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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2018)
NORTHWEST/2A WILD TURKEYS TROT THROUGH DOWNTOWN EUGENE McMAHON RESURRECTS THE XFL Trump plan offers citizenship path to 1.8M immigrants SPORTS/2B NATION/6A FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018 142nd Year, No. 72 Your Weekend County begins overdue charter review Applications open for review committee By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian • • • Pam Tillis, Suzy Bogguss & Terri Clark at Wildhorse ArtWorkz Junior Art Show opening exhibit Melonville Comedy Festival in Hermiston One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Umatilla County is past due for a review of its home rule charter, the document that establishes the form and functions of county government. The county is working to remedy that. The charter requires a committee of a least fi ve county citizens to conduct the review every four years. The last review was in 2008. County counsel Doug Olsen said the board of commissioners have a For times and places see Coming Events, 3A goal of appointing seven citizens to the review committee by March 1. They would have until July 1, 2019, to deliver a report and any recom- mendations for changes to the charter. “They can change any terms of the charter or introduce some- thing different,” Olsen said, while Commissioner George Murdock said the committee “can lay the foundation to restructure county government.” Olsen and Murdock said commissioners would not serve on the committee so it would be free of their infl uence. Four locals so far applied to serve on the review committee: former county fair See CHARTER/8A PENDLETON Catch a movie Twentieth Century Fox via AP In the third installment of the YA dystopian series you probably forgot was still going, a group of teens run around a labyrinthine city in search of a cure in “Maze Runner: The Death Cure.” For showtime, Page 5A For review, Weekend EO Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 46/38 51/44 58/44 Audit fi nds state must do more to prepare for disaster By ERICKA CRUZ GUEVARRA Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon is not prepared for a catastrophic disaster, according to an audit from the Secretary of State’s offi ce released Thursday. The audit, which looked at state and local emergency management efforts, found the state failed to meet national baseline standards for emergency management, and that planning efforts lack on all levels of the state’s emer- gency management system. That’s due in part to “inadequate” staffi ng state- wide, including understaffi ng at the Offi ce of Emergency Management. See DISASTER/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Veterinarian Fiona Hillenbrand, center, checks the dental health of Tucker as veterinary assistant Erin Mills, left, and owner L’Rissa Sohappy work to keep the dog calm during a checkup Wednesday at the Pendleton Veterinary Clinic. Veterinary clinic gets new digs Fresh Start grant helps pay for new building By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian With the help of a local grant, the Pend- leton Veterinary Clinic has a fresh start. As a crowd fl owed out the door of the clinic’s new facility at 625 S.W. Emigrant Ave., owner Fiona Hillenbrand teared up as she thanked her staff and the city for their help at the ribbon cutting ceremony. Members of the Pendleton Development Commission then handed Hillenbrand an oversized novelty check for $96,488, the commission’s contribution to the project through its Fresh Start grant program. After the ribbon was cut, clinic staff stationed themselves in various parts of the building to explain its features and how they are an improvement over the old facility at 1901 S.W. Court Ave. Veterinary assistant Amy Kline was standing in the procedure room, the area where dogs and cats receive check-ups, dental work and other standard procedures. Kline said the room now had four tables instead of one, allowing staff to do more work simultaneously. Additionally, all the tables are heated. From the tables, staff will be able to peek into a windowed intensive care unit to check on recovering pets. The clinic has another room for surgeries and more complex procedures. See VETERINARY/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A cat stares out of a holding cage in the cat ward Wednesday at the Pendleton Veterinary Clinic. Scientists, Morrow County wheat farmers talk shop By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan OSU researchers Larry Lutcher, Duncan Kroese, Christina Hagerty and Judit Bar- roso (far right) dig up and examine some wheat plants Thursday in one of Sam Myers’ fi elds. Myers is second from right. A group of wheat farmers and scientists sat down in a barn Thursday morning to talk shop — discussing chal- lenges and potential solutions to wheat farming issues in Morrow County. The meeting was part of “Shop Talk,” a recent effort by the OSU Extension Service to meet with farmers to discuss how their research efforts align with practical application, said Christina Hagerty, a plant pathologist and assistant professor at OSU’s Columbia Basin Agri- cultural Research Center. About 12 Morrow County wheat growers gathered at a Heppner farm off Little Butter Creek Road to address topics that included which varieties of wheat may be most effective at managing pests or disease, and how to deal with weeds such as cheatgrass and thistle. They also discussed the merits and drawbacks of open variety seed. Open variety seeds can be saved and replanted, and can potentially save farmers money in the long run. But those seeds can also become more susceptible to disease if they don’t have the modifi ca- tions of newer seeds. “It’s less expensive to save seeds,” said Hagerty. “But the older varieties where it’s legal to save seeds also have an older set of genetics, and may not provide the disease resistance packages that come along with modern See FARMERS/8A