WEEKEND EDITION
FIRED
UP
FOR
PIZZA FINDING LOVE AT THE POOL
BIZ/8A
LIFESTYLES/1C
POT FARM
SEEKS
PENDLETON
PERMIT
REGION/3A
AUGUST 5-6, 2017
141st Year, No. 210
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
EO fi le photo
The Oregon Department of Transpor-
tation will experiment with using
rock salt on a portion of Interstate 84
this winter between Boardman and
the Idaho border.
ODOT says
salt now on
the table
Hopes to keep I-84 between
Boardman, Idaho open in
perilous winter weather
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Posting up at EOTEC
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Clemente Castillo with Fence Tite Rite out of Hermiston uses a Bobcat with a drill attachment to drill a posthole as Jacob
Harmon and Cory Adams stand by while installing a fence on Friday at the EOTEC grounds in Hermiston.
Road rules changed to prepare for fair
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Drivers better slow down on Airport
Road, Hermiston, on the way to next
week’s Umatilla County Fair. And don’t
plan on parking along the road to avoid
paying for parking, either.
The Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners on Wednesday approved
a 25 mph limit to Airport Road between
South Highway 395 and South Ott Road,
which leads to the Eastern Oregon Trade
and Event Center, the new home for
the fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo. The
commissioners also approved no-parking
zones for both shoulders of the road. The
restrictions are for the duration of the fair,
Aug. 8-12.
Umatilla County Undersheriff Jim
Littlefi eld and county public works
director Tom Fellows said the changes
are about increasing public safety due to
the new location of the fair.
Airport Road lacks a posted limit, but
Fellows explained that does not mean
drivers can zip along at Oregon’s default
limit of 55 mph. Rather, he stressed,
motorists much follow Oregon’s basic
rule and drive for the conditions of the
road.
Fellows said the county is improving
those conditions. Work crews on
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Umatilla County Commissioners approved a 25 mph temporary speed limit for
Airport Road for the week of the Umatilla County Fair.
Here comes fair week
SATURDAY: The Umatilla County Fair Parade begins at 6:30 p.m. at Hermiston High School.
MONDAY: EOTEC will hold a ribbon cutting and grand opening at 5:30 p.m.
TUESDAY: Fair gates open at 9 a.m. at EOTEC, 1705 E. Airport Road, Hermiston.
See FAIR/11A
Interstate closures could disrupt fewer
holiday plans in the future as the Oregon
Department of Transportation experi-
ments with using rock salt on Interstate 84
between Boardman and the Idaho border
during icy weather.
“Salt becomes a tool during those times
that have a really deleterious effect, if you
will, on travel plans,” ODOT spokesman
Peter Murphy said.
Murphy did not have a total of how
many hours Interstate 84 was closed this
winter, but the East Oregonian posted
on Facebook about closures along the
route between Baker City and Boardman
on 16 different days during December
and January, including a closure two
days before Christmas and two different
incidents in January that stretched over
multiple days.
The department got permission from
the legislature a few years ago to conduct
a small pilot program near the California
border, and has been researching best
practices in other states. House Bill 2017,
the transportation package passed this
summer, allows for ODOT to expand
the practice between the Idaho border
and Boardman, stopping short of the
Columbia Gorge, as it develops policies
for more widespread use.
Murphy said ODOT is constructing
special environmentally conscious storage
sheds for the project, including ones near
Pendleton, Irrigon and Mission. The
sheds will be large enough for trucks to
back into, with sealed fl ooring shaped
to keep salty runoff from escaping and
seeping into the ground. There will also
be a special set-up for washing the trucks
used to transport and spread the salt that
will collect the salty water for storage in
ponds.
The salt will be dispersed using a special
nozzle attached to ODOT’s sanders. The
state will continue to use plows, gravel,
See SALT/11A
A slice of friendship
Watermelon event bonds
Hermiston, Portland
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Amid some light trash-talking
and heavy pressure, Hermiston
Mayor David Drotzmann faced
off against Portland Mayor Ted
Wheeler in the annual watermelon
seed-spitting contest at Portland’s
Pioneer Courthouse Square on
Friday morning.
“I understand Mayor Wheeler has
never done this before, so we’ll give
him a practice round so he doesn’t
get embarrassed by us professional
seed-spitters,” Drotzmann said, to
laughs from the crowd.
Wheeler appreciated the handicap.
“Normally, when doing some-
thing this important I’d have
practiced,” he said, “But I’ve never
spit a watermelon seed. You’d better
win,” Wheeler told his Hermiston
counterpart, “Or you’re not going to
have a job in Hermiston.”
Drotzmann then launched a seed
past Wheeler’s, but the contest
had a twist: both men were beaten
by Wheeler’s director of strategic
partnerships, Jennifer Arguinzoni,
who stepped in at the last minute to
participate.
Each mayor also spoke briefl y
about the event to a crowd of Port-
landers that had gathered to receive
the free watermelons they have
come to anticipate each summer.
“These are the best watermelons
See WATERMELONS/11A
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler jokes about his watermelon seed-spitting
skills before a contest with Mayor David Drotzmann of Hermiston on
Friday at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland.