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E O
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143rd Year, No. 199
REGONIAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2019
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WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
EASTERN OREGON
Fire danger
creeping up
Wildfire season quiet
so far, but danger is
increasing, according
to officials
Local recall supporters want their voices heard
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — While
efforts to recall Democratic
Gov. Kate Brown organize
around the state, petitions
seeking signatures of sup-
port have begun to circulate
around Northeast Oregon
as voters strive to have their
voices of dissent heard.
In Pendleton, organiz-
ers reached out to local fire-
arm shops Garner’s Sport-
ing Goods and Blagg’s
Rifles last week and both
stores have placed petitions
on their counters for sup-
porters to sign, while else-
where political activists like
HollyJo Beers are bringing
petitions to communities in
the area for residents to sign.
“I believe we’re going
to get it done,” said Beers,
the Umatilla County vice-
lead of Oregon III%, which
is a state militia move-
ment focused on protect-
ing the Second Amendment
through protest.
On July 15, two efforts
to recall Democratic Gov.
Kate Brown were officially
filed with the Secretary of
State’s office. Each will
have 90 days, until Oct. 14,
to submit petitions total-
ing 280,050 valid signa-
tures from registered Ore-
gon voters.
The signatures cannot be
combined from the separate
MORE INSIDE
Republicans frustrated by
losing their grip on polit-
ical power in some west-
ern states have begun
deploying a new weapon:
the recall. Page A2
See Recall, Page A6
By JAYSON JACOBY AND
PHIL WRIGHT
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — The fire sea-
son has been more fizzle than flame
so far in Northeastern Oregon, but
Joel McCraw doesn’t expect the
tranquility to last.
“Our fire danger ratings are start-
ing to creep up with the hotter, drier
weather,” McCraw, a fire manage-
ment officer for the Wallowa-Whit-
man National Forest’s Whitman
District, said Monday afternoon.
July has been a bit cooler than
usual. But Monday’s high tempera-
ture of 97 at the Baker City Airport
was the hottest this year, eclipsing
Sunday’s maximum of 95. And only
a trace of rain has fallen at the air-
port during July.
Through Monday the average
high temperature at the airport was
84.6 degrees. The long-term aver-
age high for July is 85.2. Last July
the average high was 91.8, the sec-
ond-hottest since record-keeping
started at the airport in 1943.
Pendleton reached 95 on Mon-
day, 4 degrees above normal,
according to the National Weather
Service. Fire agencies in the north-
east portion of Umatilla County felt
the heat as a grass fire took off Mon-
day afternoon.
Dave Baty, chief of East Uma-
tilla Fire & Rescue, said he revis-
ited the site north of Helix and esti-
mated the burn spanned 400 acres.
It would have been worse, he said,
if crews had not stopped it from
crawling over a hill and into acres
of wheat.
The Milton-Freewater Rural Fire
Department hit the scene first Mon-
day and at about 3:45 p.m. called for
assistance. East Umatilla as well
as Walla Walla Fire District crews
answered. Baty said he found a
perch on the fire’s south flank and
took command of the attack at that
location.
Communications in that part of
the county are sketchy, but between
radios and cellphones he and others
directed the effort and the crew con-
tained the burn sometime around
8 p.m. He said a farmer used a disc
harrow to cut a line that helped
immensely.
“I think everyone did a really
great job,” Baty said. “We had some
people leave work and come out to
the fire and help us put it out.”
Baty said he was tired but not
quite relaxing just yet. The National
Weather Service issued a Red Flag
Warning over much of Umatilla and
Morrow counties.
Cool temperatures, combined
with occasional rain and lingering
snow at higher elevations, has kept
fire danger measurements below
See Wildfire, Page A6
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Women pilots and aspiring pilots gathered at the Pendleton airport on July 13 to start an informal day of lunch, yoga and
networking. Most are members of a female flying group called the Ninety-Nines. Tania Wildbill, sitting on tarmac, and Natalie
Bridgman (to her right), of Pendleton, are just starting out their aviation journeys.
Women pilots bond
during Pendleton fly-in
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — History is full of
female pilots who shattered glass
ceilings in the wild, blue yonder.
Harriet Quimby flew across
the English Channel in 1912. Bes-
sie Coleman, the first black female
pilot, went to flight school in France
after no American flight schools would
admit her. Amelia Earhart flew solo
across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. Jac-
quline Cochran in 1953 became the first
woman to fly faster than the speed of
sound. Jennifer Murray in 2000 was the
first female pilot to circumnavigate the
world in a helicopter.
Yet, today, women still make up
only 6% of American pilots, accord-
ing to Women in Aviation International.
As the world faces a projected shortage
of pilots, the aviation industry increas-
ingly looks toward recruiting females
and others in historically under-repre-
sented demographics as a way to ease
the crisis. Last month in a CNBC video,
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said
an increasing demand for air travel
means an estimated worldwide short-
age of 800,000 pilots in the next 20
P
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Aileen Coverdale, left, and Lindsey Vice arrive at the Pendleton airport on July 13
for an informal gathering of female pilots, most of whom are members of a female
flying group called the Ninety-Nines.
years and called it “one of the biggest
challenges we have.”
Natalie Bridgman and Tania Wild-
bill, of Pendleton, are two women who
hope to help close the gap. The pair
recently began training and want to
eventually fly commercially.
Bridgman, 25, has been around avi-
ation most of her life. She grew up with
her aunt and uncle, who both work
in the aviation industry, her aunt as a
flight attendant and her uncle as a pilot
for Alaska Airlines. Learning to fly has
always beckoned and now it feels almost
imperative.
“The need for pilots is massive,”
Bridgman said.
Wildbill, 49, said her passion to fly
See Pilots, Page A6
Pendleton Heights developer says he has loan to restart construction
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The 100-apart-
ment addition to Pendleton Heights
has been in limbo for months, but
its developer said it will move ahead
soon.
Saj Jivanjee of Newberg said
Monday afternoon that he had
secured a loan to build the road that
will service the planned apartments,
and it was only a matter of process-
ing all the paperwork to get the proj-
ect started.
As a part of an incentive deal
with the city, Jivanjee must pay the
city $150,000 before he can start
construction.
As of Monday morning, Finance
Director Linda Carter said Jivanjee
has not made his payment. Once all
the paperwork is processed, Jivan-
jee said he could pay the $150,000
by this week.
In late May, the developer sent a
construction crew to the site to start
work on the project before he made
the payment.
Jivanjee said he thought he had
the money secured from his bank to
start the project, but his banker went
on a three-week vacation before the
loan could be finalized.
Although Jinvajee violated the
deal he had with Pendleton, the
city decided against punishing him.
Early Monday afternoon, there
wasn’t any construction activity at
Pendleton Heights.
Getting started on the road exten-
sion could provide new momentum
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
See Apartments, Page A6
The site for the 100-unit addition to Pendleton Heights sits uphill of the ex-
isting development and adjacent to Olney Cemetery.