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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 22, 2017)
SENKERIKOVA VOTED PLAYER OF THE YEAR CONGRESS AVERTS SHUTDOWN SPORTS/1B NATION/6A A tip of the hat to Pendleton Police 4A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017 142nd Year, No. 47 Your Weekend • • • J.D. Kindle, Saturday at Virgil’s at Cimmiyotti’s Save your bacon Sunday at the Arts Center Christmas Eve dinner at convention center For times and places see Coming Events, 5A Catch a movie Frank Masi/Sony Pictures via AP Four high schoolers must beat a magic retro jungle video game to return to the real world in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Lamb Weston to build new french fry factory in Hermiston Project expected to add 170 full-time jobs By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group To feed the world’s growing appetite for french fries, Lamb Weston announced Thursday it will build a new, state-of-the-art processing line at its Hermiston facility on Westland Road. The $250 million expansion will add capacity for another 300 million pounds of fries per year, while also creating approxi- mately 170 full-time jobs, according to the company. Tom Werner, president and CEO of Lamb Weston, said demand for french fries around the world has challenged the industry’s capacity to keep up in recent years. “This investment in a new french fry processing line in the Columbia Basin refl ects Lamb Weston’s continued commit- ment to support our strategic partners as they continue to grow their businesses in North America and abroad,” Werner said. Elsewhere around the basin, Lamb Weston fi nished a similar $200 million expansion at its french fry factory in Rich- land, Washington, which opened in October. The company also spent $200 million to expand its Boardman facilities at the Port of Morrow in 2014. All potatoes are sourced from local farms. Shelby Stoolman, spokeswoman for Lamb Weston, said the Hermiston facility was See FACTORY/8A Courtesy of Lamb Weston Lamb Weston recently made a $200 million investment in this potato processing plant in Richland, Wash. A similar investment is planned for a Lamb Weston potato plant in Hermiston. For showtime, Page 5A For review, Weekend EO Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 35/21 29/15 26/19 Watch a game vs. Umatilla vs. Nixyaawii Friday, 5:30 p.m., at Nixyaawii UN denounces U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelm- ingly Thursday to denounce President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, largely ignoring Trump’s threats to cut off aid to any country that went against him. The nonbinding resolution declaring U.S. action on Jeru- salem “null and void” was approved 128-9 — a victory for the Palestinians, but not as big as they predicted. Amid Washington’s threats, 35 of the 193 U.N. member nations See ISRAEL/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton senior Marin Kennedy talks about how her generation of voters have not embraced party labels. NO PARTY POLITICS Non-affi liated voters become biggest group in Umatilla County electorate By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian As the midterm elections approach next year, Umatilla Coun- ty’s largest political group will hold no primaries and fi eld no candidates. This group casts the widest of tents and houses a wide spectrum of political views, but it’s more of a designation than a party. “Our generation is moving away from labels.” — Marin Kennedy, Pendleton High School Senior According to Oregon Secretary of State data, 2017 marked the fi rst year non-affi liated voters surpassed Republicans as the largest group of registered voters in Umatilla County. Non-affi liated voters had been the second largest group, moving past Democrats in 2014. In October, there were 15,909 non-affi liated voters, good for 38 percent plurality in the electorate. The growth in the ranks among the non-affi liated was aided by Oregon’s “motor voter” law, legis- lation that automatically registered people to vote whenever they obtained or renewed their driving license. Voters that were registered through this process were sent a card in the mail that would ask them which party they wanted to register with. If they didn’t send the card See POLITICS/3A Condon woman gets 23 months for killing three in crash Hit group of bikers on way to a rally in May East Oregonian Photo by Wheeler County Sheriff’s Offi ce A May crash near Fossil that caused the death of three motorcycle riders and multiple injuries to others was ruled criminal by the Gilliam County District Attorney’s Offi ce. The May crash in Wheeler County that claimed three lives was criminal, Sheriff Chris Humphreys and District Attorney Gretchen Ladd stated, in spite of what other law enforcement agencies found. And Lisa Niehaus, 50, of Condon, will do 23 months in state prison for the crimes. Niehaus pleaded guilty Nov. 21 to three counts of fourth-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault and three counts of criminally negligent homicide. The judge sentenced her to 23 months in prison. Ladd in a joint written statement with Humphreys called the case one of the most catastrophic in her career. “The charging decision was a diffi cult one,” according to Ladd. “Even the Oregon State Police and prosecutors at the Department of Justice are divided on whether this was a traffi c ticket for careless driving or criminally negligent homicide. We believe now, as then, that this was a crime. Criminally negligent homicide requires prosecutors to prove in court See CRASH/8A
