REGION
Saturday, April 21, 2018
City Council
candidates talk taxes
and budget at forum
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
With less than a week to
go before ballots go out, four
candidates for Pendleton City
Council had a literal platform
to share their platform.
At a city council forum
hosted by the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce at the
Pendleton High School audi-
torium, Ward 1 candidates
Chuck LeValle and Carole
Innes and at-large candidates
Jake Cambier and Rex More-
house shared the spotlight.
Following brief opening
statements, the candidates
answered audience questions
about taxes, water and the
Oregon State University
Extension District ballot
measure.
Morehouse approached
his time on the microphone
with bravado, contrasting
himself with Cambier, the
incumbent councilor and a
retired radiologist.
“If I wanted to go to a
doctor, I’d go to Jake,” he
said. “But if I wanted to
know anything about city
government, I’d go to me.”
Morehouse said Pendle-
ton’s tax burden was higher
compared to elsewhere in the
county and he would hire an
“efficiency expert” to help
the city save money.
“I think an efficiency
expert would be the greatest
thing Pendleton has ever
done,” he said.
Cambier said he’s felt
the effect of the city’s recent
spate of water rate increases,
adding that his base rate his
risen from $50 per month to
$74.
He said the city needed
the money to repair its aging
water infrastructure, but
promoted Helping Hands’
utility assistance program
for families living below the
poverty line.
A retired auditor, Innes
said the city has done “a
darn good job” in keeping
employment levels static
among the municipal work-
force and commended the
“historical things” going on
at the Pendleton Unmanned
Aerial Systems Range.
Given a look at the city’s
budget at a recent council
workshop, Innes said the city
should raise revenues rather
than cut costs.
LeValle,
a
hospital
lab technician who was
appointed to the council in
March, didn’t want to impose
any new taxes on residents
and said the city needed
to grow their tax base by
capturing the professionals
who commuted into town
from elsewhere in the county.
When talking with other
residents, LeValle said he
grows frustrated when people
talk about all the amenities in
Hermiston.
“I tell them, ‘They’re
building it with our dollars,”
he said.
Toward the end of the
forum, a man in the audience
asked Cambier why he voted
with the rest of the council
to put the OSU Extension
District measure on the ballot.
Rather than an endorse-
ment, Cambier said it was
a procedural move to allow
Pendleton residents to vote
on the matter. He compared
it to marijuana sales, an issue
the council was poised to ban
outright before public outcry
led members to put it on the
ballot.
Although neither were
involved with the council
at the time, both Innes and
LeValle said they would have
both voted to put the measure
on the ballot, although the
latter called the measure a
“shell game.”
When audience members
began argue with each other
over the extension district,
Megan Lauer, the chamber’s
interim executive director,
firmly ended the event.
Lauer said the chamber
was unable to get in contact
with the third Ward 1 council
candidate, David Chorazy.
ATHENA — A white Jacobite Rose imported from
Scotland will be planted in Hesketh Rose Garden in Athena
City Park.
The flower has been a longtime Scottish symbol of
freedom, said Sue Friese, Athena Caledonian Games
president. The rose, donated by the Scottish Country Shop
of Portland, is being planted in memory of Mark Seltmann,
former vice president of Athena Caledonian Games.
The public is invited to a special ceremony Sunday at 3
p.m. at Athena City Park. The event will include a piping
tune, created in dedication to Seltmann by Eric Albert of
Eugene, which will be played electronically. Also, the Inland
Northwest Musicians Chorale will perform “Morning Has
Broken” and “Sky Boat Song.”
For more information, contact Friese at
athenacaledoniangames@gmail.com.
thank you
Sponsors
The Umatilla County Historical Society
extends a warm thank you to the families,
individuals and businesses who sponsored our
third annual Trivia Games. These generous
sponsors ensured the success of this import-
ant spring fundraiser. Trivia Games provides
an evening of fun, food, and mind-stretching
questions, which highlight the heritage and
diversity of Umatilla County and Oregon.
Drug Takeback
Day aims to limit
improper access
to prescription
medication
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Local businesses and
police departments are
working to make a dent in the
opioid epidemic by limiting
its primary source — the
home medicine cabinet.
Next Saturday, April 28,
is National Prescription
Drug Takeback Day, and
people can get rid of unused
pills at several locations
throughout Umatilla and
Morrow counties.
Boardman and Pilot
Rock will set up temporary
drop-off locations, and there
are permanent disposal boxes
in the Hermiston and Pend-
leton police departments,
Hermiston’s courthouse, the
Yellowhawk Tribal Health
Center in Pendleton and
Carlson’s Drug in Umatilla.
Mike
Stensrud,
the
prescription drug overdose
prevention coordinator for
Eastern Oregon, said the
temporary disposal options
are important, but he is
working to expand perma-
nent disposal locations
around Eastern Oregon as
well. Right now, he said,
several larger cities in the
area do not have permanent
disposal boxes, including
Milton-Freewater,
Baker
City and Ontario.
“I’m actively seeking a
pharmacy or police depart-
ment in those locations to
take on the responsibility of
providing such an important
community resource,” Sten-
Congressman Greg Walden, center, discusses signal sidearm, a camera that acti-
vates when officers draw their guns, with Captain Scott Clark, right, and Chief Ja-
son Edmiston on a visit to the Hermiston Police Department on Friday.
srud said in an email. “We’re
looking to avoid drug
abuse as well as accidental
overdoses by children. To a
child, one or two opioid pills
is enough to cause death.”
Stensrud said national
surveys on drug use and
health show that drug
dealers are not the primary
cause of opioid distribution.
According to the survey, he
said, those misusing opioids
get them from a friend or a
relative 70 percent of a time,
and a doctor 19 percent of
the time.
“A drug dealer is only used
four percent of the time,”
he said. “So, it becomes
apparent that getting rid of
these dangerous medications
properly is imperative in
beginning to control the root
of the problem.”
But Stensrud said the
problem extends beyond
opioids, to any medication
that can be easily abused.
TRIVIA GAMES 2018
108 SW Frazer Avenue • Pendleton, Oregon 97801
541-276-0012 • www.heritagestationmuseum.org
All medications, he said,
can be disposed of at those
drop-off locations.
Rep.
Greg
Walden
stopped in Hermiston on
Friday, to discuss opioid
abuse and prevention in
Umatilla County. He talked
with police chief Jason
Edmiston about some of
the challenges of reporting
overdoses publicly, and
Edmiston discussed some of
the dangers for police offi-
cers, such as fentanyl — a
synthetic opioid that can be
fatal if handled.
Walden is chair of
the House Energy and
Commerce
Committee,
which is currently holding
hearings on the opioid crisis.
He said he hopes for a vote
on a group of bills aimed at
opioid abuse prevention in
May.
Edmiston said in 2017
the Umatilla County Fire
Department administered 30
doses of naloxone, a drug
that reverses overdoses on
prescription
painkillers,
heroin and fentanyl, and can
save lives.
“I fully expect to see that
double,” Edmiston said.
Walden said Oregon
just received another $6.5
million from the 21st
Century Cures Act this
week, which he said will go
toward fighting opioid abuse
in rural areas.
He said he recently
finished a series of panels
about opioid use, the most
recent focusing on families
who have lost children.
“It helps us better under-
stand what we need to try
and change, legislatively,”
he said.
Edmiston said he would
like to see pharmacies take a
more active role in stopping
over-prescription.
“They see it — they can
report it,” he said.
Copper wire theft estimated at $10,000 at McNary Substation
UMATILLA — Thieves
who broke into the McNary
Substation in Umatilla last
weekend stole 29 copper
ground wires, threatening
both the safety of Bonne-
ville Power Administration
employees and endangering
the equipment.
According to the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office,
sometime between April
13-16 thieves with knowledge
of the substation and its oper-
ation cut the cyclone security
fence to get in, then cut
multiple copper cables. The
value of the cables and cost of
the damage done is estimated
to be more than $10,000.
The station is the entry
point from McNary Dam into
the regional power grid.
A BPA employee noticed
the theft of the cables
Monday, and each is marked
with the words “Bonneville
Power Administration” that
can been seen when they are
unfurled.
“This is a serious concern
on several levels,” said Doug
Dailey, BPA physical security
specialist, in a news release.
“The number of copper
grounds stolen creates a safety
issue for our transmission
employees and could have
caused significant damage
to equipment had it not been
discovered.”
Power transmission was
not interrupted and the BPA is
still determining what repairs
and security measures need to
be taken.
Dailey said this is one of
four similar thefts at substa-
tions in the area in the past
few months.
On the weekend of April
6-9 a similar report was
taken at the Umatilla Electric
Company power transfer
station on Despain Gulch
Road in Stanfield. The thieves
again seemed to have knowl-
edge of the station, cut the
padlock on the security gate
and cut multiple grounding
cables. Those cables had no
security markings.
Anyone with information
about the theft is encouraged
to contact the sheriff’s office
at 541-966-3600.
Cinco de Mayo Train Ride!
Delicious Mexican Food
Fantastic Grande Ronde Scenery!
May 5, 11 a.m.
Elgin, Oregon
Mother’s Day Brunch
May 13
Book online, eaglecaptrainrides.com or call 800.323.7330
4/23-24
4/20-22
Cineplex Show Times
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie • 4/25 • 12:00 PM
$5 Classic Movie • 4/25 • 12:00 PM
The Big Chill
I Feel Pretty (PG13)
4:40 7:10 9:40
The Big Chill
I Feel Pretty (PG13)
11:40* 2:10* 4:40 7:10 9:40
Rampage (PG13)
7:30 • 3D 5:10 10:00
Rampage (PG13)
12:20* 2:40* 7:30 • 3D 5:10
10:00
Blumehouse’s
Truth or Dare (PG13)
5:00 7:20 9:50
Blumehouse’s Truth or Dare
(PG13)
12:10* 2:30* 5:00 7:20 9:50
A Quiet Place (PG13)
4:50 7:00 9:30
A Quiet Place (PG13)
12:00* 2:20* 4:50 7:00 9:30
Blockers (R)
4:30 6:50 9:20
Blockers (R)
11:50* 2:10* 4:30 6:50 9:20
* 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
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Page 3A
The safe way to clear
the medicine cabinet
East Oregonian
Everything’s roses with Caledonian games
East Oregonian
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