REGION
Saturday, June 10, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Pendleton Round-Up, Happy Canyon courts visit Capitol
East Oregonian
Contributed photo
The Round-Up and Happy Canyon courts were recognized Thursday at the Oregon Capitol in Salem.
From left to right: Gabriella Lews, Betsy West, Kaleigh Waggoner, Kendra Torrey, Sen. Bill Hansell,
Sydney Jones, Taylor Ann Skramstad and Virginia Conner.
Man earns $5,000 reward
for info in cow killing case
In what has become an annual
tradition, the Pendleton Round-Up
and Happy Canyon courts paid a
visit Thursday to the Oregon State
Capitol in Salem, hosted by local
Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena), Rep.
Greg Barreto (R-Cove) and Rep.
Jodi Hack (R-Salem), a Pendleton
native.
This year’s Round-Up Court
includes Queen Kendra Torrey and
princesses Sydney Jones, Taylor
Ann Skramstad, Kaleigh Waggoner
and Betsy West. The Happy Canyon
Court, meanwhile, is represented
by princesses Virginia Conner and
Gabriella Lewis.
Together, the women posted the
colors on the Senate floor followed
by an invocation given by Queen
Torrey. They then headed over to
the House floor where they received
courtesies from Barreto.
“I am glad to have been able to
host these women at the Capitol
again this year, and continue to be
impressed by their hard work, char-
acter and charisma,” Barreto said.
Hansell, Barreto and Hack later
hosted a luncheon for the courts at
HERMISTON
Wanted: EOTEC general manager
to ‘build from the ground up’
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
In all his years ranching,
Terry Anderson had never
received a phone call like the
one he got Jan. 15, 2016.
Anderson, who runs
Anderson Land & Livestock
with his wife, Debby, was
tipped off by one of their
employees that something
was seriously wrong at the
winter pasture along Feed-
ville Road near Stanfield.
Not only had one of the cows
been killed, but body parts
were strewn all over the
scene.
“The kid was just in
complete shock,” Anderson
remembers. “It’s more than
emotional. Those cattle are
family to us.”
What happened was two
men — Anthony Haigh of
Stanfield and T.J. Kestler of
Hermiston — sneaked onto
the property the previous
night, shot the heifer dead
and attempted to butcher the
animal right there in the field.
Though the cow was skinned
out completely, Anderson
said most of the meat was
left to waste. He suspects
the rest of the herd may have
spooked Haigh and Kestler to
flee before they could finish.
There were 160 cow-calf
pairs in the pasture, which
were part of a synchronized
breeding program, Anderson
said. His ranch, which is
based outside of Pilot Rock,
is a “seedstock” operation,
meaning they breed and sell
bulls for other producers to
build their herds.
Based on the evidence,
Anderson said it was clear to
him that Haigh and Kestler
knew exactly what they were
doing.
“I don’t think I’ll ever
get over it,” Anderson said,
shaking his head. “I just can’t
imagine someone going out
there and doing that.”
Haigh and Kestler, then
The hunt for a general
manager for the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center is officially on after
the EOTEC board approved
a job advertisement Friday.
“Have you ever wanted
to build something from the
ground-up?” the advertise-
ment asks. “Have you ever
wanted to lead an organiza-
tion through its formative
years?”
The manager will run the
EOTEC facility, market it
and supervise an adminis-
trative assistant and main-
tenance position. Applicants
are asked to have a bache-
lor’s degree in marketing or
business administration and
five years of experience in
tourism or facility manage-
ment, or “a satisfactory
combination of education
and experience.”
The board plans to run
the advertisement for two
weeks before interviewing
applicants.
Ed Brookshier, who
served as Hermiston’s city
manager for 25 years before
retirement, said one thing he
Staff photo by George Plaven
From left, Erin Jenner, Grant Woods, Terry Anderson
and Debby Anderson gathered Friday morning where
Terry Anderson presented Woods with a check for
$5,000.
21 and 20 years old, were
arrested just four days later.
They each pleaded guilty to
first-degree theft earlier this
year. Haigh was sentenced to
six months in prison, while
Kestler received 24 months
probation and 100 hours of
community service. Both
men were also ordered to pay
$3,000 in restitution.
The convictions might
not have come without the
help of another Hermiston
man who decided to alert the
authorities.
Grant Woods, 21, was in
the room when Haigh and
Kestler arrived to visit a
mutual friend the same night
they killed the cow. The two
spoke freely about the crime
as they cleaned their gun,
according to Woods. The
motive was apparently to sell
the meat for beer money.
After talking on the phone
with his fiancé, Woods
decided to call the police.
“It was just completely
wrong,” Woods said. “This
was about doing the right
thing.”
Though Woods did not
know at the time, both
Anderson and the Oregon
Cattlemen’s
Association
were offering reward money
for information leading to
a conviction in the case. On
Friday, Anderson finally met
Woods face-to-face for the
first time and presented him
with a check for $5,000.
Another $1,000 was
provided by the cattlemen’s
association. Jerome Rosa,
OCA executive director, said
it is the first time in his three
years on the job that they
have actually paid the reward
for cattle theft.
“OCA is more than
willing to be a deterrent out
there,” Rosa said.
Anderson said he and his
wife appreciate what Woods
did for them, and hope the
incident will encourage more
people to look out for each
other in the community.
“Our society has created
a mindset that if this type of
activity doesn’t affect you
directly, there is no need to
get involved,” Anderson
said. “Thankfully, there
are individuals that are still
guided by doing the right
thing.”
the Governor’s Conference Room,
where they were visited by Gov.
Kate Brown for congratulations and
photos.
“It is a privilege and honor to
host the Round-Up and Happy
Canyon courts in the State
Capitol,” Hansell said. “They are an
outstanding group of accomplished
young women.”
Hack, who represents Salem, is
a Pendleton High School graduate
and former rodeo competitor
who helped to establish the barrel
racing competition at the Pendleton
Round-Up.
“As a Pendleton High School
graduate and Round-Up supporter,
it means a great deal to me to see
so many young women working
toward their goals and making a
difference in the community,” Hack
said.
For nearly two decades, the
Round-Up and Happy Canyon
courts have aligned their annual
visit to the Capitol with the Portland
Rose Festival, where they partici-
pate in the Grand Floral Parade and
promote the Round-Up and Happy
Canyon events during the second
full week of September.
learned was “just because
you have a field of candi-
dates doesn’t mean you have
to fill.”
“My only caution would
be that we not settle,” he
said.
On Friday the board also
met with the EOTEC budget
committee to review the
2017-2018 budget, which
they plan to approve on June
21 at 7 a.m. at EOTEC.
The budget includes an
increase in the contribution
from the city of Hermiston
and Umatilla County for
operations, up from $45,000
apiece this year to $75,000
each. The money will help
pay for the three personnel,
including
$70,000
to
$85,000 a year for the
general manager.
According to the budget
document, event revenue
for 2016-2017 has been
about $13,000 higher than
projected. The anticipated
event revenue for 2017-
2018 is $132,000 and the
anticipated tourism promo-
tion assessment revenue
for marketing is $115,000.
There is still $1.2 million in
the construction fund.
The bulk of construction
on EOTEC is expected to
be finished by July 15, but
board members and contrac-
tors acknowledged Friday
there will still be many small
items such as painting and
setting up pens and panels
that will still be needed.
Volunteers are planning a
large work day on July 29,
with smaller groups on July
15 and July 22.
The board discussed
having a ribbon-cutting
ceremony for the facility
and tentatively settled on
the Saturday before the
Umatilla County Fair. They
also discussed progress on
construction and discussed
what signs, barriers or other
measures can be put in
place to address a problem
with partygoers at the event
center wandering through
the construction zones.
Umatilla
County
emergency manager Tom
Roberts suggested that the
board consider marketing
EOTEC as a place where
people can park RVs ahead
of the total solar eclipse on
Aug. 21. Since camping
opportunities in the path of
totality farther south are full,
Roberts said.
Council to consider budget approval
East Oregonian
The Hermiston City
Council will consider
approval of the 2017-2018
budget during its Monday
meeting.
The $57.3 million budget
includes projects such as
completion of the new
senior center, installation
of new remote-read water
meters, a new trail along
Highland Avenue, new
equipment at the recycled
water treatment plant,
renovation of the basement
of the Carnegie Library and
a 2.5 percent cost of living
raise for all city staff.
The full budget can be
found online at hermiston.
or.us/finance/budget and is
also available for viewing at
city hall.
The council will also
consider a bid from National
Meter and Automation, Inc.
to remove the city’s current
water meters from homes
and install “smart” meters
that can be read remotely
and
give
individual
customers detailed reports
of daily water usage.
Prior to the regular
council meeting at 7 p.m.
the council will participate
in a work session at 6 p.m.
to hear the annual report
from Umatilla County Fire
District 1.
After the council meeting
is adjourned the council will
reconvene as the Hermiston
Urban Renewal Agency to
consider approval of the
agency’s budget. Almost
$1 million of the agency’s
$1.6 million budget will go
toward building a festival
street along Northeast
Second Street in front of
city hall.
ATTENTION
World War II Veterans & Families
Honor Flight of Eastern Oregon invites WWII Vets to
travel at no cost to visit their National World War II
H
t Memorial in Washington D.C.
Veterans who served in the Military between Dec.7,
V
1941 and Dec.31,1946, have not visited the WWII
hav
Memorial, and live in Oregon east of the Cascade
M
Mountains are eligible to travel.
The fl ight will be Sept. 6-10, 2017. We take able Veterans and those who need and use
mobility assis-tance. Medical personnel travel with the group the entire trip. Each veteran
is accompanied by a guardian, and we encourage a family member to be the guardian.
The guardian cost for the trip is $1,250.00 which in-cludes airfare, lodging, meals and
transportation within D.C.
nloaded
Veteran and Guardian applications
forms can be downloaded at
http://honorfl ightofeasternoregon.org/
om Oregon is a nonprofit 501(c)3
Honor Flight of Eastern
Honor Flight of Eastern
Contact Yvonne Drury: 541.390.4231,
email: ydrury47@gmail.com
Honor Flight
Oregon
is a nonprofit 501(c)3
of Eastern Oregon is a nonprofi t 501(c)3