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142nd Year, No. 100
REGONIAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018
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WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MISSION
Tribal community gathers
for crash victim and survivor
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Alameda Addison and her
granddaughter Zoe Bevis were in
the caravan Saturday night returning
to Pendleton after the championship
high school basketball game in
Baker City. They did not make it
home.
The vehicle they were in was
among the 20 involved in multiple
crashes on an icy Interstate 84
between Cabbage Hill and Deadman
Pass.
Zoe is at Providence Sacred Heart
Medical Center, Spokane. Several
members of her family are there
with her. Alameda died Sunday in a
Richland hospital. She was 58.
Zoe attends Nixyaawii Commu-
nity School on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation. Nixyaawii principal
Ryan Heinrich said Zoe was the only
student at the school who suffered
serious injuries in the collisions.
Alameda was an avid supporter of
the school’s athletic teams. Nixy-
aawii employees, the booster club
and other members of the reservation
community pulled together Tuesday
to hold a lunch fundraiser at the
school gym for the Bevis family.
The line for the meal wound out
the concessions area and along the
gym wall. They served around 200
lunches about 90 minutes into the
event. Heinrich said people were
See CRASH/5A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Andria Scott, Keysha Ashley, Linda Sampson and Marissa
Baumgarner make fry bread tacos during a fundraiser to help
with the medical expenses of Zoe Bevis on Tuesday at Nixyaawii
Community School in Mission.
PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Man killed
in work site
accident
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — A
man died in an industrial
accident southwest of
Hermiston on Tuesday
morning, but much of
the information about the
accident is still yet to be
released.
At 11 a.m., Umatilla
County Fire District 1
officials were dispatched
to an industrial site on
Cottonwood Bend Road,
where an Amazon facility
is being built.
Battalion Chief Corey
Gorham said one man
died as a result of an acci-
dent, but did not confirm
his name or exactly how
he died. Gorham said
the incident is being
investigated by Occupa-
tional Safety and Health
Administration, and he
couldn’t release any more
information about it.
Dispatchers on the
emergency scanner said
the man had been hit by
highly pressurized water,
as much as 200 psi, and
that CPR was adminis-
tered. Shortly afterward, a
dispatcher said a chaplain
had been sent to scene.
Moments before that
call, UCFD crews had
been dispatched to a
wreck between a van and
small sports utility vehicle
that T-boned in front of
the Tom Denchel car deal-
ership at 81143 Highway
395.
Two adults and one
child were taken to the
hospital with non-life
threatening
injuries,
according to Lt. Matt
Fisher. Traffic was shut
down in the northbound
lanes for 30 minutes.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Blue sky and clouds are reflected in the new windows on the top floor of the old city hall building Monday in Pendleton.
Pendleton old city hall
restored from the ashes
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The Quezadas have had a busy 2018.
Multiple members of the family are
working on two separate renovation
projects in downtown Pendleton — old
city hall at 34 S.E. Dorion Ave. and
Sister’s Cafe at 308 S. Main St. — in an
attempt to restore the buildings to their
prior appearances.
With city money invested in both
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Construction on the interior of the old city hall building is un- projects, the family and its contractor are
derway now that a new roof and windows have been installed. reporting progress on both fronts.
OLD CITY HALL
There are still some visible scorch
marks, but old city hall is starting to
resemble the building it was in the years
leading up to July 21, 2015.
On that day, an explosion caused by
homemade fireworks killed Eduardo
Quezada and caused the structure to
catch fire, destroying much of the roof
and top-floor windows and scarring the
brickwork.
Two-and-a-half years later, contractor
Jamie Stone delivered a quick tour
See CITY HALL/5A
ELECTION FILING DEADLINE
Commissioner Murdock draws two challengers
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Two challengers are
looking to oust George
Murdock from another term
as Umatilla County commis-
sioner.
Tom Bailor and Rick Pullen
filed Monday for Position 1 on
the board of commissioners.
Murdock, Bailor and Pullen
all live in Pendleton.
Bailor ran for commis-
sioner in 2013 and again in
2016. He said he’s giving
it another go because he
More inside
•Governor’s race draws
17 candidates. Page 2A
• Hermiston, Pendleton
council races get (some)
new faces. Page 3A
believes the county needs new
leadership.
“It’s time for diversity,”
Bailor said. “We need lead-
ership that not only respects
traditional values but also
understands and embraces
the dynamic digital age and
economy in which we now
live.”
Murdock and fellow
commissioners Larry Givens
and Bill Elfering are in their
mid-70s. Bailor contended
they represent only one gener-
ation.
“As someone in my 50s,
I think it is important to
have leadership with diverse
generational experience and
connection,” Bailor stated.
He also said county
commissioners
approving
themselves pay raises of
$8,000 did not sit well with
him. That move in 2015
increased the salary for
the post to $86,273 a year.
Commissioners now have
an annual salary of $90,852.
Bailor stated Murdock took
raises while arguing against
wage increases for working
people.
Bailor also said Murdock
expressing partisan opinions
in local news violates the
nonpartisan spirit of the
county
charter.
County
commissioners should be
trying to build solutions to
local problems on common
ground, he said, rather than
fuel partisan politics within
the community.
Rick Pullen worked for
Umatilla County from 2004
until he quit on Dec. 15, 2017,
when he was in the assessor’s
office. Pullen is a singer and
portrayed Daddy Warbucks
in the recent College Commu-
nity Theatre production of the
musical “Annie.” Pullen did
not return calls Tuesday.
Commissioners
serve
four-year terms. The last day
to file for the May 15 primary
election was Tuesday.