REGION
Saturday, December 3, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Staircase on the chopping block — again
Investigation leads to arrest,
recovered stolen property
East Oregonian
The Southwest 13th Street staircase
could get the go-ahead to meet its
demise, more than a year after the city
of Pendleton closed it for unsafe condi-
tions.
The Pendleton City Council will
consider approving the demolition of
the South Hill staircase at a council
meeting Tuesday night.
Although city staff has recommended
the staircase’s demolition previously,
some councilors have been hesitant to
pull the trigger.
The staircase was closed in
September 2015 after a man said the
poor quality of the stairs, which receive
foot traffic from children going to and
from the bus stop at the Pendleton Early
Learning Center bus stop, caused his
son to trip and hurt himself.
The city made the decision following
an inspection made by city engineer
Tim Simons and another professional
engineer, Dave Krumbein.
Rather than repair or replace the
stairs, staff recommended the city build
a gravel path at a Sept. 20 meeting,
giving pedestrians an alternative route
to navigate the bluff.
The council tabled the path
following concerns from several area
residents that the path would be unsafe.
When the path was approved Oct.
4, three councilors voted against it, and
the council requested engineers take
another look at salvaging the stairs.
According to a city staff report,
Simons, Krumbein and councilor Neil
Brown met Oct. 27 to do just that.
“Professional engineers (PE)
conveyed options and/or methods to
be non-conforming to engineering
practices; thus, professional engineer
would not accept liability for repairs,”
the report states.
Additionally, the city sent pictures
of the staircase to Nick Robertson, a
structural engineer with Oregon Bridge
Engineering Consultants of Eugene,
who wrote back Nov. 21.
“We believe that the load carrying
capacity of the existing staircase has
been significantly compromised as a
result of concrete deterioration,” he
wrote. “Although it is not possible to
be certain based on photos alone, the
observed cracking indicates that the
staircase has experienced permanent
deformation. Additionally, the existing
staircase appears to be functionally
obsolete, as the spacing of the
landings does not meet current OSHA
requirements.”
Robertson added that it would
not be “prudent or cost effective” to
repair the staircase and recommended
the city demolish as soon as possible.
Staff members estimated it would cost
between $190,000-$210,000 to replace
the stairs.
City workers finished the gravel path
Nov. 28 and the staff report invited the
council to walk the new trail.
Staff is suggesting the city demolish
the stairs after the installation of lights
at the top and bottom of the path.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836.
JOHN DAY
Rocky Mtn. Dispensary will be first in city, county
By RYLAN BOGGS
EO Media Group
Preparations
are
underway for Grant County’s
first medical marijuana
dispensary.
Owners Haley Olson
and Cindy Kidd said Rocky
Mtn. Dispensary will focus
on Cannabidiol oils, topicals
and edibles for humans and
animals alike, and they hope
to open the family-owned
business as early as Jan. 1.
Olson said the county
approved their proposed site
on Apple Road near Mobile
Glass of Oregon, and the
business has applied for state
certification.
The owners said they plan
to build their business using
local materials, services and
labor. They emphasized
selling locally grown mari-
juana, as long as it met set
standards.
“We need something to
spur the economy here and
to keep people from having
to travel out of the area,
EO Media Group/ Rylan Boggs
Cindy Kidd (left) and Haley Olson (right) stand for a
photo in Rocky Mtn. Dispensary, Grant County’s first
medical marijuana dispensary.
especially in the wintertime,”
Olson said. “You’ve got
cancer patients trying to
make that drive in the winter-
time, and it’s not safe.”
The dispensary will also
regularly host traveling
doctors from The Hemp and
Cannabis Foundation so
people can get their medical
marijuana cards locally.
There are roughly 150
cardholders in the county,
according to Olson, and they
hope to help more people
acquire access to medical
marijuana.
The building will feature
hefty security measures
mandated by state law.
Product will be protected
by multiple key-coded
doors, comprehensive video
surveillance and a well-lit
exterior.
“It’s like a vault,” Kidd
said.
The dispensary will
answer to the Oregon Health
Association, and all sales
will be tracked by the state
government.
They are also hoping to
strike a blow to the black
market and give those in
need a safe place to purchase
their medicine.
Kidd also anticipates
picking up customers from
Bend as more of their dispen-
saries convert to recreational
facilities.
“It’s going to create jobs
and keep people from having
to travel outside the area, and
keep the revenue here instead
of Bend,” she said.
The Grant County Court
voted Sept. 28 to pass an ordi-
nance allowing registered
medical marijuana patients
to purchase marijuana at
dispensaries in Grant County.
The amended ordinance only
allows medical marijuana,
not recreational, dispensaries.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hermiston sushi
restaurant opens Monday
The public is invited to a grand
opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony
at Kobe Hibachi Sushi Monday.
The celebration hosted by the
Hermiston Chamber of Commerce will
be Dec. 5 at noon at the new restaurant,
1055 S. Highway 395 Suite 100 at the
Cornerstone Plaza.
The eatery had a soft opening
the week of Thanksgiving and so
far 63 Facebook users have given it
an average rating of 4.9 stars out of
five. Its opening follows a trend of
new Japanese restaurants in Umatilla
County, with two recently opened in
Pendleton and another sushi place on
the way in Hermiston.
In addition to sushi the restaurant
also sells steaks, seafood, rice and
noodles. It is open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to
10 p.m. Friday through Saturday and
noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays. They can
be contacted at 541-567-6178.
Irrigon chamber hosts
farm, dairy
IRRIGON — A representative
from Threemile Canyon Farms and
Columbia River Dairy is the guest
speaker for the upcoming Irrigon
Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The no-host luncheon event starts
with a meet-and-greet Wednesday, Dec.
14 at 11:45 a.m. at Stokes Landing
Senior Center, 195 N.W. Opal Place,
Irrigon. The cost is $8 for members or
$10 for non-members.
For more information, contact
541-922-3857 or irrigonchamber@
irrigonchamber.com.
Retirement gathering set
for Tallman, Rea
HEPPNER — A retirement
reception is planned for Judge Terry
Tallman and Commissioner Leann Rea.
The public is invited to celebrate
the contributions of Tallman and
Rea to Morrow County. The event is
Friday, Dec. 16 from 2-4 p.m. at the
Bartholomew Building, 110 N. Court
St., Heppner.
For more information, contact
541-676-5613 or rlutcher@co.morrow.
or.us.
State of Oregon eases up
on pot testing regulations
SALEM (AP) — The state of
Oregon on Friday temporarily eased up
on testing requirements for marijuana,
two days after business insiders warned
that new rules would cause a drop
in state tax revenues, an increase in
black-market sales and layoffs in the
industry.
The Oregon Health Authority
said its temporary rules take effect
immediately and would provide relief
for the industry while maintaining
public health protection.
The authority, which is responsible
for adopting testing standards for
marijuana products for public
safety, said it is cutting three process
validation tests to one control study;
allowing a processor to combine
samples into one composite sample;
removing alcohol-based solvents from
testing requirements; and allowing
samples from multiple batches to be
combined for the purposes of testing
for THC — the element that provides
the “high” — and cannabinoids if the
batches are the same strain.
Samples from multiple batches,
even if they’re from different strains,
may be combined to test for pesticides
if the total weight of the batches does
not exceed 10 pounds, the authority
said.
Furthermore, the authority increased
the amount of homogeneity variance
in edibles and said the THC and
cannabinoid amounts required to be on
a label must be within plus or minus 5
percent of the value calculated by the
laboratory.
Beau Whitney, an economist and
marijuana businessman, said in a
study published Wednesday that more
stringent rules imposed by the health
authority in October, as mandated by
the Legislature, resulted in products
taking two to three weeks to be
completely tested in the state’s few
certified labs, with the product often
failing. He noted a drop of supplies of
cannabis products in both the medical
and recreational markets as there was a
bottleneck at the labs.
East Oregonian
Thousands of dollars’
worth of stolen equipment
was recovered by the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office this week.
Clyde Beldon Baker, 36,
was arrested and charged
with multiple felonies in
connection to the investiga-
tion.
According to a news
release by the sheriff’s
office, on Nov. 29 a Herm-
iston resident reported they
were missing an increasing
number of items from their
farm and suspected Baker, a
relative who was acting as
a caretaker of the property
and had moved to the area
around the time of the
thefts.
Detectives Erik Palmer
and Kacey Ward contacted
Baker, a convicted felon,
and found him in posses-
sion of suspected metham-
phetamine and a collection
of property reported stolen.
The property included a
horse trailer, industrial
generator, air compressor,
construction
equipment,
tools, horse tack, firearms
and ammunition.
Among
the
stolen
tools was a concrete
saw belonging to Knerr
Construction
that
the
company reported went
missing from either the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center or a construc-
tion site in Walla Walla.
The sheriff’s office
stated that Baker admitted
he was taking property
from his relative’s farm and
other locations in Umatilla
County and Walla Walla
County, then selling or
pawning the items.
Baker was lodged in the
Umatilla County Jail and
faces charges for several
counts of first-degree theft,
felon in possession of a
firearm, unauthorized use of
a vehicle, unlawful posses-
sion of methamphetamine
and supplying contraband.
Palmer and Ward are
continuing to investigate in
cooperation with the Walla
Walla Sheriff’s Office and
other law enforcement
agencies and expect more
charges to be added.
County transfers more
employees to the state
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Umatilla
County
continues its trend of trans-
ferring certain employees to
the state.
In June, the county board
of commissioners moved
the watermaster division
staff to the Oregon Water
Resources
Department.
While the county hired and
paid the employees, they
had effectively been doing
work for the state.
The board last week
approved a similar shift for
four clerical workers in the
Oregon State University
Extension Service.
County counsel Doug
Olsen said the employees
fill three-and-half positions
with a collectively salary
around $137,000 a year.
Rather than pay for staff, he
said, the county is going to
provide the money directly
to the extension service.
Commissioner George
Murdock said Jan. 1 is the
target date for the transfer,
but he cautioned that was a
“soft date” and the plan is
to complete the process as
soon as possible.
The board also gave
thumbs up to a plan to use a
Blue Mountain Community
College student to design
a website for the county’s
Human Services Depart-
ment, which provides
addiction treatment and
veteran services.
Department
director
Amy
Ashton-Williams
said when she came on
in June, the department’s
mission statement was
three sentences long and
did nothing to appeal to
people. And employees did
not know the mission state-
ment, she said, “because
they didn’t help build it.”
Ashton-Williams
led
workshops where the
employees established the
department’s vision and
core values and crafted
the new mission statement
and slogan, “Helping real
people make real change.”
But the department’s
website also was a clunker
and needed to change.
Ashton-Williams
said
she attended a meeting
where BMCC president
Cam Preus offered the
college’s services to take
on the task. Blue Mountain
recently started a website
development course, and
student John “Ed” Galjour
of Milton-Freewater is
advanced enough to handle
the job, which doubles as
his final degree project.
Galjour works three
hours a week for 14 weeks
to redesign the website in
exchange for one college
credit, according to the
training agreement, and
he does not receive any
payment.
Ashton-Williams praised
Galjour’s efforts and said
they deliver the benefits
of giving him a valuable
experience he can tout on a
resume while providing the
county with a better website
that doesn’t come with a
high price tag for taxpayers.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.com
or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at 333 E.
Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211 S.E. Byers
Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-966-0818
with questions.