Enjoy a free pass to the Heritage
Station Museum in Pendleton
WAYNE RIETMAN
OF IONE
U.S.A.
TAKES
GOLD
HOSPITAL
ADDING $11M
EXPANSION
OLYMPICS/1B
HERMISTON/3A
82/53
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
140th Year, No. 213
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
ODOE
supports
proposed
wind farm
A WEEK AT THE FAIR
Transmission between two
sites likely to be contested
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Kenzie Gonzalez, 17, of Stanfi eld washes her black angus Simmental cross steer on Tuesday at the Umatilla County
Fairgrounds in Hermiston.
OINK, MOO AND
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO
Umatilla County Fair animals as varied as the kids who raise them
By ALEXA LOUGEE
East Oregonian
There are hundreds of animals on exhibit and up
for auction at this year’s Umatilla County Fair — and
almost as many kids to show
them off.
All residents can enter an
animal to exhibit. There are
22 cows, 35 goats, three sheep
and 166 small animals — like
rabbits — for a total of 230
animals on open exhibition.
Children involved in FFA and More online
4-H must meet requirements to For video of
sell their animals at Saturday’s some of the
auction. Most animals must animals visit
“make weight,” meaning they eastoregonian.com
must weigh within a certain
range to be eligible for market. Animals that qualify
are called “market” animals. Between the FFA and
4-H there are 170 market hogs, 43 steers, 61 lambs,
See ANIMALS/8A
The Oregon Department of Energy is
backing a proposed 500-megawatt wind
farm in Umatilla and Morrow counties,
though the project will likely be contested
because of its connection to the electrical
grid.
ODOE staff have recommended
approving the site certifi cate for the Wheat-
ridge Wind Energy Facility in a proposed
order Aug. 5. If permitted, Wheatridge
would add up to 292 turbines between two
main areas — Wheatridge West, located
entirely within Morrow County about seven
miles northwest of Heppner, and Wheat-
ridge East, extending into Umatilla County
southwest of Echo.
The two areas would be roughly 25 miles
apart, linked together by a pair of overhead
230-kilovolt power lines. Developer Jerry
Rietmann, of Ione, previously said they are
working out long-term leases with more than
20 landowners to build on private property.
Questions, however, still linger over a
transmission line that would run electricity
from the turbines to the power grid. Wheat-
ridge intends to have the local Umatilla
Electric Cooperative develop that line
separate from the wind farm. As such, it was
not included or considered in the project’s
site certifi cate application.
Rietmann has said the reason for this is
to create a single transmission corridor for
the region that can support multiple energy
projects, as opposed to each developer
building their own lines criss-crossing the
landscape. UEC says it is looking at a route
that would run along Bombing Range Road
See WIND/7A
Fair pays cash
but not booze
for headliners
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Ally McClure, 11, of Hermiston lulls her serama roster to sleep in the small
animal barn Tuesday at the Umatilla County Fair.
Oregon Election director resigned over
allegations of inappropriate comments
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The state elections
director resigned last month while
under investigation for allegations
he made inappropriate comments
to a female temporary employee,
records reveal.
Jim Williams, who had served
as head of the Secretary of State’s
Elections Division since 2013, was
accused of making inappropriate
comments and giving favorable
treatment to the woman, according
to the documents released Monday
to the Pamplin Media Group/EO
Media Group Capital Bureau.
The allegations came shortly after
Williams was investigated for
telling another female subordinate
that her problems getting along with
others were related to her being
“younger” and “prettier,” according
to an investigation report. The
report by the Oregon Department
of Justice was completed eight days
after Williams resigned July 19.
The
temporary
employee, related to the
most recent investigation,
was hired in December
2015 as an offi ce assistant
in the automatic voter
registration program at
the Secretary of State’s
Elections Division.
During her six-month
stint at the agency, Williams
Williams gave her two
raises, despite accusing her of
frequent absences and falsifying
timesheets, the report states. He
fi red her on July 17.
Williams would sometimes
look the offi ce assistant “up and
down in a way that made her
think he was attracted to her ... and
comment on her appearance.” In
February, he became “irritated”
when she didn’t meet him after
work at a beer garden set up on the
State Capitol grounds, according to
the report. Williams denied that he
invited her for the drinks.
Williams also called other
female
employees
“bitches” in front of her,
the report stated.
He was placed on
paid
administrative
leave June 30. He would
have faced termination
if he hadn’t resigned
July 19, according to
text messages between
Williams and his super-
visor, Deputy Secretary
of State Robert Taylor
Taylor wrote July 18 that he and
Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins
“no longer have confi dence in your
ability to manage personell (sic)
issues effectively.”
“As the records demonstrate,
the resignation of Mr. Williams
did not arise out of actions or
omissions that had any impact
on the elections process or other
program responsibilities of the
Elections Division,” Atkins said
Monday. “The issues investigated
arose from concerns related to poor
judgment in personnel issues.”
The Umatilla County Fair paid $30,000
for A Thousand Horses to perform Tuesday
night. Saturday night’s fi nale band, Creed-
ence Clearwater Revival offshoot Creed-
ence Clearwater Revisited, will get more
than twice that.
The fair is paying $9,000 for Montez de
Durango, while fellow Friday performer
Tormenta de Durango will receive $500.
Overall, musical entertainment at this
year’s Umatilla County Fair will cost more
than $134,000, and that does not include
the few amenities
the county agrees
to provide, such More inside
as warm and What does it pay
w e l l - b a l a n c e d to play at the
meals.
county fair?
The
East See page 7A
Oregonian asked
the county for
copies of the contracts, called riders, for this
and recent year’s entertainers. The county
fair paid $40,000 for the Oak Ridge Boys
in 2014 and $10,000 last year to Hinder and
to John Michael Montgomery. Most of the
contracts run beyond 10 pages and specify
stage equipment, power supply needs, and
include a host of demands, from transporta-
tion to booze.
If A Thousand Horses had its druthers,
the county would provide a 15-passenger
Ford or Chevrolet van and a driver that
speaks English, along with two bottles of
Jack Daniels or Bulleit Bourbon and two
bottles of Tito’s Vodka.
The Bellamy Brothers, who perform
Wednesday night, would like a dressing
room replete with two six-packs of Classic
See MUSIC/7A