REGION
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
HERMISTON
Two seriously hurt in 395 crash
East Oregonian
A couple from Spray was
seriously injured Tuesday in
a two-vehicle crash at the
intersection of Highway 395
and Oldfield Road north of
Hermiston.
According to Oregon
State
Police,
Francis
Browning, 78, was driving
a 1993 Chevrolet Astrovan
and pulled onto the highway
from Oldfield Road into the
path of a 2014 Chevrolet
Impala
heading
south
driven by Ignacio Ornelas
Garay, 29, from Hermiston.
Donna Browning, 90, was a
passenger in the van.
The vehicles collided and
both left the roadway, with
the van flipping on its side.
Francis Browning wasn’t
wearing a seatbelt, according
to OSP, and was partially
ejected from the vehicle.
Emergency responders
from Umatilla County Fire
District 1 extricated both
occupants from the van,
according to fire chief Scott
Stanton, while Garay was
able to get out of his vehicle
under his own power. He
was treated at the scene and
taken by a private vehicle
to Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston.
The Brownings were
taken by ambulance to the
same hospital and then
flown by Life Flight to
Kadlec Medical Center with
life-threatening injuries.
Staff photo by Daniel Wattenburger
Umatilla County Fire District 1 responders load an injured person into an ambu-
lance Tuesday after a two-vehicle wreck on Highway 395 north of Hermiston. Three
people were injured in the crash.
The highway was shut
down for about an hour.
Crashes
during
the
weekend
were
almost
a constant on icy state
roads. Oregon State Police
responded to more than
20 wrecks in Umatilla and
Morrow counties, and most
— even rollovers — resulted
in no injuries.
But a Hermiston man
needed an ambulance ride
after his Lincoln Navigator
spun out Friday around
7:50 a.m. on the Umatilla
River bridge near Stanfield.
The car struck the concrete
barriers on both sides of the
road, and the driver went
to Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston, for treat-
ment.
And around 12:30 p.m.
Friday a Ford F150 pickup
heading west on Interstate 84
near milepost 226 slammed
into the rear of a Toyota
Corolla. An ambulance took
one person from the Toyota
to a hospital.
Medics also treated
people for minor injuries
at crash scenes, including
a 21-year-old Pendleton
man who suffered a cut to
his face after he lost control
of a GMC Sierra around 2
a.m. Saturday on Highway
11 a couple of miles outside
Pendleton.
That road was the scene
of a another wreck around
10:40 a.m. Saturday when
a Jeep Wrangler with two
adults and two children
skidded off the slippery
surface near milepost 9. The
vehicle rolled and came to
stop on its top, but everyone
escaped uninjured.
ATHENA
Nonprofit closer to buying old PGG building
Port of Umatilla
pledges $20,000
matching donation
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Port of Umatilla has
agreed to donate $20,000
to a nonprofit organization
trying to buy and repurpose
the former Pendleton Grain
Growers general store in
downtown Athena.
Port commissioners voted
3-0 to approve the request
Tuesday, following a brief
presentation from the Athena
Main Street Association.
Commissioner Jerry Simpson
abstained from voting, since
he is also a member of the
PGG Board of Directors.
The association is raising
money to buy the building at
459 W. Main St., which has
remained empty since PGG
decided to close retail stores
in 2014. The co-op is now
in the process of dissolving
entirely.
April
Vorhauer-Flatt,
board member with the
Athena Main Street Associ-
ation, said PGG is charging
$50,000 to purchase the
9,000-square-foot building.
“That’s a pretty smoking
deal,” Vorhauer-Flatt said.
Community
members
have already contributed
$15,200 so far, including
a meeting earlier this year
where 11 Athena and Weston
residents gave $1,000 each.
Vorhauer-Flatt said the
association plans to raise
$20,000 on its own, and is
seeking $20,000 in matching
funds from both the port and
Umatilla County to cover the
total cost.
The port pledged its
$20,000 share Tuesday, on
the condition the association
reaches its own $20,000
goal.
“Since (PGG) left a couple
of years ago, it’s been sorely
missed,” Vorhauer-Flatt said.
“We really need more ameni-
ties in Athena.”
Once they are able to buy
the property, Vorhauer-Flatt
said the Athena Main Street
Association will schedule
public meetings to hear from
locals about what they’d like
to see the building become.
Ideas include another farm
store, or a space for commu-
nity events.
PGG has already invested
in a new roof and restrooms
for the building, and Vorhau-
er-Flatt said a new business
could move in relatively
quickly.
“Even if it doesn’t become
anything like a hardware
store, we’re just recognizing
that this is kind of a corner-
stone for us,” she said.
In other port business,
commissioner John Turner
officially resigned Tuesday
as he prepares to become
Pendleton’s next mayor. A
majority of board members
voted to appoint Robert
Blanc, who works as a
financial advisor for Edward
Jones in Pendleton, as Turn-
er’s replacement.
Commissioners Simpson,
Kurt Bendixsen and Jerry
Imsland voted for Blanc,
while Jerry Baker cast his
Page 3A
vote for Umatilla County
Planning Director Tamra
Mabbott.
Dave Tovey,
executive director for the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
also applied for the job.
Blanc will finish the
remainder Turner’s term,
which runs through June
17, 2017. Blanc has also
indicated he plans to run for
the seat.
Turner said serving the
port was a good professional
and learning experience,
and he foresees good things
coming for the district in the
future.
Bendixsen added that
he was encouraged by the
quality of candidates who
expressed interest in the
position this time around.
“That says a lot about
where
we’re
going,”
Bendixsen said. “That’s
exciting to me.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
Courthouse bomb
threat sends staff
out, police in
PENDLETON — A
bomb threat Tuesday
afternoon prompted the
evacuation of the Umatilla
County Courthouse,
Pendleton.
Pendleton Police Chief
Stuart Roberts said a male
at about 12:40 p.m. called
the county’s emergency
communications center and
reported he placed bombs
around the courthouse at
216 S.E. Fourth St. and did
not mention other county
buildings. A dispatcher tried
to get more information,
Roberts said, but the caller
swore and disconnected.
Courthouse staff
evacuated the building and
most gathered nearby at the
county heath department.
Pendleton police and the
county sheriff’s office
responded. Law enforce-
ment blocked traffic near
the courthouse, and police
and courthouse security
checked the building.
That took some time,
the chief, said, given the
size of the courthouse
and the number of rooms
it contains. The county
opened the building to
business as usual, though,
once police found no threat.
Roberts also said the
communications center
determined the caller was
in Pendleton but used a
pre-paid cellphone. Tracing
the number, he said, could
be downright impossible.
Still, police will investigate,
he said, and he encouraged
anyone with information
to call the department at
541-276-4411.
Leaking pipe
releases sodium
sulfite into Mac-Hi
MILTON-FREE-
WATER — Crews fixed a
leaking boiler pipe in the
basement of McLoughlin
High School Monday
evening, which released
sodium sulfite into steam
that entered the building,
according to a news release
from the Milton-Freewater
Unified School District.
No students were in
the building, as school
was closed Monday due
to weather. Sodium sulfite
is a chemical that can be
harmful to people with
respiratory problems.
Superintendent Rob Clark
said he is in touch with an
industrial hygienist, John
Price with PBS Engineering
and Environmental Inc.,
who will be at the school
Tuesday afternoon for
evaluation.
Price said there was no
issue with school opening
Tuesday, according to
Clark. Classes are in session
on a late-start schedule,
and Clark said doors were
left open on the first floor
hallway to help clear the
chemical smell.
“At no time were any
children or adults in danger
during this situation,” Clark
said.
City buys three
foreclosed homes in
Sunridge Estates
PENDLETON — The
city of Pendleton is the
owner of three foreclosed
houses in the Sunridge
Estates development. The
properties were among
21 lots in the failed local
improvement district in
Pendleton.
The Umatilla County tax
department foreclosed on
the lots earlier this year and
set them for auction on Nov.
1, but just one sold at the
time. That opened the door
for the county to accept
written bids 30 days later,
including from the city.
The county at the
auction tried to sell the lots
for $49,960, $36,050 and
$38,830. But the county
board of commissioners last
week approved the city’s bid
to buy the lots for $34,724,
$25,056 and $26,988.
Developer Dusty Pace
also won one lot with a high
bid of $36,100. The same
lot, though, would have sold
for $35,010 at the auction.
The county
commissioners also
approved the sales of a
foreclosed house at 810
S.W. Sixth St., Pendleton,
for $8,500 and another on
the 300 block of Southeast
Third Street, Pendleton,
for $13,617.
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