WEEKEND EDITION
Pilot Rock’s Otteson makes fresh start in Pendleton, B1
MARCH 26 – 27, 2022
146th Year, No. 66
REPORT
Oregon
suicides
drop
in 2020
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
‘We tried to save each other’
Fall from waterfall
brings complex
challenges for
first responders
By JIM REDDEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon had the
nation’s 13th highest suicide rate
across all ages in 2020, a slight
improvement the year before when
the state was ninth in suicide deaths,
according to suicide mortality data
recently published by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Part of the decline was a reduc-
tion in suicides by young people,
the Oregon Health Authority said
Tuesday, March 22. The decrease
placed Oregon 18th highest in the
nation — an improvement from
2019 and 2018, when Oregon ranked
11th highest in the nation for youth
suicides.
“While we are encouraged by
2020’s downward trend that shows
our work with partners to address
youth suicide is helping in some
counties, we still have a long way to
go to improve outcomes among all
Oregon communities,” said Oregon
Health Authority Behavioral Health
Director Steve Allen.
State health offi cials cautioned
Oregon suicides still are well above
the national average, however.
And preliminary data for all ages
combined indicate an increase in the
number of suicides in 2021.
“Racial and economic inequal-
ities impact the overall health of
many of our communities and we
have much work to do to alleviate
this injustice. Our hearts grieve
alongside the Oregon communities
and families that have experienced
suicide loss.”
Oregon was one of seven states
that showed a decrease in suicide
rates between 2019 and 2020,
according to the CDC data released
in February. The state had 18.3
deaths by suicide per 100,000 people
in 2020 with a total of 833 deaths. In
2019, the suicide death rate was 20.4
per 100,000, which amounted to 906
total deaths.
As documented by the recently
released Youth Suicide Invention
and Prevention Plan annual report,
the number and rate of suicides for
youth age 24 and younger decreased
in 2020 by nearly 14%, from 118
deaths in 2019 to 102 deaths in 2020.
Preliminary 2021 data for
Oregon indicate a three-year
decreasing trend in suicide numbers
for youth age 24 and younger. While
Oregon’s youth suicide deaths have
decreased, it must be noted that
Oregon’s youth suicide rate was
much higher than the national aver-
age for the years preceding the
decrease, state health offi cials said.
See Suicides, Page A8
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a
two-part feature. Look for the conclusion
in the East Oregonian in print and online
Tuesday, March 29.
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
P
Sharon Gaines/Contributed Photo
Cody Watson, pictured here during a bowhunting trip, was injured in a fall July 2, 2021,
near Pilot Rock, and died before rescuers could save him from a narrow canyon. Watson,
a member of the Oregon Army National Guard, loved outdoor activities and planned to
become a military pilot.
ILOT ROCK — One day last July,
three longtime friends headed
to the mountains to cool off in a
swimming hole. They never imag-
ined one of them would never
make it home.
The young men — Kyler Carter and
Braydon Postma, both 23, and Cody
Watson, 21 — had a close-knit friend-
ship. They’d bonded as young boys in
Pilot Rock, playing ball, tag and climb-
ing on the jungle gym. In later years, they
hunted and hiked in the mountains, tubed
in McKay Reservoir, participated in sports
and played competitive games of Call of
Duty: Black Ops II.
Basically, said Carter, “We were broth-
ers.”
The tragic adventure began last July 1
on a sunny afternoon. The three waited
until Watson got off work and then rode in
Postma’s pickup about 10 miles south of
Pilot Rock into the mountains. The desti-
nation was a picturesque spot they’d visited
dozens of times — a swimming hole on
West Birch Creek above a cascading water-
fall that spills into a steep rocky canyon.
They parked and walked about two miles
to a deep pool where they swam, talked and
took photos and videos. The rocks near the
edge were slippery with moss.
What happened next is both a blur and
a succession of still frames in their minds.
“I fell fi rst,” Postma said. “Cody tried to
save me. Then Kyler tried to save Cody.”
Carter described the moment even more
simply.
“We tried to save each other.”
All the men survived the initial fall, but
Cody Watson would die before help could
arrive.
To honor Watson, Umatilla County’s
See Challenges, Page A8
OREGON GUBERNATORIAL RACE
Republicans promise victory through conservatism
New faces and
recognizable
names among 8
who take the stage
in Pendleton
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — There wasn’t
much daylight between the eight
candidates on stage at a Tues-
day, March 24, Umatilla County
Republican Party gubernatorial
forum at the Pendleton Conven-
tion Center.
The candidates generally
agreed they were going to reverse
the policies of Democratic Gov.
Kate Brown, the state should
move to a school choice model,
the Second Amendment needed to
be protected and all government
mandates needed to be repealed.
The candidates didn’t get
much time to expound on their
thoughts. The size of the fi eld —
West Linn political consultant
Bridget Barton, Hillsboro retiree
Reed Christensen, Tigard entre-
preneur Nick Hess, Baker City
Mayor Kerry McQuisten, Bend
marketing consultant Brandon
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate Nick Hess and and sev-
en other contenders expressed their views during a forum Thursday,
March 24, 2022, at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Merritt, White City massage
therapist Amber Richardson,
Redmond contractor Bill Size-
more and former Alsea School
District Superintendent Marc
Thielman — had only 30 seconds
each to answer most questions.
But all candidates still got
a shot at making their case to a
good-sized audience in Pendle-
ton. The candidates were mostly
polite with one another but occa-
sionally took shots at some of the
candidates who weren’t in Pend-
leton, which included many of
the fi eld’s top fundraisers: former
state House Minority Leader
Christine Drazan of Canby, Salem
oncologist and 2016 Republi-
can nominee Bud Pierce, Sandy
Mayor Stan Pulliam and former
state representative and Oregon
Republican Party Chair Bob Tier-
nan of Lake Oswego.
Oregon hasn’t elected a Repub-
lican governor since 1982, but each
candidate explained how they would
be the one to reverse the trend.
Barton stressed to the audi-
ence both her experience advo-
cating for rural Oregon and her
status as an “outsider.” She told
the audience that she would work
hard in Salem to advance their
priorities.
“I’m here to tell you that I
would stand in front of a train for
you,” she said.
As governor, Barton said she
would immediately replace the
state’s deputy superintendent of
public instruction, who leads the
Oregon Department of Education.
Christensen said the most
important issue was to end
Oregon’s vote-by-mail system
in favor of a one-day, in-person
election so the state could get
“election integrity.”
He also highlighted his partic-
ipation in the attempted insurrec-
tion in Washington D.C. in 2021.
Christensen faces federal charges
for assaulting Capitol police.
“I was arrested by the FBI,” he
said. “I’m currently in the system.
I care.”
In almost all of his answers,
Hess said he would work to make
Oregon government more trans-
parent and listen to residents
instead of lobbyists.
See Forum, Page A8