CHRISTMAS IN
BETHLEHEM
WORLD/8A
TRUMP
CELEBRATES
CHRISTMAS
New
Year’s
Eve turns
‘deadly’
NATION/6A
REGION/3A
25/22
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2017
142nd Year, No. 49
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
White Christmas for the region
About 5 inches of
snowfall in Pendleton
More inside
Rare Christmas snowfall causes
crashes in Oregon PAGE 2A
By TIM TRAINOR
East Oregonian
Contributed photo by James Thomas
A fresh layer of snow covers Hermiston on Saturday.
Service in Pendleton, the city has had
snowfall on Christmas Day just 8
percent of the time since record keeping
began in the late 1800s. And Pendleton
has celebrated a white Christmas —
with snow covering the ground — just
10 percent of the time.
“I’d say that makes it an abnormal
storm,” said assistant meteorologist
A winter storm swept across much
of northeast Oregon on Christmas Eve
and into Christmas Day, covering the
region in a blanket of snow.
It also contributed to plenty of car
crashes, temporarily closed roads and
one small house fi re in Pendleton.
According to the National Weather
Ann Adams of the National Weather
Service’s Pendleton offi ce.
Snowfall totals of about 5 inches
were measured in Pendleton, Mission
and from Dayton, Wash., as well as
Lostine. About 4 inches was measured
in La Grande, and about 2-3 inches of
snow in the Hermiston area.
“It was a fairly even, widespread
storm,” said Adams.
How long the snow will stick around
is unclear. Temperatures are expected
to rise into the high 30 and low 40s
See SNOW/8A
HERMISTON
Counties
to target
opioid
abuse
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Though opioid abuse
is an epidemic across the
nation, locals may have
reason to take heart: four
Eastern Oregon counties
are receiving federal funds
to fi ght opioid abuse, in a
partnership with the Oregon
Health Authority.
Umatilla, Union, Baker
and Malheur counties will
receive $200,000 over two
years, which health depart-
ments in those counties will
use to target prescription
drug abuse in the area.
“I’m sorry to say, our
four counties are a priority,”
said Jim Setzer, Umatilla
County’s Public Health
Director.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention, deaths from
opioid overdoses have
quadrupled nationally since
1999. They also reported
that rural areas are now
seeing higher rates of death
due to drug overdose than
urban areas. But often,
treatment is more diffi cult to
access than in cities.
Along with Mike Sten-
srud, the new prescription
drug overdose prevention
coordinator for the four
counties, Setzer is aiming to
target several areas of opioid
addiction: prevention, treat-
ment and risk reduction.
In addition to community
forums and education,
the program will aim to
increase local participation
in Oregon’s Prescription
Drug Monitoring Program,
See OPIODS/8A
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Community members enjoy a meal at the Community Fellowship Dinner on Christmas day.
Snow doesn’t stop community dinner
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Servers at the Community Fellowship Dinner on
Christmas Day.
As snow fell outside on Christmas
morning, inside Hermiston High School
the Community Fellowship Dinner was in
full swing.
Many benefi ted from the event without
even leaving home, with volunteers deliv-
ering more meals to home-bound people
from Irrigon to Echo.
Some still braved the roads to eat dinner
and enjoy the company of others.
“Half of us live in Irrigon,” said LeAnna
Branson, who was at the dinner with her
husband, son and daughter-in-law, and
several other family members. “This is
our fi rst time for the dinner here, but it’s
“It’s really nice to
see so many that
weathered the storm.”
— Adrea Powers, volunteer at the
Community Fellowship Dinner
wonderful. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Branson said she and her family will
consider volunteering for the event next
year.
“We came to participate in a community
event,” said Branson’s son Lyman.
Many attendees end up returning to
See DINNER/8A
Musician and aspiring doctor fi nd Pendleton hits the right note
Lincoln Barr fronted the
band Red Jacket Mine
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Lincoln Barr and his wife Christian
were at a point in their lives where
there was a variety of places they
could choose to reside.
They settled on Pendleton.
While Christian was in the midst
of a 12-hour clinical rotation, Barr, 35,
explained the couple’s winding road
to Eastern Oregon at the Great Pacifi c
Wine & Coffee Co.
Having grown up in the Midwest
and Southeast, the pair met in college
at Southeast Missouri State University.
After graduating, they began
looking toward the Northwest to
help advance Barr’s music career,
Our New
Neighbors
MeetÊEasternÊOregonÕsÊ
newestÊresidents
relocating to Seattle in 2004 over their
second choice of Vancouver, British
Columbia.
Barr formed and fronted a band
called Red Jacket Mine while working
a day job at a guitar store. One of his
coworkers was a friend of Thomas
Paul, a Boise musician who often
performed in Pendleton.
Paul convinced Barr of the charms
of Pendleton and Red Jacket Mine
began doing shows in the Round-Up
City in 2010. He met J.D. Kindle and
began to integrate with the rest of the
Pendleton music scene as the years
See NEIGHBORS/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Seattle musician Lincoln Barr moved to Pendleton last June with
his wife, Christian, while she does her medical residency at Good
Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston.