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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2022)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Tuesday, January 25, 2022 Senior project targets those in need DOC settles lawsuit Imbler senior raising steer, will donate meat to food bank By DICK MASON The Observer SUMMERVILLE — The Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank is set to receive a one-of-a-kind 1,200-pound bonus thanks to the generos- ity of an Imbler High School senior. Tel McBride is raising a steer for his senior project and plans to donate all of the meat from it to the North- east Oregon Regional Food Bank, which is operated by Community Connection of Northeast Oregon. McBride said he wants to make beef available to those in need because the price of meat has gotten so high during the past year. Audrey Smith, manager of the Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank, is delighted about the prospect of receiving meat from the steer. “Beef is our No. 1 requested item,” she said. Unfortunately, the North- east Oregon Regional Food Bank rarely can provide beef because the cost makes it prohibitive. Smith said in Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group Tel McBride poses with his cattle at a Summerville ranch on Jan. 17, 2022. He is donating the harvested meat from one of the steers to Community Connection of Northeast Oregon as a part of his senior project. the five years she has been manager of the Northeast Oregon Regional Food Bank, it has been able to offer beef only a couple of times. Smith is McBr ide’s mentor for his senior project and said she is impressed by the steps he has taken to make sure the meat from the steer will be able to be distributed by the food bank. The Imbler senior is ensuring the meat process- ing company is properly certified so the meat meets government health standards for public distribution. The steer is one of five McBride is now raising and among about 30 he has raised altogether. McBride started raising cattle at his family’s home more than a decade ago. He stopped for a few years and then started raising cattle again in 2017. He said raising cattle is a process of perpet- ual discovery. “It is fun. Everyday I learn something new about them,” he said. McBride, whose mother, Susy, works for Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, added cattle can be unpredictable. “They keep you guess- ing,” he said. McBride said when cattle Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY WEDNESDAY | Go to AccuWeather.com THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY make up their mind to do something they are hard to stop. “If they want to go some- where they will go there,” he said. McBride’s interest in cattle dates back 15 years when he was visiting a ranch in North Powder run by Butch Mascall, who offered a free calf to him if he could lasso the animal with a rope. “I lassoed it on my first try,” McBride said. McBride’s family took the calf home and proceeded to help raise it. McBride went on to raise more cattle, while receiving guidance from Mascall and former La Grande Police Chief John Courtney. McBride plans to sell off his cattle after graduating from high school so he can have a chance to attend a school in Hermiston for rail- road conducting. After grad- uating from there he plans to pursue a career in the rail- road field. He will be following the lead of his father, Kevin, who works for Union Pacific Railroad. McBride said that he will likely return someday after high school to again raise cattle at some level because it is in his blood. “It is something I really enjoy,” he said. with the former diversity manager By NOELLE CROMBIE The Oregonian SALEM — The Oregon Department of Correc- tions has paid $350,000 to a former manager who alleged the department eliminated his job after he helped prisoners and work- ers pursue discrimination claims against the agency. Gary Sims of Salem managed the Department of Corrections’ diversity and inclusion office. He previously worked as a reli- gious services administra- tor and a human resources manager. In 2013, he became head of agency’s Diversity and Inclusion Office, where he said he was expected to address racial dispari- ties among other inequities within the prison system. In his 2019 lawsuit, he said the office was intended to provide work- ers and prisoners with “an avenue to internally raise concerns of discrimina- tion and to correct those disparities.” According to his lawsuit, Sims “went beyond simply shuttling employee and inmate complaints of discrimination” through the prison bureaucracy. He claimed he helped staff and inmates advance those claims and advocated on their behalf. He alleges his efforts didn’t go over well with cor rections brass — including Director Colette Peters, who in 2017, he said, told him “in no uncer- tain terms to cease” his advocacy and reminded him his job was to forward complaints to human resources. Later that year, he said he was told the Diversity and Inclusion Office would be closed and those duties would be taken on by another division. He said the decision was prompted by budget concerns. Sims alleges a human resources manager told him he had “nothing coming” from the agency and he should look elsewhere for work. Sims, who works as a supervisor for spiritual care at Salem Hospital and clinics, said his salary at the time he left was about $125,000. Cross-county commuters account for more than a third of regional workforce By ALEX WITTWER EO Media Group Freezing fog this morning Partly sunny with freezing fog Freezing fog in the morning Cold with clouds and sun Mostly cloudy and chilly PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 36° 24° 35° 20° 36° 18° 42° 31° 35° 20° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 38° 27° 38° 23° 37° 20° 42° 30° 35° 21° 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 50/32 36/25 36/21 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 35/24 Lewiston 47/28 35/25 Astoria 52/35 Pullman Yakima 31/22 47/31 41/28 Portland Hermiston 49/30 The Dalles 38/27 Salem Corvallis 47/28 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 37/25 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 47/29 51/25 42/24 Ontario 35/25 Caldwell Burns 33° 31° 44° 29° 63° (1935) -16° (1949) 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 47/26 Boardman Pendleton Medford 58/27 0.00" 0.89" 0.90" 0.89" 0.46" 0.90" WINDS (in mph) 37/28 37/16 0.00" 1.47" 1.21" 1.47" 0.67" 1.21" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 36/18 50/28 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 36/24 41/29 31° 29° 43° 29° 71° (1935) -15° (1930) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 44/28 Aberdeen 31/23 31/21 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 45/33 Today Wed. NNE 3-6 N 4-8 NE 4-8 NNW 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 48/17 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:24 a.m. 4:51 p.m. 12:25 a.m. 11:08 a.m. Last New First Full Jan 25 Jan 31 Feb 8 Feb 16 SALEM — More than a third of Eastern Oregon’s workforce commuted across county lines for their jobs in 2019, according to federal census data. In some areas, that percentage is even higher. “Its a product of the econ- omy,” said Christopher Rich, regional economist with the Oregon Employment Depart- ment, “and places people are and the jobs that are available, and the housing market that’s available.” Roughly 38.5% of Union County residents commute for work in a different county, while 41% of Grant County residents commute for work. In Umatilla County, 35.8% of residents commute across county lines for work, while 24.4% of Wallowa residents commuted to other counties for work. A staggering 58.7% of Morrow County residents worked in other counties, according to the data. Rich said the data does not distinguish between commut- East Oregonian, File Late afternoon traffic begins to get heavy on Highway 395 on June 26, 2018, in Hermiston. Data from the Oregon Em- ployment Department shows more than a third of Eastern Oregon’s workforce commuted across county lines for their jobs in 2019. ers who travel between coun- ties on a daily basis and those who might travel for seasonal work, such as nurses or wild- land firefighters. “There’s likely to be some more long term commut- ers that come in for maybe a season,” Rich said. “The data doesn’t specifically say that.” Most of the workers who cross county lines do so to neighboring counties, though a fair few will skip more than one county, such as living in Baker and working in Pend- leton, but that could be due to imperfect data, according to Rich, who has been updating articles on Oregon’s economic data website, qualityinfo.org with data from 2019. “I think in general, people are looking for jobs that fit with their skill sets and their lifestyle,” Rich said. “They’re also looking for homes that fit the same thing, so in some cases, you end up having to commute a little longer.” NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 80° in Palm Springs, Calif. Low -32° in Clayton Lake, Maine IN BRIEF NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Wallowa County population continues slow increase WALLOWA COUNTY — Wallowa Coun- ty’s population had a growth rate during 2021 that put it in the middle third of the state’s coun- ties, according to a Portland State University report. The state’s population increased by .54% to 4,266,560, PSU’s Population Research Center showed. Eastern Oregon counties, including Wallowa, had a combined increase of .45%. The eight counties — Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa — had a combined population as of July 1, 2021, of 190,444. In Wallowa County, the increase was .43%, or 32 people, to a total of 7,433. Its growth rate was fifth among the eight counties, and overall was 22nd in the state. Neighboring Union County had the lowest growth rate in the state, as it actually saw a population drop of 1.62%, or 434 people. By city, Enterprise has a population of 2,080. Joseph’s population has moved to 1,158, and Wallowa is at 799. Lostine, the only other city named in the study, has a population of 242. The breakdown by age shows the county with 1,406 youths under the age of 18, which makes up 18.9% of the population. Adults 18-64 account for just more than half (50.2%) of the population, or 3,730 people. And adults 65 and older make up 30.9% of the population, or 2,297 people. The county has the fourth highest rate of individuals 65 and older, and is tied for 25th in terms of its youth population. — EO Media Group 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 E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 70s East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. 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