REGION
Saturday, July 25, 2015
East Oregonian
Improvements
coming to
Highway 395
Saturday schedule
At the Convention Center
9 a.m.-11:30 AM 45 Caliber
Poker Run
10 a.m. Vendor Village Opens
10 a.m. Deadman Pass Ride
Orientation
10 a.m. Rattlesnake Mountain
/RideNow Showroom Opens
10:30 a.m. KSU Deadman
Pass Ride
11 a.m. Underground Tour –
Historic Pendleton
11 a.m. Dual Sport Adven-
ture Center Tech Talk
Noon PBW Bike Show Begins
Noon Hardtail Saloon Opens
12:30 p.m. Dyno Shootout
Begins
1 p.m. Bikini Bike Wash
2 p.m. Underground Tour –
Historic Pendleton
2 p.m. Dual Sport Adventure
Center Tech Talk
3 p.m. PBW Bike Show Judging
5 p.m. Ladies Line Dance –
Hardtail Saloon
6:45 p.m. Tattoo Contest Awards
7 p.m. Trophies Awarded
PBW Bike Show
7:30 p.m. Poker Run Winner
gets new 45 Cal. Long Colt
8 p.m. Too Slim and the Tail-
draggers – Hardtail Saloon
10 p.m. Miss PBW Crowned
10 p.m. Line Dance Part II
• Xtreme Fury Stunts,
11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m.,
4 p.m. 6 p.m.
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Revving up for the weekend
Steve and Audrey Boatright, of Tri-Cities, prepare to roar off on their Harley mo-
torcycles after taking the Pendleton Underground Tour. The couple came to town
for Pendleton Bike Week, based at the Pendleton Convention Center. The bike
rally runs through noon on Sunday.
HERMISTON
Council considers granting taxi licenses to ex-felons
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston city council
will reYisit its policy on back-
ground checks for taxi driYers
on Monday after councilors
disagreed oYer whether the
city should grant licenses to
driYers with criminal conYic-
tions that are more than 10
years old.
The council created a new
taxi licensing system, effec-
tiYe July 1, that barred driYers
with any prior conYictions for
crimes of “moral turpitude.”
During their July 13 meeting
employees of Hermiston
Transit SerYices testi¿ed that
the rule was keeping experi-
enced driYers from work.
The council was split
oYer whether the ordinance
should be amended to allow
for driYers who had been
conYicted of crimes more
than 10 years prior but had a
clean record since. In the end
the amendment was tabled
after there were questions
about whether conYictions
that had been expunged
would count.
The new amendment being
considered by the council
Monday speci¿es that the city
would not consider expunged
conYictions or conYictions
for minor crimes older than
10 years. It would, howeYer,
still take into account “person
felonies” regardless of how
long ago they happened. The
category includes about 80
crimes in Oregon, including
sexual
crimes,
assault,
domestic Yiolence, stalking,
robbery and arson.
On Monday the city
council will also consider an
ordinance that would collect
Transient Room Tax money
from online booking sites.
According to a memo
from city staff to the council
the city loses an estimated
11,000 a year in Transient
Room Tax ReYenue from
people booking hotels in
Hermiston through traYel
websites like Orbit] and
Expedia.
In those scenarios, the site
might charge a customer 100
for a room and pass 80 onto
the local hotel, which would
then pay the 8 percent tax on
the 80, leaYing the booking
website¶s 20 commission
untaxed.
Under the new ordinance
the website would be respon-
sible for collecting the tax
and passing it on to the city
instead of the hotel, meaning
the entire 100 would be
taxed.
In other business, the
council will consider a
series of resolutions required
to receiYe the 2 million
Community
DeYelopment
Block Grant for a new senior
center.
The
resolutions
establish an Americans with
Disabilities Act compliant
procedure, a plan for serYing
people with limited English
pro¿ciency, an equal oppor-
tunity employment policy for
city hiring decisions and a fair
housing resolution banning
discrimination of race, color,
religion, sex, disability,
family status or national
origin in the sale or lease of
housing in Hermiston.
The council’s regular
meeting at 7 p.m. will be
preceded by a 6 p.m. work
session to discuss updates on
the city’s efforts to improYe
its stormwater handling.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
BRIEFLY
Trade workshop
to address
shipping issues
HERMISTON — Regis-
tration is still open for a
trade workshop sponsored
by Business Oregon headed
to Hermiston next week.
The workshop will run
July 29 from 6:30-8 p.m. at
the Hermiston Conference
Center. It will be geared
toward helping businesses
¿nd cost-effectiYe ways
to continue to reach
international customers after
container serYice companies
Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd
pulled out Port of Portland
Terminal 6.
As part of the workshop,
participants will also haYe
the opportunity to giYe input
on putting together a list of
recommendations for the
2016 Legislature to address
freight transportation
problems in the state.
The Hermiston workshop
is one of six planned around
Page 3A
the state as part of an
initiatiYe announced in April
by *oYernor .ate Brown to
inYest 300,000 in helping
small businesses export
goods to other countries.
It is co-sponsored by
Business Oregon, Port of
Portland, Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
and Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
For more information,
or to register, Yisit www.
oregontradesolutions.com.
Hearing on
landscaping
ordinance Aug. 12
HERMISTON — An
ordinance requiring
landscaping on all new
Sidewalk Sales
Friday and Saturday
Up to 70% off
commercial deYelopment in
Hermiston will haYe its ¿rst
of¿cial public hearing on
Aug. 12.
The city council Yoted
in June to begin the public
hearing process on the
proposed code change,
but opinions on the issue
were split and Mayor
DaYid Drot]mann ended up
casting a rare tie-breaking
Yote to moYe forward with
gathering public input.
The ordinance requires
15 percent of multi-family
Music
on the
Lawn
residential property, 6
percent in the C-1 Commer-
cial Zone, 3 percent in the
C-2 Commercial Zone and
3 percent or 10,000 square
feet of industrial land to
be landscaped. It also lists
speci¿cations for the type
of landscaping that can be
used.
The hearing will be
in front of the Hermiston
Planning Commission at 7
p.m. Aug. 12 at city hall,
180 N.E. Second St. in
Hermiston.
New
sidewalks,
turning restrictions and
other changes are coming
for a section of Highway
395 in Pendleton.
A written statement
from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
said construction will
begin in mid to late August
and wrap up by the end of
October along the west
side of U.S. 395 (South-
gate) between Southwest
Perkins AYenue and the
Les Schwab Tire Center,
1550 Southgate Place.
The project will not close
lanes Sept. 16-19 during
the Pendleton Round-Up,
according to the state-
ment.
The work will include
building about 1,000
feet of 6-foot wide
concrete sidewalk, new
ADA-compliant ramps,
replacing
deteriorated
asphalt and connecting
to newer concrete side-
walks.
The biggest change
will be the elimination
of left turns at the inter-
section of Southgate
Place and Highway 395.
DriYers will only be able
to turn right onto and
from Southgate Place.
Oregon’s Quick Fix
Program is funding the
125,000 project. Quick
Fix proYides transportation
dollars for immediate needs
along state highways.
The state transportation
department also is about
to ¿nish upgrades at
Southwest Fra]er AYenue
and 13th Street, Pend-
leton. The 80,000 project
replaced old pedestrian
crossing signals with new
rapid Àash beacons, which
will be actiYe at the end
of July. The new beacons
emit light in all directions,
according to ODOT, and
are easier to see.
ODOT is working with
the Pendleton School
District on the project
because the intersection is
a school crossing. Other
work at the intersection
also is to make the
crossing safer.
And the state road
agency in August will
close the single-lane
tunnel under Interstate
84 at Deadman Pass Rest
Area for repairs. Bridge
maintenance crews will
build upgrades to the
94-foot-long box culYert
that doubles as the tunnel
between the eastbound
and westbound at Exit
228. The rest area is about
More online:
For a map of the
changes visit www.
eastoregonian.com
18 miles east of Pendleton
in the Blue Mountains.
The work includes
extending both ends of
the culYert 27 feet to
address erosion issues
along the edge of the
freeway paYement aboYe
the tunnel. The project
gets underway Aug. 3,
according to ODOT, and
will ¿nish by the end of
August.
The rest area will
remain open during the
work, but the tunnel
will be closed to all
traf¿c. TraYelers needing
access to the opposite
freeway lanes will need
to continue on I-84 to the
next full interchange.
For eastbound driYers
that is at exit 234, and
for westbound it is at exit
224.
And folks driYing
Tuesday on I-84 near
Baker City will haYe
some slow going.
Idaho Power contrac-
tors will remoYe an
oYerhead power line that
crosses the interstate at
exit 306. ODOT said
freeway speeds will drop
to about 35 mph and
delays should be about
10-15 minutes.
The rolling slowdown
will begin at milepost 322
for westbound and mile-
post 290 for eastbound
traf¿c, and there will be
times when no traYelers
will be on the freeway
while crews work. Once
traf¿c has passed the
work site near Exit 306,
traYelers can return to
posted interstate speeds.
The work also will
cause temporary closures
of on ramps. For west-
bound driYers, those will
occur at exit 313 (Encina
Interchange) and exit
306 (South Baker City
Interchange). Eastbound
traf¿c can expect on
ramp delays at exit
295 (Eastbound Baker
Valley Rest Area), exit
298 (Medical Springs
Interchange), exit 302
(Richland Interchange)
and exit 304 (Baker City/
Campbell Street Inter-
change). DriYers will be
able to get off the freeway
at these interchanges, but
may experience delays in
returning to the freeway
in the direction of the
work ]one.
FRIDAY, JULY 24
Jared Pennington
SATURDAY, JULY 25
Tyler Brooks
6:00-9:00 PM
H AMLEY S TEAK H ouse & S aloon
COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON • 541.278.1100
207 & 217 SE Court, Pendleton
Wednesdays in the Park
Concert Series
The family of Eastin Strebin would like to
give a special thank you to our sponsors
and all the individuals who helped make
our fundraiser a huge success.
Hermiston Elk's Lodge
River Lodge & Grill
Palmer Roofing
Prodigal Son Brewery & Pub
NW Farm Credit Services
Banner Bank
Wheatland Insurance Center
Simply Divine Salon & Day Spa
Echo Quarterback Club
Hermiston Drug & Gift
Elmer's Irrigation
Mill's Mint Farm
NW Crane Services Inc.
Andee's Boutique
IBEW#112
Wilbur Ellis
Strebin Farms
Crop Production Services
Bernie's Birdhouse
NW Farm Supply
Cayuse Technologies
Hamley's
IRZ
Pendleton Round-Up
Happy Canyon
Ace Hardware
Eagle Crest
Jill McKinley
McDonald's
Haley Flemmer
Beginning July 29, 2015
6:00 PM
Roy Raley Park
with
James Dean Kindle & the
Eastern Oregon Playboys
This five concert series is proudly sponsored by
www.pendletonparksandrec.com