41/35
ANOTHER
SNEAKER
TRAGEDY
SOARING
START
FOR NIXY
NORTHWEST/2A
SPORTS/1B
Obama grants
clemency to
Manning, 100s
of others
NATION/7A
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017
141st Year, No. 67
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Ice en-
crusted
snow forms
interesting
shapes in
Portland on
Tuesday. A
winter storm
left a layer
of ice on
Oregon from
Portland to
Pendleton
on Tuesday
night.
Ice covers much of Oregon
PORTLAND (AP) — Oregon
transportation offi cials shut down
two stretches of Interstate 84 on
Tuesday as yet another storm
pummeled residents who have
been grappling with record snow-
fall and an unusually harsh winter
in a place more known for its rain.
The 45-mile closure between
Troutdale and Hood River came
as an ice storm swept into north-
AP photo by
Don Ryan
More inside
The weather has canceled
school and other meetings
Tuesday and Wednesday.
For the full list, see Page 3A.
west Oregon, including parts of
Portland, in the early afternoon
hours. The closure from Pend-
leton to Ontario in the evening
came as the storm moved east
and temperatures stayed below
freezing.
An ice storm warning was in
effect in the east Portland metro-
politan region and the Columbia
River Gorge until 10 p.m. Port-
land was expecting one-tenth to
one-quarter of an inch of ice, but
areas east of Interstate 205 and
See ICE/8A
PENDLETON
Lawsuit
against
Hamley’s
co-owner
tossed out
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The lawsuit seeking to
oust Hamley’s co-owner
Parley Pearce from the
downtown
Pendleton
business has failed.
Circuit Judge Lynn
Hampton of the 6th Judi-
cial District dismissed the
third part of the lawsuit
from Hamley’s co-owner
Blair Woodfi eld, who in
September 2016 sued
to expel Pearce from
all things Hamley’s and
dissolve the four limit-
ed-liability
companies
that make up and control
the company’s operations
and brand. Pearce and
Woodfi eld each own 50
percent of the Hamley’s
companies.
Pearce called the
dismissal
good
for
Hamley’s and for Pend-
leton. He said it keeps the
business in hands that care
about it.
“The whole premise of
the lawsuit was to force
me to sell when I’m not
interested in doing that,”
Pearce said. “I’m kind
of passionate about the
company myself.”
Hampton at a hearing
in December dismissed
two-thirds of Woodfi eld’s
lawsuit. One claim sought
to dissolve the companies,
but Hampton said she
lacked the jurisdiction
to act on a company the
partners formed in Wash-
ington. She also dismissed
a legal maneuver that
would have allowed
Woodfi eld, as a share-
holder, to sue when the
company would not.
Hampton, though, said
See HAMLEY/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The HART (Hermiston Area Regional Transit) bus run by Kayak Public Transit drives down its route on West Moore Avenue Tuesday in Hermiston.
Hermiston catches the bus
HART saves residents from long walks in the snow — when it’s running
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston’s new bus
system is a big hit with the
people who have used it in its
fi rst two weeks of operation.
“I
just
think
it’s
wonderful,” said Rik Pedro,
who was riding the HART
home from visiting friends on
Tuesday afternoon. “There’s
a lot of people who don’t get
around as well as I do, and I
read all the articles leading
up to it and couldn’t wait for
the second (of January) for it
to get started.”
Pedro doesn’t own a
car, so he said he normally
gets around by “any means
possible,” including rides
from friends, bicycling
and walking. He said the
bus was saving him a long
walk through the snow in
neighborhoods where many
people still have not shoveled
their sidewalks.
The HART (short for
Hermiston Area Regional
Transit) is a white Kayak
Public Transit bus that makes
four loops, each about an
hour and a half long, around
Hermiston between 9 a.m.
and 4 p.m. Monday through
Friday. It started the fi rst
week of January via a part-
nership between the city of
Hermiston and Kayak Public
Transit, which is run by the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
The bus is free and open to
anyone.
Pedro was one of fi ve
people who used the HART
to get from one part of town
to the other during the last
loop of the day on Tuesday.
William Cowan, a retired
Hermiston resident, was
another.
Cowan owns a car, but it
broke down and he hasn’t
gotten it fi xed yet. On
Tuesday he needed to pick up
medication from the hospital,
but said it had gotten too hard
to ride his bicycle across
town on icy roads with piles
of snow blocking the bicycle
lanes.
“For now this is my best
option,” he said. “It’s a real
blessing.”
Tuesday was Cowan’s
fi rst time riding, and he said
he was planning on taking a
full loop around town to learn
the system and see where all
the stops are.
Telesforo Ortiz and a
friend got on at S.W. 11th
Street and W. Division
Avenue. They were headed
to the library, where Ortiz
said he was going to use
the printer and make copies
for a job application he was
submitting. He doesn’t own
a car and is excited to no
longer have to walk to the
store or other errands.
“I’m feeling happy to
have a bus in Hermiston,” he
said. “I feel excited when I
see it.”
Despite being in operation
for two weeks, the bus has
had multiple snow days. It
didn’t run last week and was
off for Martin Luther King
Jr. Day. Kayak Public Transit
reported on its Facebook
page that it had 12 riders
See BUS/8A
HERMISTON
AgriNorthwest adds Hale, Riverpoint farms to stable
Terms of December
deal with tree farm
buyer not disclosed
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
One year after purchasing
two-thirds of the 25,000-acre
Boardman Tree Farm along
Interstate 84, AgriNorthwest
is expanding its reach deeper
into northeast Oregon.
The company confi rmed
Tuesday it has acquired
Hale Farms and River Point
Farms, which together
operate nearly 30,000 acres
and employ 700 people
near Hermiston. River Point
Farms is the largest producer
of onions in the country
with customers including
Subway,
Chipotle
and
Costco.
Todd Jones, president
of AgriNorthwest, said the
deal with Hale Companies
closed late last year. He did
not discuss fi nancial terms of
the sale.
“This is a chance for two
strong producers to come
together,” Jones said in a
statement. “The Columbia
River Basin is a great place
to grow food. That’s why
AgriNorthwest has been
farming here for more than
45 years.”
Based in the Tri-Cities,
AgriNorthwest was estab-
lished in 1968 in southeast
Washington. Last year,
the company bought the
majority of the Boardman
Tree Farm, which is now
being converted to irrigated
corn and wheat fi elds.
AgriNorthwest
also
grows potatoes and carrots
throughout the region.
Hale Farms started out
in 1972 with 500 irrigated
acres purchased by brothers
Doug, Bob and Rick Hale in
the Butter Creek Valley near
Echo. In an email to the East
Oregonian, Bob Hale said
he and his brother Rick are
“excited about passing along
our teams and customers
at Hale Farms and River
Point Farms to AgriNorth-
west,” but declined further
comment.
In his statement, Jones
said the Hale brothers have
made the most of the land
and built effective teams at
both Hale Farms and River
Point Farms.
“We’re looking forward
to integrating these produc-
tive farms into our row crop
operations,” he said.
A spokesman for AgRe-
serves, the parent company
for AgriNorthwest, said
none of the companies
involved in the deal would
be commenting further. It
remains unclear how the
sale may affect operations
moving forward.
River Point Farms is
headquartered in Hermiston,
harvesting 6,000 acres of
onions around the area. It
recently invested in a new
$17 million fresh pack
facility off Westland Road,
which opened in August
2015.
Hale Farms features
a diverse range of crops
including potatoes, carrots,
peas, corn, blueberries,
alfalfa, wheat, barley and
grass seed.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.