NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Pilot greets family with flyovers of La Grande, Pendleton
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Jim
Bieker was 6 years old when
he boarded a Cessna aircraft
for a flight around the Grande
Ronde Valley about four
decades ago with his family.
The child’s life course
may have been set by the time
the plane landed.
“I had become fascinated
with flight. I have been fasci-
nated with it ever since,” said
Bieker, who grew up in Cove.
Bieker’s aviation fasci-
nation spurred him to later
begin a 22-year career with
the U.S. Air Force, one now
winding down as he will
retire in July. He made his
last Air Force flight Wednes-
day, May 26, and his parents,
Chuck and Jeanette Bieker of
La Grande, will never forget
it.
Their son, a lieutenant
colonel, made a La Grande
flyover in a C-17 Globe-
master III aircraft while on
a four-hour training flight
with a fellow Air Force pilot.
The flyover was at 6,000 feet
and could be heard through-
out La Grande at about noon
May 26.
“It was a good chance to
fly over and say ‘hello,’” said
Bieker, who lives in Eaton-
ville, Washington, and works
out of McChord Air Force
Base near Tacoma, Wash-
ington.
Contributed Photo
Contributed Photo
Lt. Col. Jim Bieker shows his daughters, Hannah, left, and Ella the inside of the cockpit of a
C-17 Globemaster III aircraft May 26, 2021, at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washing-
ton. They posed for the photo after Jim Bieker, a Cove native, completed his final Air Force
flight, which included flyovers of La Grande and Pendleton.
Bieker also did flyovers
May 26 over Pendleton and
Nyssa to greet his brothers,
Dave and John, during the
four-hour training f light.
Dave Bieker is an elemen-
tary school teacher in Nyssa.
He took his students outside
to observe the flyover.
After his flight and land-
ing at McChord Air Force
Base, Jim Bieker was greeted
by his wife, Kate, and their
daughters, Hannah and Ella,
who sprayed him with water
while someone from the Air
Force came up from behind
and dropped several gallons
of ice water on him. Bieker
said he was not surprised by
the dousing.
“It is a tradition for pilots
after their last flights,” he
said.
Bieker said he will miss
serving in the Air Force.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
Hot
Very hot
97° 61°
100° 68°
102° 61°
105° 70°
| Go to AccuWeather.com
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Partly sunny and
hot
SATURDAY
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
79° 47°
89° 56°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
100° 68°
83° 50°
92° 59°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
77/52
85/57
98/64
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
95/67
Lewiston
90/58
102/63
Astoria
73/52
Pullman
Yakima 100/63
88/55
93/63
Portland
Hermiston
93/63
The Dalles 102/61
Salem
Corvallis
92/55
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
91/55
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
95/56
97/60
92/57
Ontario
94/61
Caldwell
Burns
89°
49°
76°
51°
100° (1986) 35° (1928)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
93/57
0.00"
0.42"
1.12"
1.70"
1.43"
5.11"
Today
Medford
104/66
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE — Some
Native American tribes in the
Pacific Northwest are criti-
cizing the suggestion they
have competing opinions on
how best to save endangered
salmon runs, saying tribes
are united in pursuing the
removal of four hydroelectric
dams on the Snake River to
preserve the iconic fish.
A dozen tribes issued
a joint press release on
Wednesday, May 26, reject-
ing the notion that tribes
based near Puget Sound
might have differing goals
than inland tribes.
“Any efforts to divide the
indigenous peoples of this
region by suggesting that
the Puget Sound Tribes don’t
have the same interests as
the Northwest Inland Tribes
have been soundly rejected
by tribal leaders,” Nez Perce
Tribe Chairman Samuel
Penney said in the release.
“We are all salmon people.”
The dozen tribes are
united behind a controver-
sial proposal by U.S. Rep.
Mike Simpson, an Idaho
Republican, to spend some
$33 billion on efforts to save
salmon that include breach-
ing the four dams.
The dams are on the
lower Snake River between
the cities of Pasco and Pull-
man in eastern Washing-
ton state, and are blamed by
some for blocking salmon
from reaching spawning
grounds. Supporters of the
dams point to ocean condi-
tions, overfishing and other
causes for the decline of
salmon numbers.
Simpson’s plan to remove
the Ice Harbor, Little Goose,
Lower Granite and Lower
Monumental dams also
includes a 35-year mora-
torium on lawsuits, ending
costly litigation over the
d a m s’ e nv i r o n m e nt a l
impact. That provision has
caused a split among major
Northwest environmental
groups over the plan. Demo-
cratic Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee and Republican
members of Washington’s
congressional delegation
also oppose Simpson’s plan.
The 12 tribes who support
Simpson’s proposal are
the Nez Perce; Confeder-
ated Salish and Kootenai;
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion; Confederated Tribes
of the Colville Reserva-
tion; Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs; Kootenai;
Yakama Nation; Spokane;
Shoshone-Bannock; Coeur
d’Alene; Shoshone Paiute;
Burns Paiute.
Wed.
ENE 4-8
NNE 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
94/54
flying primarily domestic
flights. He plans to continue
flying for Delta for years to
come. He does not hesitate
when asked what it is about
flying that captures his imag-
ination.
“It is fun to see the world
from above,” he said.
Bieker credits his Air
Force training with putting
him in a position to land his
job with Delta. He said he
never tires of flying, and it is
unlikely he ever will because
“I have a job which never
feels like work.”
WINDS (in mph)
91/58
93/54
0.00"
0.47"
1.40"
4.03"
7.86"
6.51"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 87/53
97/60
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
97/61
103/66
87°
48°
74°
50°
100° (1986) 34° (1916)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
86/56
Aberdeen
87/61
96/66
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
84/59
ence includes eight years on
active duty and 14 years as a
reservist.
While in the reserves,
Bieker has had to make
training flights, like the one
he made on May 26, every
couple months. The C-17
Globemaster III he co-piloted
is a military transport plane
for troops and cargo. Bieker
said when flying the plane it
takes him about 40 minutes
to go from Tacoma to Nyssa
and back.
Bieker has been a pilot for
Delta Airlines for 11 years,
12 Northwest tribes say they are
united to save endangered salmon
Mostly sunny and
windy
Warm; breezy in
the afternoon
95° 63°
“What I really liked
were the many wonderful
people I got to meet,” the
pilot said.
Bieker, who graduated
from Cove High School in
1993, has fond memories of
growing up in Cove where
he said some of the favor-
ite things he did was work
in cherry orchards and ride
motorcycles with friends.
Bieker’s Air Force experi-
A C-17 Globemaster III sits at McChord Air Force Base near Ta-
coma, Washington, May 26, 2021. The Globemaster is one of
the planes Lt. Col. Jim Bieker, who grew up in Cove, flew for
multiple missions during his long career with the Air Force.
SW 4-8
WNW 6-12
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:09 a.m.
8:37 p.m.
1:41 a.m.
11:49 a.m.
Oregon man allegedly driving
stolen Montana vehicle arrested by
College Place police
COLLEGE PLACE — A wanted man
from Oregon, who was reportedly driving a
car stolen in Missoula, Montana, was arrested
Thursday, May 27, in College Place after a
brief police pursuit.
Jonathon R. Romine, 40, of Halfway, had
a warrant for his arrest out of Baker County,
according to a release from the College Place
Police Department.
Romine had his first appearance in Walla
Walla County Superior Court on May 28 and
was booked into the Walla Walla County Jail
with a $20,000 bond.
Prosecutors filed charges on two counts
— stolen vehicle possession and third-degree
driving with a suspended license — out of
several charges police presented, according
to court documents.
According to the release, police interac-
tion with Romine began when dispatchers
were notified of a vehicle driving erratically
on U.S. Highway 12 around 4:30 p.m. May 27.
College Place officers spotted the vehicle,
a Subaru Legacy, heading south on Northeast
Last
New
First
Full
June 2
June 10
June 17
June 24
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 105° in Red Bluff , Calif. Low 24° in West Yellowstone, Mont.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Myra Road and followed it.
The driver allegedly ran a stop sign while
police were trying to catch up. The driver then
stopped the car on Northeast Cargill Avenue.
Romine left the vehicle and ran away when
officers got out to talk to him. The man even-
tually stopped in the backyard of a house in
the 100 block of Northeast Rose Street, and he
was arrested “without further issue,” accord-
ing to the release.
Officers entered the license plate numbers
in their database, but they didn’t match the
vehicle description. They learned the car
was listed as stolen out of Missoula the night
before, the release noted.
Walla Walla County Prosecuting Attorney
Jim Nagle said he expected arraignment on
the local charges to happen June 14.
Romine has multiple pending charges
in Baker County, including stolen vehicle
possession, plus charges on another case
involving illicit guns and drugs and illegal
burning. According to the Baker City Herald,
Romine was convicted in 2018 of starting a
fire that burned 800 acres and was accused
of illegal burning again in September 2020.
— Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
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