WEEKEND EDITION
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MAY 20-21, 2017
141st Year, No. 155
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WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
ECHO
Outdoor
theatre,
hotel
proposed
Could seat 10,000 and
also include restaurant,
RV park, light industrial
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A project being cooked up by
Kent Madison could double the city
of Echo’s tax base and solve its sewer
problems in one fell swoop.
That’s what Madison told a stand-
ing-room only crowd at Echo’s city
council meeting Thursday afternoon.
He and his wife Laura are looking
to create a development along
Thielsen Road between Echo and
the Interstate 84 interchange near
Stanfi eld that would include an RV
park, 10,000-person amphitheater,
hotel, restaurant, laundromat, light
industrial project and green space.
It would be quite the growth spurt
for Echo, population 704.
“It’s going to be different,”
Madison said. “I can’t tell you Echo
is going to be the same. You may
have to wait in line at the H&P Cafe.”
Since the development at full
build-out would likely double
Echo’s water and sewer needs,
overwhelming its current system,
Madison said he would be willing to
pay to build a new system and hand it
over to the city after it was complete.
Echo has been struggling for about
12 years to get a wastewater treat-
ment project going after the Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality put
the city on notice that the recycled
water it has been discharging into the
Umatilla River does not meet stan-
dards for biological oxygen demand.
The city is on its sixth extension of an
interim agreement with the agency
after running into roadblocks on
everything from shifting regulations
to a lack of viable funding sources.
The city notifi ed Echo resident
Michael Yunker in December that if
he did not voluntarily sell 10 acres
of his 65-acre ranch north of Echo,
the city could use eminent domain to
force the sale so that it could build
a pond and irrigation fi eld to take in
the water currently being released
into the Umatilla River. Yunker has
voiced strong opposition to selling.
Madison said he would be willing
to take that water and process it
which, in conjunction with a well he
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Leona White reacts after receiving a Bronze Star won by her father, World War II veteran Willard Nanegos, from Oregon State
Treasurer Tobias Read as her children David Close and Alana Nanegos look on Friday at the CTUIR fl ag day ceremony in
Mission. Willard Nanegos won seven Bronze Star medals for his service in the U.S. Army in the European theater in WWII.
Bronze Star returned to family
Presentation part of Flag Day ceremony
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion Flag Day ceremony.
Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read
While being treated at Percy Jones was on hand to give the medal back
Army Hospital in his native Michigan, to Nanegos’ daughter, Leona White,
Pfc. Willard Nanegos shared with grandson David Close and grand-
a local newspaper his experiences daughter Alanna Nanegos, who live in
serving overseas in the European Mission and are all enrolled members
of the CTUIR.
Theater during World
“Your father’s sacri-
War II with the famed
fi ces to this country
3rd Infantry Division.
will not be forgotten,”
“It seems as if I was
Read said as he handed
killed 10,000 times,”
the Bronze Star over to
Nanegos was quoted in
White.
the article. “I’ve been in
Nanegos, who died
that many tight places
in 1967, was a member
and thought I’d never
of the Odawa Indian
live through them.”
— Tobias Read,
Tribe hailing from
Nanegos was not
Oregon treasurer, as he
Charlevoix, Michigan.
killed in the war, but
handed the medal to
According to Close, his
he was injured twice in
Willard Nanego’s
grandfather came to the
combat — once while
daughter, Leona White
Pacifi c Northwest prior
driving multiple vehi-
to WWII to work on the
cles out of a burning
forest to safety. He fought in eight of Grand Coulee Dam in Washington.
Nanegos joined the Army the day
the 3rd Infantry Division’s nine major
campaigns, including the harrowing after the attack on Pearl Harbor in
Battle of Anzio that resulted in 43,000 1941. After the war ended, he settled
back in Oregon, where Close said he
Allied casualties.
For his heroism on the battlefi eld, had developed a bond with the Umatilla
Nanegos received seven Bronze Star people. It was here he married his wife,
medals from the Army, one of which Margaret White, daughter of Cayuse
was fi nally returned to his family
See MEDAL/12A
Friday during the annual Confederated
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
“Your father’s
sacrifi ces to this
country will not
be forgotten.”
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Bronze Star was recovered from a safe
deposit box of a bank and it was transferred to
the Oregon Deportment of State Lands. The
department of state lands maintains unclaimed
property for the state.
See ECHO/12A
Eastern Oregon hoping for dollars from transportation package
$8.2B funding package
to focus on traffic
congestion in Portland
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Legislators may be talking about
relieving Portland traffi c jams as they
design an $8.2 billion transportation
funding package, but Eastern Oregon
cities are looking forward to what they
anticipate will be some extra cash for
their communities too.
“We’re curious how it will all fall
out,” said Bob Patterson, Pendleton’s
public works director.
The plan that is shaping up would
raise $8.2 billion over 10 years via
a combination of gas taxes, fee
increases and other revenue streams.
The money would be used for
transportation infrastructure projects
across the state ranging from bridge
repairs to widening highways.
Patterson said Pendleton currently
gets $32,000 for every penny of the
gas tax, and the package lawmakers
are considering would raise the gas
tax by 14 cents. If the current gas tax
formula holds — 20 percent to cities,
30 percent to counties and 50 percent
to the state — Pendleton could get a
helpful boost in funds for repairing
and preserving its streets.
“(Street maintenance) adds up
to $2.4 million a year we should be
spending,” Patterson said. “We’re
currently at $800,000. We’re a third of
the way there. So anything will help.”
Hermiston Assistant City Manager
Mark Morgan said in the past, funding
for transportation projects has fl uctu-
ated unpredictably from biennium to
biennium depending on the whims
of the legislature. The result, he said,
is that cities have to go begging for
money every two years with no idea
of what they might get.
“If we can plan fi ve, six, seven
years down the road, we can be a lot
more effective,” he said.
Morgan said whatever the fi nal
formula ends up being, cities hope it
will provide some more stability in
funding.
Hermiston’s top priority for what-
ever funding comes the city’s way
is a multi-million dollar project to
widen and improve First Place from
See TRANSPORTATION/12A
Hermiston Offi ce:
Pendleton Offi ce:
GLENN SCOTT
JENNIFER OLSON
Veteran's Service Offi cer • 435 E Newport Ave.
Veteran’s Service Offi cer • 17 SW Frazer
Ph: 541.667.3125 • Cell: 541.848.8120
Ph.541.278.5482
glenn.scott@umatillacounty.net
jennifer.olson@umatillacounty.net
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