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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2017)
Page 8A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian STANFIELD: Majority of goals fall into public works category Continued from 1A field’s, but Larsen said if it goes through it could still help Stanfield in its goal of making the interchange near the Pilot truck stop more than a place for travelers to pull off the road. “A more developed interchange, I think, is better for everybody,” he said. A few of the council’s goals are already well on their way to being a reality. Goal number 10 is to increase the hours of the city’s part-time code enforcement officer to make her a community enforcement officer who spends time in Stanfield and Echo schools, increases the amount of time spent on code enforcement and helps out with goal number seven, which is to increase the Stanfield Police Department’s public outreach and visibility. Larsen has been working with the school districts to make that happen in the coming year. “This is not really a reactive position, but a proactive one,” Larsen said. The majority of the council’s goals fall into the public works category. The council would like to see the city rehabilitate the old water tower standing over downtown, add more playground equipment to parks, improve park signage, install history markers around town, construct a bike path to Pilot and construct a trail along Stage Gulch. The city is also hoping to develop a concrete list of projects for volunteers and get everyone together at least once a year for a citywide cleanup event. “Nobody wants to volunteer for some- thing that is going to be a never-ending job,” Larsen said. On the administrative side, the council wants to complete a salary study, give cost of living raises every two years and make police salaries more competitive. One way to do that will be goal number four, which is to raise franchise fees on utilities to 7 percent. The extra revenue can be part of the city’s goals to develop five-year financial forecasts and to write a capital improvement plan. The other goals on the council’s list are to conduct annual meetings between the city council and business owners, expand the public library’s hours, present the council with an annual performance report and update the city’s website quarterly. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536. Tuesday, July 18, 2017 ARSON: Castro’s garage caught fire a few weeks ago Continued from 1A Cross said he forced his way in, found the lone occupant still in bed and woke him as black smoke was filling the home. “I told him you need to get out of here and get out of here now,” Cross stated. Together, he said, they hustled a lawnmower and gas cans out of the yard and used a hose to hold off flames creeping over dry grass in the yard. The Pilot Rock Rural Fire Protection District and the Pilot Rock Police Department responded to the fire, along with the Pendleton Fire Department. “The first fire units on scene found the house fully engulfed,” according to Caldera’s statement. Once firefighters gained control of the blaze, he reported, they found the body just inside the front door. Pilot Rock police secured the scene and received assistance with the investigation from Pendleton police, Oregon State Police Arson Unit, the state fire marshal’s office, the Umatilla County medical examiner and the district attorney’s office. Witness statements, evidence at the scene and other leads, according to Caldera, led police on Sunday at 9:32 a.m. to arrest Fix for first-degree arson and book her into the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton. Castro’s neighbors described him as quiet and pleasant. They said after his wife died about four years ago he didn’t leave the one-story home. Neighbors also said Castro’s garage caught fire a few weeks ago, and some questioned if Fix was involved in that. Oregon Circuit Court records show Fix has multiple criminal convictions dating back to 2011 for methamphetamine possession “My dad was just a very loving person and would help anyone he could.” — Laurie Sammons, daughter of Larry Castro and failure to appear. Arson is the most severe charge she has faced. Castro’s daughter, Laurie Sammons, and her boyfriend, Zion Jacobson, came from their place in Canyon City to salvage what they could at the Pilot Rock home. Jacobson said they found some photographs and other memorabilia that helped ease the pain, but they wanted answers. “For closure, it would be nice to know more,” he said, but he understood the police were still investigating. Castro hailed from California and worked for the Louisiana-Pa- cific Corporation, Sammons said, and transfered years ago to the mill in Pilot Rock, which the company owned at the time. He was retired for a number of years, his daughter said. She was the only one of his four children to live in Oregon. The rest are in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sammons said she had last spoke to her father about four months ago and wondered about his relationship with Fix. She said one neighbor told her he urged her father to break ties with Fix, but he would not because she had nothing to rely on. “My dad was just a very loving person and would help anyone he could,” she said. Caldera asked anyone with information about the case to call the local dispatch center at 541-966-3651. He stated the investigation is ongoing and referred questions to the district attorney’s office. MUSIC: Festival had 30 percent increase in concert goers Continued from 1A By 7 a.m. Saturday, they were the first to line up outside the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium waiting for gates to open at 4:30 — joined by several more of their friends from past concerts. “If we’re not against the rail in the front, we’re mad,” Hampton said. “We don’t want anyone else in front of us.” Andy McAnally, festival co-organizer, said more than 16,000 people packed the Round-Up Grounds for the sold-out show, representing a 30 percent increase over last year’s inaugural event. A mob of concert-goers watched from the grass infield against the stage, dubbed the “Party Pit,” while others filled the surrounding grandstands. McAnally said they also quadrupled their workforce to help solve some of the logistical problems from year one — such as long waits in line for drinks, which was a common complaint among fans. Overall, McAnally said he and fellow organizer Doug Corey were extremely happy with the improvements they made. “We got a lot of positive feed- Staff photo by Kathy Aney Heather Hampton, of San Diego, first in line to get into the Pendleton Whisky Music Festival, started waiting early Satur- day morning so she could find a spot in the front row to see her favorite group, Maroon 5. Hampton has attended almost 200 Maroon 5 concerts. back this year,” McAnally said. “Logistically, it’s just a huge operation.” McAnally said he and Corey will soon be turning their atten- tion to next year, and will again be seeking the biggest and best musical acts to headline. “Everyone keeps asking how we’re going to top Maroon 5,” he said. With Whisky Fest in the books, Hampton is already looking forward to catching the band over Labor Day Weekend in Aspen, Colorado, and will celebrate her 200th Maroon 5 concert by traveling overseas to Peru. Attending that many shows does get expensive, she admits, but it helps to travel with a group and split the cost with her fellow fans. “The more people who go, the cheaper it is,” she said. “The gas and motel is probably the most expensive.” If Whisky Fest is any indi- cation, Maroon 5 also has a plethora of fans right here in Eastern Oregon. Amanda Whitman, of Grass Valley, was one of eight women who made the trip together from Sherman and Gilliam counties to celebrate their friend’s birthday. They wore matching hot pink shirts, with the Maroon 5 lyric “This Summer’s Gonna Hurt.” “We like to look at Adam (Levine),” Whitman said with a laugh. “And the music is great. It’s a lot of fun.” Tonya Myers, who lives in Pendleton, said the concert lured in friends from all over Oregon, including Portland, Roseburg, La Grande and Baker City. It was nice to see a big name band like Maroon 5 help to put Pendleton more on the map, she added. “This is the event of the year we’ve been waiting for,” Myers said. “We get to share the energy of our town. It’s fantastic.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825. OPEN HOUSE July 20th, 4-7 PM ALL ARE WELCOME Dr. Pratt practices all aspects of dentistry and is very progres- sive in his approach to treatment and material selection. Dr. Pratt consistently strives to provide the very best dental care, using only the fi nest methods and materials. When not in the offi ce, He can be found on the ball fi eld umpiring High School & NCAA Women’s Softball. He has completed 13 marathons, enjoys golf, backpacking, and is a certifi ed rescue diver.
