WORLD/7A
54/45
POPE MEETS
WITH ABUSE
SURVIVORS
IN CHILE
HERMISTON BEATS LA GRANDE
SPORTS/1B
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018
142nd Year, No. 65
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
One dollar
PENDLETON
New city
councilors
ACT course helps people improve overall health refl ect on
fi rst year
ACHIEVE CONQUER THRIVE
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Weight loss programs are a
dime a dozen, but Good Shepherd
Health Care System is trying to
help people get healthy and stay
healthy — for life.
Achieve Conquer Thrive,
known as ACT, offers a series of
nine group classes as well as indi-
vidual meetings with a registered
dietitian nutritionist. Participants
can learn how to maintain a
healthier physique, lower choles-
terol and triglyceride levels, get
clearer skin, reduce stress and
other healthful practices.
“There’s so much misinfor-
mation, and so many wrong ideas
fl oating out there on the internet,”
said Nancy Gummer, Nutrition
Services and Diabetes Education
Manager. “There’s so much click-
bait out there regarding nutrition
— ‘Don’t eat these fi ve things
and life will change for you.’”
Any “weight loss” program
will help someone lose weight
temporarily, she said, as they
drastically change their diet. But
many fad diets only temporarily
take off pounds, or help the
participant lose weight without
addressing underlying health
concerns such as high blood
pressure.
Gummer, who helped develop
the ACT program, said people
tend to have wrong ideas that all
fat is bad for them, for example,
since “low fat has been preached
for so long.”
“It’s not low fat, it’s the right
fats,” she said.
Mary Ann Anson said she
thought she knew about nutrition
before taking the class, but she
learned plenty.
“Some of the things I thought
were healthy for me are not,” she
said.
For example, she switched
from Activa-brand yogurt to
Nancy’s Yogurt after learning that
different brands of yogurt vary
widely in nutrition, stopped eating
some things labeled “all natural”
that she had assumed would be
good for her, and ditched “diet”
soft drinks altogether. All those
things helped her better manage
her diabetes, she said, which is
what prompted her to take the
class in the fi rst place.
Anson uses a walker, so she
said exercise is more diffi cult
for her than some, but based on
advice she was given during ACT
she now makes it a goal to walk
at least two miles per week and
she has taken up yoga. She said
the class can be a huge benefi t,
as long as people go into it with
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Mayor John Turner gives the
Pendleton City Council’s 2017
performance a B-.
Turner expects that grade to grow
by the end of 2018, but he said last
year was spent laying the groundwork
for the new-look council’s fresh set of
goals instead of
achieving them.
“Give us until
2018 to crow
about anything,”
he said.
Between the
start of 2016 and
2017, fi ve of the
nine seats on the
council turned
over as incum- Turner
bent retirement
and resignations gave way to new
faces.
Four out of the fi ve new faces —
Turner and councilors Jake Cambier,
Scott Fairley and Dale Primmer —
talked about their fi rst full year in
offi ce and some of their expectations
going forward.
Turner pointed to some of the
successes the city had in 2016, like a
$14.9 million loan from the Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund that the
city is using to repair and replace its
water infrastructure.
See COUNCIL/8A
Woman found
dead after
walking away
from crash
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Jenny Sullivan does a pose during a session Tuesday night at Nourish Yoga in Hermiston.
an open mind and are willing to
change.
Rachel Tate, one of the
dietitians who helps teach ACT
classes, said helping people learn
about their metabolism is one
of the things she teaches. She
said they also cook, meal plan
and “talk a lot about stress and
infl ammation and techniques to
manage that.”
While sometimes people refer
to themselves as a “nutritionist”
after taking a few weeks’ worth
of training on a specifi c diet
program, Tate said the registered
dietitian nutritionists who work
the ACT program have at least
a bachelor’s degree in addition
to supervised training and
continuing education.
They are capable, then, of not
just helping people to eat healthily
but also to manage underlying
conditions.
She said she has seen a lot of
people lose 25 pounds or more
but also have better health overall
after completing ACT and then
continuing to apply its advice to
their lives.
See ACT/8A
PENDLETON
Marijuana talk looks at legalization ‘oasis’
By TIM TRAINOR
East Oregonian
Marijuana dominated the discus-
sion Tuesday night during the Eastern
Oregon Forum, one year after it became
legal to sell and grow in Pendleton.
But the panel consensus at Blue
Mountain Community College was
that
more
information is
needed about More online
the drug to For video from
determine its the forum visit
effects — both eastoregonian.com
positive and
negative.
Brandon Krenzler, owner of Kind
Leaf dispensary and the Burnswell
Family Farms grow site, said that
business has been good because
See MARIJUANA/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Child psychiatrist David Conant-Norville, right, answers a ques-
tion from the audience about marijuana while sitting on a pan-
el with Brandon Krenzler, left, and Dr. Steve Hardin during the
Eastern Oregon Forum on Tuesday at BMCC in Pendleton.
A woman was found dead about
12 hours after she drove off a rural
Morrow County farm road and
walked away to look for help.
Becky Sue McDuffee, 57, of
Springfi eld, was found dead Tuesday
afternoon by the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Offi ce and Search and
Rescue.
McDuffee and her 78-year-old
mother-in-law were driving Monday
night on rural roads off Highway 206
near Condon when their vehicle drove
off the road and down a steep incline.
According to the elderly woman,
McDuffee left the scene of the
accident on foot about midnight and
never returned. She was not dressed
for the conditions and the weather
was in the low 30s with heavy rain
and fog, according to a release from
the Morrow County Sheriff’s Offi ce.
A passerby made a 911 call about
8:24 a.m. Tuesday after seeing the
vehicle at the bottom of the incline.
The caller assisted the elderly woman
who was still inside. The victim was
transported to Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, Heppner, and released.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s
Offi ce and Morrow County Emer-
gency Management activated Search
& Rescue to search for McDuffee.
Searchers went out on foot, on ATVs,
in vehicles and via airplane.
Searchers found McDuffee’s body
about 12:38 p.m., according to a
release.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s
Offi ce reminded citizens to carry
appropriate and extra clothing when
traveling, and to stick to main roads
in unfamiliar areas. If you do become
lost or disabled, it is recommended to
stay with your vehicle.