44/35 REGION/3A SPORTS/1B MUSTANGS RECEIVE ALL-STATE HONORS TALENT SHINES IN HERMISTON TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018 142nd Year, No. 59 WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Bob Jenson: May 11, 1931 - Jan. 6, 2018 Elder statesman leaves lasting mark Former educator won races as Democrat, Independent and Republican By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian The Dean of the House has died. Bob Jenson, who died Saturday at age 86, served 18 years and nine terms in the Oregon House of Representatives until he retired in 2015. The Pendleton legislator started his fi rst term in 1997 and served so long his colleagues dubbed him “the Dean of the House.” “He was unique in that he ran as a Democrat, as an Independent and as a Republican,” said former state senator David Nelson. “He won every time.” Jenson’s wife, Evelyn, remem- bers her husband wrestling with the idea of changing his political affi liation. “He was a Democrat at heart, but he recognized that it wasn’t a good fi t with his district,” Evelyn said. “He tried to be an Indepen- dent, but that leaves you bereft of any infl uence.” He did, however, get a kick out of being “a caucus of one.” Neither of the parties completely fi t Bob, she said — fi scally, he was more conservative and socially, he leaned left. He seemed unfettered by party lines. Evelyn still hasn’t wrapped her head around the idea that her beloved husband of 46 years is gone. The normally clearheaded Evelyn says she’s feeling fuzzy and disoriented as she grapples with the loss. Their large close- knit family is unmoored. Even the dog, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever who spent recent weeks camped out at Bob’s bedside, wanders around the house looking confused and unsettled. “She’s been inconsolable,” Evelyn said. Their family — four chil- dren, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren — fl owed in and out of Jenson’s Pendleton home on his last day. His death ended an on-and-off struggle with cancer that lasted fi ve years. His time in the Oregon Legis- See JENSON/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Rep. Bob Jenson sits on the Ways and Means committee Feb. 5, 2013, in the state capitol in Salem. Pendleton Round-Up buys Albertsons, adds to collection of properties Cliven Bundy emerges free, defi ant after case tossed By KEN RITTER Associated Press hard to compete with Boardman, Patterson and other regional Lamb Weston facilities for the expansion, which is expected to bring in at least 140 new jobs. The jobs are required to meet or exceed Umatilla County’s average wage — currently about $18 per hour — with a total compen- sation package worth 130 percent of the average wage. “It’s safe to say this investment would not occur without the approval of this agreement,” Morgan said. The Umatilla County Commis- sion has already approved the agreement. LAS VEGAS — The Nevada rancher accused of leading an armed standoff that stopped federal agents from rounding up his cattle in 2014 walked out of a courthouse in Las Vegas a free and defi ant man Monday, declaring that his fi ght against U.S. authority is not over. Cliven Bundy emerged to supporters’ cheers, while environ- mental and conservation advocates worried that the dismissal of his charges would bolster “violent and racist anti-gov- ernment” followers who aim to erode established parks, wildlife refuges and Bundy other public lands controlled by U.S. offi cials. “We’re not done with this,” the 71-year-old Bundy declared in his fi rst minutes of freedom since his arrest in February 2016. The family patriarch and states’ rights fi gure said he had been held as a political prisoner for 700 days and promised that if U.S. Bureau of Land Management agents come again to seize his cattle over unpaid grazing fees, they will encounter “the very same thing as last time.” “The whole world is looking at us,” he said. “‘Why is America acting like this? Why are we allowing the federal government, these bureaucracies, to have armies?’ That’s a big question the whole world wants to know.” The stunning collapse of the federal criminal case against Cliven Bundy and his sons Ryan and Ammon marked a new low for government lawyers whose work is now under review by the Trump administration. Prosecutors have faced several losses in Oregon and Nevada arising from armed Bundy standoffs over federal control of vast stretches of land in the U.S. West. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions launched an investigation into the Nevada case last month after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial. On Monday, she dismissed outright all 15 counts against Bundy, his sons and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne. “The court fi nds that the universal sense of justice has been violated,” Navarro said as audible gasps and sobs erupted in a court See HERMISTON/8A See BUNDY/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pat Beard, left, gestures while giving a tour of the Round-Up Grounds to a group with Travel Pendleton on Monday. The Round-Up Association announced it has purchased the old Albertsons store across from the Round-Up Grounds. REAL ESTATE ROUND-UP By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Months of rumors were fi nally confi rmed Monday: the Pend- leton Round-Up Association has acquired the Albertsons property. Located across Southwest Court Avenue from the Round-Up Grounds, the vacant grocery store and its accompanying parking lot will join a host of properties on Southwest 18th Street and South- west Byers Avenue, to the east of the Round-Up Grounds. “This acquisition marks a huge step for our organization,” Round-Up President Dave O’Neill said in a statement. “It is a welcome addition to our campus as we continue to experience success and the growth of our event.” Round-Up Publicity Director Randy Thomas said the property has been on the rodeo association’s radar since the Albertsons building was vacated in 2014 and the prop- erty was put on the market. “It’s a pretty obvious, strategic piece because it’s right across the See ROUND-UP/8A HERMISTON Lamb Weston gets extended tax break, will pay $1 million a year for 15 years City, county will use revenue for water infrastructure project By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian A planned $220 million expansion of Lamb Weston’s french fry making operation in Hermiston will come with a 15-year property tax break. The Hermiston city council voted unanimously on Monday to offer its fi rst Long Term Rural Enterprise Zone Agreement, in contrast to previous three to fi ve year agree- ments with DuPont Pioneer Seed, Shearer’s Foods and Eastern Oregon Telecom. While other enterprise zone agreements have exempted companies from paying anything in property taxes at all, however, the 15 year agreement offered to Lamb Weston includes payments in lieu of property taxes that will equal about 42 percent of what the company would have paid in property taxes. Those payments will total $1 million per year for 15 years, split evenly between the city of Hermiston and Umatilla County. Assistant city manager Mark Morgan said the city had to work