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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2016)
56/33 DRIVER KILLED IN CRASH PIONEERS DOMINATE TOURNEY REGION/3A SOFTBALL/1B $10 SAFEWAY COUPON INSIDE TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 140th Year, No. 117 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar BOARDMAN PGE sues former gas plant contractor Utility claims serious defects, unpaid workers Contributed photo by Michael Durham Transformers surrounded by blast walls are shown during construction of the Carty Generating Station in August 2015. insists their contract was wrongfully terminated. PGE is now seeking $180 million — and possibly more — in total By GEORGE PLAVEN in Spain. East Oregonian Since then, PGE claims it has found damages. If PGE can’t recover the insurance “serious, and potentially deadly” money, it will likely ask ratepayers to Portland General Electric says it defects at the plant that could pose shoulder the rising costs of Carty. The might cost $156 million more than severe safety hazards if they aren’t plant was approved by the Oregon H[SHFWHG WR ¿QLVK EXLOGLQJ WKH &DUW\ ¿[HG$EHQJRDDOVRZDVXQDEOHWRSD\ Public Utility Commission for $514 numerous subcontractors, according Generating Station south of Boardman million last year, though the utility now after it claims the original project WR 3*( ZKR KDYH ¿OHG OLHQV DJDLQVW HVWLPDWHV WKH ¿ QDO ELOO ZLOO UXQ VRPH contractor did shoddy work and failed Carty and asserted nearly $30 million where between $635-$670 million. in claims. to pay some employees. Those allegations are laid out in a Though Carty is being built in Morrow PGE took over construction of the 440-megawatt natural gas plant on ODZVXLW 3*( ¿OHG 0DUFK DJDLQVW County, most PGE ratepayers live 7RZHU5RDGDIWHU¿ULQJWKHFRQWUDFWRU Liberty Mutual Surety and Zurich North around the Portland metro area. Steve Corson, a spokesman for the Abeinsa, in December. Abeinsa is a America, the companies that backed a utility, said there is no guarantee the $145.6 million performance bond on VXEVLGLDU\ RI WKH 6SDQLVK HQHUJ\ ¿UP Abengoa, which is trying to avoid the plant. They have denied liability See PGE/3A becoming the largest bankruptcy ever under the bond because Abengoa HERMISTON PENDLETON HOUSING STUDY Basement an option at senior center Council looks at schematics for $2 million project By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Maintenance man Mark Tabaka paints the interior of a rental Monday at the South Hills Apartments in Pendleton. Landlords reject rental crunch By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian While several Pendleton orga- nizations have teamed up to fund an updated housing study, local landlords say their money is better spent elsewhere. The Pendleton Housing Committee will hold its second meeting Friday to discuss ongoing ideas related to a $10,000 housing study, including establishing a revolving loan fund for builders and expanding the urban growth boundary. But not everyone is a fan, espe- cially landlords of existing rentals. Kristy Neubo and her husband own 180 units across three apart- ments complexes — South Hills, Pendleton Point and Edgewater. Being one of the larger landlords in Pendleton — the Lake Oswego-based couple has operated South Hills for 11 years and bought Pendleton Point and Edgewater last year — Neubo VDLGWKH\VWDUWHGWRQRWLFHVLJQL¿ cantly more vacancies within the past year. Whereas South Hills units would rent immediately after hitting the market, some units stay vacant for weeks and many applicants earn too little money to pay rent. “Jobs are the issue, not housing,” Neubo said. Rather than staying in Pend- leton, Neubo said most of her former tenants tell her that they’re moving to other parts of Oregon or California to work better jobs. Add in the general availability of foreclosed houses, and Neubo said her situation proves that Pendleton is suffering from a sluggish job market rather than a housing shortage. See HOUSING/8A Plans for a new senior center in downtown Hermiston are taking shape, but the city council isn’t sure yet whether it wants to spring for a basement. The council held a work session Monday night to look at preliminary schematics, but requested more “We get one concrete budget shot to put information before making a basement a decision on in and whether to pay an estimated that’s now.” $480,000 for a basement. — Larry Fetter, Construction of Hermiston Parks and the main level Recreation director will be paid for with a $2 million Community Develop- ment Block Grant from the state. Krista Appleby of Ascent Architec- ture shared drawings of an 8,000 square foot senior center based on input from current senior center members. They included a great hall that is about one and a half times the size of the current senior center’s dining area, a reception DUHDWZRODUJHEUHDNRXWURRPVDQRI¿FH and a kitchen that is larger than the one the seniors currently use. The plans also included green space outdoors and a parking area with 92 spaces and a circular drive to drop people off at the front door. Appleby said the plans as drawn would cost $200 to $250 per square foot to build, which would equal $1.6 million to $2 million before paying See CENTER/8A PENDLETON Rusty Black, Chinook take reins of Westward Ho! Woman and horse named as parade co-grand marshals By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian They come as a pair — Rusty Black and a paint horse named Chinook. Woman and horse will preside as grand marshals over the 2016 Westward Ho! Parade during the Pendleton Round-Up. The two have contrasting personalities. Chinook embraces the spotlight. During the Happy Canyon Night Show and Professional Bull Riding, he clomps up a steep wooden ramp onto a pedestal. The horse stands as if carved in stone above the open-air Happy Canyon arena during the singing of the national anthem, ignoring WKHÀDSSLQJRIWKHÀDJKHOGE\KLVULGHUWKH SRSRI¿UHZRUNVDQGOLJKWVNQL¿QJWKHVN\ In contrast, Black likes to stay behind the scenes. The trainer waits in the wings for her horse, ready to trouble-shoot and then to transport the star back home after the show. In characteristic Black fashion, she has decided not to ride Chinook during the parade. She would rather the paint and rider Bryson Bronson, clad in character- istic feather bonnet and leather leggings, mesmerize the crowd as they tend to do. “That’s what people want to see,” Black said. “That’s what they love.” The trio of Black, Chinook and Bronson are frequent traveling partners. In December, they traveled to Las Vegas so Bronson and Chinook could hold the EO fi le photo $PHULFDQÀDJGXULQJWKHQDWLRQDODQWKHP at the National Finals Rodeo. In April, they Rusty Black pets her horse Chinook at her ranch south of did the same at the Federation Equestre Pilot Rock in 2013. Black and Chinook were named the grand See CHINOOK/8A marshals for the 2016 Westward Ho! Parade during the Pend- leton Round-Up.
