‘americans and the Holocaust’ exhibit comes to Pendleton | REGION A3
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
146th year, No. 70
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
WILDFIRE SEASON
spring
storms
could
mitigate
wildfires
Last year was a
record fire season
for umatilla
National Forest
By EMRY DINMAN
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
PeNdLeTON — With summer
just a month away, officials oversee-
ing the umatilla National Forest are
cautiously optimistic that conditions
this year appear to be less conducive
to fire than in 2021.
Three massive fires in the Blue
Mountains — the Green Ridge Fire,
Lick Creek Fire and elbow Creek
Fire — that sparked last July burned
through roughly 150,000 acres of the
national forest land over the course
of months before they were finally
contained.
The Green Ridge Fire, which was
started July 7 by a lightning strike,
continued to smolder until mid-Oc-
tober.
The record-breaking 2021 fire
season that blanketed the Walla
Walla Valley in smoke was accom-
panied by record-breaking drought
and heat.
early indications say the summer
of 2022 will be warmer and drier
than average, but the chance of a
severe heat wave akin to the one
that smothered the Pacific Northwest
in late June and early July 2021 is
unlikely, said Washington climatol-
ogist Nick Bond.
“It would be quite surprising to
have anything of that magnitude
come up this year,” Bond said.
april storms also helped blunt
droughts in many areas of Washing-
ton and Oregon, although not quite
enough to overcome a deficit since
the beginning of the year.
Coupled with a summer that is
predicted to be hotter and drier than
normal, along with grass growth
accelerated by recent precipitation,
conditions are still ripe for an active,
if not record-breaking, fire season.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
A motorist splashes through flooded Tutuilla Road near Southwest Nye Avenue, Pendleton, on Sunday, May 29, 2022, where overflowing
Patawa and Tutuilla creeks come together.
A wet weekend
Heavy rain, flooding
creeks affect Pendleton
residents, businesses
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
P
eNdLeTON — Tutuilla and
Patawa creeks near and through
Pendleton crested their banks
sunday, May 29, flooding yards
and businesses and prompting
the city to close access to roads.
The National Weather Service in Pend-
leton on May 28 issued a flood watch for
much of Northeastern Oregon due to hours
and hours of steady rainfall, which swelled
area creeks and filled McKay Reservoir.
The NWs on May 29 reported the following
24-hour precipitation totals from May 28:
• Pendleton at eastern Oregon Regional
airport: .74 inches.
• Hermiston Municipal airport: .51 inches.
• Meacham: .57 inches.
• adams 4W: .99 inches.
• echo: .40 inches.
John Pappas, of Pendleton, was at store
Y’r Stuff Mini Storage, 1225 S.W. Tutu-
illa Road, to keep an eye on his camp-
ing trailer. He said he was there around
12:30 p.m. when the water was coming
through, so he moved the trailer to a higher
spot. about an hour-and-half later, he said
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Water from swollen Tutuilla Creek washes over the driveway of property belonging to
Dennis and Debbie Davis on Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Pendleton.
he might have to move it again.
The crew at neighboring Kelly Lumber
supply Inc., 1211 Tutuilla Road, hustled to
move trailers from the back of their prop-
erty where rushing water was more than 2
feet deep.
Jason Kelly said Tutuilla Creek has
flooded the property before, but nothing like
what was happening May 29.
He waded out into the stream flowing
along the property to install a battery on a
fifth-wheel trailer to get its hydraulics work-
ing. The effort proved fruitful, and he and
his son, Jaden Villa, were able to hook up
the trailer to a dodge Ram pickup and haul
it out of the flood.
Villa trudged out as well and poured
muddy water from his boots.
High waters were surrounding nearby
homes on the west side of Tutuilla Road,
See Flooding, Page A9
Lingering
drought conditions
The risk of a significant fire
season lingers in part due to years of
drought conditions exacerbated by
a particularly dry 2021, said Forest
Supervisor Eric Watrud during a
May 9 meeting with Walla Walla
County commissioners.
See Fire, Page A9
USS Oregon joins the U.S. Navy
May 28 was day one in
the Navy for the new
fast attack submarine
the uss delaware, also a Virgin-
ia-class submarine.
The sponsor of the commis-
sioning of the uss Oregon is dana
Richardson of Corvallis, the wife of
former Chief of Naval Operations
admiral John Richardson.
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
GROTON, Conn. — a new uss
Oregon on saturday morning, May
28, officially joined the U.S Navy
during commission ceremonies at
Submarine Base New London in
Groton, Connecticut.
The Navy put the ceremonial
commissioning of ships on hold for
two years because of the corona-
virus pandemic and only recently
resumed the tradition.
The nuclear-powered fast attack
submarine will be the first u.s.
Navy ship to carry the Beaver State’s
name since 1893, when the battle-
ship uss Oregon was launched.
The Virginia-class submarine
was built at an estimated price tag of
just less than $3 billion by Groton-
based General dynamics electric
Boat Co. After its launch and sea
trials, the commissioning marks the
official beginning of its U.S. Navy
service.
Built to kill nuclear missile
subs
Chief Petty Officer Joshua Karsten/U.S. Navy/Contributed Photo
Crew members of the Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Oregon
stand at attention Saturday, May 28, 2022, during a commissioning cer-
emony for the ship in Groton, Connecticut. SSN 793 is the third U.S Navy
ship launched with the name Oregon and the first in more than a century.
each Virginia-class subma-
rine has had an official sponsor, a
woman with a connection to the
vessel’s namesake state. Their role
is to bring good luck to the subma-
rine and crew, with duties includ-
ing breaking a bottle of champagne
over the hull of the submarine and
giving the first order after a commis-
sioning.
While still in the White House,
First Lady Laura Bush sponsored
the uss Texas and First Lady
Michelle Obama carried the role
for the uss Illinois. In april, First
Lady Jill Biden was the sponsor of
The uss Oregon commissioning
was the first traditional ceremony
since 2019, before the pandemic
hit the united states. Two Virgin-
ia-class submarines — the delaware
and the Vermont — were commis-
sioned to join the Navy and public
commemorations occurred later.
The 377-foot-long uss Oregon
soon takes to sea to hunt — and
if necessary, kill — Russian and
Chinese “boomers,” the nickname
for all ballistic missile subma-
rines that can launch nuclear inter-
continental ballistic missiles. The
Russians main missile submarine,
the Borei-class, carries 16 RSM-56
Bulava nuclear ballistic missiles.
The Oregon fires Mk-48 torpe-
does that move at 63 mph. Unlike
See Navy, Page A9