REGION
Saturday, April 7, 2018
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
Resolute Eagle crash sparks fire at UAS range
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The drone that crashed
March 31 near the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Range had an 18-foot wing-
span and weighed more than
100 pounds.
Range manager Darryl
Abling said Friday that PAE,
a defense contractor from
Arlington, Virginia, had
been testing the “Resolute
Eagle” drone when it fell
to the ground and started a
fire in a nearby wheat field.
Abling again declined to
provide details surrounding
the incident.
The Federal Aviation
Administration is investi-
gating the crash, which took
place just north of an east-
west runway at the Pendleton
airport.
FAA spokesman Allen
Kenitzer wrote in an email
Friday that the vehicle was in
the middle of a test when it
crashed.
“No injuries were reported
and there was no airport
damage,” he said.
In a follow-up email,
Kenitzer said FAA investi-
gations of such crashes typi-
cally take one to two months.
When the investigation is
complete, Kenitzer said
the details would be made
public.
PAE issued their statement
on the incident, while adding
context on the company’s
operations.
“All safety guidelines and
procedures were observed
during the event,” it states.
“Field testing new equipment
is standard procedure and
essential to the continuous
development of Unmanned
Aerial Systems.”
Abling said he could not
share any other details until
PAE filed their own report on
the crash, which he expects
to come soon. Abling said it
doesn’t usually take as long
to determine the root cause of
the crash as it does to devise
a plan on how to prevent it
from happening again.
PAE grounded its opera-
tions in Pendleton while the
FAA conducts its investiga-
tion, although the range’s
other customers are allowed
to conduct testing without
interruption.
A longtime UAS operator
with Northrop Grumman
before he was hired by the
city, Abling said he expects
the FAA to take no further
action against PAE beyond
reviewing the incident.
Test
range
officials
frequently cite PAE as a
customer, drawing attention
to the economic impact
of work crews who spend
money locally and the
company’s effort to create
jobs that are based in Pend-
leton.
PAE has been testing
its Resolute Eagle drone,
an unmanned vehicle that
weighs more than 115
pounds empty but can take
on more than 65 pounds of
payload. The drone can fly at
an altitude above 15,000 feet
for more than 15 hours and
can operate outside the line
of sight.
Using its imaging and
longterm hovering capabili-
ties, PAE advertises Resolute
Eagle as a UAS that can assist
the military and other author-
ities with various missions,
such
as
anti-poaching,
anti-piracy, humanitarian aid
and infrastructure protection
and inspection.
HERMISTON
Skid Row joins Umatilla County Fair lineup
Blues Traveler,
Sawyer Brown and
Ned LeDoux coming
to main stage
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Organizers with the
Umatilla County Fair are
looking forward to an
exciting lineup of main stage
performers during its second
season at the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center. The
acts include:
Country music group
Sawyer Brown (Tuesday,
Aug. 7); Ned LeDoux
(Wednesday, Aug. 8); hair
metal band Skid Row
(Thursday, Aug. 9); Latino
Night will feature still
unnamed performers (Friday,
Aug. 10); and rock band
Blues Traveler (Saturday,
Aug. 11).
Fair-goers can sit in
general admission seating for
the concerts. For an additional
fee, people can reserve seats
in advance. Angie McNalley,
fair administrative assistant,
said the reserved ticket prices
remain the same as 2017
at $12, and premium seats
are $20, which provides an
up-close experience in the
first three rows.
With more than 4,500
shows under their belts,
Sawyer Brown has criss-
crossed the country living the
life of a “travelin’ band,” as
one of their hit songs shares.
In the early days, the group
played everything from clubs
to pig roasts.
“There’s no such thing as
a gig we wouldn’t take,” said
Mark Miller, the band’s lead
singer.
Keyboardist
Hobie
Hubbard said there’s a
synergistic energy between
the band members and the
audience. Their live shows
have been described as “the
Rolling Stones of country
music.”
Ned LeDoux, who played
drums in his dad’s band,
Western Underground — he is
son of the late Chris LeDoux
— never had a “Plan B.”
“Once I got the taste of
the road, and being in front
Page 3A
Police look into
wolf shot on
CTUIR land
Confederated Umatilla
Journal
MISSION — Umatilla
Tribal Police, with assistance
from Oregon State Police,
are investigating the shooting
of a wolf found dead in early
March up Kanine Ridge on
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation.
The carcass was found
partially skinned with its
tail missing, according to
Carl Scheeler, manager of
the Wildlife Program for the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
The first indication that a
wolf might have been killed
came when the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife was conducting
exploratory flights looking
for opportunities to get
more collars on wolves in
three separate packs that are
moving across and through
the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation.
Scheeler said ODFW
encountered a “mortality
signal,” which emits when
a radio collar becomes
stationary for a long time,
such as when it “falls off
for some reason or when an
animal is dead.”
ODFW contacted OSP,
which asked the CTUIR
Wildlife Program to assist in
locating the collar.
Greg Rimbach, the local
ODFW District Wildlife
biologist, and Scheeler hiked
in with a radio receiver
and located the collar. The
carcass was nearby.
“The conditions indi-
cated the animal was shot
in the head,” Scheeler said.
“It appeared to have been
there several days. It had
been scavenged heavily by
coyotes and birds.”
Scheeler said the wolf
packs have been roaming
the reservation for a couple
of years now with few
problems.
“Apparently somebody
thinks it’s OK to kill
wolves,’” Scheeler said.
“The only instance when it
is permissible in Oregon and
on the reservation is when a
wolf is actively taking live-
stock or pets, or is posing an
immediate threat to human
safety.”
Scheeler
said
that
although wolf and livestock
conflicts make headlines,
“concerns of impacts to
local big game here are
overblown.”
Because wolves are
coursing predators, they run
their prey singling out the
sick, weak and aged.
“That actually creates a
positive demographic effect
on the population, leaving
healthier, more vigorous
animals on the landscape,”
Scheeler said.
Emergency drill planned for schools
East Oregonian
Contributed photo
Skid Row will perform Thursday, Aug. 9 at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston.
of a crowd and just the sound
of it — it was freedom,” the
younger LeDoux said about
performing.
When his father died in
2005, Ned LeDoux picked
up a guitar and belted out
“Western Skies.” In 2015,
LeDoux traveled to Nashville
— digging through some of
his dad’s unfinished songs for
inspiration. While he wants to
carry on his father’s legacy,
he’s also bringing a new
voice to the LeDoux name
with music from his debut EP,
“Forever a Cowboy.”
In addition, Brewer’s
Grade Band (with frontman
Zac Grooms of Hermiston)
will perform Wednesday,
Aug. 8. The band’s name is
a tip of the hat to their roots
in The Dalles and the vast
array of microbreweries in the
Pacific Northwest.
New Jersey kids with a
punk and metal attitude, Skid
Row started out in 1986. They
stormed stages with a single
purpose — an “us-against-
them musical coup d’état.”
Despite an ill-advised tour
in 1996 that took a toll on the
band, the core camaraderie
never died — and the band
refused to fade into obscurity.
After opening for Kiss in
2000, the band was reinvigo-
rated.
“When we put the band
back together, we needed
to reintroduce Skid Row as
relevant without relying too
much on past success,” said
bassist Rachel Bolan. “We
wrote songs and hit the road.
We sunk our heart and soul
into it, letting people know
we weren’t doing it for lack of
anything better to do.”
Blues Traveler emerged
in the late ’80s and possess
a reputation for improvi-
sational live shows and
tireless touring. Featuring
John Popper (lead vocals,
harmonica), Chan Kinchla
(guitar), Tad Kinchla (bass),
Brendan Hill (drums), and
Ben Wilson (keyboard), the
group’s most recent release,
“Blow Up The Moon,” was
its first collaborative album.
It enlists a range of artists
across the musical spectrum,
representing country, pop,
reggae and hip-hop.
The group’s 12 studio
albums include four gold,
three platinum and one
six-times platinum. Their
hit “Run-Around” is the
longest-charting radio single
in Billboard history, earning
them a Grammy for Best
Rock Performance by a Duo
or Group with Vocals.
Reserved and premium
seats for the fair concerts
can be purchased at www.
umatillacountyfair.net,
by
calling 541-567-6121 or by
stopping by the fair office,
located at EOTEC, 1705 E.
Airport Road, Hermiston. The
concert tickets do not include
fair admission, which is $10
for ages 13 and up, $8 for
seniors, $6 for ages 6-12 and
free for kids under 6.
———
Contact
Community
Editor Tammy Malgesini at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539
RE-ELECT
Bryan Wolfe
District 3
Umatilla Electric
Board Member
• P roven leadershiP
& exPerience
• B oard memBer
since 1996
• c ertified credentials
Paid for by Bryan Wolfe
80897 Wolfe Lane, Hermiston, OR 97838
BOARDMAN
—
Morrow County School
District staff will get
to prepare for every
worst-case scenario next
week, during the all-day
emergency drill at all three
Boardman schools.
On Friday, April 13, all
district staff will congregate
at Sam Boardman and
Windy River elementaries,
and Riverside Junior/Senior
High School, to participate
in an emergency drill that
will go over how the district
would respond in a situation
like a natural disaster, a gas
leak, or a violent incident.
The day of the drill is a
no-school day for students,
but some students will still
assist with the practice, said
Morrow County School
District superintendent Dirk
Dirksen. Staff members will
play the roles of both staff
and students in order to help
school employees and law
enforcement prepare for a
potential emergency. The
drill will end with a “reuni-
fication,” with students and
staff (both roles played by
staff members) being bused
to a separate location where
their families would be
reunited with them.
“This is more a staff
training,” Dirksen said.
“Maybe a next step
would be getting students
involved.”
Several
local
law
enforcement and emer-
gency services will partic-
ipate, including Boardman
police, fire and ambulance,
the Morrow County Sher-
iff’s Office and Oregon
State Police.
A press release from
Morrow County School
District said locals should
be aware that during the
drill, it will seem like a real
emergency is happening,
and that law enforcement
will be traveling to and
from the schools and
performing work they’d do
in a real emergency.
4/6-8
4/9-10
Cineplex Show Times
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie • 4/11 • 12:00 PM
$5 Classic Movie • 4/11 • 12:00 PM
Funny Girl
A Quiet Place (PG13)
12:10* 2:30* 4:50 7:10 9:40
Funny Girl
A Quiet Place (PG13)
4:50 7:10 9:40
Blockers (R)
12:20* 2:40 * 5:00 7:20 9:50
Blockers (R)
5:00 7:20 9:50
Ready Player One (PG13)
1:00* 7:00 • 3D 4:00 10:00
Ready Player One (PG13)
7:00 • 3D 4:00 10:00
Sherlock Gnomes (PG)
12:00* 2:20* 4:30 6:40 9:20
Sherlock Gnomes (PG)
4:30 6:40 9:20
Tomb Raider (PG13)
1:30* 4:10 6:50 9:30
Tomb Raider (PG13)
4:10 6:50 9:30
* Matinee Pricing
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Accepting New Patients
in The Lounge
Saturday April 7th,
from 7 pm - 10 pm.
No Cover Charge.
541-276-6111
Red Lion Lounge • 304 SE Nye, Pendleton
We are open from 7:30am - 4:30pm M-Th
McEntire Dental
1100 Southgate, Suite 3
Pendleton OR 97801
541.276.5272