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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2016)
Visit the Pendleton Round-Up Gift Shop for a free keychain CHARLES HODGES OF HERMISTON PHELPS SECURES 22 nd GOLD GIBBON FIRE GROWS OLYMPICS/1B REGION/3A FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2016 140th Year, No. 215 Your Weekend • • • One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD ‘Safety comes first’ Fair rides rigorously inspected and insured Creedence Clearwater Revisited at the fair Pendleton Rock & Roll Camp concert Friday First Foods Festival Saturday in Mission For times and places see Coming Events, 6A By ALEXA LOUGEE East Oregonian Catch a movie across from the fairgrounds. They said while they support the fair and wouldn’t presume to have it shut Operating a carnival is not all fun and games. Davis Amusement Cascadia has been bringing amusement rides to the Umatilla County Fair for over 35 years as one of its many stops in the West. Kathy Davis, booking agent with the company, has been coming with the carnival for most of those years. She said they are happy to provide fun opportunities for the community, but for her company “safety comes fi rst.” The company and its rides must meet annual requirements to be issued a state operating permit. Those requirements include an application with an attached inspection report and proof of insurance. That inspection is done by representatives of the insurance companies that provide coverage to the amusement ride company. Inspections must be current, having been done within 90 days of the permit applica- tion. Minimum insurance requirements in Oregon require at least $1 million in loss or injury coverage for every person who rides or comes in contact with the ride. Aside from state require- ments, Davis Amusement has its own safety protocols employees are expected to follow. The manufacturer of each ride includes a checklist of things to check daily, weekly and monthly. Each morning the carnival’s mobile offi ce sends out a clipboard to each ride operator with its attached inspection checklist. An hour before rides open to the public, the ride operator is supposed to run the ride, check it, inspect seat belts See EOTEC/12A See CARNIVAL/12A Disney via AP “Pete’s Dragon” For showtime, Page 5A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 95/62 99/65 96/61 Two airlines vie to serve Pendleton airport By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian SeaPort Airlines is trying to weather a possible sea change at Pendleton’s Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. With SeaPort’s Essential Air Service contract with the federal government expiring at the end of the year, SeaPort and a competitor gave bid presentations to the Airport Commission and other local offi cials Wednesday. The city needs to recommend a bid to the U.S. Department of Trans- portation by Aug. 24, which will determine whether the city will continue with the beleaguered SeaPort or the upstart Boutique Air. Both airlines offer similar packages to the airport — 21 round trips per week from Pendleton to Portland with options to trade some or all of the trips for direct fl ights to Seattle. But the two bidders covered different themes when discussing what they See AIRPORT/12A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Carnival workers assemble the Ferris wheel on Thursday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. Growing pains at fairgrounds could be eased by EOTEC By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The popularity of the Umatilla County Fair has the fairgrounds bursting at the seams each August, but some see a light at the end of the tunnel with the construction of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. The project on Airport Road promises 55 acres of new buildings and infrastructure, parking galore and 39 acres to grow on. For this year, however, the fair is still experiencing growing pains at its location in the center of Hermiston. “All the plumbing and sewer and electrical is so old, it’s been band- aided together,” fair manager Don Slone said. He said he is looking forward to infrastructure that doesn’t require constant intervention and creative solutions. Another piece he said everyone is looking forward to is on-site parking. Currently most fair- goers and volunteers have to fi ght for parking on Orchard Avenue, Highland Avenue and side streets for blocks in Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Umatilla County Fair Court maneuvers through one of the overnight camping areas on their golf cart Thursday at the Umatilla County Fairgrounds in Hermiston. every direction. “It’s a little awkward for a lot of the homeowners,” he said. Jillian and Corbet Weimer know about that. They live on Orchard INSIDER SPEAKS OUT Culture, mismanagement doomed Cover Oregon By NICK BUDNICK Capital Bureau Take a week off, wade through thousands of pages of court fi lings in Oregon’s long-running court battle with software giant Oracle, and you still won’t have the real story of how Cover Oregon failed and wasted more than $300 million, according to Tom Walsh, a longtime technology specialist and veteran of the project. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of words have been written about Cover Oregon in the two years since the state project to enroll Oregonians in ObamaCare imploded. However, an insid- er’s account has never been published until now. Other top consultants and former managers have routinely declined to comment, often citing the pending litigation. “I don’t think Oregon knows that it (has) a problem.” of professional consultants who bounce from state to state for months or years at a time, Walsh is typically the top-dog “systems analyst” who either leads or troubleshoots large IT project design or is paid to watchdog those who do, — Tom Walsh says Shari Benkiel, a long- Cover Oregon IT contractor time IT consultant who has worked with Walsh on seven “I don’t think Oregon large projects in fi ve states. “He is usually the fi rst knows that it (has) a person I call” to fi ll that role, problem,” Walsh says. Hint: it has to do with she says. “I call him ‘The Borderline Genius,’ ” she management. Jamie Valdez/Pamplin Media Group Both sides in the ongoing adds, because of his insights Tom Walsh, a veteran IT troubleshooter who worked on the inside of the Cover Oregon project, says the full litigation have struggled to into complex health care explain the massive scope technology projects. story of the debacle has never been told. With a Ph.D. in of the Cover Oregon failure, But Walsh is ready worked so hard on the ambi- which came despite a lengthy economics, and a resume that to speak out because of tious project, and how much head start and extra funding includes IT expertise as well continued public confusion was spent. from the federal government. as a stint as head of Medicaid He’d also like to prevent around Cover Oregon. The reality, according to for the state of Illinois, Walsh debacle when Walsh? Compared to other brings a level of technical, “I think people should another understand why it failed,” the state launches its next large projects, “It should fi nancial and management Walsh says matter of factly, big-ticket, taxpayer-funded have been easy.” See COVER/10A given how many people IT projects. One of the roving breed
