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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2019)
FOOTBALL: West wins 67th east-West shrine all-star game | SPORTS, B1 E O AST 143rd year, No. 208 REGONIAN Tuesday, augusT 6, 2019 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Veto threat to become a reality $1.50 NW tribes lament fire on Rattlesnake Mountain U.S. SHOOTINGS By ANNA KING Oregon Public Broadcasting said. “People are feeling unsure about what, when where, and why.” and, he said, folks are fed up with politicians or whoever RICHLaNd, Wash. — The fire that engulfed Notre Dame cathedral shocked the world ear- lier this year. And a wildfire in July on Rattlesnake Mountain in southeast Washington simi- larly shocked Northwest tribes. Treeless Rattlesnake Moun- tain is over 3,600 wind-swept feet above sea level. It’s part of the Hanford Reach National Monument, designated by Pres- ident Bill Clinton, home to rare plants and fauna. “so, Laliik, is how you say the place in our Indian lan- guage,” said Jon shellenberger, an enrolled member of the yakama Nation. “But it is a cer- emonial place for our people. It’s a place we hunted.” shellenberger is a yakama Nation archeologist and eth- nographer. He said Rattlesnake has been important to North- west tribes from their creation. The mountain is a living history book on the landscape. “It is a representation of our tie to the time before the Ice ages,” shellenberger said. “Because our oral history talks about the time when the ice cov- ered the land, and it talks about the different animals and the creation stories. To me, to have something and see something like that on a daily basis — it’s very powerful to know that our people have been going and returning there for, forever.” The Sistine Chapel shellenberger said Rattle- snake Mountain is comparable to the sistine Chapel or other sacred sites in europe. “Maybe, others don’t think of it that way,” he said. “They just think, that’s just a mountain that hasn’t been developed. But to us, it is the equivalent to some of these other sacred sites.” The recent human-caused Cold Creek Fire blackened nearly 42,000 acres in the area. Fire has been a traditional tool of tribes here, and good for native plants in small doses. “However, the fires that we deal with now burn a lot hotter,” he said. “They are a lot more violent.” And wildfires can damage archaeological sites. “They are susceptible to high-temperature fires, and then the exposure,” shellen- berger said. “When you remove the vegetation you expose them to the eyes of people, to the pub- lic. and which opens the gate for potential looting.” shellenberger went up on Rattlesnake about a decade ago with a yakama tribal elder. He See Shootings, Page A8 See Fire, Page A8 staff of gov. Kate Brown says move is not political revenge By AUBREY WIEBER AND CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau saLeM — gov. Kate Brown announced sunday that she is considering using her veto power to kill proposals championed by rural lawmak- ers of both parties. Her staff said the veto threat was not political revenge but over sincere concerns about legislation passed in the 2019 Legislature. Brown is considering axing policies to make it easier to remove and fill ground from wetlands, move forward on the retrofit of two dams in Newport and provide money to help east- ern Oregon counties plan larger urban growth boundaries. some of the proposed action goes against democrats who opposed her cornerstone envi- ronmental policy that would have created a carbon pric- ing system. When asked if she plans to use veto power for ret- ribution, Brown told a Politico reporter that “revenge is a dish best served cold and slowly.” However, Brown’s spokes- woman said Monday the veto consideration is a policy move, not a political game. Brown’s deadline to veto comes Friday, and she has to give five days notice before making the decision. several people who support propos- als Brown is looking to kill said they hope to meet with the governor and overcome her veto threat. Brown has not yet vetoed anything from the 2019 session. House Bill 2437 would increase the amount of mate- rial commercial developers can remove from a wetland with- out a permit by 60 times what is now allowed, going from 50 cubic yards to 3,000. It also would increase the amount of dredged material that can be dumped in a wetland without a permit. Brown’s announcement was cheered by environmental group WaterWatch. Mary anne Cooper, vice president of the Oregon Farm Bureau, said the state classi- fies a lot of farm land as wet- lands, so to clear an agricultural ditch under current regulation, a farmer needs a permit that See Veto, Page A8 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Vickie Hendricks participates in a candlelight vigil Monday night at Brownfield Park in Pendleton remem- bering those who died in shootings in Texas and Ohio. Mass shootings stun weary nation By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian PeNdLeTON — Walmart employees in Pendleton this week set up memorials to honor victims of recent gun violence. a gunman murdered 22 peo- ple and wounded more than two dozen saturday at a Walmart in el Paso, Texas. another shooter less than a day later gunned down nine people in dayton, Ohio, and injured 27 others. and Tuesday last week, a disgruntled employee shot and killed a manager and an associ- ate at a Walmart in southaven, Mississippi. Pendleton Walmart manager shawna Nuff said the violence and tragedies hit home because there is a feeling of family between store employees, which the company calls its associ- ates. Nuff pointed out the table where customers can sign cards expressing their sympathy and condolences. she said the store will gather any cards and mail them Friday. Walmart employees train each quarter to deal with mass shooters, and Nuff said she reached out to Pendleton police Chief stuart Roberts, who agreed to come in and talk to Staff photo by Kathy Aney Colleen and Jeff Blackwood participate in a candlelight vigil Monday night at Brownfield Park in Pendleton remembering those who died in shootings in Texas and Ohio. employees. she said that is likely to occur Wednesday. “We can’t say anymore this won’t happen to us,” Nuff said. Roberts said he is not going to deliver some canned presen- tation. Rather, he said he likely to open it up to questions and do his best to answer, even if there are no easy answers. “People are feeling apprehen- sive, scared, what-have-you,” he EL PASO REACTS TO TRUMP VISIT, PAGE A5 Fare well through fair By JESSICA POLLARD AND ALEX CASTLE East Oregonian HeRMIsTON — Fair-goers be warned: This week is predicted to be a scorcher. The hottest registered tempera- ture in Hermiston this year, said National Weather service forecaster Rob Brooks, was 98 degrees on July 23. The number could very well be eclipsed by Wednesday. according to the service, tempera- tures in umatilla County could rise near the triple digits throughout the week with the weekend potentially bringing thunderstorms from the mountains. Brooks said the warm and dry weather poses the usual risks of fire, dehydration and other heat-related ailments. For the workers with davis amuse- ment Cascadia — which has been providing the fair carnival for over 50 years — the hot weather is not unfamiliar. “When we’re working in heat like this, one of the most important things — worker or customer — is food,” said manager and owner of davis amuse- ment Michael davis. The company schedules in break- fast, lunch, and even a light dinner to keep their workers full. “We try to coach our employees away from energy drinks and sug- ary soda toward healthier drinks,” davis said. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan See Fair, Page A8 Colter Meads, 12, attempts to get a pair of fans angled correctly to keep his cattle cool in the hot weather Monday afternoon at the Umatilla Coun- ty Fair.
