WEEKEND EDITION
PENDLETON
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THE DALLES
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LIFESTYLES/1C
JANUARY 28-29, 2017
141st Year, No. 75
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WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
BOARDMAN
PENDLETON
Standoff
suspect spoke
for hours with
police, family
Had an AK-47, three hand guns,
multiple magazines of ammunition
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
tractor game, mock french fry
processing line and video board
that displays where products are
exported around the world.
“People who come in
are typically very confused
about what they’re going to
see,” Davis said. “As they go
through, they’re just wowed by
all these industries located in
such a small region.”
Visitors normally would not
be able to tour these facilities,
A nearly eight-hour standoff on Wednesday
between a Washington man armed with an
assault rifl e and other guns ended in Pendleton
with a suicide. But its origin starts 333 miles
away in Shelton, Washington.
That’s where the Mason County Sheriff’s
Offi ce found the bodies of Tara M. Abernathy,
32, and Kenneth E. Koonrad, 34, on Tuesday.
According to The Olympian newspaper,
Tara M. Abernathy’s ex-husband, Jared Aber-
nathy, was the sheriffs’ only suspect.
Law enforcement couldn’t immediately
locate Abernathy and
sent out a notice to
other police agencies “If he wanted
with
information to engage, he
about the suspect and
could have
his vehicle, a 2006
Chevrolet Equinox.
sent out a lot
Pendleton Police
Chief Stuart Roberts of fi re into the
said his department
community.”
received the infor-
mation and shared — Stuart Roberts,
it during a daily Pendleton Police Chief
briefi ng.
Just before 1 p.m,,
Roberts said a Pendleton police offi cer spotted
Abernathy’s 2006 Chevrolet Equinox in the
Motel 6 parking lot at 325 S.E. Nye Ave.
As they contacted the Mason County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce and other authorities, Pendleton
police in plain clothes and unmarked cars went
to the area and started monitoring Abernathy’s
room, which was on the second fl oor and faced
north.
Authorities set up an emergency command
center at the nearby Red Lion Hotel, where
Pendleton police, Oregon State Police,
the Mason County Sheriff’s Offi ce, a U.S.
Marshals task force from Washington and
other law enforcement agencies began sharing
information and planning how to approach the
situation.
Police soon started calling Abernathy on
both his cell phone and the landline in his motel
room, but he didn’t call them back until around
3 p.m. when he briefl y opened his hotel room
door, noticed the police presence outside and
retreated back into the room.
Roberts said authorities approached him
with caution because they knew he possessed
an AK-47 assault rifl e and three hand guns with
multiple magazines of ammunition.
“If he wanted to engage, he could have sent
out a lot of fi re into the community,” Roberts
said.
During the early stages of police’s commu-
nication with Abernathy, Roberts said he could
See SAGE/10A
See STANDOFF/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A group of women for the Oregon and Washington potato commissions tours the SAGE Center on Wednesday.
Growing a museum
SAGE Center enters fourth year still fi nding its footing By the numbers
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The story of agriculture and
energy production in Eastern
Oregon is an increasingly
high-tech narrative, replete
with GPS-driven tractors, wind
and solar power and irrigation
pivots powered by the touch of
a smartphone.
So when the Port of Morrow
set out to highlight these
industries, it devised a modern
museum
with
interactive
features to show visitors where
their food and electricity comes
from.
Three years later, the
Sustainable Agriculture and
Energy — or SAGE — Center
continues to fi nd its footing
as a tourist destination along
Interstate 84, advertising as far
as Portland and the Tri-Cities
while also hosting local job
fairs and community events.
Kalie Davis, SAGE Center
manager, said they are seeing
signs of progress: last year’s
Morrow
County
Harvest
Festival drew more than 1,000
people in a single day, and new
television commercials boosted
general admission by about
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The SAGE Center opened its doors on June 1, 2013, and is
averaging 19,507 visitors a year.
14 visitors per day during the
month of June.
Annual visitation, however,
has been mostly fl at, averaging
19,507 people with no year-to-
year increase. By comparison,
the Columbia Gorge Discovery
Center in The Dalles had 27,795
visitors (not including tour
groups from Columbia River
cruise lines), and the National
Historic Oregon Trail Interpre-
tive Center in Baker City had
41,221 visitors.
Looking ahead, Davis said
the SAGE Center will continue
marketing to the Portland metro
area and Tri-Cities, with another
round of ads to begin in March.
Davis also plans to attend this
year’s Oregon Ag Fest at the
State Fairgrounds in April.
It is important, Davis said,
for people to understand how
their food is made, processed
and shipped. That’s what the
SAGE Center offers, through
exhibits such as a video
Here is a look at the number
of annual visitors, compared
to other museums in the area.
SAGE Center, Boardman
2013-14: 22,314
2014-15: 18,166
2015-16: 18,041
National Historic Oregon
Trail Interpretive Center,
Baker City
2014: 36,132
2015: 36,871
2016: 41,221
Columbia Gorge Discovery
Center, The Dalles*
2014: 34,088
2015: 38,130
2016: 38,399
* includes cruise line visitors
UMATILLA COUNTY DEVELOPMENT FUND
Days of ‘frittering
away’ funds are over
County looks for long-
term investment out of
state lottery money
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Umatilla County granted
local organizations and projects
$216,268 in economic and
community development money
since July 2015.
The total includes $300 to
Girl Scouts of America for its
Me and My Prince Victorian
Ball, $50 to a charity auction,
and $1,000 to the Milton-Free-
water Chamber of Commerce
for general project support.
Those are the kinds of proj-
ects the county will no longer
fund, said commissioner Bill
Elfering, instead focusing on
long-term investments with the
potential for economic returns.
The East Oregonian obtained
the list of grants via a public
records request to the county.
The county receives about
$300,000 a year from Oregon
Lottery revenue for economic
See FUNDS/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Guests enjoy the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce’s First Citizens Banquet
recently at Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Mission. The Umatilla County will no
longer provide grants for events