WEEKEND EDITION
JUDGE UPHOLDS
HELLS CANYON
GRAZING
PERMITS
NORTHWEST ARTISTS
FLOCK TO CROW’S
SHADOW FOR
MONOTHON 2.0
KENNISON FIELD
GETS TOP MARKS
HEADING INTO
FALL SPORTS
NORTHWEST, A2
LIFESTYLES, C1
SPORTS, B1
E O
AST
143rd Year, No. 207
REGONIAN
AUGUST 3-4, 2019
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Five bulls found dead and mutilated in Harney County
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
BURNS — Five bulls were
found dead and mutilated — with
genitals and tongues cut out — on
Silvies Valley Ranch in Harney
County.
Two carcasses were discovered
July 30. On July 31, three more
carcasses were found. The smell
of decomposing bodies gave them
away.
The cause of death is unknown,
but investigators suspect one or
more people are responsible.
The Harney County Sheriff’s
Offi ce has named Deputy Dan
Jenkins as the primary investiga-
tor for the case. {span}The Ore-
gon State Police and the Malheur
National Forest Emigrant Creek
Ranger District are also investi-
gating. {/span}
“I got stuck with the case,” Jen-
kins said. He laughed wryly. “And
it’s a mystery.”
As an isolated incident, the
case might appear a strange fl uke.
But according to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, thou-
sands of killings and mutilations
of cows have happened since the
1970s. The animals typically die
in the same way with the same
body parts removed.
Jenkins said it’s hard to tell
how these fi ve bulls died. There
See Bulls, Page A9
a growing public discussion over the issue
of homelessness.
“The City has experienced growing
numbers of persons who lack adequate
housing and living facilities and who are
present in public places,” Kerns wrote in
the report. “Federal law has recognized
that all persons have certain rights to exist
and are trending toward declaring that all
persons have a ‘right to rest.’”
Although the new ordinance wipes
away loitering language, it introduces sev-
eral new items into the list of noncriminal
prohibitions.
See Camping, Page A9
See Permits, Page A9
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Homeless ordinance
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — On Tuesday, the
Pendleton City Council will con-
sider an ordinance that will prohibit
the way many homeless people sleep.
Some people in Pendleton’s home-
less community think the new proposal
is a bad idea, while an attorney with the
American Civil Liberties Union of Ore-
Court ruling
could nix
permits for
big energy
projects
PORTLAND — An Oregon
Supreme Court ruling could bring
an end to permits for two big energy
projects in Eastern Oregon and eight
more statewide.
The Oregon Energy Facility Sit-
ing Council in October 2017 adopted
a swifter, less public method to
amend permits, or site certifi cates,
for wind farms, thermal power
plants and other large energy facil-
ities. While the traditional “type
A” review process involved public
notices and hearings, the new “type
B” process cut out the public involve-
ment, including allowing interested
parties to request a contested case
proceeding. Type B also required
staff to issue decisions as soon as
possible.
The Friends of the Columbia
Gorge and eight other environmental
conservation and community groups
teamed up and fi led an appeal in
December 2017 to challenge the new
rules in the Oregon Supreme Court.
The court in a 26-page decision
Thursday determined the Energy
Facility Siting Council violated Ore-
gon rule-making procedures and
set up rules that exceeded the coun-
cil’s statutory authority. In short, the
court ruled, the Energy Facility Sit-
ing Council’s rules were invalid.
Nathan Baker, senior staff attorney
for Friends of the Columbia Gorge,
praised the verdict:
“The supreme court’s decision
establishes an important precedent
that all state agencies in Oregon must
follow when adopting rules, in order
to ensure full public transparency.”
The siting council has 10 applica-
tions for amendments to site certifi -
cates pending that came in after the
rule change in 2017. Baker explained
the Oregon Court of Appeals has
determined state agencies cannot
apply or enforce invalid rules, thus
those applications are invalid.
That includes the permits for
Summit Ridge Wind Farm pro-
posal in Wasco County along the
Deschutes River and the Perennial
Wind Chaser Station, a natural gas
power plant proposal in Umatilla
County. As a result of the ruling,
Mark Woodger stands in front of the Neighbor 2 Neighbor warming station at 715 S.E. Court Ave. in Pendleton. The station serves
as a warming center in the winter and a cooling center and shower facility one day a week in the summer.
gon thinks it could expose the city to
lawsuits.
The council was set to vote on the ordi-
nance at a July 16 meeting before tabling
it for further review.
City Attorney Nancy Kerns said the
changes to the ordinance’s language were
minor, and the substance remains the
same.
The amendment to the noncriminal
offenses ordinance repeals language pro-
hibiting loitering, which the city now con-
siders “unconstitutionally broad.”
According to a staff report from Kerns,
the changes were a response to potential
changes to federal law. It also comes amid
OREGON SUPREME COURT
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
EO SPOTLIGHT
Homeless, ACLU
speak out against city
camping proposal
$1.50
What it takes to prepare for the Umatilla County Fair
EOTEC will transform
into a rides-and-rodeo
wonderland for the fair
By JESSICA POLLARD
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Less than a
week before the Umatilla County Fair
opens, the grounds at Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center might look
like a ghost town to the untrained eye.
But behind the jungle gym of
empty livestock pens and rows of
freshly minted wooden benches,
there is a network of volunteers num-
bering in the hundreds, working to
pull the fair together.
Lots of the work gets done on
the weekends, but some people start
clocking 14-hour days as the fair’s
opening day — Tuesday, Aug. 6
— approaches.
“My days have already started to
run together,” said EOTEC General
Manager Al Davis.
Davis harkens back to the fi rst year
the fair stood on EOTEC grounds,
in 2016, when the line for parking
backed clear to the water tower.
“People didn’t know what the
expectations were,” he said. “We can
claim ‘new’ for fi ve years.”
Since then, it’s been a goal to make
getting to the fair easier. The EOTEC
access-way has been opened up and
the usual free shuttle service, which
runs from Hermiston City Hall to the
fair, will be running later in the day
— from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. — to allow
fair-goers to fully enjoy the rodeo,
See Fair, Page A9
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Miguel Rojas pushes a roller coaster car off of the starting platform to al-
low for further construction of the roller coaster during a setup day for
the Umatilla County Fair. The Umatilla County Fair runs Aug. 6-10 at the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston.