REGION
Saturday, October 21, 2017
HERMISTON
Ranch & Home delays opening
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Retailer Ranch & Home no
longer expects to meet a Jan.
1 deadline for opening, but the
Hermiston city council will discuss
a recommendation Monday to still
offer $107,800 in incentives if the
store opens its doors by a new
deadline of March 1, 2018.
In January the council approved
a deal with the outdoor lifestyle
retailer, which already has
locations in the Tri-Cities and
Milton-Freewater, to reimburse the
company for its building permit,
system development charges and
$10,000 of water and sewer exten-
sions — a package worth an esti-
mated $107,800 — if it gained its
occupancy permit by Jan 1. 2018.
The city would also reimburse
the company $185,000 for road
improvements on the northeast
side of the property if the company
convinced a grocery store of at
least 25,000 square feet to build on
the property by Oct. 1, 2018. Both
incentives would be reduced by 10
percent each month the company
did not meet the deadline, for up to
six months.
City Manager Byron Smith
announced at the Oct. 9 city council
meeting that he had met with Ranch
& Home owner George Dress,
who told him that problems in
getting subcontractors had slowed
the construction process and the
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Ranch & Home is currently under construction on Highway 395
south of Hermiston.
store would likely not open until
February or March. A memo to the
city council in the Oct. 23 agenda
packet also stated that Ranch &
Home was working on “a couple
of options” for trying to recruit a
grocery store but that things have
been “progressing slowly.”
The memo from Smith recom-
mends that the council amend the
agreement with Ranch & Home to
move the deadline for occupancy
to March 1, 2018 and the deadline
for recruiting a grocery store to
Oct. 1, 2019.
Ranch & Home is currently
under construction on south
Highway 395 next to Hermiston
Foods.
The council will discuss
amending the agreement during
its meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday
at city hall, 180 NE Second St. in
Hermiston.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or
541-564-4536.
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Lawyer appeals triple murder
conviction for Umatilla man
aggravated first-degree murder.
His new lawyer argued that
jurors should have had the option
Jurors who convicted a of second-degree murder.
Canzater, a Bellingham
Umatilla man in the execu-
tion-style killing of three people attorney representing Resendez
didn’t have a clear picture of Miranda on his appeal, and
Benton County Pros-
what happened in that
ecutor Andy Miller
rural Benton County
argued the case during
cornfield, an appellate
a hearing on the Walla
lawyer said Thursday.
Walla
University
There was no DNA
campus in College
evidence, no shoe or
Place.
finger prints, nothing
The court, which
to prove that Francisco
is based in Spokane,
J. Resendez Miranda
went on the road for
was responsible for
the afternoon to hear
shooting the Pasco
friends or that he was Resendez Miranda arguments in four cases
from
southeastern
even there in August
Washington.
2014.
Chief Judge George B.
What evidence was found
was never connected to a specific Fearing of the Tri-Cities said
person. Attorney Tanesha La they picked the site because it is
Trelle Canzater called them his alma mater.
Canzater is asking the court
“Individuals A, B and C.”
So when it was time for the to reverse Resendez Miranda’s
jury to deliberate after a three- conviction and grant him a new
week trial, they should have trial in Benton County Superior
been allowed to consider an Court.
Fearing and fellow judges,
alternative charge for Resendez
Laurel Siddoway and Rebecca
Miranda.
“The evidence was such that L. Pennell, did not rule Thursday.
we don’t know what happened The court typically takes a few
on the farm. We don’t have months to issue a written opinion.
Resendez Miranda, now 26,
eyewitnesses in the case,”
Canzater told three state Court did not attend the hearing. He
of Appeals judges at hearing in was about three miles away at the
Washington State Penitentiary,
Walla Walla.
Resendez Miranda was where he’s serving a mandatory
convicted of three counts of life sentence.
By KRISTIN M. KRAEMER
Tri-City Herald
BRIEFLY
Hermiston man injured in
rollover near Port of Morrow
Inaugural leadership class
includes Umatilla County men
Dan Primus to address
Hermiston chamber
BOARDMAN — A Hermiston man was
taken to the hospital after a rollover crash
near the Port of Morrow on Wednesday.
According to an Oregon State trooper,
Kasey Pankey, 26, was driving westbound
on I-84 when he took his eyes off the
roadway. When he looked back at the road,
he saw he was approaching a vehicle ahead
of him quickly. The driver over-corrected,
and the vehicle rolled several times into the
median and across the highway, coming to
rest on the eastbound shoulder.
Pankey was transported to Good
Shepherd Hospital in Hermiston, and the
vehicle, a gray Ford Taurus, was towed.
Trooper Mitchell Goldman, who
responded to the crash, said the driver said
he was not on his cell phone, but had been
reaching for a drink. Goldman said other
factors may have been at play, such as
fatigue.
PENDLETON — Bob Waldher of Athena,
Sam Taylor of Echo and Tom Demianew of
Pendleton will participate in the inaugural
class for the REAL
(Resource Education &
Ag Leadership) Oregon
program.
The Umatilla County
men are among 30
individuals chosen from
across the state. They
were selected from a
large pool of applicants
and reflect a diversity of
Demianew
resource producers, agri-
businesses, advocacy
organizations and
government agencies.
Bill Buhrig, with
Simplot Food Group
and REAL Oregon
board chair, said the
response to the program
has been overwhelming.
He said the more than
Waldher
30 applicants exceeded
expectations and is
a good indicator that
the program is long
overdue. Oregon,
Buhrig said, is
modeling its program
after a similar program
in Idaho.
REAL Oregon
is a collaboration of
Taylor
industry and other
groups throughout the
state that have recognized the importance of
developing and grooming natural resource
leaders now and in the future. In addition to
networking opportunities and learning more
about the state, the program will bring current
and future leaders together from agriculture,
fishing and forestry sectors in a series of five
statewide sessions starting in November.
Class 1 includes 10 individuals directly
involved in production agriculture, three in
timber production and forestry, 11 from agri-
businesses or natural resource organizations
and six from local, state and federal agencies.
The inaugural class will conclude in March
2018 and recruitment for Class 2 will be
underway in the coming months. For more
information, visit www.realoregon.net.
HERMISTON — Dan Primus, Umatilla
County district attorney, will talk about his
work in holding criminals accountable for
their actions during the
upcoming Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce
B2B Luncheon.
Community
members, businesses
and organizations
are invited to attend
Tuesday, Oct. 24
at 11:45 a.m. at the
Hermiston Conference
Primus
Center, 415 S. Highway
395. The cost for the no-host lunch, which is
catered by Sundown Bar & Grill, is $12 for
Walden backs Hermiston
drug take back day
HERMISTON — Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Hood River, is promoting a prescription
drug take back event at the Hermiston
Police Department Oct. 28.
The event is a part of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency’s National Prescrip-
tion Drug Take Back Day, “which gives
people across the country the opportunity to
help address opioid abuse in their commu-
nities,” a Walden press release states.
“The DEA’s National Prescription Drug
Take Back Day provides a safe, convenient,
and responsible way to dispose of excess
prescription drugs, while also providing
an opportunity to raise awareness of the
opioid crisis and to educate our friends,
family members, and neighbors about the
potential for abuse of medications,” Walden
said. “Here in Oregon, more people died
last year from drug overdoses than from
car accidents. I hope you’ll join me on this
Take Back Day as we work together to
make our communities safer.”
Walden is the chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, which
will be holding a hearing on opioid abuse
in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Umatilla County’s take back day will
be on Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Hermiston Police Department, 330 S. First St.
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Keep out of the reach of children.
members and $15 for non-members. Be sure
to bring a business card to enter the monthly
drawing.
Primus graduated from law school at
Willamette University in Salem and then
went into private practice there for a year
until a position came open in Pendleton. He
was a deputy district attorney for three years
before being appointed district attorney Aug.
3, 2011. He was then elected to the office
Nov. 8, 2011, and continues in the position.
Those planning to attend are asked to
RSVP by Friday. For more information or
to register, contact 541-567-6151, info@
hermistonchamber.com or visit www.
hermistonchamber.com.
———
Briefs are compiled from staff and wire
reports, and press releases. Email press
releases to news@eastoregonian.com