Pendleton youth hockey team faces off in Washington | SPORTS, A10
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
146th year, No. 61
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
Oregonians see homelessness as top issue
By ANNA DEL SAVIO
Oregon Capital Bureau
saLeM — When Oregon’s
legislative leaders unveiled a plan
to address homelessness last month,
they stressed that it is not just a Port-
land, or even an “urban,” problem.
“Those who are unhoused and
unsheltered are as diverse as our
community itself,” said Rep. Jason
Kropf, a Democrat whose Central
Oregon district is flanked by the
Deschutes National Forest and
includes much of Bend.
The regional concern on display
PENDLETON
city looks
to legalize
ubers
after dark
in the capitol last month reflected
the views of Oregon residents,
most of whom — regardless of zip
code — want local leaders to make
responding to homelessness their
No. 1 priority.
More than three quarters of
Multnomah county residents and
other urban Oregonians said it was
very important or urgent for leaders
in their communities to make doing
something about homelessness their
top priority, a recent survey from
the Oregon Values and Beliefs
center found.
“Getting the economy back is an
important first step. Getting people
with addictions and mental health
issues treated is the next step,” one
Multnomah county resident stated.
Homelessness a high
priority in rural and
suburban areas
But even in rural and subur-
ban areas, at least 60% of residents
surveyed in November identified
homelessness as a topic of high
priority.
Most Oregonians identified
mental illness, substance abuse or
a lack of affordable housing as the
in Bend, where she lived before
the bank she worked at shut down.
Briefly homeless, she and her son
moved to Klamath Falls in 2013.
“In Bend, programs like Neigh-
borImpact and Habitat were able to
include families in the home buying
or building process, allowing them
to really want and work towards that
goal,” Bunday said. “I don’t see that
here.”
Klamath County’s Habitat
program shut down in 2014, and
while there still are some services
See Issue, Page A9
Bidding on beef
harrell hereford
Ranch has its
43rd-annual sale
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
By SAMANTHA O’CONNER
Baker City Herald
PeNdLeTON — The day
belongs to the taxis, and the night
belongs to ubers.
That’s the basics of a plan that
will be presented to the Pendle-
ton City Council at a Tuesday,
March 15, meeting: Elite Taxi, the
city’s only cab service, will oper-
ate only during the day on most
days while drivers for ride-hail-
ing services such as Uber only can
operate during the evening hours.
In a memo from city attorney
Nancy Kerns and finance director
Linda Carter to the city council, the
pair explained city staff met with
representatives from elite and the
ride-hailing drivers, which they
refer to as “network vehicle driv-
ers,” to hash out the plan.
“The plan was revised several
times after discussion with Elite and
network drivers,” Carter and Kerns
wrote. “We, of course, were not able
to create a plan which met all the
desires of both parties.”
The debate began in earnest
in January, when a group of resi-
dents who wanted to drive for
Uber requested the city amend its
taxi ordinance to allow ride-hail-
ing services in Pendleton. While
customers in Pendleton could
download the app and order a ride,
Uber drivers could face fines for
transporting people without a taxi
license.
elite Taxi initially opposed the
move, arguing it would not be able
to survive as a business if it had to
compete with rides-hails. If Elite
went under, the owners said, not
only would Pendleton lose its only
traditional cab business, it also
would lose the provider for city
services, including Dial-a-Ride,
AKER COUNTY — With
sunshine bringing a bit of late
winter warmth to Baker Valley
the morning of March 7, it was
a perfect day for the 43rd-annual Harrell
Hereford Ranch sale.
The lowing of cattle and the whinnying
of horses was joined by the eager chatter of
ranchers from all over the country as they
mingled together, examining the bulls, heif-
ers and horses that would go on the auction
block.
The sale includes bulls, heifers and, for
the 24th straight year, Harrell-Mackenzie
quarter horses.
The aromas of fresh hay and wood chips
mingled with the smoky scent of barbe-
cued tri-tip greeted the Harrells’ visitors.
Laughter and comments of “such a nice
day” drifted among the gates and barns as
a couple hundred people enjoyed a lunch
prior to the sale.
Mingling among the distinctively
colored red-and-white Herefords, Dan
Forsea, a rancher from Richland, was look-
ing for a bull or two.
“They’ve got good quality cattle. Keep
getting better all the time,” Forsea said of
the Harrells’ offerings.
he has attended the harrells’ annual
spring auction since they started, saying
he and his dad, Walt, used to come together.
dan said his father, who died on Jan. 16,
2020, always enjoyed going to the auction.
“This is a good family, too,” dan said of
the harrells. “We’ve known them for years
and they’re just a really good family. It’s
always great to come out here.”
edna and Bob harrell started the harrell
Hereford Ranch along Salmon Creek,
northwest of Baker City, in 1970. The fami-
ly’s 80-acre home ranch has expanded to
include several ranches and a herd of 400
registered Hereford cows, 400 black baldy
commercial cows, a 1,000-head feedlot and
25 quarter horse broodmares.
The Harrells’ cattle run on 8,000 acres
of native range.
See Uber, Page A9
top reasons why people become
homeless.
Erin Bunday, who lives in Klam-
ath Falls, said she believed high
rental costs were driving home-
lessness in her southern Oregon
community.
“I have several friends here who
are ‘career women’ and parents,
who have often had to stay with
friends, family or in run-down
hotels, which spends all their
income, making saving for a home
impossible,” Bunday said.
Bunday used to volunteer with
the habitat for humanity program
B
Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Ranchers gather March 7, 2022, in the sale barn at Harrell Hereford Ranch near Baker
City for the annual spring sale.
SALE BY THE NUMBERS
sold for $14,000 or more.
The Harrell Hereford Ranch sale featured
197 lots sold, and buyers from 19 states.
Buyers claimed 28 registered heifers, at an
average price of $4,279, and 15 commercial
replacement heifers were sold at an average
of $7,262.
Yearling bulls made up the bulk of the sales,
with 107 lots sold and an average of $5,764
per bull.
A total of 25 two-yearold bulls were sold, at
an average price of $5,298.
The top bull sold for $23,000. Eight others
Edna Harrell continues to help at the
ranch along with her son, Bob Harrell Jr.,
his wife, Becky, and their daughter, Lexie.
Bob Harrell Jr. was inducted into the
Hereford Hall of Fame in Kansas City,
Missouri, in October 2021.
he said he was “very pleased” with this
year’s sale. “The bulls were steady, the
heifers were really good, up from last year,
and the horses were outstanding.”
A nationwide attraction
John Rusher from Westcliffe, Colorado,
was one of the many ranchers who traveled
a long distance to partake in the auction of
On the Harrell-Mackenzie quarter horse
sale, 12 geldings were sold at an average
of $13,313, and 10 mares were sold at an
average of $10,300.
what he called “good, high quality Here-
ford bulls” and quarter horses.
Landen doyle traveled from dallas,
Texas, where his family owns the doyle
Hereford Ranch. This was his first year
visiting the Harrell Hereford Ranch.
“Always wanted to come up here and
look at this ranch. Finally got the oppor-
tunity, came up here with my dad on his
birthday,” doyle said.
dan cook, who traveled from Idaho,
attended last year’s auction as well, which
included both in-person and online bidders.
See Beef, Page A9
In Indian country, people
are wearing Kokum scarves
in solidarity with ukraine
By ANNA KING
Northwest Public Broadcasting
Brandi Morin lives outside of
edmonton, alberta, and she said
near her cree Nation, there’s a large
ukrainian population.
“My heart was going through
turmoil for what’s going on,” Morin
said.
she said it wasn’t that long ago
when indigenous people had invaders
at their doorstep. and they too, had
to flee their land with their children.
“I just wanted to express that I’m
with them in my spirit and in my
heart,” Morin said. “That I care. That
I love them. and that we’re thank-
ful for them. We’re thankful for their
friendships that we have with them
and the relationships and the respect
they’ve shown us over the years.”
Morin said the Ukrainian scarves
have a name in canada’s cree coun-
try — kokum. It means grandma. But
they come from many Slavic coun-
tries and go by many different names
across the U.S.
Grandmas
Across the border in the U.S.,
Bobbie conner points out her great
Anna King/Northwest Public Broadcasting
See Scarves, Page A9
Bobbie Conner, director of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton,
shows how she wears her scarf at the institute’s gift shop.