Page 8A
BUSINESS & TECH
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Bank of
Eastern Oregon
announces 2016
dividends
HEPPNER — Bank
of Eastern Oregon has
announced shareholder
dividends of 75 cents per
share for 2016, beating
last year’s payment of 70
cents per share.
President and CEO
Jeff Bailey said the
upward trend is indica-
tive of the bank’s strong
capital position.
“The board of
directors and employees
work hard to improve
the overall strength of
the bank and add value
to our shareholders,”
Bailey said in a state-
ment released Thursday.
“We are pleased to be
in a position to provide
this dividend to our
shareholders.”
Board Chairman
George Koffler said the
bank has paid a dividend
during 30 of the past 31
years, which is reflective
of their financial stability
and profitability.
Bank of Eastern
Oregon operates 13
branches and five loan
production offices across
Eastern Oregon and
Washington. Branches
are located in Arlington,
Ione, Heppner, Condon,
Irrigon, Boardman,
Burns, John Day, Prairie
City, Fossil, Moro,
Enterprise and Pasco.
For more information,
visit www.beobank.com.
Digital law
firm open to
Eastern Oregon
residents
HERMISTON —
Eastern Oregon resi-
dents in need of counsel
on land use issues are
invited to contact Van
Vactor Law, LLC.
Land use attorney
Will Van Vactor lives
in Bend, but his law
office is a virtual one
that uses technology to
provide legal services.
Clients are provided
with a secure portal that
allows them to get case
updates, review docu-
ments, pay bills and
communicate directly
with Van Vactor.
Van Vactor is a
fourth-generation
attorney, starting with
his great-grandfather
Sam E. Van Vactor
who practiced law in
Heppner.
According to a news
release, Van Vactor
started his career in
2007 at Miller Nash
LLP in Bend and then
moved on to Merrill
O’Sullivan LLP. His
focus is on land use and
real estate, including
subdivisions, zoning and
real estate transactions.
His new digital law
firm can be reached
at 541-233-8517 or
through the email
function on www.
vanvactorlaw.com.
Woodshop class
selling sheds
to support
program
HERMISTON —
Hermiston High School
students are selling three
storage sheds made by
the school’s woodshop
class.
The wooden sheds
are four feet deep, six
feet wide and nine-feet,
four-inches tall at the
peak. While building
the sheds, students
learned measuring
skills, framing squares
and the use of various
types of saws and other
tools.
Anyone wishing to
see the sheds can make
an appointment with
Douglas Gallagher, the
teacher who oversaw
their construction. Silent
bids can also be dropped
off at the high school
or sent to Gallagher at
douglas.gallagher@
hermiston.k12.or.us.
The sheds will go to
the highest bidders, and
money raised will go to
support the high school’s
woodshop/construction
Saturday, November 19, 2016
ETP: No reroute for Dakota Access pipeline
Associated Press
DALLAS — The head
of the company building the
Dakota Access oil pipeline
said Friday that it won’t be
rerouted but that he’d like
to meet with the head of an
American Indian tribe to try
to ease the tribe’s concerns
about the project.
Kelcy Warren, the CEO
of Dallas-based Energy
Transfer Partners, told The
Associated Press that the
company has no alternative
than to stick to its plan for
the $3.8 billion pipeline,
which would ship oil from
North Dakota to Illinois and
which is nearly completed.
“There’s not another way.
We’re building at that loca-
tion,” Warren said.
Warren said he would
welcome the chance to meet
with Dave Archambault, the
chairman of the Standing
Rock Sioux, to address the
tribe’s concerns that the pipe-
line skirting its reservation
would endanger drinking
water and cultural sites.
Archambault, who was
with celebrity sympathizers
who toured the tribe’s
protest encampment Friday,
including the actors Shailene
Woodley and Ezra Miller,
said he’d be willing to meet
with Warren but that he
doesn’t think it would make
a difference.
“We already know what
he’s going to say — that
this is the cleanest, safest
pipeline ever,” the chairman
said. “What he doesn’t know
is that this is still an issue
for Standing Rock and all
indigenous people.”
The 1,200-mile, four-
state pipeline is largely
complete except for a section
that would pump oil under
Lake Oahe, a Missouri River
reservoir in southern North
Dakota. The Standing Rock
tribe fears that a leak could
contaminate the drinking
water on its nearby reserva-
tion and says the project also
threatens sacred sites, which
Warren disputes.
President Barack Obama
earlier this month raised the
possibility of rerouting the
pipeline, and Archambault
has told the AP that would
be acceptable to the tribe
as long as the new route
wouldn’t take it near the
reservation.
Warren noted that the
Dakota Access route paral-
lels the existing Northern
Border Pipeline, which
crosses the Dakotas as it
carries natural gas from
Canada and the U.S. to the
Chicago area.
“We’re going to cross
the river at that location,”
he said, calling it the “least
impactful” site.
The Army Corps of
Engineers in July granted
ETP the permits needed for
the crossing, but the agency
decided
in
September
that further analysis was
warranted given the tribe’s
concerns. On Monday, the
Corps called for even more
study and tribal input.
ETP responded the next
day by asking U.S. District
Judge James Boasberg to
declare that it has the right
to lay pipe under Lake Oahe.
The judge isn’t likely to issue
a decision until January, at
the earliest.
The matter might linger
until after President-Elect
Donald Trump takes office.
Trump, who owns stock in
ETP, has said he wants to
rebuild energy infrastruc-
ture.
Cowboy history fading as iconic saddle shop to close
By MATT PAYNE
Denton Record-Chronicle
DENTON, Texas — Out
of the nearly 60 years that
Weldon’s Saddle Shop &
Western Wear’s double doors
have swung open as cowboys
brushed their spurs against the
threshold, perhaps none of the
days were longer than three in
1996.
The Denton Record-Chron-
icle reports Bell Avenue
became a serious safety
concern for the family store
that sat flush against it when
the number of lanes jumped
from two to four, narrowing
the
sidewalk.
Kippie
Wilkinson, who’s worked at
her father’s store for 41 years,
one day seized a young boy
who began to dart out the door
before he ran straight into the
street.
Weldon Burgoon recog-
nized this hazard and took on
the challenge of hauling all his
merchandise and shelves into
a new location, the storefront
next door.
Three days soaked with
sweat ensued.
“It was a fun thing. I guess
we were lucky it was next
door,” Burgoon said, recalling
the puzzle of hauling furniture
up a ramp and deciding what
order to bring stuff in so that
everything would fit. “We
were proud we were able to
move somewhere to better
serve the public.”
The marquee atop the new
shop declared “A newer, safer
Weldon’s,” where patrons
could walk inside with ease
to find Burgoon racing down
carefully planned aisles that
Barron Ludlum/The Denton Record-Chronicle via AP
This Nov. 14 photo shows Kippie Wilkinson, left, and owner Weldon Burgoon inside
of Weldon’s Saddle Shop & Western Wear, which has been on Hickory Street in Den-
ton, Texas since 1957. Weldon’s will close its doors Jan. 14.
showcased what the store
offered like never before.
After nearly six decades,
his philosophy of keeping his
hands busy still holds true. But
since the family’s hands are
tied to other affairs, Weldon’s
will shut down on Jan. 14.
What was called a
sprinkling of many factors
contributed to the decision to
close. Burgoon, 86, admitted
he’s physically unable to labor
at the pace he’d prefer, which
first led to his decision to retire
at the end of this year.
Wilkinson was originally
going to take his reins since
he’d soon retire. Burgoon’s
grandson Clint Wilkinson,
who helped run Weldon’s,
would focus efforts toward
his own luxury goods store.
Called Wilkinson, it will sit in
Weldon’s original location on
East Hickory Street at Bell.
Trump claims to save
Kentucky auto plant
that wasn’t closing
By TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writer
DETROIT — Presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump
claimed Thursday that he
convinced the chairman of
Ford Motor Co. not to move
an assembly plant from
Kentucky to Mexico. But
Ford never intended to move
the plant, just production of
one of the vehicles it makes.
Trump said in a tweet
that Bill Ford, the compa-
ny’s executive chairman,
telephoned him with the
news that a “Lincoln plant”
would stay in Louisville.
Instead Ford decided to keep
production of the Lincoln
MKC small SUV at the
Louisville Assembly Plant.
Ford had previously said it
would move production of
the MKC out of the plant
in order to build more Ford
Escapes there.
A factory in Cuautitlan,
Mexico, was likely to get
the MKC. Under a contract
negotiated last year with the
United Auto Workers, Ford
agreed to invest $700 million
in the Louisville plant in
return for moving production
of the MKC. Because Escape
production would increase,
no Louisville jobs would be
lost.
It’s possible the deci-
sion to keep the MKC in
Kentucky was made before
the election, because Escape
sales have been falling since
July and additional produc-
tion capacity in Louisville
may not be needed.
On Friday, Ford would
say only that the MKC
decision was “recent,” but
spokeswoman
Christin
Baker wouldn’t say exactly
But after this past summer,
business reached an unprec-
edented low, and the shop
would often close early since
Kippie Wilkinson often had
to drive her parents, Burgoon
and Joy Weldon, to doctor
appointments.
“I’m property manage-
ment, old folks management
and grandchildren manage-
ment,” Kippie Wilkinson
said about her suite of duties
lately. “There were some days
when we had to close early,
and that’s not how a business
should operate.”
Weldon’s used to attract a
large number of high school
and college students eager
to work in the shop. Many
of these students were a part
of Texas Future Farmers of
America and participated
in “distributive education,”
which allowed them to work
at Weldon’s and count it as a
part of their curriculum.
That FFA program doesn’t
exist anymore, and even if
there were still a crowd of
potential employees lined up,
Weldon’s hasn’t been able to
afford needed employees for
months.
“Now, there’s so many bars
and restaurants in the area that
(students) can go work there
and earn much more from just
minimum wage than working
with us,” Kippie Wilkinson
said.
Altogether,
constant
construction downtown and
fewer advertising outlets have
put a significant dent in the
store’s business. The store
used to purchase cable TV
and radio ads when they were
cheaper, but without them,
foot traffic has seen a sharp
decline.
North Texans, neverthe-
less, have been able to “buy
from a real cowboy” for years,
and Burgoon ensured that
experience beyond his store
by living like a real cowboy.
He said he cherished
each of the local events he’s
been involved in. Burgoon
was previously the rodeo
chairman for the North
Texas Fair and Rodeo for 14
years, and let dozens of FFA
students mow grass, haul hay
and deal with farm animals
on his land five miles east of
Denton.
The event he most cher-
ishes is Mutton Bustin’, a
three-day competition at the
North Texas Fair and Rodeo in
which children ride lambs the
same way professional rodeo
riders get on bulls. Seeing
the Western spirit carried on
in youths spreads a wide grin
across Burgoon’s face.
Kippie Wilkinson’s son
Blake is the man nowadays
who labors at his grandfa-
ther’s land to bale hay and
tend to the animals.
He started working at
Weldon’s at age 11 cleaning
toilets on the weekends but
soon climbed the ranks. Now
in his adult life with children
of his own, he reflects with
satisfaction on his time
working in his grandfather’s
Western store.
Th anksgiving
Dining Guide
Thanksgiving
Traditional Dinner
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Bill
Ford
Jr.,
Ford
Motor Company Exec-
utive Chairman, speaks
during a 2014 news
conference.
when it was made or whether
Trump directly influenced it.
The MKC and Escape are
essentially the same vehicle
and are now built by the
same workers on the same
assembly line. But while
Ford has sold over 258,000
Escapes so far this year,
it’s only sold about 21,000
MKCs. So, moving the
MKC would have had little
impact on the factory even
if Escape production was not
increased.
Still, Trump claimed
credit for saving a factory
from moving to Mexico. “I
worked hard with Bill Ford
to keep the Lincoln plant in
Kentucky. I owed it to the
great State of Kentucky for
their confidence in me!”
Trump said in one of two
tweets on the subject. His
initial tweet said: “Just got
a call from my friend Bill
Ford, Chairman of Ford, who
advised me that he will be
keeping the Lincoln plant in
Kentucky - no Mexico.”
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