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East Oregonian
SNOW: More than 14 inches since Dec. 1
Continued from 1A
vehicles remained backed-up
on the Washington side of the
bridge and both directions of
traffic was closed. He said he
was working the long line of
tractor-trailers stopped along
I-84.
Coming the other way,
about halfway between
Kennewick and Umatilla, a
multi-vehicle pileup including
an unknown number of
semis and passenger vehicles
stopped traffic at about 2:40
p.m.
Caroline Jared, who lives
in Hermiston and works as a
nurse in Richland, was among
the first vehicles stopped
behind the wreck.
“I’m glad I did,” she said,
“I was next in line for the
dogpile.”
Tow trucks were working
to remove the wrecked vehi-
cles after 6 p.m., and Jared was
stuck with other motorists. She
has been commuting to the
Tri-Cities for the past 15 years
and said this is the worst wreck
she has seen in that time.
She also said on her way
to work Tuesday morning a
FedEx truck had rolled at the
same spot.
In Hermiston, a red sedan
sustained major damage to the
front end when it hit a maroon
Ford F-150 that was heading
west on Theater Lane at the
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
intersection of Highways 395.
Braylin McIntyre, who
was driving the sedan, said
he, his wife Katherine —
who is pregnant — and their
1-1/2-year-old son were all
safe and uninjured. Those in
the other car — two women
and three young children —
were also not injured.
“We had a green light, and
they had a yellow. (The other
driver) said she just wasn’t
anticipating me coming that
fast,” said McIntyre. “It’s
good they got farther ahead.
There were three babies in the
back of that truck.”
The collision mangled
the front of the sedan, and
the F-150 appeared to have
sustained some damage to
the back. The driver of the
F-150 said everyone in her
vehicle was safe but would
not comment on the crash.
Hermiston police were
on scene to direct traffic, and
the sedan was towed from the
intersection.
Hermiston and Pendleton
have both seen more than
14 inches of snow since the
beginning of December,
according to the National
Weather Service office in
Pendleton. That’s about
double the average for the
Dec. 1-Jan. 10 timespan.
———
Phil
Wright,
Jayati
Ramakrishnan and Daniel
Wattenburger contributed to
this report.
BUSINESS: Employees must pass background check
Continued from 1A
The OLCC will then
evaluate whether the building
contains all the elements
required by the state — a
video security system, a desig-
nated sales area and a secure
room where employees can
lock away marijuana products
when the store isn’t operating.
Brandon Krenzler, a
co-owner of Kind Leaf, said
his business will also be ready
for inspection by the end of
the month.
Giving a tour of the
building as the interior was
being painted, Krenzler
showed how they were subdi-
viding the one-time fabric
store to meet OLCC rules.
Krenzler is hoping to use
his marijuana retail experience
and connections as a writer for
cannabis trade publications to
offer a boutique atmosphere.
“We abstain from cannabis
leaf signage, green crosses,
flashing lights, that stuff,”
Krenzler said at the commis-
sion meeting. “It really makes
Sandy Boulevard in Portland
look pretty pitiful.”
Every prospective business
owner and employee will also
have to pass a background
check.
Not everyone’s record is
spotless — between 2004 and
2005, Krenzler was convicted
of several felonies and misde-
meanors, including burglary
and assaulting a public safety
officer.
Krenzler said he’s worked
hard to turn his life around
HERMISTON: Council will ask Umatilla
County to rename East Airport Road
Continued from 1A
Hermiston police officer Tim Miears helps directs
traffic Tuesday after a wreck at the intersection of
Highway 395 and Theater Lane.
since that time and is working
with a lawyer to get the
charges expunged. He hasn’t
been involved in a criminal
case in more than a decade
and said he was confident he
would be issued the requisite
licenses.
Pendleton police chief
Stuart Roberts wrote in an
email that he has met with
Krenzler and discussed his
criminal history.
Roberts, whose depart-
ment will be conducting the
background checks on behalf
of the city, wrote that the only
automatic disqualifier for
an applicant is a felony drug
conviction.
“A mere felony conviction
in itself is not necessarily
a disqualifier,” he wrote in
an email. “If/when felony
convictions are discovered,
the facts/circumstances of
the conviction are explored.
I characterize all non-drug
related convictions as discre-
tionary, because at face value
they may not tell the true
story of offense. I would be
concerned about (an) offense
that involves fraud and/or
violence.”
Roberts added that he
would also consider the length
of time between the convic-
tion and the application.
Roberts wrote that he has
not conducted official back-
ground checks on any of the
applicants yet.
OLCC spokesman Mark
Pettinger didn’t list any
specific disqualifiers the
state considers during a
background check, but did
say that the state also looks
into investors in addition to
owners and employees.
One such investor in Kind
Leaf is Jim English, a former
Pendleton Police Department
officer and Umatilla County
Sheriff’s deputy.
English said he retired
from law enforcement in
May 2016 to get involved in
private business and work
with his hands.
English said he had been
working with A-1 Construc-
tion Fence & Deck, which
eventually relinquished its
space to Kind Leaf. English
said he was helping Kind Leaf
with some construction work
when he was offered shares in
the company.
After considering the
moral implications and
weighing the pros and cons,
English accepted their offer.
English thinks his back-
ground can help Kind Leaf
shed some of the negative
perceptions
surrounding
marijuana.
“I want to see something
that’s professional, that’s
clean,” he said about the store.
If and when Kind Leaf and
Pendleton Cannabis open,
they could be followed by
others.
At the planning commis-
sion meeting, city permit
technician Julie Chase said the
commission would consider
another conditional use appli-
cation for a marijuana retailer
at a future meeting with more
potentially down the pike.
IN REPLY REFER TO: CRSO-EIS
Public comment period extended for scoping input for the Columbia River
System Operations Environmental Impact Statement
Tfe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and tfe Bonneville Power Administration
are seeking your felp to sfape our basin’s future. Togetfer, tfe tfree agencies operate 14 federal
multi-purpose projects on tfe Columbia and Snake rivers, known as tfe Columbia River System,
tfat serve tfe region witf fl ood risk management, navigation, power generation, irrigation, fi sf and
wildlife conservation, recreation, and municipal and industrial water supply.
We are preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) under tfe National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) to review tfe environmental and socioeconomic effects of tfe long-term system
operations and confi gurations of tfese projects.
To begin tfis process, tfe tfree agencies are fosting public scoping meetings tfrougfout tfe
basin. If you were unable to attend a scoping meeting in your area, you can also fi nd information
about tfe NEPA process and about tfe way we currently operate tfe system posted on our website
at www.crso.info. You can also use tfe website to provide us comments tfat can felp defi ne tfe
issues, concerns and tfougfts on system operations for consideration in tfe EIS.
Based on requests from a number of interested organizations, we fave extended tfe scoping
comment period to Feb. 7, 2017, in order to allow more time for development and submission of
written comments.
After tfe scoping period ends, we will carefully review tfe comments received to felp inform a
range of alternatives and impacts to resources for evaluation in tfe EIS. We are committed to
considering all regional perspectives and to running an open and transparent public process. To
tfat end, we will continue to provide opportunities for meaningful engagement and dialogue witf
tfe region after tfe scoping comment period closes. We all fave a stake in tfe operation of tfe
system and tfe environmental fealtf of tfe Columbia River Basin, so we encourage and look
forward to fearing your tfougfts and comments.
If you fave already sfared your tfougfts, we tfank you! If you fave not yet sfared your perspective,
tfere is still time to do so. Again, tfe revised public comment period for scoping will now conclude
Feb. 7, 2017.
Please go to tfe website for information about tfe NEPA process, or send your comments to
comment@crso.info. You also may mail your written comments to CRSO EIS, P.O. Box 2870,
Portland, OR 97208-2870.
Scott A. Spellmon
Major General
Division Commander
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Nortfwestern Division
Lorri J. Lee
Regional Director
Pacifi c Nortfwest Region
Bureau of Reclamation
Elliot E. Mainzer
Administrator & CEO
Bonneville Power
Administration
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
by Jan. 1, 2018, the city will
reimburse the company for
its building permit, system
development charges and
$10,000 for extension of
water and sewer lines that
will also make it easier
to develop neighboring
properties in the future. The
total package of incentives
is estimated to be worth
about $107,800.
In addition, Ranch &
Home will have space on
its 18-acre property for
additional retail devel-
opment. If the company
convinces a grocery store
of at least 25,000 square
feet to agree to build on
that space by Oct. 1, 2018,
then the city will reimburse
Ranch & Home $185,000
for road improvements on
the northeast side of the
property.
For every month that
Ranch & Home misses
those
deadlines,
the
financial incentives will be
reduced by 10 percent, and
the deal is off if the dead-
lines are missed by more
than six months.
Smith said parts of
Hermiston are considered a
“food desert” by the USDA
based on the ratio of grocery
stores to residents, and
Hermiston residents spend
an estimated $21 million
in the Tri-Cities each year
on groceries alone. He said
if Ranch & Home and a
grocery store come in, the
financial incentives would
be returned to the city,
county and school district
through property taxes in
just a couple of years.
The council unani-
mously approved the agree-
ment, along with a replat of
the three lots that make up
the Ranch & Home prop-
erty at 2500 S. Highway
395 near the Wal-Mart
Distribution Center.
Road renaming
On Monday the city
council also voted to ask
Umatilla County to rename
East Airport Road.
Smith told the council
that since the opening of
the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center, visitors
and delivery drivers have
been making complaints to
the EOTEC staff that they
got lost after ending up
on the nearby and similar-
ly-named Airport Way. He
said Airport Way is not a
wide road, and it is difficult
for trucks to turn around at
the airport and head back to
the highway after coming
down the wrong road.
On the other hand,
Smith said renaming East
Airport Road would create
its own set of difficulties,
as people try to plug in an
address that their outdated
GPS maps will say doesn’t
exist.
“We had conversations
with a resident (on that
road) and their reaction was
not real positive, which I
understand,” Smith said.
There are 19 addresses on
the road.
There are fewer houses
and businesses that would
be affected by a change
of name for Airport Way,
he said, but it would be
confusing to have the only
airport-related road name
not actually lead to the
airport.
Mayor David Drotz-
mann said he has person-
ally turned down the wrong
street after mixing up
Airport Road and Airport
Way, so he agreed it was
a problem that needed
addressed.
Councilor Jackie Myers
said she didn’t see anything
wrong with approaching
the county about “trying
to fix an ongoing problem
that’s going to continue to
be a problem.”
The council voted 5-2
in favor of submitting a
request to the county.
Downtown Parking
Before
Monday’s
regular
city
council
meeting, the council held
a work session with staff to
discuss downtown parking.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said a look
at Google Earth images
from the last 10 years
shows — in an admittedly
unscientific study — that
on average about 44
percent of parking spots on
Main Street are full, with
somewhat similar numbers
in other areas of downtown.
However, complaints about
limited parking downtown
is something the city hears
“all the time” from resi-
dents and business owners
who say people avoid shop-
ping downtown because
they think they won’t find
parking.
“Whether or not there is
an actual parking problem
downtown or not, there’s
a perception in people’s
minds,” Morgan said.
Some of that may come
from a “phobia” of parallel
parking, he said, noting
Google Earth images that
show parking lots full or
almost full even as most of
the spots along the street
are empty.
One low-cost solution
that both adds spots and
eases peoples’ minds about
having to parallel park is
turning some of down-
town’s street parking into
angled spots.
“That’s the low-hanging
fruit,” Morgan said.
He said the city’s
engineers had drawn up
plans to put angled parking
spaces for a block along
Gladys Avenue in front of
the library. The new config-
uration would add four
spots (each 19 feet long) to
the block, get rid of more
difficult parallel parking
and still leave travel lanes
more than 12 feet wide.
“We saw this as a
possible way to ease our
way into trying angled
parking, and it’s totally
reversible if people don’t
like it,” he said.
City councilors agreed
to consider a motion at the
Jan. 23 council meeting.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.