25 years ago this week — 2000

PENDLETON — A proposed 13,000 square-foot playground complex for Pioneer Park is the subject of a community meeting set for next week.

The local chapter of the American Association of University Women is taking on the challenge of finding supporters for the $100,000 project. The public is encouraged to attend the initial planning meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Hawthorne Elementary School staff room.

Michelle Sitz and Janet Pardo, AUW co-presidents-elect for 2001, are heading up the effort and want to make it a community project. School children will help design the structure, which will be similar to Funland in Hermiston and another play area in Portland, although Pendleton’s facility should offer different elements. No tax-payer dollars would be used to build the structure.

The organization chooses a community project every couple of years to complete, Pardo said. A playground complex was chosen because members believe Pendleton needs such an offering for local children. Some playground equipment in local parks is deteriorating and needs to be replaced.

Sitz said the wooden structure would be available for all children and families. The play area is suited for children up to 12 years old. It would include handicap-accessible swing sets, plenty of elements to climb on, mazes and other features.

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HERMISTON — About one-quarter the Umatilla Chemical Depot’s antelope herd were chased, tackled and taken away by truck on Thursday. Just as planned.

Thursday’s round-up of pronghorn antelope was part of an exchange between the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Nevada Department of Fish and Wildlife. Oregon, which received 15 California bighorn sheep in January, will get 15 more next year, said ODFW district biologist Kevin Blakely, who coordinated the round-up.

The “hunt” began around 7:30 a.m. Phil Stevenson of Haines, in a lone helicopter, chased a herd of about 50 antelope across the depot toward a net trap in the bottom of Coyote Coulee, which runs north and south in the center of the depot’s 20,000 acres. The chase lasted about half an hour, but the activity afterward stretched to some four hours.

Once inside the corral-like trap, a few animals at a time were let into a triangular area where volunteers “mugged” the beasts. Teams of four or five people grabbed an antelope’s legs and blindfolded the animal. Blakely said the blindfolds help calm the animals and keep them from getting injured inside the cage.

Though the depot spans thousands of acres and the herd has access to most of that land, they are used to seeing people.

“They’re unusual in that way, but that doesn’t mean they’re in any way tame,” Blakley said.

After the mugging, biologists examined the animals and took blood and tissue samples, and put identification tags in their ears.

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PENDLETON — A celebration of what makes us different from each other is the theme of Multicultural Week at Pendleton High School.

“This is a week to get everyone involved and recognize minorities,” said junior Jennifer Levy.

“It’s important to learn how to respect other people’s cultures,” added junior Natalie Lewis.

Levy and Lewis are two students in the high school Leadership Class who organized a week of activities that include dress-up days, ethnic cuisine, foreign languages and cultural heritage.

Each day, the focus will be on a different part of the world:

Today is Pacific Island Day.

Tuesday doesn’t have a theme except to be proud of who you are and where your ancestors come from.

Wednesday is Latin American Day, with an obligatory taco-eating contest.

Thursday is Native American Day, with storyteller Betty Burke.

Friday is Asian Day, when announcements will be read in Japanese.

Multicultural week was sparked by the appearance of Ghanaian drummer Obo Addy, who performed at a high school assembly today.

“We were inspired by the fact that Obo Addy is coming and wanted to tie that assembly to a week of activities,” said students body president Andrew MacKenize.

The leadership class spent the past month making preparations and decorating the school with posters.

50 years ago this week — 1975

HERMISTON — The ultra-modern pollution control devices on the proposed Alumax aluminum plant will save the environment from deadly fluorides, but the same devices will cause the plant to consume more electricity.

Alumax Pacific Corp., who intends to build a $200 million facility in Eastern Oregon or on the Oregon Coast, did not say how much additional power would be needed. But Thursday a spokesman compared the situation to a new automobile that has efficient emission control devices, but has a resulting reduction in gasoline mileage.

Gov. Bob Straub has criticized the Alumax plant proposal because it will take valuable electricity needed for consumers. The Bonneville Power Administration has signed a contract with Alumax, formerly Amex Pacific Corp., to supply up to 320 megawatts of electricity per hour, or roughly enough power to serve 200,000 consumers.

Alumax has taken an option on 3,000 acres near Umatilla to build the plant if plans fall through to locate at Warrenton, on the north Oregon Coast. Some have said environmental questions on the coast have killed any chance for the plant’s construction at Warrenton.

Alumax says it can meet the strict Oregon fluoride emission standard, but cannot meet a special designation near Warrenton for zero emissions. The firm maintains that its proposed aluminum smelter would be the cleanest in the world, with only a tiny amount of fluoride pollution.

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Five thousand acres of Washington grapes? Or 150,000 acres of Oregon wheat?

That’s the equation the Oregon Board of Agriculture will consider in a proposed ban of the use of high volatile 2,4D in the months of April through October.

Use of high volatile 2,4D would be restricted the rest of the year.

A hearing on the proposed regulation is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 11 in the Vert Little Theater, Pendleton.

Other hearings are set for 2 p.m. March 11 at the Willows Grange Hall, Ione; 10 am.m. March 12, Condon, Gilliam County courthouse; 2 p.m. March 12, Moro, Sherman County courthouse; 10 a.m., March 13, PP&L building, The Dalles.

A Pendleton expert on the use of farm chemicals said outlawing the high volatile 2,4D would cost farmers five to 10 bushels of wheat an acre.

The high volatile form is used in much of Umatilla County, except for a 30-mile zone around Milton-Freewater, Echo, Pilot Rock and Butter Creek wheat farmers use the high volatile form because it’s the best and cheapest weed killer available.

Wheat growers are expected to seek a later cutoff date than April 1 for the high volatile 2,4D and say that April 20 would be a more reasonable date.

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Robin is coming home.

The 5-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Petrik, Pendleton, was to leave Seattle today. Robin received a kidney transplant from her mother Jan. 22 at Seattle.

Mrs. Petrik and Robin were to travel today to Portland to meet Mrs. Petrik’s parents and the Petrik’s son, Ryan, who has been staying with his grandparents.

Petrik also will go to Portland, tonight, and the family will return to Pendleton Saturday.

Robin, whose infected kidneys were removed when she was 2, continues to have a little fever, her father reported. “But the doctor at Seattle said the doctor here (Pendleton) could watch it as easily as he could,” Petrik reported.

Robin will return to Seattle in a month for a thorough checkup. Mrs. Petrik already has received her final checkup, and all was pronounced okay.

Meanwhile, the kidney machine on which Robin was for so long has been stored by Petrik in a closet. It will be returned to the manufacturer.

100 years ago this week — 1925

Dave Lilly, 25 years old, who claims to be a native of Oregon, was arrested last night by Sheriff Cookingham and members of his force on a charge of larceny, and a confession in which the man is claimed to have admitted the theft from various places of clothing and other materials valued at about $500 was secured today, the sheriff said.

The arrest was made on the ranch of Carl Newquist where Lilly is said to have been employed, and a wagon load of the alleged stolen goods was recovered.

Included in the lot of loot are some of the following: A complete set of dishes, shoes, courts, gloves, socks, leather gloves, coats and other kinds of wearing apparel.

A part of the stuff was stolen from the Frank Curl ranch, Sheriff Cookinggam said, and John McDonald or Pilot Rock is the owner of some of the recovered.

Lilly in his confession said he took some things from private homes and robbed stores, both in Oregon and Washington, according to the sheriff. He said he has been in Washington but had been in Umatilla county for two weeks.

He had an automobile in his possession, but the machine belongs to his brother, he said. He told the officers that his father is a railroad man living in Pasco.

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Pendleton Rotarians and their wives celebrated the birthday of Rotary International last evening with a program of unusual interest and merit. The affair was in the form of a banquet at the Elks lodge room. H. E. Inlow, president of the club, served as toastmaster. One hundred Rotarians and their wives were in attendance. The banquet room was decorated with balloons, the flags of all nations, and flowers, while members were picturesquely garbed in fancy headgear.

Howard Pratt, Walla Walla Rotarian and director of the Whitman glee club led in community singing and some numbers by the Whitman folk added much to the program. For the official roll call a “poem” has been promulgated for each member by the “poet lariat,” Philo Rounds and these created amusement.

The “address of the evening” very brief, by Fred Steiwer dealt with the formation of the first Rotary club in Chicago in 1905. Rotary was internationalized in 1910. George Hartman read the announcement of the Rotary conference to be held in Portland March 22-24 and the entertainment features provided for members and their families.

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A history of the work done by the Fraternal Order of Eagles during the 27 years the organization has been in existence with a consideration of the project recently taken up by it to secure old age pensions were related in a manner that held the close attention of his big audience by Del Cary Smith in a lecture given in the Eagle-Woodman Hall last night.

The speaker was introduced by Mayor Fee after an entertainment program has been presented by the Fletcher Family Entertainers, consisting of orchestra, solo and dance numbers. A dance followed the address of the lecture. A part of his address is as follows:

“Since its organization twenty-seven years ago, there has been paid out in sick benefits to our members $27,253,538; for funeral benefits $5,281,993, and for medical services $8,610,727 — a total of $41,046,259.

“There my friends in those figures, you have the brick and mortar of our fraternity. Added to this are individual and unrecorded charities without number, where the aerie has learned through the many channels of brotherhood of some member’s special need and promptly met it out of other Aerie funds. The dues are not much, but they go along way when pooled in an aerie treasury.”