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