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NATION/7A
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018
142nd Year, No. 237
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MEASURE 30-128
Gun rights
measure
puts power
in sheriff’s
hands
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Dry mud lies curled and cracked above the current shoreline of McKay Reservoir on Monday south of Pendleton. The area
has seen below average rainfall since May.
Dry spell stretches on
Rainless September follows
0.03 inches in August
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
S
ummers are dry on the east side
of Oregon, but the 2018 version
was quantifiably drier than usual.
When September ended on Sunday,
it marked the 57th consecutive day the
National Weather Service didn’t record
a measurable amount of rainwater at the
Pendleton airport.
The current streak began on Aug.
28, the day after Mother Nature graced
Pendleton with 0.03 inches of rain, but
before that the city had already gone 43
straight days without rainfall.
Although the warm weather months
have been abnormally dry — May,
June, July, and August all received
below average rain amounts — Pend-
leton’s current dry spell barely slips
into the all-time top 10, according to
weather service assistant forecaster
Ann Adams.
Adams said the record was set in
1974, when Pendleton went 82 consec-
utive days without rain. But regardless
of 2018’s place in history, local growers
are starting to feel the effects.
Don Wysocki, a soil scientist for
Oregon State University Extension
Service, said wheat farmers have been
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
There is currently no surface water running in McKay Creek that feeds into
the McKay Reservoir, shown Monday, south of Pendleton.
forced to move back their planting
dates while they wait for rains to arrive.
While farmers usually use the first
rains of the season to eliminate the
resulting weeds before they plant their
crop, Wysocki said the late seed dates
mean weeds will likely grow alongside
the wheat stalks, which could mean
smaller yields.
Even though some growers were
able to plant their wheat crops around
Labor Day by drilling down into
moister soil, Wysocki said farmers will
eventually seed and fertilize their soil
with or without rain.
“We’re starting off with a smaller
glass than we did last year,” he said.
Agriculture isn’t the only local insti-
tution forced to change their customs
due to the recent dry spell.
See DRY/10A
“We’re starting off with a smaller glass than we did last year”
Pro-Second Amendment activist Jesse
Bonifer of Athena wants the oversight of con-
stitutionally-protected gun rights to become
local.
“We’re trying to bring everything back
to the county level,” he said, “and have it
checked by the people who are actually polic-
ing it.”
Bonifer headed up the effort that placed
Measure No. 30-128 Umatilla County Sec-
ond Amendment Preservation Ordinance on
the local ballot for the Nov. 6 election. The
proposal would restrict Umatilla County from
using resources to enforce state or federal laws
that will infringe on the Second Amendment
right to keep and bear arms. Chad Jacobs, a
Portland attorney, said the measure also des-
ignates the sheriff as “the guy to decide if it’s
unconstitutional or not.”
Jacobs is an attorney with the firm Beery
Elsner Hammond, which works with the inter-
section of local, state and federal constitu-
tional issues. He said these proposals, in large
part, define what the county does with pub-
lic money.
“I would frame it as this is a statement of
policy for the county to decide how they want
to prioritize the use of their resources,” Jacobs
said. “I think it’s completely legal for a local
government to say here is where we put our
resources.”
In that vein, the ordinance is like other pol-
icy or funding decisions. But, Jacobs said,
there are problems of enforcement.
Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan
said he had discussed implementing a similar
rule with the board of commissioners a few
months ago, after finding out that some other
Oregon counties are proposing ordinances
that place oversight of gun rights in local con-
trol. Columbia County has collected enough
signatures to place a measure on the ballot
next month, and some counties, like Wallowa
and Wheeler, got an ordinance passed through
the board of county commissioners.
“I’m certainly very supportive of our Sec-
ond Amendment rights,” Rowan said. “I don’t
think our forefathers would appreciate peo-
ple meddling with the words they defined as
important to the people of this country.”
He said he feels there is a degree of uncer-
tainty about those rights, especially around
the anniversary of the Las Vegas mass shoot-
ing, where a shooter claimed the lives of 58
people and injured nearly 500.
“That always spurs added conversation in
— Don Wysocki, soil scientist for OSU Extension Service
Hunters offered new reward
for turning in poachers
Three suspected
poachers cited on
Sunday for shooting
deer on private land
East Oregonian
Oregon hunters are getting a new
incentive to turn in poachers.
A program, approved by the
2016 Oregon Legislature and put
into effect this month, offers the
option of big game preference
points instead of cash for provid-
ing information that leads to an
arrest or citation for poaching-re-
lated crimes.
The Turn in Poachers program
is a collaboration between the Ore-
gon Hunters Association and Ore-
gon State Police, and until this sea-
son offered only cash rewards for
such tips.
According to a release from
the Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife, for cases involv-
ing bighorn sheep, mountain goat,
moose or wolves, the tipster will be
awarded five preference points. For
cases involving elk, deer, prong-
horn, cougar or bear, the person will
be awarded four preference points.
All preference points must go to one
hunt series (elk, buck deer, antler-
less deer, antelope or spring bear).
Five preference points would
allow a hunter to draw 76 percent
of buck deer hunts, 69 percent of
See POACHERS/10A
See GUN/10A
HERMISTON
EOTEC hosts ‘Walktober,’
equestrian opportunities
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Fair season is over, but the pub-
lic is still encouraged to visit the
grounds of the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center.
The center is hosting a “Walkto-
ber” by encouraging people to come
and walk the paths around the prop-
erty every Monday through Friday,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those who stop by
the office on their way in can enter
their name into a drawing for prizes
that will happen at the end of each
week.
Three loops around the flat,
paved trails at EOTEC equal a mile.
EOTEC general manager Al
Davis said the event is scheduled
for October, but could run longer
depending on conditions.
“We’ll keep going as long as the
weather holds out,” he said.
Davis is also opening the rodeo
arena at EOTEC to public horse-
back riding from 3 p.m. until dark
every Wednesday in October.
“Bring your colts, Western
pleasure, seasoned barrel horses
or ponies,” the flier for the event
advertises, and enjoy “the 2017 best
footing in the PRCA.” The charge
is $10 per horse or $20 per trailer.
Davis said he is always looking
for new ways to get people out to
See EOTEC/10A