DAWGS COME UP SHORT AGAINST RICHLAND | A8
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
$1.50
INSIDE
FIELD TRIP
Umatilla County
commissioner George
Murdock is heading to the
southern border of the
United States to check
out border crossing and
detention issues himself.
PAGE A3
FUN RUN
The annual fun run, walk,
dinner and auction in
memory of agronomist
Don Horneck will raise
money for 4-H and the
Funland playground.
PAGE A4
RIP CITY
Check out photos from last
week’s Rip City Rally in
Hermiston celebrating the
Portland Trail Blazers.
PAGE A13
BY THE WAY
Kiwanis
Kid’s Day on
Saturday
The city of Hermiston
and Hermiston Kiwanis
Club are teaming up to
bring Kiwanis Kid’s Day
to Butte Park on Saturday.
The free family event
will take place from
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the
park, with prizes, games,
entertainment and other
activities.
• • •
The Ready 2 Learn
program recently turned
the page with a $3,000
grant from the Wildhorse
Foundation. The program
supports early literacy in
public libraries throughout
Eastern Oregon.
The grant money will
be used towards monthly
incentives for program
participants. Children who
use their Ready 2 Learn
library card are entered
into a monthly drawing to
win early learning books
and toys.
Michelle Munro, a
Ready 2 Learn volunteer,
said the program began in
2013 to help children learn
the skills necessary to be
successful in kindergarten.
Public libraries in Umatilla
See BTW, Page A2
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Clyde and Edie Longfellow of Hermiston, recent inductees into the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame, are long-time attendees at the Pendleton Round-Up.
Photo courtesy of Crystal Longfellow
became a rodeo secretary. Clyde
competed into his mid-50s, and
Edie still oversees several rodeos
a year.
The Hermiston couple, which
has given 54 years to the sport
of rodeo, recently was rewarded
for its dedication. Edie and Clyde
will be inducted into the Idaho
Rodeo Hall of Fame later this year,
and Clyde, 77, was the parade
grand marshal for the Lewiston
Round-Up a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s quite fl attering,” Clyde
said. “You are just rolling along
with your life, doing what you
have to do. Both phone calls came
on the same day. With word of
mouth, everyone else knew before
we did.”
Clyde opted not to ride in the
carriage provided by the Lewiston
Clyde Longfellow rides Miss Brooks in the saddle bronc event at the 1974
Pendleton Round-Up.
See FAME, Page A14
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
It
all started with a horse
named Starlight.
It was 1963. Edie
Gottschalk and her fam-
ily had just moved to Lewiston,
Idaho, and she needed a place to
board her horse.
The Old Lewiston Round-Up
Grounds was the perfect place. It
was there that Edie met aspiring
cowboy Clyde Longfellow.
“I was boarding my horse, and
was breaking them,” she said.
Clyde was a pretty smooth
talker back then. They soon began
dating, and married in 1965.
“She didn’t know my reputa-
tion,” Clyde said with a grin and a
twinkle in his eye.
Rodeo soon became their
life. Clyde rode broncs and Edie
Umatilla prison boss resigns in wake of investigation
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
T
HH File Photo
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08805 93294
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Bowser
roy Bowser is out as superintendent of
the state prison in Umatilla.
Bowser served as the boss of Two
Rivers Correctional Institution since 2017.
He was under a human resources investiga-
tion since April and on administrative leave
since June for allegations of inappropriate and
unprofessional conduct.
Michael Gower, assistant director of oper-
ations for the Oregon Department of Cor-
rections, sent an email Friday morning to all
department employees stating Bowser ten-
dered his resignation effective the day before.
Beyond that, Gower stated, Tyler Blewett
will continue as acting superintendent until
further notice.
The East Oregonian fi led a public records
request for Bowser’s resignation letter. The
Department of Corrections denied the request.
“The agency’s Department of Justice attor-
ney will contact Mr. Bowser’s legal counsel to
offer him an opportunity to hold a name clear-
ing hearing,” according to an email from Jen-
nifer Black, communications manager for
corrections. “We cannot release any documen-
tation until that decision is made.”
Union president Robert Hillmick in an email
replied the “overwhelming majority” of Amer-
ican Federation of State, County and Munic-
ipal Employees at the prison “are very happy
about TRCI moving on to a new Superinten-
dent” and excited about the future.
Hillmick triggered the investigation in
April when he emailed corrections director
Colette Peters, alleging Bowser disparaged
veteran employees, made a sexist comment
to a woman employee and ignored the sex-
ual assault of another employee. He sent the
email to AFSCME members, other corrections
staff and to state lawmakers, including Rep.
Greg Smith, R-Heppner, and Sen. Bill Hansell,
See PRISON, Page A14