Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2017)
34/20 LOCAL CLIMATE GROUP GAINS MOMENTUM TRUMP DECLARES JERUSALEM ISRAELI CAPITAL REGION/3A WORLD/7A THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 142nd Year, No. 36 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON Marijuana farm application sent back to planning commission Riverside neighbors worry about odor By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The members of the Pendleton City Council threw a boomerang Tuesday, making a decision on a Riverside marijuana grow that could come right back to them in 2018. The council held an appeal hearing for Burn- swell Family Farms Tuesday as owner Brandon Krenzler took a second shot at getting conditional use approval for the pot farm. The council ultimately decided to send Krenzler’s application back to the planning commission that had previously denied him. City Planner George Clough said Krenzler’s application was originally heard on Aug. 14 at a Pend- leton Planning Commission meeting. Unlike Krenzler’s presentation for his recre- ational marijuana dispen- sary, Kind Leaf Pendleton, Clough said his presentation for Burnswell lacked detail. “Frankly, he phoned it See MARIJUANA/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Brandon Krenzler, owner of Kind Leaf marijuana shop, wants to start a marijuana grow operation at the old Riverside Nursery off Highway 11 in Pendleton. HERMISTON PENDLETON Rodeo City Inn to be boarded up Hotel owners have yet to clean up property By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Substation technician Darrin Balch with Potelco Inc. of Sumner, Washington, installs a ground wire on a riser structure at the new Umatilla Electric Cooperative substation off East Elm Avenue in Hermiston on Wednesday. Power to the people Umatilla Electric Cooperative ready to fl ip switch on new substation By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian A new Hermiston East Substa- tion will help Umatilla Electric Cooperative keep the lights on more consistently in Hermiston. The $4.75 million project, located at the corner of Elm Avenue and Northeast 10th Street, will begin operating later this month. Josh Lankford, UEC engi- neering manager, said the new substation would have the ability to serve most, if not all, of Hermiston. Customers will continue to be spread out over multiple substa- tions, however, so that a problem at one substation doesn’t knock out power to the whole city. “We keep things broken up,” Lankford said. “That limits your outages.” The substation features newer technology and equipment, which should provide improved reliability compared to the area’s other stations. And when a falling tree branch, haphazard bird or other problem disrupts service, Lankford said Hermiston customers should see their power restored much more quickly now that UEC has the extra capacity to “backfeed” them over to the new substation while repairs are being made elsewhere. During a tour for Greater Herm- iston Area Chamber of Commerce members on Wednesday, Matt Williams, the UEC senior engineer who oversaw the project, said power from Bonneville Power Administration will come into the substation by way of transmission lines from the McNary Dam and leave through six feeders — three See SUBSTATION/8A Umatilla County is sealing the doors and windows on the ramshackle Rodeo City Inn. The county’s board of commissioners during its Wednesday meeting in Pend- leton took up the latest action on the inn. County counsel Doug Olsen told the board the county in early October sent a “dangerous building” notice to the inn’s owner, Western Hotels & Properties, a limited-liability company in El Centro, Cali- fornia. The notice directed the company to clean up and secure the building within 60 days and make structural repairs within 180 days. The fi rst period closed, Olsen told commissioners, and the owner has done nothing to the building. All the doors are open and all the windows are broken at the old three-story hotel off Interstate 84’s exit 202. Olsen said the county has the authority to board up the place and bill the owner for the cost. Eli Stephens of Pendleton addressed the board about the inn. He has property nearby and said the place remains troubled. “There are still people we chase out of there, still people hanging around,” he said. “... I just want to see it boarded up to make it not an attractive nuisance.” Commissioners Bill Elfering and George Murdock were on board with that. “Well, it’s been a huge problem for the county,” Murdock said. “Two sher- iffs have both been deeply immersed in dealings with the See HOTEL/8A PENDLETON Round-Up reports record ticket sales High-end, low-end options boost revenue in 2017 By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian EO fi le photo A boy watches the Pendleton Round-Up on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. Prior to the Pendleton Round- Up’s centennial celebration in 2010, Randy Thomas said he received some words of caution. Thomas was an ex-offi cio member of the Round-Up Board of Directors at the time, and recalled board members from other rodeos encouraging the Round-Up to take advantage of its anniversary, with the caveat that revenue would likely dip in the years that followed. Now entering his fi nal year as publicity director, Thomas said that not only have the Round- Up’s ticket sales managed to stay within 10 percent of the 2010 benchmark, they exceeded them in 2017. On the road at the PRCA National Convention in Las Vegas, offi ce director Jason Gray- beal said the Round-Up brought in $1.15 million in ticket revenue and $760,532 in retail revenue in See ROUND-UP/8A