U.S. EXPELS
RUSSIAN
SPIES
BUCKS
OFFENSE
BREAKS OUT
NATION/7A
SPORTS/1B
FARMERS, RANCHERS
NEED TRUMP TO COME
THROUGH ON TRADE
OPINION/4A
TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018
142nd Year, No. 113
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
Fireworks
show ready
to re-ignite
East Oregonian
Devan Driskell, an eighth-grader at
Sunridge Middle School, handed over a $1,000
check Monday at the Pendleton Rotary Club
meeting to help revive the city’s Fourth of July
fireworks display.
Gwen Fjeld, vice president of the Rotary
Club, thanked Driskell for the contribution
but handed the check
right back, saying he had
done enough and should
instead save it for his
education.
After all, Driskell’s
willingness to put nearly
a year’s worth of his own
income toward bringing
back the show was what
inspired Rotarian Jerry
Driskell
Imsland to get involved.
The pair — a 14-year-old
newspaper delivery boy
who recently lost his
job because of circula-
tion layoffs at the East
Oregonian and a veteran
Pendleton real estate
appraiser and Port of
Umatilla commissioner
— have spearheaded the
effort to bring back the
Imsland
display that flamed out in
2017.
The committee has raised more than its
$10,000 goal and will produce a bigger show
than in the years prior, Imsland said. The event
will be the night of July 4 and the fireworks
will be launched from the property west of
Wal-Mart.
See FIREWORKS/2A
Staff photos by Kathy Aney
Students lead the way during the March for Our Lives on Saturday in Pendleton.
Pendleton students
lead march for change
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Political force or
fad? Young voters
clout uncertain
A
EO file photo
The Pendleton Rotary Club has raised
their goal of $10,000 to put on this year’s
Fourth of July fireworks display.
bout 160 people marched through
downtown Pendleton Saturday
afternoon chanting “We want
change!”
They were led by two dozen high
school students wearing orange armbands
— the color signaling “Don’t shoot!”
in the hunting world — and joined by
millions across the country participating
in a national March for Our Lives.
Some of the adults carried signs with
politically focused messages, calling the
GOP “guns over people” or mentioning
the NRA. But the students stuck with
simpler messages, holding posters
proclaiming “Never Again” and “Enough
is Enough.”
“We wanted it to be more about student
safety than anything political,” Pendleton
High School junior Daphny Chen said.
The purple-haired teen stood on a wall
at Brownfield Park as marchers arrived
Saturday, welcoming them enthusiasti-
cally and asking if they were registered
See MARCH/8A
By STEVE PEOPLES
Associated Press
Two protesters listen to Con-
gressional candidate Jamie
McLeod-Skinner
Saturday
during the March for Our Lives
in Pendleton.
NEW YORK — They have walked
out, marched and demanded action across
America to stop gun violence. But it’s far
from certain that the young people behind the
“March for Our Lives” movement will be a
political force at the ballot box this fall.
Republicans are skeptical. Democrats are
hopeful. And outside groups that favor gun
control aren’t taking any chances.
Organizations aligned with Democrats on
gun control are spending tens of millions of
dollars to ensure that young voters’ passion
and enthusiasm doesn’t fade before the
See YOUNG VOTERS/8A
BMCC takes FFA
program on the road
Attendees use downtime at
state convention to test skills
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
George Plaven/EO Media Group
Ethan Akers, left, and Zachary Ferguison, of the Heppner High
School FFA chapter, practice welding patterns using crackers
and spray cheese as part of an activity hosted by Blue Mountain
Community College at the 2018 Oregon FFA State Convention in
Redmond.
Beau Ditmore had never saddled a
horse before, but was willing to give
it a try Sunday morning at the 2018
Oregon FFA State Convention in
Redmond.
Granted, it wasn’t an actual horse,
but rather a white plastic barrel fastened
to a metal stepladder. Still, Ditmore
learned the proper way to cinch a saddle
around the makeshift steed while Anne
Livingston, advisor to Blue Mountain
Community College Collegiate FFA,
provided basic instructions.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Ditmore
admitted when he was finished. “If it
was a real horse, it probably would
have bucked.”
Ditmore, a freshman at Culver High
School in central Oregon, was on hand
to support fellow members of his FFA
chapter at the state convention, held
this year at the Deschutes Fair & Expo
Center in Redmond.
BMCC Collegiate FFA from
Pendleton was also on hand, bringing
along a variety of hands-on activities
for the high schoolers to try when they
See BMCC/2A