WEEKEND EDITION
LIFE AS AN
UMPIRE
SUNDAY DRIVERS
SPORTS/1B
LIFESTYLES/1C
FOURTH OF JULY
FIREWORKS OPTIONS
REGION/2A
JUNE 30-JULY 1, 2018
142nd Year, No. 182
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Texting
at wheel
penalty
ramps up
Sunday
Stricter rules mean
possible jail time
for third offense
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Penalties for using your
phone while driving will
start adding up on Sunday
— in some cases all the way
up to possible jail time for
repeat offenders.
While Oregon’s new,
stricter distracted driv-
ing law went into effect
last October, drivers had a
grace period where offenses
were dealt with individually.
Now, the fines will get big-
ger with each offense, start-
ing July 1.
“If it’s not enough encour-
agement to think you might
contribute to a crash, think
that the police might be out
specifically looking for peo-
ple using their phones, and
the dollars can add up,”
said Oregon Department of
Transportation spokesper-
son Shelley Snow.
A first offense not con-
tributing to a crash is a Class
B violation with a fine of up
to $1,000. A second offense,
or first offense contribut-
ing to a crash, is a Class A
violation with a fine of up
to $2,000. Three offenses
within 10 years ramps up
to a Class B misdemeanor
— meaning a fine of up to
$2,500, a criminal record
and a possible penalty of up
to 6 months in jail.
Drivers under 18 can’t
use any electronic devices
while driving, even if they
are hands-free. Adults can
use hands-free devices but
cannot use any function on
a phone or other electronic
device like a tablet that
requires holding or touch-
ing the device beyond a sin-
gle touch to activate. The
rules include drivers who are
stopped at a traffic signal or
stuck in stand-still traffic.
A few exemptions apply,
See TEXTING/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Baker Charter School senior Sammy Moore sorts sprinkler heads in a shop Friday while working his summer job at Golden Valley
Farm outside of Stanfield.
LEARNING LABOR
Agricultural jobs for teens affected by technology, new laws
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Inside
For more on the local job
market, See Page 8A
W
hether pulling weeds,
picking berries or driv-
ing machinery, many
people found their first job on a
farm.
For Umatilla County kids,
farm labor has been one of many
options for making money in
the summer, but the way young
workers fit into the agricultural
industry has seen major changes
in the past several years.
Darrin Ditchen, owner of
Golden Valley Farms East in
Stanfield, said his minimum hir-
ing age is 16, the age teens have
to be to operate heavy equipment.
“If you can’t run equipment
on a farm ... they can’t work too
many hours,” Ditchen said. “At a
farming job, that’s tough.”
The Oregon Bureau of Labor
and Industries has several require-
ments for employing minors both
under 16, and under 18. Among
other restrictions, workers under
the age of 16 are prohibited from
working in places where pow-
er-driven machinery is used.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston High School sophomore Avery Treadwell helps
harvest grass seed with extension agronomist Ray Qin at the
Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center on
Friday in Hermiston.
He said the rapid changes in
technology has also altered the
way farms operate.
In less than 20 years, most
machinery has become auto-
mated, which limits the number
of jobs teens are needed to do.
“When I was growing up, you
saw more younger people work-
ing simpler jobs on a farm, like
picking berries,” he said. “You
don’t see that anymore. For so
many kids, their first job is at 16.
And they’ve never been around a
farm.”
He said that lack of familiar-
ity requires employers to spend
more time training kids on how
to operate and be safe around
equipment.
“I’ve turned a lot of kids away
this year,” he said. “The jobs are
out there, but it’s a hard job.”
Still, Ditchen said, he likes
hiring high school and college
kids to work for him. This year,
he hired eight high school stu-
dents and three college students.
Trevor Horn, 17, is a Herm-
iston High School student in his
first year working for Ditchen.
As he drove a combine har-
vesting Kentucky bluegrass seed,
Horn said he has been asked to
do every type of task on the farm
since he started working a few
weeks ago.
“I probably enjoy helping
in the mechanical shop most,”
he said. “Mostly because then I
understand as much as I can.”
Operating the combine is a
close second, he said, but he’s
had to remind himself how big
See JOBS/10A
Entire Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office resigns
Sheriff and 3 deputies
give notice, leaving
massive hole in county’s
law enforcement
By TIM TRAINOR
East Oregonian
Wheeler County Sheriff Chris
Humphreys is resigning his post
— and all of his deputies are going
with him.
Humphreys, who was elected to
the position in 2013, gave notice
enforcement community
to the Wheeler County
in the small county of
Court that he wished to
1,500 people is headed out
leave his position. He
the door.
said he will give the
Humphreys said the
county 4-6 months to
mass exodus is not ideal,
find a replacement, but is
and it’s not what he had in
ready to leave at any time.
He said all three of his
mind. Once he decided to
full-time deputies — Roy
resign, he recommended
Nelson, Russell Mathi- Humphreys
all his deputies consider
asen, and undersher-
the job of sheriff, and he
iff Dave Dobler — will also leave pledged his support to each. There
the agency. Michael Boyd, a retired were no takers, however.
Prineville police chief who worked
“It’s just kind of like when a
a few days a month, is also resign- band breaks up,” he said. “When
ing. That means the entire law one person leaves no one else wants
to be here. And by here I mean in
law enforcement ... no one wants to
be here without each other.”
He said each deputy was being
recruited by larger agencies, and
he understood why they would not
want to take on the extra responsi-
bility, paperwork and politics that
comes with a sheriff’s position.
“It’s a lot,” he said. “I’m just
exhausted ... I’m doing all the
administrative stuff at 2 p.m., then
getting called out at 2 a.m., and try-
ing to work again the next day.”
See SHERIFF/9A
“It’s kind of like when a band breaks up.
When one person leaves no one else wants to be here.”
— Chris Humphreys, Wheeler County Sheriff