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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2016)
WEEKE1' E'ITIO1 HAM RADIOS READY TO BUCKS BEAT THE DALLES RESPOND TO CLAIM CRC TITLE LIFESTYLES/1C STRONG WINDS WREAK HAVOC BASKETBALL/1B HERMISTON/2A FE%R8AR< -, th <ear, 1o. . WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD 30,000 CHICKENS / 20,000 SQUARE FOOT HEN HOUSE / 40 ACRE FARM / 8,500,000 EGGS PER YEAR HOME TO ROOST College bound /ure of free community college attracts À ood of applications By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Lohmann Brown chickens mill around in a hen house owned and operated by Mahlon Zehr at his farm east of Milton-Freewater. Man opens cage-free farm in Milton-Freewater By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Mahlon Zehr walks carefully down the middle row of his cage-free hen house, clap- ping his hands to scatter the À ock of chickens that gather close around his feet. “They’re very curious,” Zehr said. “If you’re working in here, they’ll come right up pecking at your hands and pecking at your shoes.” For Zehr, the chickens came ¿ rst ² all , of them ² and the eggs won’t be far behind. Zehr signed a -year contract last July to raise More online commercial eggs Watch EO photographer for Wilcox Family E.J. Harris walk the Farms of Roy, ‘chicken gauntlet’ at Washington, and eastoregonian.com has built a produc- tion facility at his home on Edwards Road in Milton-Freewater. The chickens arrived on trucks earlier this month and Zehr said they should start laying eggs in the next week or two. He expects to See CHICKENS/10A Employees in the Blue Mountain Community College ¿ nancial aid depart- ment are getting a workout these days. They are processing a big pile of federal student aid applications (FAFSAs). By last week, the school had received , such documents, compared with last year ² a percent increase. The reason is likely a new Oregon program that makes community college tuition virtually free for those who Tualify. To apply for Oregon 3romise, one must also ¿ ll out a FAFSA, hence the À ood arriving at community colleges. The torrent will ease soon enough. The deadline to apply for Oregon 3romise looms on March 1. Statewide, 1, students have started the application process. Among those, 11,111 have ¿ nished, according to Endi Hartigan, a communications and policy specialist at the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission. “We’ve had a strong response. We’re very pleased,” Hartigan said. “We’re trying to get the message out about the deadline.” To qualify, students must be within six months of ¿ nishing high school, earning See COLLEGE/10A HERMISTON Council to mull over roundabouts on Hwy 395 By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Chicken farmer Mahlon Zehr holds one of the 30,000 Lohmann Brown chickens he has at his egg production facility outside Milton-Freewater. “The cage-free market is growing. It’s what people want.” — Mahlon Zehr, chicken farmer PILOT ROCK One dead in highway wreck East Oregonian Staff photo by Antonio Sierra One person was killed Friday in a car accident about 4 p.m. on Highway 395 between Pilot Rock and Ukiah. One person was killed and two others were injured Friday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Highway south of 3ilot Rock. Oregon 6tate 3olice /t. Mike Turner said authorities were called to the scene at p.m. $ /ifeFlight helicopter À ew one of the survivors to Kadlec Regional Medical Center, Rich- land, and an ambulance drove the other to St. Anthony Hospital, 3endleton, according to Turner. Emergency crews worked to remove the body of the victim from one of the vehicles. The identity of the victim was not available by press time, and will not be released until next of kin are noti¿ ed. A proposed adjustment to Herm- iston’s Transportation System 3lan, which will be considered by the city council Monday, calls for a roundabout to be installed on Highway south of Hermiston. The roundabout would pave the way for anticipated development in the area, including a planned Ranch & Home store. Ranch & Home’s inventory includes farm supplies, hunting gear, clothing, outdoor grills, pet supplies and a home and garden department. The store currently has locations in Kennewick, 3asco and Milton-Freewater. Its planned Hermiston location is expected to cover more than 1 acres and add about , trips along south Highway per day. The city’s “corridor re¿ nement plan” for south Highway , adopted in , currently calls for traf¿ c signals to be See COUNCIL/10A Highway 395 ODOT construction update Oregon 'epartment of Transportation work on Highway will continue during the week of Feb. between SE Fourth Street by Safeway and Theater /ane. Between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. crews will be tearing out sidewalk ramps along the highway and pouring new ones, causing some single-lane closures while cement is poured. From a.m. until dark workers will continue making preparations to replace the traf¿ c signal at Jennie Avenue, which may cause some delays at the intersection.
