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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2020)
Umatilla girls rally to beat Irrigon in league basketball opener | SPORTS, A8 E O AST 144th year, No. 64 REGONIAN THURSDAy, JANUARy 16, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD U.S. Senate to take up Trump impeachment House leaders march Trump impeachment articles to the Senate By LISA MASCARO Associated Press Staff photo by Kathy Aney Kevin Michel, owner of the Pendleton House bed-and-breakfast, holds up one of 10 bottles of 1913 whiskey found under a pile of terra cotta roofing tiles in the attic by a workman. Bed-and-breakfast owners find second batch of vintage whiskey in 103-year-old house By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian P ENDLETON — A Pendleton bed-and-breakfast might have to change its name to Whiskey House. For the second time, vin- tage bottles of whiskey have been dis- covered inside the 103-year-old Pend- leton House during renovations. In 2016, three bottles of Scotch whisky showed up during removal of a built-in chest of drawers in a bed- room once inhabited by original own- ers Lowell and Minnie Rogers. As current owners, Tracy Bosen and Kevin Michel removed the 5-foot- long drawers, they noticed a hidden compartment in a place where the dresser and a perpendicular shoe bin converged. Inside was a trio of bottles of Teacher’s Highland Cream Blended Scotch Whisky (the traditional Scot- tish spelling). They saw no dates, but noticed the yellowed newspaper in which the bottles were wrapped bore the date Dec. 19, 1930. The date fell smack into the nationwide ban on alcohol lasting from 1920 to 1933. This week, more bottles of whis- key were discovered in the house’s attic. The find came 100 years almost to the day after the nation went dry on Jan. 17, 1920. Staff photo by Kathy Aney For the second time, Prohibition-era whiskey was discovered in the Pendleton House bed-and-breakfast during renovation. Last Monday, John Harp, hired to install insulation in the home’s upper story, found the bottles as he pulled stored objects away from the outer walls. As he moved a pile of old terra cotta tiles in a dark corner, something caught his eye. “I was moving the tiles and noticed some burlap,” he said. “I gave it a tug.” After hearing the clink of glass, he investigated, opening the burlap bag. Inside were 10 pint bottles of 100 proof Comet Whiskey separated by paper. The labels proclaimed the liquor was made in Kentucky in 1913 and aged in wood. Bosen, working on the main floor, See Whiskey, Page A7 WASHINGTON — In a dramatic proces- sion across the U.S. Cap- itol, House Democrats carried the formal arti- cles of impeachment against President Donald Pelosi Trump to the Senate late Wednesday, setting the stage for only the third trial to remove a president in American history. Trump complained anew it was all a “hoax,” even as fresh details Nadler emerged about his efforts in Ukraine. The ceremonial pomp and protocol by the law- makers prosecuting the case against Trump moved the impeachment out of Speaker Nancy Schiff Pelosi’s Democratic-run House to the Republi- can-majority Senate, where the president’s team is mounting a defense aiming for swift acquittal. “Today we will make history,’’ Pelosi said as she signed the documents, using multiple pens to hand out and mark the moment. “This president will be held accountable.” Moments later the prosecutors walked solemnly through the stately hall, filing into the Senate back row as the Clerk of the House announced the arrival: “The House has passed House Resolution 798, a resolu- tion appointing and authorizing managers of the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, President of United States.” The Senate will transform itself into an impeachment court at noon Thursday. The Constitution calls for Chief Justice John Roberts to preside at the trial, adminis- tering the oath to senators who will serve as jurors and swear to deliver “impartial justice.” The trial will play out before a deeply divided nation at the start of this election year as Trump seeks a second term and vot- ers review his presidency. Three senators are running for the Democratic nomination. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon- nell pledged to have the Senate “rise above the petty factionalism” and “factional fer- vor and serve the long term, best interests of our nation.” He called it “a difficult time for our country.” Technically, the House was simply notifying the Senate of its delivery of the articles, with a more formal presentation Thursday. Opening arguments are to begin next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Earlier Wednesday, the House voted 228-193, almost entirely along party lines, ending a weekslong delay to deliver the See Impeachment, Page A7 Disease strikes down 2,000 Umatilla County deer By KATY NESBITT For the East Oregonian PENDLETON — The death of roughly 2,000 white-tailed deer in Uma- tilla County is being blamed on a virus spread by tiny gnats. Greg Rimbach, dis- trict biologist for the Ore- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife Pendleton field office, said die-offs found between Milton-Freewater and Pilot Rock due to Epi- zootic hemorrhagic disease occur every couple of years, but for the most part it goes unnoticed. “A die-off to this degree, in the county at least, is very rare and may have never happened before,” he said. “This year was a whopper.” In fact, Rimbach said he is unaware of such an occur- rence being recorded in Oregon. In October, Rimbach said his office started receiv- ing calls from farmers and ranchers reporting dead white-tailed deer in creek bottoms and drainages. “They were finding 10, 12, 15 dead deer,” he said. Rimbach and a fellow wildlife biologist hit the field to see what was hap- pening. The flat land behind Wildhorse Resort & Casino several miles east of Pendle- ton, for example, Rimbach said, usually is home for about 150 white tail. “Went out there and counted none,” he said. If a deer has been dead just a day or two tests are run on organs like the heart, spleen, or abdominal cav- ity, but when deer are found greatly decomposed he said they were able to test femurs and humeruses to determine what disease killed them. Samples were sent to ODFW’s wildlife health and population lab in Corvallis, and then on to the Oregon State University diagnos- tic lab for testing. Evidence of Epizootic hemorrhagic See Deer, Page A7 Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Tests conducted by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife veterinarians confirmed that Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is responsible for the die-off of an estimated 2,000 white- tailed deer in Eastern Oregon.
