For more rodeo coverage see Sports, A8 | for more photos from the fair visit eastoregonian.com
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019
143rd Year, No. 210
County
tables
manager
measure
Proposal would
have established
language in the
charter requiring
commissioners to
hire county manager
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Two
out of three Umatilla County
commissioners support the
county having a professional
manager, but only one voted
to put the proposal on the
ballot.
Commissioners, however,
approved two other charter
changes for residents to con-
sider at the November elec-
tion. One ballot measure
would simplify elections of
commissioners and the other
would update language and
duties regarding the sheriff’s
offi ce.
The trio of proposals came
from the Umatilla County
Charter Review Commit-
tee, which over the course of
19 months studied the char-
ter and considered how to
improve the county’s found-
ing document. The commit-
tee’s most controversial rec-
ommendation would have
established language in the
charter requiring the board of
commissioners to hire a man-
ager. Commissioner Bill Elf-
ering seemed to agree with
the notion.
“The time has come
that Umatilla County needs
an offi cer to manage the
administrate functions of
our county,” Elfering said,
reading from a statement he
prepared.
Yet, he continued, the
board of commissioners
already has the power to hire
a manager, just as it can hire a
county counsel. Making this
a requirement of the board,
he said, is the concern, and
the proposal lacks the prepa-
ration to go before the voters.
“While the concept truly
has value, the position of a
county manager needs to be
fully developed as to func-
tion, cost and benefi t,” he
said, “and fully vetted to the
public.”
Without that preparation,
he stated, the measure likely
would fail in the election.
Commissioner John Sha-
fer also spoke against the pro-
posal. He expressed concerns
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wild
Ride
GUN CONTROL
Debate
over guns
continues
Oregon not likely to
see gun reform talks
ahead of next year’s
legislative session
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE AND
AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Caleb Bennett of Corvallis, Mont., hangs on to Uptown Flash during bareback riding on the opening day of the Farm-
City Pro Rodeo. The Farm-City Pro Rodeo kicks off nightly at 7:45 p.m. at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo arena in Hermiston.
See Charter, Page A7
SALEM — Stalled gun
reforms in Oregon aren’t
likely to move ahead until
next year’s legislative session
despite a resurgent national
debate following the shooting
deaths over the weekend of 31
people in El Paso, Texas, and
Dayton, Ohio.
One of the Oregon Legis-
lature’s leading advocates of
gun control, Sen. Ginny Bur-
dick, D-Portland, said legisla-
tors were still getting over the
just-completed session.
“We haven’t started seri-
ous work on it yet,” Burdick,
who leads Democrats in the
Oregon Senate, said. “But I
certainly intend to make it a
priority.”
Advocates, for their part,
say they’re continuing their
quest to cut down on gun
violence, which claimed
528 lives in Oregon in 2017,
according to the federal Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Gun violence hit Oregon
this past weekend as well.
A former Portland State
University student athlete,
Deante Strickland, 22, was
killed in a shooting in north-
east Portland on Friday that
also injured two others. In
Salem, police are investi-
gating two fatal shootings
over the weekend and a third
shooting Monday that hospi-
talized three people.
“I think we are all heart-
broken every time we hear of
a mass shooting,” said Hilary
Uhlig, who leads the Oregon
chapter of Moms Demand
Action for Gun Sense in
America, a nonpartisan group
that aims to reduce gun vio-
lence. “It’s always traumatic
for communities to expe-
rience. But one thing that
Moms Demand Action volun-
teers remember is that there
are 100 people in our country
who die of gun violence every
single day.”
Still, the El Paso and Day-
ton shootings have spurred
interest from new volunteers
and new local chapters of the
Moms Demand Action group,
Uhlig said.
Legislators this year closed
See Guns, Page A7
Investigation continues in death, mutilation of bulls
Investigators suspect
one or more people are
responsible for deaths
By SIERRA MCCLAIN
Capital Press
JOHN DAY — Authorities are
continuing to investigate the death
and mutilation of fi ve bulls on a
remote Eastern Oregon ranch.
The bulls, worth about $7,000
each, were found dead and muti-
lated — with genitals and tongues
cut out — on Silvies Valley Ranch
in Harney County.
Two carcasses were discovered
July 30. On July 31, three more car-
casses were found.
The cause of death is unknown,
but investigators suspect one or
more people are responsible.
Harney County Sheriff’s Offi ce
Deputy Dan Jenkins is the primary
investigator. The Oregon State
Police and the Malheur National
Forest Emigrant Creek Ranger Dis-
trict are also on the case.
As of Aug. 7, according to
Joshua Giles, a forest ranger for the
Emigrant Creek Ranger District,
the investigation continues with no
clear leads.
As an isolated incident, the case
might appear a strange fl uke. But
according to the FBI, thousands 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 are no
entry wounds. A metal detector
scan revealed no bullets.
According to National Weather
Service data, the past month has
had no major lightning storms in the
area that could have killed cattle.
Based on the lunar calendar
from the 2019 Farmer’s Almanac,
the deaths could not have happened
during a full moon.
Colby Marshall, vice president
of Silvies Valley Ranch, said there
were no outward signs of a strug-
gle — no rope burns on trees, no
scattered hoof prints, no strangula-
tion marks, no blood. The bulls, he
said, look like they simply fell over
and died.
“Maybe they were poisoned,”
said Jenkins. But if they were, it
could not have happened by natural
causes. Jenkins said Ty Campbell,
the property owner’s son, along
with Clint Weaver, the cow boss,
scoured the property looking for
poisonous plants but found none.
Jenkins said a necropsy to deter-
mine the cause of death was not
possible because when the bulls
were found, they were already past
the 24-hour window when a veter-
inary inspection would have been
effective.
Marshall, the ranch’s vice pres-
ident, said the bulls had probably
been dead for two to three days
when they were found.
The 4- and 5-year-old registered
Hereford bulls were on the 140,000-
acre ranch and resort in Seneca,
south of John Day. Dr. Scott Camp-
bell, a veterinarian, owns the ranch.
See Cattle, Page A7