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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2018)
WEEKEND EDITION BUCKS STAY ON A ROLL BITTER FIGHT NEARS END SPORTS/1B When the tractor breaks down OP-ED/5A NATION/10A OCTOBER 6-7, 2018 142nd Year, No. 241 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD MEASURE 105 ‘We’re still expressing our culture through art, dance, music’ Sanctuary law faces repeal in November — Bobbie Conner, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute director Law enforcement weighs in on measure By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian In the month following the 2016 presidential election, Selene Tor- res-Medrano helped organize an immigration forum at Umatilla High School. Torres-Medrano said the audi- ence filled the cafeteria to hear from local leaders on the issue, including Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan. She said Rowan assured the crowd that his deputies would not target undocumented immigrants. Rowan made comments similar to Torres-Medrano’s recollection when he was running for re-elec- tion the previous spring. “If you’re calling as a victim and (local law enforcement and dispatchers) start asking about your legal-ness in this country, I should know about it,” he told the Hermis- ton Hispanic Advisory Committee in April 2016. A 31-year-old state law prevents state and local law enforcement from using resources to enforce federal immigration law if a per- son’s only crime is their legal sta- tus, but a measure on the November ballot looks to change that. In August, Rowan signed onto a public letter written by Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin sup- porting Measure 105, which would repeal Oregon’s “sanctuary state” law. Rowan and his office did not return multiple requests for com- ment for this story. “If a person is illegally here, I’m not even worried about that,” Rowan said in an interview at the time. “But what I am worried about are those who are here illegally and who commit local crimes. ... That is the population that we’re trying to get at.” See MEASURE 105/12A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A class of fourth-graders from Central Elementary School in La Grande tour the main exhibit during a field trip Friday to the muse- um at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in Mission. STILL HERE By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Some families of Pendleton settlers can trace their roots on this land to seven genera- tions. Local tribal members trace their histo- ries back hundreds of generations. Bobbie Conner of Pendleton said the names of places testify to that. She is director at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, the Amer- ican Indian museum and research facil- ity on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton. “All over the United States and right here in our neighborhood are Indian names of places people don’t think are Indian names,” she said. Touchet, Washington, was Tuusi, “baking salmon on sticks over a coal fire,” and stems from a myth about Coyote. The tribal name Ayun morphed into Ione in Morrow County. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Diane Lieuallen of Milton-Freewater works on a horse design while taking a Native American beading class Friday at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in Mission. Athena does not derive its name from the Greek goddess but from Atina, “away from the river,” when the site was a midpoint on the tribal trade route between Walla Walla Indigenous Peoples Day is every day and Pendleton. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown proclaimed Monday to be Indigenous Peoples Day and encouraged Oregonians to join in the observance. Conner said an indigenous body of knowl- edge has been here a long time, but the ste- reotypes of American Indians can obscure that fact. “If they don’t see us looking like Indians, we’re not Indians,” she said. While the people who live in Pendleton for the most part know that, the locals may not know as much about tribal history, prac- tices and teachings. Dazon Sigo, an enrolled Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation member, made that point Tuesday night when he asked candidates for governor at the See INDIGENOUS PEOPLES/12A HERMISTON Rate increases floated to pay for treatment plant Council will vote Monday on whether to hike fees By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Hermiston City Council will consider raising water and sewer rates Mon- day. The increase would gen- erate approximately $2 mil- lion per year in additional revenue. Under a pair of resolu- tions up for a vote, the city would implement a base charge of $35 a month for sewer service plus $3 for each 1,000 gallons of use, Receive Care Whenever and Wherever You Need it! based on wintertime usage. Water users would pay a base charge of $30 per month, plus 50 cents per 1,000 gallons up to 15,000 gallons and $3.50 per 1,000 gallons thereafter. Rates would be the same for both residential and commercial customers. Mark Morgan, the assis- tant city manager, said the recommendation comes because rising costs, partic- ularly debt service on the recycled water treatment plant upgrade of 2014, have eaten into the utility fund’s reserves and do not leave money for needed capital improvements. “Right now, so much of our revenue is going toward (the debt payments) that we can’t pay for anything else,” he said. City engineers and staff presented a few rate restruc- ture options at a Sept. 10 work session that would See FEES/12A EO file photo Wasterwater churns in the aeration basin before being sent through a filter to remove organic matter at the Hermiston Wastewater Treatment facility in Hermiston. ONLY $35 PER VISIT! • COUGH • COLD • FLU • SORE THROAT • EAR ACHE • PINK EYE • RASH • URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS • AND SO MUCH MORE! Virtual Care 844.724.8632 FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG
