REGION
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Self-service gas
Lybrand goes to court in wake of bust
could go 24/7
More online
in 15 rural
Oregon counties
were reasons for revocation.
Lybrand began serving
three years probation on
Pendleton business owner April 4 after pleading guilty
Jason Lybrand has a court in Umatilla County Circuit
hearing Wednesday afternoon Court to one count each of
to answer the charge of methamphetamine posses-
sion, a felony, and
violating his drug
marijuana delivery,
crimes probation.
a misdemeanor.
The local anti-
Lybrand’s plea
drug task force on
deals also required
May 17 arrested
he write a letter
Lybrand,
46,
of apology to his
during a sweep in
mother, which the
Pendleton. The next
district attorney’s
day Rick Partlow,
office was required
Umatilla County
to approve. The
parole and proba- Lybrand
two-paragraph
tion
supervisor,
letter arrived May
asked the Umatilla
County Circuit Court to 3 and the district attorney’s
revoke Lybrand’s probation, victim assistance program
rejected the letter.
according to public records.
“Unfortunately,
your
Partlow said that law
enforcement
officers letter is unacceptable,” wrote
informed him they served a the program’s response.
warrant to search Lybrand’s “A letter of apology should
tattoo and adult business in express your remorse and
downtown Pendleton and demonstrate your willingness
found a scale with possible to accept responsibility
marijuana residue and .40 for your actions. Under no
caliber ammunition, both of circumstances should a letter
which were prohibited condi- of apology offer excuses for
tions of his probation and what you did, shift the blame
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
For a copy of Lybrand’s
rejected letter of apology
visit eastoregonian.com
to others, should not ask for
their forgiveness or make
promises.”
Lybrand in his letter
thanked his mother for
standing by him “through
these trials and tribulations
and mistakes.”
“I know its been hard,”
he continued, “with the press
and the DA and general public
demonizing your son.”
He also apologized to her
for “putting you in a situation
where the DA ridiculed you
and treated you so poorly like
you were a red headed step
child.” And he apologized
“for the bad press this (has)
created for the family and
how it has disrespected the
Lybrand name.”
Lybrand also promised his
mother and dead father “I will
brush myself off, pull up my
bootstraps and make it happen
as you have taught me.”
Lybrand had ten days to
provide a new letter or face
possible contempt of court.
Court records show no new
letter. The Blue Mountain
Enforcement
Narcotics
Team, along with local, state
and federal officers, served
search warrants at two other
locations the day they picked
up Lybrand.
Police arrested Michael
Hamilton, 27, at his home
at 409 S.W. 11th St., for
possession of controlled
substances,
delivery
of
controlled
substances,
endangering the welfare
of a minor and frequenting
a place where controlled
substances are used. And
the team hit Thur’s Smoke
Shop, 34 S.W. Emigrant Ave.,
where police arrested owner
Bryson Thurman, 28, and his
employee, Cody K. Servi,
26, for delivery of controlled
substances and possession of
marijuana products.
Lybrand is the only one
of the four to still be in the
Umatilla County Jail, Pend-
leton, and thus far the only
one to face charges stemming
from the raid.
PENDLETON
New Italian restaurant to open in June
East Oregonian
In the wake of the closure
of Como’s Corner Bistro in
2013, another restaurant is
attempting to make up for
the lack of Italian cuisines in
Pendleton.
Across the street from the
old Como’s location, Pend-
leton resident Orley Grove
plans to open a new Italian
eatery, Fattonies (pronounced
Fat Tony’s), at 105 S.E. Court,
the restaurant space built
into The Marigold Hotel that
was formerly occupied by
Govinda’s Garden Buffet.
A 16-year veteran of the
food service industry, Grove
said it has long been his dream
to open his own restaurant.
With experience working
in the kitchens at Red Lion
Hotel and Oxford Suites,
Grove is currently a food
buyer for Wildhorse Resort &
Casino.
Grove said Fattonies will
serve steaks, pasta, seafood
and other dishes in Italian
styles. His goal is to open the
restaurant in June.
Besides pizza parlors,
Pendleton has been unable
to sustain a sit-down Italian
restaurant for several years.
After nearly a decade of
operation, Como’s closed its
doors following a few years
of sluggish sales.
Former Pendleton city
councilor Al Plute opened
Giorgio’s Cucina Italiano at
the St. George Plaza in 2014,
only to close it nine months
later when he decided to retire.
Fattonies’
impending
opening also seems to spell
the end of Govinda’s Garden’s
Pendleton location.
When Stetson’s Steak-
house moved to Hermiston
in 2014, Govinda’s Garden
opened the following year,
specializing in vegetarian
Indian cuisine.
At the end of 2016, Govin-
da’s Garden closed its Pend-
leton restaurant as it moved
to College Place. Although
a note on the front door said
the Pendleton restaurant could
reopen, the space remained
dormant until recently.
Surya and Andra Das, the
owners of The Marigold Hotel
and Govinda’s Garden, could
not be reached for comment
as of press time.
The Marigold Hotel has
underwent multiple name
changes in the past several
years, having also gone by
Knight’s Inn and Howard
Johnson’s.
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A bill
to expand the hours of
self-serve gas stations in
rural counties in Eastern
Oregon is headed to Gov.
Kate Brown’s
desk, after the
Senate passed
it
Tuesday,
May 23, with a
26-to-1 vote.
Oregon is one
of only two states
that
prohibits
customers from
pumping their
own fuel at gas
stations.
New
Jersey is the other.
Senate Majority Leader
Ginny Burdick, D-Port-
land, voted against the
proposal.
She is a strong believer
in the Oregon way when
it comes to gasoline
service,” said Rick Osborn,
a spokesman in the Senate
Democrats Office.
Two years ago, the
Legislature passed a bill to
allow self-fueling between
6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in certain
rural counties to prevent
travelers
from
being
stranded overnight.
“In many of these
smaller
communities,
people would get stuck
without a full tank of
gas” because no stations
were open, said Sen. Rod
Monroe, D-Portland, who
carried the bill to the floor.
The bill passed Tuesday
expands that period to 24
hours in 15 counties with
populations of less than
40,000. Stations would
still be required to have at
least one attendant between
6 a.m. and 6 p.m., but
customers could pump
their own gas if the atten-
dant is busy and a cardlock
machine is available.
In Eastern Oregon, some
locally owned
gas stations have
been at risk of
closure due to
the expense of
hiring
fueling
attendants
to
pump customers’
gas, said chief
sponsor
Rep.
Cliff
Bentz,
R-Ontario.
“We
are
trying to preserve these
stations out in the middle
of nowhere so that we have
fuel available,” Bentz said
during a hearing on the bill
in March.
The proposed change
affects 15 counties in
Eastern Oregon: Malhuer,
Union, Wasco, Hood River,
Jefferson, Crook, Baker,
Morrow, Lake, Grant,
Harney, Wallowa, Gilliam,
Sherman and Wheeler.
The original proposal
included Clatsop, Curry
and Tillamook counties.
However, opposition to
expanding
self-service
hours prompted proponents
to carve out those coastal
counties. Opponents feared
the change would threaten
the jobs of those who pump
fuel for a living in those
coastal areas.
———
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
BRIEFLY
Echo production
splashes down May 31
District to spray for
mosquitoes by airplane
ECHO — Students from
Echo Middle School have been
swimming into the spring season
as they prepare for a production of
“The Little Mermaid.”
The familiar Disney musical
will be staged Wednesday, May
31 at 6 p.m. in the school’s
gymnasium, 600 Gerone St., Echo.
There is no admission charge.
All students in sixth through
eighth grade have a role in the
production — from the stage
crews to performing as the main
cast. The publicity crew of Elliot
Glenn, Caiden Harris and Ashley
Mack provided information and
photos for a press release about the
show. The public is encouraged to
help ensure the play is a splash by
attending the performance.
For more information, contact
Emma Hubbard at emma.
hubbard@echo.k12.or.us or
541-376-8436. To view a behind-
the-scenes trailer of the production,
search “my little mermaid behind
the senses trailer” on Youtube.
HERMISTON — The West
Umatilla Mosquito Control
District will spray for mosquitoes
by plane Thursday after sunset,
weather permitting.
A total of 10,000 acres will be
targeted, including the areas north
and east of Hermiston; Highway
730 between Umatilla and the
Morrow County line; and portions
of East Loop Road. Already this
spring, the district has responded
to more requests for service than
it did all of last year, primarily
from those three areas. Ground
trucks will be used to spray within
city limits.
For more information, contact
the district office at 541-567-5201
or visit www.wumcd.org.
Sheriff’s office IDs
victim of deadly fire
MILTON-FREEWATER —
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office identified Marcos Jesus
Gutierrez-Rodriguez, 29, as the
Photo contributed by Emma Hubbard
Xander Harsh creates a prop for a scene of “The Little Mermaid,”
which will be performed May 31 in the Echo Middle School gym.
man who died in a fire early
Monday near Milton-Freewater.
Milton-Freewater police and
the Milton-Freewater Rural Fire
Department found the body
badly burned after extinguishing
the outdoor fire around 2 a.m.
Monday under the Eastside
Bridge, along the Walla Walla
River, according to written
statements from the sheriff’s
office. The scene and fatality
were in the jurisdiction of the
sheriff’s office, which handled
the death investigation.
The location had “earmarks
of a campsite, including canned
food, cooking and eating utensils
and bedding materials,” the
sheriff’s office reported. The
evidence indicated a camp or
cooking fire spread to where
Gutierrez-Rodriguez was
sleeping.
Gutierrez-Rodriguez’s family
assisted in the identification,
the sheriff’s office stated, and
nothing points to foul play.
Hermiston School
District selects new
Desert View principal
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston School District
officially selected a new principal
for Desert View Elementary
School.
Superintendent Fred Maiocco
will recommend Lauren Jacobsma
to fill the position at the school
board meeting on Monday,
June 12.
Jacobsma is currently an
instructional coach at Oakridge
Elementary and taught third
through sixth grade at that
school from 2006 to 2015. As
an instructional coach, she has
worked with teachers to help them
use data to make decisions about
students, and helped implement
Smarter Balanced testing at the
school.
“I am very excited about
the next step in my career,”
Jacobsma said in a statement.
“I am appreciative of my time
in Oakridge, but I am looking
forward to joining the Hermiston
School District and Desert View
community.”
Library experiments
with science night
PENDLETON — An array of
scientific tools and experiments
are planned during the Family
Science Night.
The free event is Thursday at
6 p.m. at the Pendleton Public
Library, 502 S.W. Dorion Ave. All
ages are welcome to attend and
there’s no registration required.
For more information, call
541-966-0380.
———
Briefs are compiled from
staff and wire reports, and press
releases. Email press releases to
news@eastoregonian.com