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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
FRESH: Restores connection with food NELSON: Defendants banned from
Continued from 1A
“It’s so important to partic-
ipate in your food,” she said.
“Our food should be alive.
Food is a living, organic thing.”
The Pendleton River Walk
Garden has been in the commu-
nity since 2005, Sanders said.
It used to be managed by Phil
Emert, a master gardener from
Hermiston, before he died in
2010. Since then, responsibility
for the garden changed hands
several times and production
has lagged behind.
Recognizing its value and
potential, Sanders agreed to
take on the garden and began
weeding the ground as early
as January. Smith, who was
recently hired as the Healthy
Communities Coordinator for
the Umatilla County Health
Department, also answered the
call after receiving an email
asking for help.
“To learn there was a
community garden here and
that it might be going away is
something I wasn’t OK with,”
Smith said. “This is a really
important piece to a vibrant
community.”
Together, the duo organized
volunteer days throughout
the spring where they planted
seeds, organized crop rotations
and rebuilt the entire irrigation
system. Elmer’s Irrigation &
Supplies donated roughly 1,000
feet of irrigation drip tape,
Sanders said, which is indicative
of the support they’ve received
from the very beginning.
“I’m ecstatic,” Sanders said.
“This has performed beyond
my wildest dreams.”
According to the most recent
community health assessment,
71 percent of Umatilla County
information about witnessess, victims
Sherry
Lentz
fertilizes
squash
plants
during
Sunday’s
Seed to
Supper
class
at the
Pendleton
River Walk
Garden.
Staff photo by
George Plaven
is overweight or obese. Not
only can the garden encourage
people to eat healthier, but
Sanders and Smith both said
gardening restores an intimate
connection between people and
their food that’s largely gone
missing.
“We’ve become such a
passive society, where we
go to the grocery store and
buy produce that’s really far
removed from the way it’s been
grown,” Sanders said. “We lose
sight of the effort and work that
goes in to what’s on our dinner
plate.”
To help reestablish that rela-
tionship between people and
their food, Sanders and Smith
are hosting a six-week series of
free classes known as Seed to
Supper. The curriculum, devel-
oped by OSU Extension and
the Oregon Food Bank, covers
all the basics of gardening
from planting to harvest.
On Sunday, the class focused
on mixing and spreading
fertilizer while also planting
bean sprouts at the garden.
Jessica Sou an Erin Zander said
they’ve already learned about
different tools and planting
techniques to start their own
gardens at home.
“We’re learning how to feed
our families without having to
go to the grocery store all the
time,” Sou said.
Keeping up with the garden
is, admittedly, a huge task,
Sanders said. But it’s been
worth the long hours, and she’s
already looking forward to
expanding.
“This is like my child,”
she said. “It’s growing up and
doing great things, and creating
happiness in the world.”
Continued from 1A
The document, though,
does not identify the
shooters, or any other
victims.
Umatilla
County
District Attorney Dan
Primus charged McIver,
of Umatilla, with murder
with a irearm in Nelson’s
death before he dismissed
the case in early February
when federal prosecutors
indicted the trio of defen-
dants. Martin’s motion
states the district attor-
ney’s ofice continues to
investigate the homicide
and witness statements
in state search warrant
afidavits and supporting
documents remain under a
court seal.
“Most, if not all, of the
discovery contained in
the federal investigation
is relevant to the state
investigation,” the motion
states, and while defense
attorneys would “use such
materials
responsibly,”
they “have no control over
what their incarcerated
defendants would do with
such materials, and the
risk that the defendants
would use it to affect
the statements of other
witnesses, thus impairing
both the homicide inves-
tigation and this federal
prosecution pose genuine
concerns.”
The U.S. Attorney’s
Ofice re-indicted the
defendants on June 8, ive
days after Martin iled the
restrictive motion.
While they all still
face charges of felons
in possession of guns,
prosecutors also charged
Ayala, of Hermiston, with
assault with a dangerous
weapon and use of a
irearm in connection
with a crime of violence
for assaulting an Indian
male with a shotgun
and rile. The assault of
an American Indian on
Indian land gives federal
prosecutors jurisdiction
in that case.
Primus said in February
that Ayala and Vargas had
substantial criminal histo-
ries in Fresno, California,
including for domestic
violence and weapons
crimes.
District Judge Anna J.
Brown on June 17 signed
an order to prevent defense
attorneys from providing
McIver, Ayala and Vargas
with information about
witnesses or victims. She
also set July 8 for the
defense to respond.
Primus did not imme-
diately respond Tuesday
for a request to comment.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
MARIJUANA: If voters don’t end ban
in November, next chance will be 2018
Continued from 1A
“You’ve got to be all in, medical and
(recreational),” he said.
If the electorate doesn’t pass the local
tax in November, the city’s next chance at
passing it would be the next general elec-
tion in November 2018, in accordance
with state law.
Even though Election Day isn’t until
Nov. 8 and the irst day marijuana busi-
nesses can apply for licenses is Jan. 2, the
council will start the process immediately
to meet the deadlines.
The council held a irst reading
Tuesday night for an ordinance repealing
the marijuana sales ban conditional on
voters’ decisions in November.
They will vote on the ordinance June
5, where they also will consider passing
the resolutions putting the questions on
the ballot.
Having already instituted land use
laws for medical marijuana dispensaries,
Kerns said the council also will have to
pass similar laws for recreational retailers.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.
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