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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.