PORTLAND
HIRES OUTLAW
AS POLICE CHIEF
100/64
EAST TAKES ON
WEST IN SHRINE
ALL-STAR GAME
SPORTS/1B
NORTHWEST/2A
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017
141st Year, No. 211
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
Two wells fail in one week
Residents asked to
cut back on watering
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The City of Pendleton has lost the use of two of their
city wells and are asking residents to cut back on their
outside water usage.
Pendleton’s two largest water supply
wells are out of service, and in response
the city is asking residents to cut back on
outside watering.
The well at Stillman Park went down
last week, said Bob Patterson, the city’s
Wildfi re
season
fl ares up
public works director, and Monday
around 4 a.m. the city lost the Roy Raley
Park well. The two wells supply about
4.6 million gallons of water per day.
Patterson said having two large wells
go down at the same time is a fi rst for him.
He said rubber bushings went bad on
the Stillman well and caused the pump
to seize up. The well provides about two
million gallons a day. Parts are on the way,
he said, and crews should make repairs
Wednesday with the goal of having the
pump back running again by Saturday.
The Roy Raley Park well provides
about 2.6 million gallons per day, he
said, and started slowing down before
it conked out. Patterson said crews on
Wednesday plan on fi nding the problem
with the pump.
“We won’t know everything until we
pull that out,” Patterson said.
And with the pump 400 feet down,
he said, getting to it means hauling up
that much column pipe.
City parks director Donnie Cook
said his department shut off water at all
See WATER/8A
HERMISTON
Several large blazes
erupt in Eastern Oregon
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Wildland fi refi ghters in
northeast Oregon faced their
fi rst big test of the 2017 fi re
season over the weekend after
three large blazes erupted in
relatively short order, at least
two of which were human-
caused.
The largest of the bunch,
the Bear Butte fi re, was fi rst
reported Friday afternoon
within a mile of Anthony
Lakes Mountain Resort in the
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest. Authorities quickly
evacuated the resort, along
with Anthony Lakes Camp-
ground and cabins in the
immediate area.
As of Monday, the fi re
was holding steady at about
500 acres. Road closures are
in effect while crews work to
strengthen fi re lines, including
Forest Service Road 73 from
the North Fork John Day
Campground to the national
forest boundary. The Elkhorn
Crest Trail is also closed from
the trailhead to the Summit
Trail junction.
On Sunday, a Type 2
incident management team
composed of 300 mostly local
fi refi ghters and three helicop-
ters arrived to take command
of the Bear Butte fi re, which
is now 10 percent contained.
The cause of the fi re has not
yet been determined.
Elsewhere, people have
been determined the cause
of the 222-acre Indian Lake
fi re started Friday in Umatilla
County, and the 301-acre
Clarks Creek fi re which
See FIRE/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Echo FFA members junior Bobbie Sharp, top left, gets a hand from junior Kaylee Murstig, second from bottom left, and junior Lexie Cox,
top right, while decorating their goat pens on Monday at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston.
Center of attention
Community rallies, cuts ribbon on new fairgrounds
“This is just the
beginning. We’ll be
here, and we’ll
continue to grow.”
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
About 100 people crowded into
the foyer at the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Events Center main
building Monday evening, hours
from the start of the facility’s biggest
event to date.
On the eve of the 105th Umatilla
County Fair, backers of EOTEC and
community members cut the ribbon
on the facility and cheered the efforts
it’s taken to get to this point.
It was a culmination of many
years of planning and work, and
many let out a sigh of relief that the
roughly $16 million project was
fi nally coming to fruition.
“If you’re like me, you were
nervous up until today,” said Herm-
iston Mayor David Drotzmann.
“There was a lot of anxiety and
nervousness that things wouldn’t
get done. But I’m excited and
proud to be here.”
Drotzmann, along with City
Manager Byron Smith and Umatilla
County Commissioner Larry Givens,
both members of the EOTEC board,
talked about the work it’s taken to
get the facility up and running.
“In 2012, we had just signed
away the Umatilla County Fair-
grounds,” Givens said. “I was more
than scared. I thought, was this
an absolute disaster? But people
have pitched in. I went down to the
old fairgrounds last Saturday, and
— Larry Givens,
Umatilla County Commissioner
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Former Hermiston city manager Tom Harper, center, looks at the
signatures on a ribbon used in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center as current city manager
Byron Smith, at right, looks on Monday in Hermiston. Harper was
the city manager when the City of Hermiston originally bought the
EOTEC property.
More inside
Transformer joins tractors, more
at Umatilla County Fair parade
Page 3A
thought, how did we manage to
survive in that spot?”
Smith said it was exciting to see
the place fi nally fi ll up with vendors.
“There have been lots of
bumps,” Smith said. “But nothing
we couldn’t overcome.”
Drotzmann acknowledged the
many people, and groups, that
have contributed money or time
to EOTEC’s progress. Along with
the many people who have been
working on the project in the past
few years, he acknowledged those
who had the vision for it in the fi rst
place. One of those people, Hermis-
ton’s fi rst city manager Tom Harper,
was present at the gathering.
Givens noted that the work was
not fi nished.
“This is just the beginning,”
he said. “We’ll be here, and we’ll
continue to grow.”
After the ribbon cutting, commu-
nity members stuck around to tour
the new facility, both indoors and
out. People were busy setting up
vendor booths, rides and the rodeo
arena, and students were milling
about the animal barns, preparing to
show their livestock. Inside, displays
of food, produce and handwork were
already set up.
Visitors were eager to explore the
new facility.
Steve Williams, a Umatilla
County resident since 1984, said
he comes to the fair and rodeo
every year.
“It’s a great addition,” he said,
adding that he’s looking forward
to the rodeo most — especially the
bull riding.
Fair participants seemed pleased
with the new digs, too. Taylor Betz,
a 19-year-old showing open-class
See FAIR/8A