REGION
Friday, December 29, 2017
East Oregonian
PENDLETON
Riverside marijuana farm gets approval
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON: Business
slows down the first day or
two after a winter storm hits
Continued from 1A
Pendleton’s
third
marijuana grow operation
received the green light
Tuesday night from the city
planning commission.
This was the third hearing
to consider a conditional use
permit for Burnswell Family
Farms, which will operate
greenhouses in Riverside at
2612 N.E. Nursery Lane.
Burnswell owner Brandon
Krenzler said he was pleased
with the 5-0 vote to give the
business the opportunity
to prove it will help the
community.
The commission had
previously denied Krenzler’s
permit on Aug. 14, citing a
lack of information. Krenzler
appealed to the city council,
which on Dec. 5 decided to
kick it back to the planning
commission.
Planning aide Julie Chase
delivered the staff report
Tuesday night at city hall
and said Krenzler has since
provided a more detailed
plan. She said the operation
would grow and provide
marijuana to retail stores,
akin to the Walmart Distri-
bution Center in Hermiston,
which supplies Walmart
stores but does not conduct
retail sales.
Commissioners
asked
Krenzler to address issues
ranging from odor to secu-
rity.
“We will be investing as
much as we can into odor
mitigation,” he told the
commission, with a filtration
system on the greenhouse
and pleasant smelling plants
EO file photo
Brandon Krenzler, owner of Kind Leaf marijuana shop, received approval for a
conditional use permit to start a marijuana grow operation at the old Riverside
Nursery off of Highway 11 in Pendleton.
around the site.
Burnswell also will have
6-8 foot tall cyclone fencing
topped with security wire
and use landscaping and
shrubbery to help obscure
it from public view, and
include burglary sensors and
alarms.
Krenzler said Burnswell
would begin with one
greenhouse and would like
to expand to as many as four.
The vote for the grow
site did not come without
opposition. Bonnie Bischke
read from the four-page letter
she wrote to the commission
siting her concerns with
the project. They ranged
from the hours of operation
at Krenzler’s marijuana
retail business, Kind Leaf,
1733 S.W. Court Ave., to
comments on Facebook
critical of her opposition to
Burnswell to the affects the
appearance of a prison-like
fence would have on children
in the Riverside area.
Commission
chair
Maureen
McCormmach
told Bischke much of what
she said was not part of the
planning decision.
Commissioner
Joseph
Hull floated a proposal to
require Krenzler to come
back each time the business
installed a new greenhouse,
but he dropped that after
other commissioners rejected
the notion, including Ryan
DeGrofft, who said the
commission has not placed
such restrictions on other
businesses.
The commission voted
5-0 for the staff recommen-
dations for conditions on
Burnswell and then approved
the permit.
Krenzler after the meeting
said he and his team wanted
to wait for this outcome
before starting work at the
site. He said they aim to
start some landscaping and
preparation in the spring, but
the Burnswell has to receive
approval from the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission
before opening.
“I’m not sure we’re even
going to plant anything this
next year,” he said.
Bend Democrat who works as a Salem doc
considers joining Greg Walden challenge
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A Bend
Democrat, who works as
a physician in Salem and
Portland, is weighing a bid to
oust U.S. Rep. Greg Walden
from the 2nd Congressional
District seat.
If she announces next
month, Jennifer “Jenni”
Neahring, 51, would be
one of several Democrats
running campaigns to oust
the 10-term Republican
representative but only one
of two women.
A newcomer to politics,
Neahring said the high
cost of health care — and
Walden’s efforts to repeal
what she describes as the
only gains the nation has
made in improving access to
care — spurred her to explore
her potential to challenge
him. She said she felt the
only way she could change
national health care policy
would be to seek office.
She has toured the 2nd
Congressional District and
met with voters in Southern
Oregon, Central Oregon and
Eastern Oregon. She has
received advice from Celinda
Lake, a leading Democratic
political strategist, and has
met with former Gov. John
Kitzhaber and U.S. Reps.
Suzanne Bonamici and Earl
Blumenauer.
“I’m trying to see if I
understand the problems and
issues and can I serve this
district, and I feel that I can,”
Neahring said in a phone
interview with the Pamplin/
EO Capital Bureau Tuesday.
Neahring moved to Bend
from Salem about six years
ago after a divorce. While
living in Bend, she said,
she has continued a medical
practice as a kidney physi-
cian in both the capital city
and Portland, often working
every other week. She has
had affiliations with both
Salem Health Hospitals &
Clinics and with Providence
Connections palliative care
consultation service.
“From the time that it was
passed, I was happy to see
we were making changes in
the right direction in terms
of the things that are really
popular in the Affordable
Care Act, like mandatory
coverage for preexisting
condition and expanding
coverage for more people,”
Neahring said. “My concern
when it passed was there
wasn’t enough teeth in things
that needed to happen to
make health care affordable.
Health care is already too
Courtesy photo
Jennifer “Jenni” Neahring, a physician who lives in
Bend and works in Salem, is considering running in the
Democratic primary to unseat Republican U.S. Rep.
Greg Walden in the 2nd Congressional District.
Courtesy photo
Christopher Oertell/Hillsboro Tribune
Jamie McLeod-Skinner,
50, of Terrebonne, a re-
tired city manager and
planner, is the only wom-
an officially in the running
to try to unseat Rep. Greg
Walden.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden,
R-Oregon, listens during
a conference with House
Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis-
consin, at Intel’s Ronler
Acres campus in Hillsboro
Aug. 23.
expensive, and we saw those
costs continuing to rise.”
Even so, repealing the
law “didn’t make any sense
to me because the American
public would be losing the
few gains we had in starting
to look at bringing down the
cost of health care,” she said.
“The frustration to me
was that the whole discus-
sion was about politics and
Obama and trying to get rid
of it, as opposed to talking
about the problems with
health care and trying to fix
it.”
The only woman who has
filed for election to the seat
(and is still in the race) is
Jamie McLeod-Skinner, 50,
of Terrebonne, a retired city
manager and planner. She
announced her candidacy for
the Democratic nomination
July 5.
Rachel Scdoris-Salerno,
a legally-blind dog sled
racer from Bend, dropped
out of the race in July, after
announcing in May. She has
endorsed McLeod-Skinner.
Candidates have until
March 6 to file for the
primary election. Others
who have filed for the
Democratic nomination are
Michael Byrne of Parkdale
(near Hood River), James
“Jim” Crary, who lives near
Ashland, and Tim S. White.
Walden has “led the
charge in dismantling health
care” and in supporting the
tax bill and supported the
Federal
Communications
Commission’s decision to
repeal rules that prohibited
internet providers from
discriminating
against
certain websites, McLeod-
Skinner said.
“He really seems to have
turned away and forgotten
where he comes from,” she
said. “He’s really focused on
campaign donors and not the
needs of his district.”
The Democratic Party of
Oregon has amped up fund-
raising to support Democrat
candidates who could defeat
Walden. Criticism of his
votes for bills to repeal the
Affordable Care Act and
give permanent tax breaks to
the wealthy have fueled their
fervor.
Walden still has the
constituent support and
financial wherewithal to win
reelection, said Spokesman
Justin Discigil.
Voters in his district
“have consistently and
strongly supported Greg
Walden as their voice in
Congress because they
know he is a powerful force
standing up for our veterans,
working across party lines
to fix broken forest policy
and helping hardworking
taxpayers keep more of what
they earn,” Discigil said.
“Oregon has no stronger
voice for the ranching,
farming and small business
way of life that dominates
the east side of the state.”
Prominent
national
Democrats such as former
Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton also have empha-
sized the importance of more
women winning elected
office to combat discrimi-
nation in politics. Clinton
spoke to a full house at the
Arlene Schnitzer Concert
Hall in Portland Dec. 12 –
the same night Democrat
Doug Jones beat Republican
Roy Moore, a former judge
accused of initiating sex
with underage girls, in a
special election in Alabama
for a U.S. Senate seat.
Page 3A
City Hall is only at the start,
Patterson said, and ulti-
mately could come down to
city council’s decision.
The trio at Hamley’s said
clearing snow from roads
also would make it easier
for tourists to get around,
such as the Australians
and New Zealanders who
came into the store on
Wednesday. Lapp and Erb
said the travel group stated
they had never seen winter
like this, and they did not
have the right footwear to
explore anywhere else in
town.
Still, the weather has
upsides, they said, such as
customers who decided to
do their Christmas shopping
in town rather than brave
the roads to the Tri-Cities
or Walla Walla. And French
said having snow on
Christmas day brightened
attitudes and brought smiles.
Molly
Turner,
the
executive director of the
Pendleton
Downtown
Association, said businesses
reported strong sales during
the holiday stroll on Dec. 9,
but she hasn’t heard much
yet about how the snowy
roads have affected post-
Christmas sales.
Betty Adair works
behind the bar at the
Rainbow Café, 209 S. Main
St., and said the after-break-
fast crowd of four tables
was about average for the
middle of the week, in spite
of the snow. Business slows
down the first day or two
after a winter storm hits, she
said, but then people return
to routines and the locals
make it back to the bar and
restaurant.
However, freezing rain
and black ice change the
situation, she said. The
Rainbow shut down one day
during the January winter
storm that sealed much of
the area under ice. Nothing
that bad has happened this
winter, so far.
Adair has worked at the
Rainbow for 36 years and
said she remembers when
the city plowed the snow.
Crews would pile the berm
down the center of Main
Street, she said, and that was
a hassle. She also said it did
not make sense to her for the
city to own snow removal
equipment for use just a few
days a year — if that.
“I’d rather see them
spend the money on fixing
up the roads and potholes,”
she said.
Roughly a dozen children
and adults laughed, scurried
and
played
Thursday
morning at the Children’s
Museum of Eastern Oregon,
400 S. Main St.
Joanna Engle, executive
director of the hands-on
museum since February, said
it was difficult to judge how
much of a role the weather
played into attendance.
Local
grandparents
with children have been a
common sight this winter,
she said, and the museum
draws visitors on long road
trips, providing a fun place
for children and parents to
let out some energy before
having to get back in the car.
The museum’s store did
well with Christmas sales,
Engle added, and some of
those were to adults who
were seeking educational
toys for themselves.
She also said she has
thought some about the
benefit of a city snow plow.
She grew up in La Grande,
she said, and before coming
to Pendleton for the museum
job spent 40 years in the
Willamette Valley.
This winter weather that
landed on Pendleton would
have stopped everything
there, she said. But over
here, people find a way to
get around.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
BRIEFLY
Violin lessons
start Jan. 3
HERMISTON —
Representatives from
Inland Northwest
Musicians are offering
violin lessons.
The twice-a-week
sessions are Mondays and
Wednesdays from 3:30-
4:30 p.m. at the Hermiston
Conference Center, 415
S. Highway 395. The
classes begin Jan. 3. The
cost is $40 per month for
Hermiston residents or $50
for non-residents.
For more information
or to register, contact
Hermiston Parks &
Recreation at 541-667-
5018 or stop by the parks
office. For more about
the Inland Northwest
Musicians, visit www.
inlandnorthwestmusicians.
com.
Stanfield library
expands Friday
hours in 2018
STANFIELD — The
Stanfield Public Library is
updating its hours in the
new year.
Beginning Jan. 1, it will
be open Monday through
Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. at 180 W. Coe Ave.
The library previously
closed earlier on Fridays.
People are encouraged
to stop by to check out a
book or learn about library
programs.
For more information,
call 541-449-1254, visit
www.stanfieldpubliclibrary.
com or search Facebook.
Tamástslikt to
close Jan. 8-20
for maintenance
MISSION — Due to
repair and maintenance
projects, Tamástslikt
Cultural Institute has
announced plans to be
closed Jan. 8-20.
During the closure,
submissions for the 2018
ArtWORKz Junior Art
Show & Competition will
be accepted at the front
entrance.
The museum, which
showcases American
Indian culture and art, is
located near Wildhorse
Resort & Casino in
Mission. Tamástslikt’s
regular hours are Monday
through Saturdays from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum
admission is $10 for adults,
$9 for seniors, $6 for
youths 6-17 and free for
ages 5 and under.
For more information,
go to www.tamastslikt.org
or call 541-429-7700.