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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2016)
REGION Friday, October 14, 2016 Storm’s a brewin’ Weather service says precipitation could be signs of things to come Staff photo by Antonio Sierra Senior meteorologist G.K. Hepburn points a map tracking airline lights across the northwest Thursday during a tour of the National Weather Service station in Pendleton. forecast to experience gusts up to 55 miles per hour. While Umatilla County winds should be less powerful — Pendleton’s gusts aren’t supposed to surpass 35 miles per hour — Weber said the strong southern winds might not dissipate until Monday. “There might be hope on the horizon: on Thursday,” said Weber, who said temperatures might rebound to the upper 60s and 70s by then. Despite a potential reprieve, the weather service is expecting winter conditions could prove wet and snowy. Meteorologist Mike Murphy said there’s a 70 percent chance a La Niña effect could occur — a cooling of the water in the Paciic Ocean that would mean average winter temperatures in Eastern Oregon with above average precipitation. Hydrologist Marilyn Lohman said the increase in rain and snow should help the region improve the drought conditions its experience for the past few years. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. HERMISTON Construction of rodeo arena begins Lease on old fairgrounds ends Dec. 31 By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Months after the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center’s irst building was completed, dirt is moving again on the EOTEC grounds. Construction of the rodeo arena is underway, overseen by Hendon Construction of Umatilla. “This is a very exciting time for the EOTEC Board, and for Umatilla County as a whole,” EOTEC Board Chairman Byron Smith said in a written statement. Despite some delays, members of the board and of Hendon Construction have said they feel conident the arena will be done in time to host the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in August 2017 — an important deadline, consid- ering the old arena will no longer be available. The Hermiston School District purchased the Umatilla County Fair- grounds, including the land the rodeo arena sits on, in 2012. The $3 million payment helped provide the Page 3A PENDLETON Wicked Kitty owner drug bust yielded pain killers, steroids The “Scheduled” charges refer to drugs under the federal Substances Court records show Controlled police found an opioid Act. The Schedule IV drug pain killer and an anabolic in this case is Tramadol, steroid in the drug bust a opioid pain medication, and the Schedule of downtown III drug is meth- Pendleton busi- androstenolone, ness owner Jason an anabolic Lybrand. steroid with The Blue several trade M o u n t a i n names, including Enforcement Dianabol, and on Narcotics Team the street goes by on Tuesday “Dbol.” arrested Lybrand, Pendleton 45, at his busi- Police Chief ness, Wicked Lybrand Stuart Roberts Kitty Tattoo & Piercing, 132 S. Main said information investiga- St., Pendleton, following tors gathered on Lybrand a court-sanctioned from people in the local search of his vehicles in drug scene indicated he September. The Umatilla had a reputation as a County District Attorney’s “one-stop shop” for illegal Ofice on Wednesday substances. The narcotics morning in Pendleton team during its search charged Lybrand with the also found 11.7 grams of and following, according to methamphetamine a copy of the indictment: 10.3 pounds of marijuana, two counts of delivery of some of which was ready methamphetamine; two for shipping. Circuit Judge Lynn counts of possession of meth; delivery of 5 grams Hampton set Lybrand’s or more of marijuana; bail at $150,000, He possession of a Scheduled remained in the Umatilla III substance; and posses- County Jail, Pendleton, sion of a Scheduled IV as of Thursday. His next court hearing is Nov. 3. substance. ——— The court entered Contact Phil Wright at pleas of not guilty to each charge, according to the pwright@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0833. records. By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Every three years, the National Weather Service in Pendleton opens its doors to the public. It offers people the chance to ask the region’s most qual- iied people one of the world’s most popular questions: How’s the weather? High school students and weather enthusiasts converged on the service station for it’s open house. This one happened to take place on the eve of a signiicant meteorological event. A strong storm is set to hit Oregon Thursday night, with gusts expected to reach up to 85 miles per hour on the beach, 65 miles per hour in coastal communities and 50 miles per hour in the Willamette Valley and the Columbia River Gorge. From Thursday to Saturday, the weather service is anticipating rainfall ranging from 3-4 inches in the valley to 6-10 inches on the coast. Although the west side will receive the brunt of the storm, meteorologist Douglas Weber said Eastern Oregon wouldn’t be spared from above average wind conditions. Weber said a wind advisory is in effect for much of Eastern Oregon from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday, with Heppner-Fossil-Condon area under a high wind warning, the latter town is East Oregonian seed money for EOTEC, and since then the county has been leasing the land from the school district. That lease ends on Dec. 31. On Wednesday Umatilla County Commissioner Larry Givens told the East Orego- nian the school district had declined to extend the lease to June in order to allow events such as collegiate rodeo to take place. Mike Kay, executive director of operations for the school district, said the district offered to extend the county’s lease through June 1, 2017, using the same terms as the current lease, but that was “not acceptable” to the county. However, he said that the district has reached out to the groups that were planning to hold events there and is working to make sure those events continue to stay in Hermiston. The Hermiston Senior Center has extended its lease to June. Kay said the school board would be discussing the district’s post-lease plans for the property during its next meeting. Randy Hull of the Hermiston Horse Sale Extravaganza said he still planned to hold the February and May sales at the old fair- grounds, in cooperation with the school district, before moving to EOTEC as soon as it is ready. “I have every intention to stay in Hermiston,” he said. The county, meanwhile, has until Dec. 31 to move all of the fair’s equipment over to the EOTEC grounds. The county commission recently approved $30,000 to build a secure storage site there, but also laid off fair manager Don Slone and maintenance head Ed Peterson, leaving ofice assistant Angie McNalley as the lone county employee at EOTEC after Saturday. Commissioner Larry Givens said there has been no decision about who will manage the 2017 fair. As construction of the rodeo arena begins, Kay (who volunteers as a member of the rodeo board in addition to his job at the school district) said the rodeo board is grateful to Hendon Construction for stepping up and making it possible to inish the arena in time for the 2017 Farm-City Pro Rodeo. “We’re very excited to be able to put these plans in motion,” he said. Smith said in a news release that in addition to starting construction on the rodeo arena, a contract for purchase of the barns to host the Umatilla County Fair in 2017 should be ready for approval during the EOTEC board’s Oct. 21 meeting. He said the EOTEC project in its entirety will result in a facility that can meet the region’s needs while not asking the commu- nity’s taxpayers to shoulder “crippling debt” to pay for it. “Too often with the development of large public facilities like this, the stakeholders get too anxious and end up making poor business decisions which end up saddling the public with major long-term prop- erty tax debt,” he said. “The community should be very proud that their patience and generosity has allowed the EOTEC Board to develop this project in a logical and iscally responsible manner.” ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. HERMISTON Music professor to present performance anxiety workshop East Oregonian The Umatilla-Morrow District of the Oregon Music Teachers Association, in partnership with the Oregon Community Foundation and the Nellie Tholen Fund, will present a free workshop for music teachers on performance anxiety. The event is Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Hermiston Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints, 850 S.W. 11th St. Diane Baxter, professor of music at Western Oregon University, will present “Stepping into the Light: Thoughts on Performance Anxiety.” The workshop is open to all who are interested; no pre-registration, membership or fee is required. Performance anxiety is a complex topic that involves how people think, feel and behave. The results of it may range from mildly discomforting to completely paralyzing. The workshop will introduce some of the causes of performance anxiety and will offer some tips on how to do your best under duress. Baxter is editor of The Oregon Musician, a journal for the Oregon Music Teachers Association. The association strives to foster productive relationships with schools, organizations, businesses and the media to promote music everywhere. For more information, contact Sue Nelson at musicdoc3@mac.com, 541-276-0346 or visit www.oregonmta.org. PORT: Has already invested around $50 million in infrastructure to serve the dock Continued from 1A “Though we are disap- pointed for our Morrow Paciic Project supporters, we are very excited to commence delivery of products to our customers,” King said. Though Lighthouse has stepped aside, the Port of Morrow will continue to ight to build a new dock. Joe Taylor, president of the Port Commission, said they have already invested around $50 million in rail infrastructure to serve the site. “This new dock will allow us to ship commodities in the same manner as our existing facilities,” Taylor said. “Without this dock, hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars are at stake for Morrow “It’s time to turn the page on coal exports in the Paciic Northwest.” — Jan Hasselman, attorney for Earthjustice and Umatilla counties, and Oregon.” Gary Neal, the port’s general manager, said he feels the state’s decision to deny the dock permit was politically motivated. Coyote Island Terminal would be built along a stretch of river in the port’s East Beach Industrial Park, between two existing terminals: one to ship grain, and another to ship biofuels. Neal is not sure what commodities might be handled at the new dock, but unless they build now, he said companies will continue to take their business elsewhere. “If you don’t have something available, those opportunities pass you by,” Neal said. “It’s unfortunate we lost Lighthouse for the jobs and capital investment. That commodity is moving. It’s just moving through Canada now.” Chuck Sams, spokesman for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, said the tribes maintain their stance that the project would harm tribal ishing rights guaranteed by the Treaty of 1855. “Again, we’re not against economic development in any way, unless it interferes with or infringes on our treaty rights, which are guar- anteed by both the treaty and the U.S. Constitution,” Sams said. Jan Hasselman, attorney for Earthjustice who represents Columbia Riverkeeper and other environmental groups, said Lighthouse’s decision to abandon the project in the middle of its own appeal shows the project never had a legitimate chance to move forward. “It’s time to turn the page on coal exports in the Paciic Northwest,” Hasselman said. The port believes other- wise. It purchased the land along the shore back in 1967 from the Army Corps, Neal said. The land had been condemned after it was looded by the construction of the John Day Dam. Under the terms of the agreement, the now-looded land was to be used for “port or industrial facilities.” The Coyote Island Terminal is just one of two remaining sites for major industrial development in the John Day Pool of the Columbia River, Neal said. Mark Your Calendars! OCTOB 3rd Annual Crab Feed 21 Mission Longhouse (aka Crab Shack) October 21st @ 5pm Tickets are $25 each (All You Can Eat!) October 14th • 5:30 pm • Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese Contact Lisa to Purchase at 541.278.7542 All Profi ts Go Toward Building of the New Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center Or email lisafusselman@yellowhawk.org Or via PayPal by visiting http://yellowhawk.org/crab-feed/ • Salad Bar • Rolls and Dessert Proceeds to benefit Pendleton Elks’ Charities Pendleton Elks Lodge #288 14 SE 3rd, Pendleton 509-948-2163 • 541-276-3882 ER The 3rd Annual Yellowhawk Crab Feed will be held at the Friday Night D inner Fried Chicken The Department of State Lands found the proposal did not adequately consider alternatives that would have less impact on the river and tribal isheries. “We just need to convince the (state) they were incor- rect,” Neal said. A hearing is scheduled on the appeal before an administrative law judge in November. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. YELLOWHAWK TRIBAL HEALTH CENTER Entertainment: James Dean Kindle and the Eastern Oregon Playboys
