RIVALRY THRILLER
The Hermiston High School’s Stardust dance team combines with the Pendleton High School’s Rhythmic
Mode dance team to perform Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” during the halftime show of the Bulldogs’
13-12 victory over the Bucks on Friday in Hermiston. For more see Sports 1B. Staff photo by E.J. Harris
WEEKEND, OCTOBER 29-30, 2016
141st Year, No. 10
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Verdict
could
inspire
others
PENDLETON
Council will
take another
pass at pot
zoning regs
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The Pendleton City
Council has resisted legal-
izing marijuana sales for two
years, but after Nov. 8, they
might not have a choice.
A week before an
Election Day where voters
will have the option of
legalizing both medical
and recreational marijuana
sales, the city council will
revisit its zoning codes for
retailers. There was a sense
of déjà vu for the Pendleton
Planning Commission at a
meeting Thursday, which
had discussed and recom-
mended similar rules to the
city council in April 2015.
Although the members of
the Pendleton City Council
approved marijuana zoning
regulations a few weeks
later, they balked at making
medical marijuana dispensa-
ries legal.
The draft amendments
to the unifi ed development
code the planning commis-
sion had before them on
Thursday were authored by
City Attorney Nancy Kerns
See PENDLETON/10A
CHARLES EASTON
OF HERMISTON
Visit Rick’s Car Wash
in Hermiston for a
free deluxe wash
$1.50
Acquittal raises fears
that militant groups
could get bolder
Work session
explores project’s
future, potential
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
An Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center work session held Friday
featured plenty of discussion, but no
fi rm answers on who will run the 2017
Umatilla County Fair.
The fi ve-hour work session, held
after the EOTEC board’s regular
business meeting, covered operations,
staffi ng, maintenance and fee sched-
ules.
First, however, the board took time
to review the history of the EOTEC
project and appreciate how far they
have come in building a multi-million
dollar facility with no general obliga-
tion bonds.
“People just basically laughed at us
when we gave our fi rst presentation,”
Dan Dorran said. “... It takes a long time
to explain that you’re going to build a
$21 million facility with no money.”
That dream has since been scaled
down, but as the fi nished project comes
closer to reality, the board is looking to
tackle questions about what happens
when the last nail is in.
Staffi ng
EOTEC’s current staff comprises
full-time business manager Heather
Cannell, full-time administrative event
assistant Cyndie Driscoll, plus a quarter
of a fi nancial position at the city of
Hermiston. Cannell said she relies on
See EOTEC/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Construction crews work on the rodeo arena Friday at the EOTEC
grounds south of Hermiston.
Board approves 50-year lease
with Farm-City Pro Rodeo
East Oregonian
The Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center board approved
a lease with the Farm-City Pro
Rodeo during its regular meeting
Friday morning.
The board had examined
a 50-year lease last week that
would grant the mercantile area
outside the rodeo grounds to
the Farm-City Pro Rodeo for
a one-time payment of $50.
After city and county offi cials
expressed concerns about how
cutting such deals would affect
EOTEC’s fi nancial viability, the
revised lease approved Friday was
a 30-year lease for $500 per year.
The lease acknowledged the
rodeo board’s plans to make signif-
icant improvements to the property,
and to allow EOTEC to use the
mercantile area for events when the
rodeo is not using it. If the rodeo
board wants to use the mercantile
area at the same time another event
is being held in another area of
EOTEC, the updated lease states
that the EOTEC event takes prece-
dence if there is any confl ict.
The board also discussed
bringing the trailer that used to
house the EOTEC offi ces from
the Stafford Hansell Government
Building in order to provide a base
for law enforcement and medical
help to operate out of during the
fair or if the grounds were being
used for some sort of emergency.
The EOTEC board of directors met Friday to discuss the
staffi ng and operational needs of the new facility.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
PORTLAND — The
stunning acquittal of seven
people who occupied a
federal wildlife sanctuary
during an armed standoff
raised fears Friday that the
verdict could embolden
other militant groups in a
long-running dispute over
government-owned Western
lands.
Meanwhile, a juror said
the decision was a rejection of
the prosecution’s conspiracy
case, not an endorsement of
the defendants’ actions.
Supporters of Ammon
Bundy celebrated the verdict
and said it could invite more
confrontations. The govern-
ment’s top federal land
offi cial, Interior Secretary
Sally Jewell, issued a state-
ment urging all employees to
“remain vigilant and report
any suspicious activity.”
An activist from Boise,
Idaho, who once camped
by a memorial to occupier
LaVoy Finicum at the site
where he was shot dead by
police, predicted that the
verdict would encourage
others to act.
“I think a lot more people
will be revolting, rebelling
and standing up against
what we see as a tyrannical
government,” William C.
Fisher said in a telephone
interview.
The 41-day takeover of
the Malheur National Wild-
life Refuge last January in
remote eastern Oregon was
part of a larger debate about
the use of federal lands in
the West. The militants led
by Bundy, a small business
owner from Arizona, wanted
to hand the refuge over to
local offi cials, saying the
federal government should
not have dominion over it.
The U.S. government
owns nearly half of all land
in the West, compared with
only 4 percent in other states,
according to the Congres-
sional Overview of Federal
Land Ownership.
One of the jurors in the
case asserted Friday that
the panel was not endorsing
militancy to resolve those
issues.
The juror, identifi ed only
See TRIAL/10A