REGION
Saturday, July 16, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Fictional character appears to donate to
Grant County sheriff’s legal expense fund Marijuana ballot
Receives more than $20,000 in donations in three months
By SEAN HART
Blue Mountain Eagle
The legal expense trust
fund for Grant County Sheriff
Glenn Palmer, who is being
investigated by the Oregon
Department of Justice,
received more than $20,000
in donations between April
and June, including one that
appears to be from a ictional
character with a false Cali-
fornia address.
Trustee Jodie Fleck iled
the required quarterly state-
ment for the Glenn E. Palmer
Legal Expense Trust Fund
with the Oregon Government
Ethics Commission July 14,
reporting $20,450 in dona-
tions and $5,268 in expenses
from April 12, when the fund
was created, to June 30.
Someone who donated
$100 June 7 is listed in the
report as John Galt, 138 Got
Ur Six Way, Galts Gulch,
CA 97632. The ZIP code
actually corresponds to
Malin, Oregon, near Klamath
Falls. “Galts Gulch” does
not appear on a California
Department of Transporta-
tion list of cities in the state.
Galt’s Gulch is, however,
mentioned in Ayn
Rand’s 1957 novel
“Atlas Shrugged”
as the location
where
character
John Galt leads a
campaign against
the government.
Palmer
Fleck
could
not be reached for
comment. Fleck, Palmer and
his attorney Benjamin Boyd
from Hostetter Law Group
in Enterprise did not imme-
diately respond to emailed
questions about the donation.
Oregon law requires
the names and addresses
of people who
donate more than
$75 to be reported.
Donations
more
than $75 accounted
for $14,720, with
$3,654
coming
from
donations
less than $75 and
$2,076
coming
from pro bono and
in-kind donations.
Of the listed donors, seven
were from Grant County, and
the largest county donation
was $500.
The Oregon Firearms
Federation Political Action
Committee donated $5,000,
the largest in the report.
Wheat harvest underway
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A combine harvests wheat in a ield off of Fanshier Road west of Pendleton. After getting heavy precipitation in
June and July, the wheat harvest is underway.
BRIEFLY
Meeting scheduled
to discuss Birch
Creek plan
PILOT ROCK — The
Birch Creek Assessment
and Action Plan is nearly
inished, and residents of the
watershed are invited to a
meeting Wednesday, July 27
to discuss the next steps.
The plan, which kicked
off in January 2015,
identiies and prioritizes
restoration work on Birch
Creek, which is home to
one-third of wild steelhead in
the Umatilla Basin.
The Umatilla Basin
Watershed Council has
developed the plan, in
collaboration with the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Oregon Department of Fish
& Wildlife, U.S. Forest
Service and GeoEngineers.
The meeting will run from
6-8 p.m. at Pilot Rock City
Hall, 144 N. Alder Place.
BMCC to host
meetings to discuss
swimming pool
PENDLETON — Blue
Mountain Community
College is offering two
chances for the community to
learn about the issues facing
its pool and provide feedback
regarding the pool’s future.
The meetings are
Thursday, July 28 and
Wednesday, Aug. 3 at the
McCrae Activity Center.
They both begin at 5:30 p.m.
The meetings will provide
a tour of the pool area and
include information about
the pool’s current usage,
expenses, and repair needs.
Those who attend will be
asked how they think the pool
should be maintained and
how to fund the $2.3 million
in required maintenance and
upgrades.
An $850,000 upgrade to
the pool was part of a failed
2013 BMCC bond measure
and was not included in
the successful 2015 bond.
Additional safety and
maintenance issues were
identiied since 2013, and
a professional inspection
revealed the pool would
need a complete renovation,
according to a BMCC press
release.
John Day wins
wood grants
The U.S. Forest Service
Paciic Northwest Region,
along with the State of
Oregon, recently received
10 Wood Innovation grants
funded by the Department of
Agriculture.
The grants, totaling
over $1.9 million, will help
accelerate wood energy
development, expand wood
product markets and support
forest management needs,
including reducing wildire
risk.
One of the recipients, the
Oregon Torrefaction Project,
will design a commercial
torrefaction plant to
manufacture a wood-based
renewable coal replacement
using small diameter trees
from forest restoration
activities with emphasis on
Oregon national forests.
Project partners include
Ochoco Management, Inc.,
Bonneville Environmental
Foundation and the Forest
Service.
The project provides
biomass processing support
to ongoing forest restoration
efforts in Eastern Oregon,
including a large-scale
collaborative restoration
project based out of John
Day that implements fuels
reduction activities on the
Malheur National Forest.
The torrefaction facility
will be capable of producing
SUMMER SALE
JULY 13 – 16
WED thru SAT
20% off Storewide
50,000 tons of renewable
biomass fuel annually that
will be used to produce
electricity to heat and power
homes and businesses. Grant
funds will be used for the
engineering and design of
the facility.
If successfully
implemented, the project
will provide a unique
opportunity to diversify the
utilities’ fuel portfolio and
support compliance with
state renewable energy
standards and the federal
Clean Power Plan.
issue could get
new wrinkle
Council seeks
public input on
proposed fire hall
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Pendleton voters will
get a chance to legalize
marijuana sales Nov. 8, but
not before the city council is
done with it.
Since 2014, the council
has debated a medical mari-
juana moratorium, dispen-
sary land use regulations,
marijuana business licenses,
an update to the city’s
nuisance ordinance that
includes marijuana fumes
as an offensive odor, bans
on marijuana sales, both
temporary and permanent,
referring the marijuana sales
to the ballot and whether
the ballot should ask two
questions or three.
The council settled on
three and was set to refer the
issue to the ballot June 21
before Mayor Phillip Houk
postponed the vote over a
lack of advertisement.
When it comes again
before the council, the
debate will have a new
wrinkle courtesy of Coun-
cilor Chuck Wood.
The policy package
now includes alternative
explanatory statements to
be included on the ballot.
Besides
simplifying
some of the language,
the new statements each
include a sentence in bold
font that tells voters that
the city cannot collect a
local tax or its share of the
state tax if either medical
or recreational marijuana is
banned.
At a council workshop
July 12, Wood said he
worked with City Attorney
Nancy Kerns to offer a
“Plan B” that clariied the
language and discussed the
taxing implications.
Wood has argued that the
local tax is an important part
of marijuana sales because
the state tax wouldn’t
generate much revenue.
Wood did not return a
request for comment as of
press time.
Fire hall update
With the former Pend-
leton Cinema property
added to the mix and
several other possibilities
eliminated, Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo will present his
updated indings.
At a July 12 workshop,
the council identiied the
vacated movie theater and
the old St. Anthony Hospital
site as the best locations for
a new ire station, which
would be the focus of a
bond campaign.
In addition to Ciraulo’s
presentation, the council
showed interest in collecting
public input from the audi-
ence.
Because the Pendleton
Cinema is relatively new to
the process and hasn’t been
professionally
analyzed,
city staff is also requesting
$24,000 for a needs assess-
ment from Mackenzie, a
Portland design irm.
According to a letter to
Ciraulo from Mackenzie
engineer Scott Moore, the
assessment would cover
site analysis, design work
and a cost estimate. Moore
estimated the assessment
would take 5-6 weeks.
Housing study
results
Following six months
of work, the Pendleton
housing committee is ready
to present their indings to
the city council.
John
Turner,
the
committee chairman and
the mayor-elect, will ask
the council to consider the
report’s recommendations
and conduct semi-annual
reviews to ensure they’re
being met.
The report found that
the success of some recent
housing
development
showed the market could
support 125 more rental
units and 90 for-sale units.
To achieve those goals,
the report recommended
recruiting
entry-level
housing developers, estab-
lishing a revolving loan
fund with the Round-Up
Development Corp. and
creating incentives for home
developers and buyers,
among other suggestions.
The committee also
recommended the city
create a 10-year housing
plan.
The council meeting
will be held Tuesday at the
council chambers in city
hall, 500 S.W. Dorion Ave.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
THE PENDLETON 4TH OF JULY PARADE COMMITTEE,
AND THE VETERANS AND AUXILIARY
MEMBERS OF VFW POST 922
Would like to thank the following
for their generous support and assistance
SPONSORS: LES SCHWAB • CHI ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL
TUM-A-LUM • MASTER PRINTERS • FIRST COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION
(*Pendleton Boutique *some exclusions apply)
EXTRA 15% off 50%...now 65% off
217 SE Court, Pendleton, OR 97801 • 541-276-0778
www.marlajunes.com
F I N AL DAYS !
Hundreds of
men's and
women's shoes to
select from
Earth
Earthies
Jambu
Born
Ahnu
Brooks
Bussola
Teva
Felmini
Worishofer
Taos
LaPlume
Fidji
Naot
Birkenstock
Jafa
Keen
Merrell
50% off
Smartwool Socks
613 N. Main Street, Milton Freewater, OR
541-938-5162 • www.saagershoeshop.com
S
avings up to
50% off
Savings
up to
70%
off
on
Women's
Apparel
City of Pendleton
Army National Guard
Pendleton Police Department
City of Pendleton Public Works
Pendleton Chamber of Commerce
Pendleton & CTUIR Tribal Fire Departments
The Pendleton Round-Up Association
Happy Canyon • Wal Mart • Walgreens
Tom Melton
Don, Jon & Dayn Tombleson
Pendleton Pioneer Chapel
Thelma Echanis
Donald Gallen & Karen Allen
AC Mini Storage & RV Park
Herbert & Margaret McLaughlin
Thomas & Florence Branstetter
Burns Mortuary of Pendleton
Elmer & Carolyn Hendricks
Billy Turner
Darlene Abney
Dee Santo
Ms Schleede
Ethel Burns Park
Roger & Jeanette Easling
Michael & Pamela Forester
Elite Taxis, Inc
Dr Jake & Cathy Cambier
Shawna Nulf
Jan Bruning
Marjorie Iburg
Jan Leonard
Mason DeChand
C.L. Frasier
Jeanette C. Herron
William & Jo Manny
Elmer & Judy Wilkins
Randy Leonard
East Oregonian • DG Gifts
KUMA • Western Auto
Parley & Vicky Pierce/Hamleys
Main Street Cowboys
Elite Guns & Bows
Baxter Auto Parts
Dean’s Athletic • Jeff Brown
Round-Up Athletic Club
And a special thanks to all parade entries and folks who came to watch