 18 works by seven American Indian artists who worked in collaboration with Janzen. It was on exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the George Gustav Heye Center, the museum’s New York branch. For more information, contact nika@crowsshadow. org, 541-276-3954, or visit www.crowsshadow.org. PENDLETON Local agencies get training on crash scene response By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian In the eastbound lane of Interstate 84 near the Pend- leton Keystone RV plant, a semi-truck has slid into the median, its trailer flipped over and completely blocking the left lane. Emergency responders want to clear the area of traffic, but some pressing questions remain. How should firefighters position their vehicles? Where should they place the safety cones? What were the best in-the-moment decisions to avoid it from becoming infinitely worse? Luckily for the responders, it wasn’t a real situation, but a simulation with toy cars and paper roads within the safe confines of the Pendleton Fire Station. Guided by state officials and a towing professional, ODOT held a half-day training in Pendleton Friday on traffic impact manage- ment to a room full of local firefighters, paramedics, transportation workers and police officers. The goal was to train this group of professionals in how to avoid second collisions, a situation where a traffic incident is made worse when another vehicle collides into the scene. EO file photo A Pendleton Police officer directs traffic at the intersec- tion of Highway 395 and Perkins Avenue on August 1, 2017, after a transmission interruption during a thun- derstorm knocked out power to Pendleton residents. The instructors played video after video from across the country showing the pile-ups and secondary accidents that can spring from routine responses to situations like a dead animal in the road or a single-car accident off the shoulder. Dangerous brushes with passing motorists are felt closer to home as well. Pend- leton firefighter/paramedic Lorne Becker described the experience of responding to an emergency near Wood- pecker Truck & Equipment on I-84. “They get in the other lane, but they don’t slow down,” he said. “It’s difficult when you’re trying to take care of someone.” Darin Weaver, the incident management coordinator for ODOT and called the kind of motorists who tend to be behind second collisions “D drivers,” the D standing for drunk, drugged, drowsy, districted and “just plain dangerous.” “I think we actually have more ‘D drivers’ on the road than safe, attentive, defensive drivers,” he said. Although police and fire- fighters are generally recog- nized for putting themselves in harm’s way, Weaver said they’re much more likely to die from a secondary collision than they are from a shooting or fire. According to statistics provided by ODOT, five firefighters die each year and one police officer dies every month from secondary collisions. Tow truck operators — often the last person at a highway scene — die at a rate equivalent to one per week. Not helping the matter is an increasing number of fatal collisions, which each require attention from law enforce- ment and other government agencies. According to ODOT, there were 410 fatal collisions in Oregon in 2015, a huge jump from 321 in 2014 and 292 in 2013. One factor that could help reduce secondary collisions is making the public aware of a law already on the books. Cars that get into a collision but are still operable must leave the travel lanes. Weaver said many drivers’ failure to observe this law is less the fault of the general public and more a responsi- bility of public agencies to spread the word about it. Another lesser known fact is that law enforcement has the ability to move cars and cargo involved in a collision to improve traffic safety. Matt Zintel, a trooper with the OSP’s office in The Dalles, said safety takes priority over evidence when it comes to fatal traffic investigations. Page 3A Dead llama ruled ‘probable’ wolf attack By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Wolves may very well be responsible for killing a 250-pound adult llama on a private forested pasture in Union County, though the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife stopped short of confirming the incident as a wolf attack. Investigators instead ruled it a “probable” wolf attack, taking place just 10 miles away from where wolves with the Meacham pack preyed on cattle at Cunningham Sheep Company earlier this summer. The landowner found the dead llama Friday, Nov. 24 about 200 yards from the residence. The carcass was mostly intact, except most of the hide and muscle tissue along the right rear leg above the hock and around the anus had been consumed. ODFW arrived the next day, and according to the agency’s investigation report, the llama likely died sometime between late Wednesday, Nov. 22 and before dark Thursday, Nov. 23. At least two sets of wolf tracks were seen in the mud about 20 yards away, which were one to two days old. Investigators also docu- mented trail camera photos taken about 300 yards from the carcass, showing a wolf moving toward the area on Nov. 23. However, wounds to the llama were not consistent with extensive wolf-caused injuries, the report went on to state. Taking all evidence into consideration, the agency determined that “there was sufficient evidence to confirm preda- tion on the llama by a large predator, but not enough evidence to confirm which predator.” The same landowner also reported another dead llama earlier in the month, which had been largely consumed except for its neck, head and left shoulder. ODFW investigated Nov. 14, and determined there was no evidence of a pred- ator attack at the scene. The cause of death is unknown. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. PENDLETON Council sees more green than red at next meeting East Oregonian The Pendleton City Council has a recent tendency to end its year in a sticky situation. Tuesday’s meeting will mark the third consecu- tive year the council will discuss an issue relating to marijuana. In December 2015, the council grappled with banning marijuana businesses before ulti- mately referring it to the ballot. In December 2016, the council created market regulations for cannabis businesses after a majority of voters lifted the ban on selling medical and recreational marijuana and imposing a local 3 percent tax. The council will continue this unlikely yuletide tradition on Dec. 5, when members will consider an appeal to grant conditional approval for a proposed marijuana grow in the Riverside area. One of the people behind the appeal is Brandon Krenzler, the co-owner of Kind Leaf Pendleton, the city’s first legal marijuana dispen- sary. Kind Leaf bought the former Riverside Nursery property with the intention of growing marijuana plants in the land’s green- houses and selling them at the dispensary. But when Krenzler went to the Pendleton Planning Commission to get approval for the grow on Aug. 14, the commission rejected his application on a 2-2 vote. In an interview after the meeting, Commissioner Terry Clarke said he voted against it because there’s was too much uncertainty surrounding Krenzler’s application. Krenzler appealed the decision to the members of the city council, who will make their own choice. In a letter to the council, Krenzler wrote that his current plan is to only use the current greenhouse facilities for growing. The greenhouses will be surrounded by 6- to 8-foot- tall fences and shrubbery. Krenzler envisions the grow, which is called Burnswell Family Farms, as not only a business venture but an educational opportunity. “Pendleton, Oregon has increased awareness of the cannabis industry with new businesses growing in our community, creating jobs as well as increasing general curiosity. Burn- swell Family Farms intends on developing into an educational point of interest and will allow visi- tors to our community to view and learn about culti- vation of craft cannabis in Eastern Oregon. Burnswell Family Farms will also offer education during the cultivation season to increase local awareness and foster understanding of our role as a growing business, an emerging industry, and as a good neighbor.” According to a city staff report, the council can either uphold the commis- sion’s decision, reverse it or send the case back the commission for further consideration. The council will meet at 7 p.m. at the council chambers in city hall, 500 S.W. 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