NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, February 5, 2022
Wildlife rescuers return bald eagle to Yakima Valley
By DONALD W. MEYERS
Yakima Herald-Republic
PARKER — The bald eagle
didn’t waste much time once the
cardboard box that held him on a
trip from Pendleton to the Sunny-
side Canal near Parker, Washing-
ton, was opened.
The raptor took a couple steps
out of the box and, with a flap of
the wings, was airborne, flying
across the rest area along the
Yakima Valley Highway, alighting
on a nearby tree and surveying the
area, to the delight of the volunteers
from the bird rescue group that had
released him.
“It’s perfect,” said Shelly LaPi-
erre-McAllister, one of the rescuers.
“He is there (in the tree) and getting
his bearings.”
For the group, the release was a
happy ending to the eagle’s story, as
well as a reminder of the danger that
lead fishing weights and shot pose
to wildlife, especially raptors.
The bird was found the morning
of Jan. 9 near Zillah, suffering from
what turned out to be lead poison-
ing. But, thanks to volunteers from
Pendleton-based Blue Mountain
Wildlife, he was able to recover and
return to the Yakima Valley.
Blue Mountain works with
orphaned, sick and injured wildlife,
treating them so they can be safely
released back into the wild, as well
as educating the public on how their
actions affect the environment and
wildlife.
LaPierre-McAllister said she
and her husband received a call
from Yakima County dispatchers
Donald W. Meyers/Yakima Herald-Republic
Shelly LaPierre-McAllister, a volunteer with Blue Mountain Wildlife, Pendleton, releases a bald eagle Jan. 29,
2022, near Sunnyside Dam in Parker, Washignton. LaPierre-McAllister picked up the eagle earlier in January
after it was reported sick in the Zillah area, and the Pendleton-based rescue group treated it for lead poisoning.
about a sick eagle found near Zillah.
“He was really, really sick,”
LaPierre-McAllister said. “He was
laying on his chest with his wings
out.”
She said the bird had vomited
earlier, suggesting that his last meal
was the cause of his illness. She
picked up the unnaturally docile
bird and, working with other volun-
teers in relay, shuttled him down to
Blue Mountain’s facility in Pendle-
ton, where a blood test showed the
eagle had a toxic amount of lead in
his blood.
Lead poisoning
Lead affects birds’ neurological
and reproductive systems, which
can cause them to lose their sense
of balance and interfere with their
ability to fly. As a result, eagles can
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
starve to death.
At the facility, the eagle received
chelation therapy to remove the lead
from his system. The treatment
involves injecting chemicals that
bind with the lead and allow it to
be expelled.
In her blog, Blue Mountain
Wildlife’s Executive Director Lynn
Tompkins said the eagle quickly
responded to treatment, and had no
EOU case count a mixed bag
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
Times of clouds
and sun
Sunny to partly
cloudy
51° 29°
47° 32°
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
Partly sunny
Partial sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
55° 34°
54° 32°
52° 37°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
55° 30°
48° 32°
55° 35°
56° 34°
54° 35°
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
48/36
39/28
47/26
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
47/30
Lewiston
47/30
54/29
Astoria
48/35
Pullman
Yakima 39/26
49/34
49/29
Portland
Hermiston
49/34
The Dalles 55/30
Salem
Corvallis
50/30
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
39/20
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
51/33
54/25
43/23
Ontario
37/24
Caldwell
Burns
38°
25°
46°
29°
63° (2018) -25° (1950)
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
49/30
0.00"
Trace
0.14"
0.93"
0.71"
1.28"
WINDS (in mph)
41/27
45/18
0.00"
0.04"
0.18"
1.57"
0.99"
1.72"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 37/19
51/32
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
51/29
57/35
41°
26°
44°
29°
66° (1963) -13° (1989)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
48/31
Aberdeen
37/27
39/26
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
48/34
Today
Medford
59/28
Sun.
W 4-8
W 7-14
Boardman
Pendleton
ENE 3-6
N 4-8
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
52/19
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:12 a.m.
5:07 p.m.
9:41 a.m.
10:37 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Feb 8
Feb 16
Feb 23
Mar 2
LA GRANDE — Like
any other entity in Oregon,
Eastern Oregon University
has not been immune to the
sharp increase in COVID-19
cases in the midst of the spike
caused by the omicron vari-
ant.
The university in La
Grande saw a significant rise
in off-campus cases in Janu-
ary, while its numbers among
on-campus individuals stayed
rather steady.
EOU has totaled 259 total
positive COVID-19 cases
this academic year, since the
school began tracking data at
the start of July. Of that total,
just under 60% of the positive
tests came from off-campus
students, roughly 18% of the
positive tests accounted for
employees and just under 16%
of the positive tests were from
on-campus students.
Throughout the 2020-
21 academic year, Eastern
totaled 157 cases — 93 were
among off-campus students.
From Dec. 6, 2021, to
Jan. 1, there were 16 total
High 86° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -32° in Lake George, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
cases among on-campus
students. By the end of Janu-
ary, that total rose to 40. The
rate among employees at
Eastern Oregon University
saw a similar mild increase,
rising from 22 to 45.
Cases among off-campus
students saw a significant rise
in the same time frame, jump-
ing from 44 cases to 152.
The university had several
high points in January,
mirroring national and state-
wide trends as the emergence
of the omicron variant led to
an increase in cases. East-
ern recorded a record-high
case count for a single day on
Jan. 4, tallying 23 positive
cases. The school recorded
21 cases on Jan. 10 and 14 on
Jan. 25, all three of which are
the highest single days since
Eastern started tracking its
COVID-19 data this school
year.
The previous single-day
high was seven cases on
Sept. 13.
The numbers echo Union
County’s COVID-19 case
counts, which have averaged
just under 37 cases per day in
January. The county’s high
point was reached on Jan.
26, when the Oregon Health
Authority reported 85 cases.
During the period from Jan.
17-30, Union County averaged
just over 52 cases per day.
Eastern’s testing has
cont i nu ally i ncrea sed
throughout the 2021-22 school
year, reaching 2,458 total tests
through Feb. 2. The 259 total
positive tests result in a 10.5%
positivity rate. The measure-
ment had stayed steady around
5% through most of the fall,
peaking toward the end of
January and into February.
Eastern has 50 isolation
rooms available on campus
in case of infection, but the
university has never come
close to running out of space
in that regard. From Jan. 5-10,
45 out of the 50 spaces were
available, the lowest mark that
Eastern has reached since the
dashboard started tracking
data at the start of July.
The vaccination rate
among on-campus students
stands at 75.7%, with a 24.2%
exemption rate. For on-cam-
pus employees, 80.1% are
vaccinated and 17.7% received
an exemption.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
sign of lead in his system after the
first course of therapy.
“It may be that his exposure to
lead was acute and the lead didn’t
have time to move from his blood
to other organs in his body before
chelation removed it,” Tompkins
wrote.
La Pier re -McA llister a nd
Michelle Rosenkranz, a Blue
Mountain volunteer from Kenne-
wick, said the bird was poisoned
either by eating an animal that had
been shot with lead ammunition or
had swallowed lead fishing weights.
The use of lead by hunters and
anglers is something that Blue
Mountain is trying to stop, urging
people to use non-lead alternatives,
such as steel or copper.
“We want to get the message out
to stop using lead,” Rosenkranz
said.
On Jan. 29, the eagle was placed
in a used cardboard shipping box
that, appropriately, had U.S. Postal
Service tape on the side depicting
an eagle. He was returned to the
Yakima Valley by another relay of
volunteers.
Rosenkranz picked up the eagle
at Umatilla and drove him to Parker
for the release. LaPierre-McAllis-
ter, who first rescued the bird, was
given the honor of releasing him
back into his habitat.
LaPierre-McAllister said the
goal is to try to release the birds as
close as possible to the place where
they were found.
But the group couldn’t spend too
much time watching the eagle settle
in. They were off to rescue another
bird in distress.
Burst water pipe in Baker
City leaks millions of gallons
BAKER CITY — A mysterious uptick in
Baker City’s water usage led to the discovery
of a burst water pipe that leaked more than
4.5 million gallons.
City officials had been tracking a rise in
daily water use for about three weeks, but
no major leak had been found or reported,
said Michelle Owen, public works director.
But on Jan. 26, Baker City Police received
a call about a water leak at the former site
of the USA Gas station, convenience store
and car wash on the north side of Campbell
Street near Albertsons.
Public works employees found a pipe had
frozen and burst. Most of the water flowed
into a floor drain in the car wash area, which
limited damage to the building, Owen said.
“Sometimes it takes a while for those to
show up,” she said.
She estimated more than 4.5 million
gallons of water had leaked through the
broken pipe, about 299,520 gallons per day
while it was leaking.
During winter the city typically goes
through about 1.5 million gallons per day.
Owen said it’s not clear why, or who,
turned on water service to the building,
which has been empty for a few years. City
workers turned off the water, ending the
leak.
Greg Sackos, who owns the Baker Towne
Square development that includes the former
gas station, said the property is under lease
to Albertsons.
Sackos said on Wednesday, Feb. 2, he
hadn’t heard about the leak. He said there
had been reports of people trespassing on
the property recently.
— 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
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ice
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cold front
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CORRECTION: The gates on The Dalles Dam closed 65 years ago. That number
was inaccurate in the article “Salmon are no longer kings of the Columbia” on Page A2
of the East Oregonian in the Thursday, Feb. 3, edition.
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