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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2020)
M-F city councilman remembered for his dedication | REGION, A3 E O AST 145th Year, No. 5 REGONIAN TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2020 WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD $1.50 Morrow County sees large turnout — and paranoia from voters By ANDREW THEEN The Oregonian HEPPNER — Bobbi Childers, Morrow County’s longtime clerk, said she’s noticed some- thing different this year in her Heppner offi ce nearly 200 miles east of Portland. Paranoia. Childers, president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks, has led the county’s election effort for 15 years and previously worked for the government for another fi ve years. “I’ve never had people come in so paranoid about whether I’m going to count their ballot,” Childers said last week. It’s been a frequent enough occurrence at the Eastern Oregon county offi ces in Heppner that she’s noticed the trend. She’s seen and heard rumors of voter fraud circulate this year on social media, but tries to assure vot- ers that it’s business as usual. “I think it’s a really big election right now because I think there’s such a polar opposite with the par- ties,” she said. While some of the state’s 36 counties have added security mea- sures this year, it’s largely steady as she goes. Oregon has a long history with vote by mail and county clerks, like Childers, who are well versed in running the system. That doesn’t mean the angst grip- ping much of the nation — in both political parties — isn’t tumbling through towns like Heppner, Board- man, Irrigon, Ione and Lexington, the fi ve spots throughout Morrow County where Childers has offi cial drop box locations. She said the county has some 6,765 registered voters this year. Only seven Oregon counties have fewer voters. Master of the By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian ENDLETON — Composer Chris Thomas collects sounds. Recently, while visiting friends in Portland, he closed a bathroom window at the home and marveled at the “howling, ungodly, echoey” noise it made. “It sounded like it came from a cav- ern miles deep,” Thomas said. “I spent several minutes with my phone opening and closing the window, just collecting P the sounds because it was glorious.” Thomas inserts such sounds into music he creates for movies, television and theme parks. The Pendleton native, who now lives in Bend, recently scored the soundtrack for a 90-minute horror movie called “Don’t Look Back,” which opened in theaters on Oct. 16. Thomas loves to usher moviegoers from emotion to emotion, from light- hearted humor to edge-of-the-seat anticipation, relief, terror, dread or nig- gling uncertainty. “Don’t Look Back” follows a young woman who, along with several other people, witnesses a murder. When eyewitnesses start dying mysteriously, she fears for her life, uncertain whether the attacker is human or supernatural. See Paranoia, Page A10 Returns show county turnout is up MACABRE Composer Chris Thomas specializes in scary soundtracks According to stats from the Sec- retary of State’s Offi ce last month, Republicans have more than twice as many registered voters as Dem- ocrats, with nearly 2,500 voters as of the most recent state fi gures. Unaffi liated voters also have double the Democratic fi gure, at just over 2,600. Childers said she’s had people ask if she’d still count their vote if they didn’t include their middle name in Umatilla County turnout rises one week out from Election Day By ALEX CASTLE AND ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Bradley Lanphear/Contributed Photo Composer Chris Thomas plays his cello during a recent session. See Macabre, Page A9 Composer Chris Thomas creates soundtracks for movies, television, commercials and theme parks. UMATILLA COUNTY — Umatilla County is in the middle of the pack when it comes to voter turnout and if it stays that way through Election Day, it would rep- resent a resounding achievement. According to a weekly pub- lic offi cials update from Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock, the county’s election divi- sion reported 33.3% turnout on Oct. 24, up from 29.8% during the same period of mail-in voting in 2016. Voter enthusiasm is high across the country as many states break early voting records, but Umatilla County usually lags behind the rest of the state. In the past two presi- dential elections, Umatilla County’s turnout was dead last among Ore- gon counties. The county’s turnout rate rose to 37.6% on Monday, Oct. 26, accord- ing to unoffi cial ballot return data from the Oregon Secretary of State’s Offi ce, although it’s diffi cult to make direct comparisons to other counties because some counties hadn’t reported their ballot totals for Oct. 26 yet. Union County (34.3% turnout), Baker County (36.6%) and Wallowa County (38.8%) had only reported voting data through Oct. 23, while Morrow County’s 38.4% turnout rate included Oct. 26. For those who have yet to submit their ballot, Umatilla County Elec- tions Division Manager Kim Lin- dell said individuals should plan on mailing their ballots no later than Tuesday, Oct. 27, in order to ensure Bradley Lanphear/Contributed Photo See Returns, Page A10 Trump parade winds through Umatilla County Weekend event begins in Milton-Freewater, ends in Umatilla By BEN LONERGAN East Oregonian UMATILLA COUNTY — A parade of roughly 30 vehicles, many outfi tted in pro-Trump fl ags and signs, honking horns and wav- ing American fl ags, departed Mil- ton-Freewater for a parade across Umatilla County. The parade, which was Saturday, Oct. 24, was billed as a rally in sup- port of President Donald Trump, law enforcement and other fi rst respond- ers. The event wound through Mil- ton-Freewater to Umatilla by way of Weston, Athena, Adams, Pendleton, Echo, Stanfi eld and Hermiston with parade participants honking and waving to people in each town. “They do a lot for us, they protest us, they hold up our Second Amend- ment and our First Amendment,” said Jill Litzsinger of law enforce- ment offi cials. Litzinger, of Hermiston, and Valerie Bradley, of Umatilla, were among those key in organizing the event. The pair, who are affi liated with the Greater Hermiston Republi- can Women, said they wanted to fi nd a way to show support for the pres- ident and law enforcement offi cials. “We love our president and we Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian A parade in support of President Donald Trump and law enforcement offi cers See Parade, Page A10 enters Hermiston on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.
