WEEKEND EDITION
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UKULELE ARTIST
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SPORTS/1B
LIFESTYLES/3C
REGION/3A
AUGUST 18-19, 2018
142nd Year, No. 206
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WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Lightning sparks fires
across Eastern Oregon
East Oregonian
The U.S. Forest Service
received reports of dozens
of fires caused by lightning
strikes Thursday and Friday
across Eastern Oregon.
According to a Forest
Service press release, pass-
ing thunderstorms caused
dispatch centers in La
Grande and John Day to
receive reports of 36 inci-
dents from Thursday after-
noon and evening.
Locally,
firefighters
responded to fires near Pilot
Rock and Bombing Range
Road in Morrow County.
Umatilla County Emer-
gency Manager Tom Rob-
erts said a fire burned an
estimated 3,000 acres south-
west of Pilot Rock by late
Friday.
Roberts said one struc-
ture, an outbuilding, was
damaged by the fire,
although he didn’t expect
too many other structures
would be threatened in the
sparsely populated area.
He said several agencies
including the Pilot Rock
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict, the Pendleton Fire
Department and the Ore-
gon Department of Forestry
responded to the fire, with
the latter expected to send
an incident command team
to manage the fire Saturday
morning.
The Umatilla Rural
Fire Protection District
responded about 2:40 a.m. to
a grass fire near Kurz Lane.
The Umatilla County Fire
District sent a brush truck
and a water tender to help.
Umatilla Rural Fire reported
the assist led to a quick
knockdown that contained
the blaze to about 8 acres
with no loss of structures.
J.W. Roberts with Uma-
tilla County Fire District 1
said the agency also sent
See FIRES/12A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A firefighting air tanker drops a load of fire retardant into a draw in Harrington Can-
yon as a large wildfire burned out of control Friday southwest of Pilot Rock.
HOME SWEET HOME
Finding funds, workers
to provide in-home
senior care is a
challenge
June Partin
talks to her
granddaugh-
ter, Shauna
Partin-McA-
lester, about
her prescrip-
tion drugs
on Thursday
at Partin’s
home in
Milton-Free-
water.
Partin-McA-
lester, who
helps take
care of
her grand-
mother, was
just stopping
by to check
in with Partin
on her lunch
break.
By BRITTANY NORTON
East Oregonian
atherine Hodge dashes
around June Partin’s house,
washing dishes, cleaning
counters and sweeping. Every time
the phone rings, Partin glances
over at Hodge, who then answers
it.
Hodge is there to assist Partin
in many of the household chores
that have become difficult for her
as she gets older.
Partin is one of the many older
citizens who use aging-in-place
services from the Community
Action Program of East Central
Oregon. CAPECO provides her
with an allowance that helps her
remain in her home.
However, she is one of the lucky
ones because there are more peo-
ple on CAPECO’s waiting list than
the organization is able to serve.
In 2017, CAPECO served 37
people in Umatilla and Morrow
counties through Oregon Project
Independence, a state-funded pro-
gram known as OPI that assists
people over the age of 60 with
funds for hiring in-home caregiv-
ers. But there are 49 people on the
waiting list.
The program allows older citi-
K
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
zens to age in the comfort of their
own home, rather than transferring
to an expensive care facility. How-
ever, many people aren’t receiving
the amount of care that they need,
leaving family members to pick up
extra costs.
Partin lives alone at her home in
Milton-Freewater. She has arthri-
Maddy
Thomas, 11,
of Echo sold
her market
lamb for
$23,000 at
the Umatilla
County Fair
auction last
week. Thom-
as, who is
in treatment
for a brain
tumor, was
showered by
support from
more than 60
businesses/
adults and
50 youth that
made dona-
tions to the
purchase of
her lamb.
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
tis and a herniated disc in her back
that limits her mobility. She can’t
do household chores like sweep-
ing and mopping, so Hodge takes
care of that when she comes two
hours a day Monday through Fri-
day. And Partin doesn’t own a car,
so she relies on other people for
transportation.
The 83-year-old insists she still
gets down on her hands and knees
to do gardening in her front yard.
Yet even that is becoming a pre-
carious activity. Two or three years
ago, she fell down in the street out-
side her house and had to yell for
help until a passerby came to her
aid, she said. Partin got a walker
shortly after: “If I have my walker
up against a wall, I can get up,” she
said.
There are still struggles. Last
week she spilled hot stew on her
leg and had to seek medical care.
As the Baby Boomer generation
See CARE/12A
Lamb auction raises $23,300
for 4-H girl with brain tumor
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Henry the lamb might just be the
most expensive lamb in history.
After Maddy Thomas, an 11-year-
old 4-H student from Echo, showed
him at the Umatilla County Fair his sale
brought in $23,200 — totaling about
$162 per pound at an auction where
lambs were averaging $7 per pound.
The auction marked the one-year
anniversary of Maddy’s diagnosis of
a brain tumor, and the money will go
to help her family cover continuing
expenses related to her treatment. Her
mother Jenny Thomas said she doesn’t
have words to describe how grateful
she is for the “unbelievable” show of
support.
“Anyone who has had a sick child
knows the kind of bills that come, and
I’ve had to miss a lot of work,” she said.
The lamb didn’t start out as a fund-
raiser idea. Maddy just wanted to partic-
ipate in a “normal” activity after finally
finding a cancer treatment that was work-
ing and regaining some of her strength.
She got Henry in May and began walk-
ing him, feeding him and grooming him.
“I liked him because he liked to
head butt me and he was always play-
ful,” Maddy said. “I liked walking him
around the house.”
Jenny said the exercise was so good
for Maddy — using muscles she hadn’t
used in months and giving her incen-
tive to stay outdoors — that doctors told
her she could drop her occupational and
physical therapy. She lost some of the
See MADDY/10A