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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Friday, January 11, 2019 Oregon begins killing sea lions after relocation fails By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND — Ore- gon wildlife officials have started killing California sea lions that threaten a frag- ile and unique type of trout in the Willamette River, a body of water that’s miles inland from the coastal areas where the massive carnivo- rous aquatic mammals usu- ally congregate to feed. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife obtained a federal permit in Novem- ber to kill up to 93 Califor- nia sea lions annually below Willamette Falls south of Portland to protect the win- ter run of the fish that begin life as rainbow trout but become steelhead when they travel to the ocean. As of last week, wild- life managers have killed three of the animals using traps they used last year to relocate the sea lions, said Bryan Wright, project man- ager for the Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife’s marine resources program. The adult male sea lions, which weigh nearly 1,000 pounds each, have learned that they can loiter under the falls and snack on the vulnerable steelhead as the fish power their way upriver to the streams where they hatched. The trout travel to sea The Medford Mail Tribune/Jamie Lusch, File In this July 7, 2016, file photo, a steelhead trout is reeled in near Dodge Bridge along the Rogue River in Shady Cove. AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus, File In this March 14, 2018, file photo, a California sea lion peers out from a restraint nicknamed “The Squeeze” near Oregon City as it is prepared for transport by truck to the Pacific Ocean about 130 miles away. from inland rivers, grow to adulthood as steelhead in the Pacific Ocean and then return to their natal river to spawn. They can grow to 55 pounds and live up to 11 years. The sea lions breed each summer off Southern Cal- ifornia and northern Mex- ico, then the males cruise up the Pacific Coast to for- age. Hunted for their thick fur, the mammals’ numbers dropped dramatically but have rebounded from 30,000 in the late 1960s to about 300,000 today because of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. With their numbers growing, the dog-faced sea lions are venturing ever far- ther inland up the Columbia River and its tributaries in Oregon and Washington — and their appetite is having disastrous consequences, scientists have said. Last winter, a record-low Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 512 wild winter steelhead completed the journey past the Willamette Falls, accord- ing to state counts. Less than 30 years ago, that number was more than 15,000. The sea lions are eating so many winter steelhead at Willamette Falls that cer- tain runs are at a high risk of going extinct, according to a 2017 study by wildlife biologists. Wildlife officials moved about a dozen sea lions to Mostly sunny Partly sunny Partly sunny and chilly Mainly cloudy and chilly PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 43° 30° 41° 25° 39° 23° 43° 30° 37° 25° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 42° 31° 42° 29° 40° 27° 40° 31° 38° 27° OREGON FORECAST ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 54/42 42/30 43/28 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 43/30 Lewiston 52/36 42/31 Astoria 55/42 Pullman Yakima 43/28 51/32 48/31 Portland Hermiston 51/39 The Dalles 42/31 Salem Corvallis 49/35 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 43/30 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 51/36 44/27 45/29 Ontario 45/26 Caldwell Burns 50° 31° 41° 28° 69° (1959) -24° (1909) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 51/36 Trace 0.18" 0.40" 0.18" 0.26" 0.40" WINDS (in mph) 46/26 37/15 Trace 0.12" 0.57" 0.12" 0.33" 0.57" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 41/24 52/35 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 43/30 44/34 55° 32° 41° 27° 59° (2006) -21° (1909) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 52/31 Aberdeen 38/26 40/30 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 54/40 Today Medford 50/36 Sat. NNE 4-8 NE 4-8 Boardman Pendleton NE 4-8 N 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 45/27 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:34 a.m. 4:32 p.m. 10:42 a.m. 10:13 p.m. First Full Last New Jan 13 Jan 20 Jan 27 Feb 4 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 78° in Thermal, Calif. Low -14° in Cotton, Minn. their back or tags on their flippers. The animals are being euthanized by a veterinar- ian by lethal injection in the same way that dogs and cats are put down, Wright said. Their flesh goes to a render- ing plant. Before a sea lion is killed, the state must find out if there is a zoo or aquar- ium that wants the animal. If so, Oregon wildlife manag- ers must hold the sea lion for 48 hours before killing it. In a similar program, Oregon and Washington have already killed more than 150 sea lions below the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River to protect threatened and endangered salmon. State investigation: Care home resident smelled of ‘rotting flesh’ By FEDOR ZARKHIN The Oregonian/OregonLive Fog in the morning; partly sunny the coast near the small city of Newport last year, but the animals ended up swimming back to the falls within days. So the state petitioned federal officials for per- mission to start killing the animals, which are listed as a federally endangered species. The permit from the National Marine Fisher- ies Service says the tar- geted sea lions must have been observed eating at least one steelhead near Willa- mette Falls between Nov. 1 and Aug. 15 or have been observed in the same stretch of river on two consecutive days in that period. Individual sea lions are identified by trained observ- ers who look at brands on PORTLAND — A national corporation shut- tered a Brookings group home for people with disabil- ities last month after state reg- ulators found that managers repeatedly ignored caregiv- ers’ concerns about a disabled person’s festering pressure wound, including that it smelled of “rotting flesh.” State regulators for the Department of Human Ser- vices moved to revoke the home’s license before the company’s local affiliate, Mentor Oregon, closed the facility along the Southern Oregon coast Dec. 11. Overarching safety con- cerns also prompted offi- cials to temporarily prohibit the company from accepting new residents at any of its 28 homes across Oregon, includ- ing six in the Portland area. In some cases, a ban for accept- ing new residents wasn’t lifted until December. The state rarely takes such aggressive action, issu- ing similar restrictions only a handful of times in recent years. State regulators found that Mentor Oregon managers failed to train staff, provided minimal care and made med- ically inappropriate decisions as a disabled person who couldn’t walk or communi- cate deteriorated for months in 2017, according to an investi- gative report from May 2018 obtained by The Oregonian/ OregonLive through a public records request. The person was eventually moved to a new home and immediately hospitalized for surgery to remove dead and decaying tissue, according to state records. State reports don’t pro- vide the person’s name, age or gender. Toni Larson, state ombuds- man for people with disabili- ties, said the official findings are “disturbing” because they show the facility failed to pro- vide a basic level of care. “It wasn’t one missed mis- take or one missed opportu- nity,” Larson said. Mentor Oregon’s director, Yvette Doan, said in a state- ment that the company has taken extensive steps to train staff and worked closely with the state to make changes. While the company is proud of its work in Oregon, Doan wrote, “if we are going to accept any small measure of credit for a job well done for those we support, we must also acknowledge when our services may fall short.” The five managers named in the report no longer work for the company, Doan said. Because regulators sub- stantiated abuse allegations against those former employ- ees, they would be unlikely to pass a background check to work at a similar home in Oregon, said Lilia Teninty, director of the state Intellec- tual and Developmental Dis- abilities division. Neglect at the Brook- ings group home lasted mul- tiple months in late 2017, an investigator found, and con- tinued after the investigation began. The victim was moved to a different group home in November, nearly two months after Community Living Case Management, a state contrac- tor that oversees disability ser- vices in southwest Oregon, launched its investigation. The investigation found that the person lost more than a quarter of his or her weight because the home didn’t have a scale; staff members were trained improperly or not trained at all; and employ- ees likely didn’t do enough to treat the person’s pain. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Boy, 12, held in death of 92-year-old woman CRESWELL (AP) — A 12-year-old Oregon boy is being held in juve- nile detention on suspicion of killing a 92-year-old woman. The Register-Guard reports that Emma Bur- nell was found dead in her Creswell home on Mon- day afternoon after some- one called authorities to -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to EastOregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low The Jan. 9 article “Agencies team up for after-school program” misstated how the $5,000 Cycle Oregon grant will be used. It will be used for program supplies. Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES EZPay 52 weeks 26 weeks 13 weeks His name was not released because of his age. Authorities declined to say whether Burnell knew the boy, what led to his arrest, who called author- ities or how Burnell was killed. The child will make his first appearance in juvenile court on Friday. CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s report an injured person at her address. Jason Davis, a Lane County Health and Human Services Department spokes- man, tells the newspaper that the boy was arrested either Wednesday or Thursday. He was booked at the Serbu Juvenile Justice Center in Eugene on suspicion of mur- der and first-degree burglary. 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