FIRES FORCE NATION-WORLD
EVACUATIONS PAGE 7A
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016
140th Year, No. 178
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Pendleton River Walk Garden revitalized by new leadership
One dollar
MEACHAM
Second
shooter
in Nelson
killing
Court documents don’t
identify either suspect,
but neither are Indian
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Taylor Smith and Colleen Sanders have helped to revitalize the River Walk Garden and now help provide fresh vegetables for
CAPECO with their efforts.
A fresh start
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
alking down rows of fresh
plants at the Pendleton River
Walk Garden, Colleen Sanders
and Taylor Smith practically disappear
behind chest-high arugula, corn and
peas. The kale is also growing like crazy,
Sanders said, and it won’t be long before
it’s time to start planting summer veggies
including peppers and eggplant.
Just up the hill, joggers and cyclists
wave hello from the Pendleton River
Parkway, some of whom never knew the
area is home to a lush community garden.
For years, the garden fell by the wayside
without anyone able to commit the enor-
mous energy to keep it alive. It even got to
the point where Sanders, who coordinates
the Umatilla County Master Gardener
Program for Oregon State University
Extension Service, said they were having
discussions on whether to give it up for
good.
“It’s a glorious, amazing, wonderful
thing, but it demands so much of your
time,” she said.
Instead, Sanders and Smith have
worked together to revitalize the garden
with more than a little help from local
volunteers. The garden now has six
raised beds available to rent, along with
a main fi eld where they grow produce for
CAPECO to distribute to families. It is
W
Federal court papers revealed there
were two shooters in the murder of
Thadd Nelson, and the local investiga-
tion of that crime remains active.
Jennifer J. Martin, an assistant
United
States
attorney,
asked
the court on June
3 to issue an
order protecting
certain
witness
statements, police
reports and other
documents from
defendants Joseph
Aaron
McIver, Thadd Nelson
Edward
Duarte
Ayala, and Armando Ruben Vargas,
who face federal weapons charges
stemming from Nelson’s homicide on
Jan. 27 at his home near Meacham on
Umatilla Indian Reservation land.
The government argued the order
is necessary to protect a victim and
witnesses from intimidation, retaliation
and coercion and to prevent the defen-
dants from having access to a cellphone
that is evidence in the case because it
may contain child pornography. The
order also would protect the ongoing
homicide investigation.
“In this case,” according to the
document, “the state has jurisdiction
over the homicide because the decedent
victim is not an Indian and the two
individuals who shot Nelson are not
Indians.”
See NELSON/8A
PENDLETON
Staff photo by George Plaven
Colleen Sanders, left, shows the tassels fl owering atop corn plants during
Sunday’s Seed to Supper class at the Pendleton River Walk Garden.
located on Southwest Byers Avenue west
of the Round-Up Grounds.
While the land itself is owned by
the City of Pendleton, CAPECO is the
group that pays for water on site and
drives the demand for healthy, nutritious
food. Sanders said CAPECO wants the
community to be active, healthy and food
secure, and community gardens are a
major asset in fulfi lling that mission.
• Shall City of Pendleton repeal
its prohibition of recreational
marijuana producers, processors,
wholesalers and retailers in Pend-
leton?
• Shall City of Pendleton impose
a 3 percent tax on the sale in the
City of Pendleton of marijuana
items by a marijuana retailer?
While Pendleton voters will
have the option of banning one form
of marijuana over the other, Sniffen
said state law would prohibit the
city from collecting both its share
of the state’s 17 percent tax and the
local 3 percent tax, even if voters
approved it.
See MARIJUANA/8A
See DRONES/7A
See FRESH/8A
City attorney greenlights three questions
on marijuana sales for November ballot
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The City of Pendleton will
give voters three ballot questions
relating to marijuana sales in
November, and if any of them
fail it will prevent the city from
collecting tax revenue from the
newly legal drug.
Since the council decided in
December to refer the marijuana
sales ban to the ballot, several
councilors have suggested separate
questions asking voters whether
the city should permit medical or
recreational marijuana sales.
City Attorney Nancy Kerns
advised against distinguishing
between the types of marijuana
uses, but after consulting with
League of Oregon Cities assistant
general counsel Carl Sniffen, she
changed her opinion.
The council held a special
meeting Tuesday at noon where it
discussed state marijuana policy
with Sniffen in a conference call
and Kerns gave members drafts of
the three ballot questions.
• Shall City of Pendleton repeal
its prohibition of medical mari-
juana producers and dispensaries
in Pendleton?
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
and Associated Press
Local and state drone offi cials are
already on board with new regulations
for small unmanned aerial systems
released Tuesday by the Federal Avia-
tion Administration.
In order to legally fl y a drone
weighing less than 55 pounds, the
FAA now requires it be fl own during
the day, in the line of sight of a pilot or
other observer, not over any person not
participating in the operation and no
higher than 400 feet or faster than 100
miles per hour.
Under the new rules, operators
would register their drones online
and pass an aviation knowledge exam
for drone pilots at an FAA-approved
testing center. That’s a big change
since operators currently have to have a
manned aircraft pilot’s license.
The rules, offi cially referred to
as Part 107 of the Federal Aviation
Regulations, largely replace the FAA’s
333 exemption, which required the
administration to review commercial
drone operations at an individual level.
Since 2014, the FAA has granted more
than 6,100 waivers and another 7,600
are waiting for approval. Many more
small companies have been using
drones without FAA permission, say
PENDLETON
Tax only an option if all pot is made legal
New drone
rules pivotal
for emerging
industry