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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2017)
66/45 SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NAMED TO PROBE TRUMP-RUSSIA TIES HERMISTON FFA WINS BIG AT STATE NATION/7A REGION/3A THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 141st Year, No. 153 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON BENT, state, feds arrest four in drug raids Search warrants served at Wicked Kitty, Thur’s Smoke Shop and city residence By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Three drugs raids Wednesday in Pendleton resulted in four arrests, including of downtown business owners Jason Lybrand and Bryson Thurman. Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts in a written statement reported the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team served search warrants at 11 a.m. at Thur’s Smoke Shop, 34 S.W. Emigrant Ave., Wicked Kitty Tattoo and Piercing, 132 S. Main St, and a residence at 409 S.W. 11th St. Lybrand, 46, owns Wicked Kitty. Police arrested him there on probation violations, according to Roberts. Lybrand is serving three years See DRUGS/8A Lybrand Thurman Servi Hamilton ATHENA Mainstreet association buys old PGG store Will host meetings to collect input on building’s future use By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris BMCC president Cam Preus looks on Wednesday in Pendleton as EOU president Tom Insko signs a memorandum to establish a fast track transfer program that offers students the benefi ts of being able to co-register and co-enroll at both of the higher learning institutions. Seamless institutions BMCC, EOU to allow co-enrollment, create fast track transfer program By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The word of the day for Blue Mountain Community College and Eastern Oregon University was “seamless.” At a ceremony at BMCC’s Pendleton campus Wednesday, the presidents of BMCC and EOU signed a memorandum of agree- ment that enables co-registration and co-enrollment at both schools. Administrators from both institutions made short speeches thanking the people who made co-enrollment possible, which they said would make the transfer from BMCC to EOU seamless. With the Timberwolves mascot standing between BMCC president Cam Preus and EOU president Tom Insko, Insko said he was recently in Salem and heard other education offi cials talk about the diffi culties of transferring students from commu- See SCHOOL/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris BMCC is the largest source of transfer students to Eastern Oregon University, averaging 28 transfers stu- dents per term and 32 co-enrolled students per term. Athena is one of several Eastern Oregon cities that is home to an empty Pendleton Grain Growers retail store. But there’s hope it can be fi lled once again after the community literally took it back. After raising a total of $55,200 in donations to purchase and operate it, the Athena Mainstreet Association announced Tuesday that it bought the old PGG building on 459 W. Main St. In an interview “The longer Wednesday, April a building Vo r h a u e r - F l a t t , sits, the an association board member and project coordinator, more it falls explained how apart.” concerned commu- — April nity members started gathering last year Vorhauer-Flatt, to fi gure out what to association board do with the vacant, member 9,000-square-foot building. “The longer a building sits, the more it falls apart,” she said. The association volunteered to lead the effort to purchase the building and put it under community control. It raised $15,200 from local citizens, $20,000 from the Port of Umatilla, $10,000 from the Athena-Weston Education and Resource Enhancement program, $5,000 from the Watts Fund and $5,000 from Umatilla County for their campaign. People have bandied about a number of ideas on how to re-use the building, including turning it into a gym, a civic center or keeping it as retail space. The association plans on hosting a series See ATHENA/8A HERMISTON Man’s life turned upside down after not reading instructions Spent 20 minutes trapped feet up on inversion table By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Glen Taylor is just happy to be right- side up. The Hermiston octogenarian spent a harrowing 20 minutes or so stuck upside down on an inversion table last Thursday evening. He’d purchased the device after watching an infomercial about health benefi ts of inversion therapy. Advocates of inversion tables say hanging upside down can relieve back- aches, soothe arthritis, stimulate the immune system, improve circulation and otherwise counteract the effects of gravity. Taylor, who relies on a wheel- chair and walker to get around, was intrigued with the idea. He deals with both diabetes and back pain and is a lung cancer survivor. He had polio as a boy. He ordered a Teeter ComforTrak Inversion Table, which arrived several days later. A friend helped “I love the Taylor assemble the unit. The damn thing.” 82-year-old tested — Glen Taylor, the table a couple does not plan to of times with the give up on the friend spotting inversion table and liked how his back felt. On Thursday night, Taylor, who lives alone, found himself in the mood for a little spinal decompression. He climbed See INVERSION/8A Glen Taylor of Hermiston got stuck upside down in his Teeter ComforTrak Inversion Table and had to activate his Life Alert help button to contact local paramedics and police to help free him from his predicament. Staff photo by E.J. Harris
