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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2018)
DISTRICT TRACK TAKES OFF SENIOR LUNCH RETURNS TO PENDLETON SPORTS/1B REGION/3A THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 142nd Year, No. 145 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON Myers says farmers market canceled By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Hermiston Farmer’s Mar- ket vendors gathered for a meet- ing Wednesday night about the upcoming season, but were instead told the market is canceled for this year. “I’ve got some news you all are probably not going to be happy about,” Mitch Myers told the group. Myers, owner of Mitco Invest- ments, had taken on responsibility for the farmer’s market this year in anticipation of holding it at the new 4,000-square-foot, open-air Maxwell Pavilion he is construct- ing on South First Street. But he said city building inspector Chuck Woolsey has ordered work on the site to stop and has placed unrea- sonable demands on Mitco in what Myers said must be a “power trip” against him for personal reasons. Reading a news release penned by his attorney Brent Smith, Myers stated that “Mitco is eval- uating all options for moving the project forward but it is unclear at this time when this dispute will be resolved ... it is with great regret that Mitco announces as the result of the building official’s wrongful actions Mitco is unable to commit to the sponsors, vendors, perform- ers, advertisers and others which planned to participate in the Herm- iston Farmer’s Market this year.” Assistant city manager Mark Morgan, reached Wednesday night, said the city could not com- ment on the situation due to the notice Myers’ attorney sent the city of intention to sue. That suit deals with the stop-work order on the Maxwell Pavilion and a sec- ond stop-work order in place since See MARKET/8A ELECTION 2018 Pendleton boy killed in I-82 crash By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Nathan Salazar of Pend- leton died Tuesday evening in a crash near Umatilla. He was 12. Oregon State Police reported the stormy weather at the time could have been a contributing factor. State police, Umatilla County Fire District 1 and other agencies at about 7:15 p.m. responded to a sin- gle-vehicle crash on Inter- state 82 outside Umatilla. The preliminary investi- gation indicated Raymond Ramone Dick Shippen- tower, 32, of Pendleton, was driving a silver Mazda MPV westbound on the highway. The minivan veered off the road and rolled over in the median. Nathan was a passenger in the vehicle. He died from injuries at the scene. The other passengers were Christina Marie Leyva, 38, of Pendleton, and a 3-year-old girl. They and the driver suffered minor or non-life threatening injuries, according to state police. Nathan was a student at Washington Elementary School. Pendleton, where staff sent a letter to parents identifying Nathan and tell- ing parents how their chil- dren could react to grief. Pendleton school Super- intendent Chris Fritsch called Nathan’s death a tragedy. “Our hearts go out to the parents and the fam- ily,” Fritsch said, adding the death also weighs on teach- ers and staff. Principal Aimee Van- Nice said the school estab- lished a room for students and staffed with teachers and counselors. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Election specialist Debbie Swenson verifies the ballot count for a voting precinct on Wednesday at the Umatilla County Elections Division office in Pendleton. Ballots trickle in With less than a week to go until Election Day, Republicans (15.5 percent) are outpacing Democrats (13.8 percent). Elections manager hopes voters pick up the pace By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian H ave you voted yet? If you haven’t, you are not alone. Kim Lindell, elec- tions manager for Umatilla County, said she is dismayed at the county’s low voter turnout with only a week to go before next Tuesday’s 8 p.m. deadline. Even with vote-by-mail, which started in 1998, turnout “has gotten worse and worse over the years,” said the 18-year veteran with Uma- tilla County Elections. “It used to get crazy around here with so many people bringing their ballots in, they had to stand in line.” According to the Oregon Elec- tions Division, just more than 10 percent of Umatilla County vot- ers have mailed or dropped off bal- lots as of May 7. The number rose to about 14 percent by Wednesday morning, Lindell said. Statewide, voter turnout is more anemic — just 8.6 percent as of May 7. Morrow County reached 13 percent that day. As Lindell talked, the door opened and an employee of the Stafford Hansell Government Center in Hermiston entered and plopped a large, blue canvas bag on the counter. Inside were ballots dropped off at city halls in Umatilla, Hermiston, Stanfield and Echo. She peered inside and pronounced the batch a pretty good day’s haul from the county’s west side. Other drop boxes include one at the Umatilla County Courthouse and another at the Nixyaawii Gov- ernance Center. Lindell doesn’t recommend peo- ple mail ballots this close to the election. That said, she treks each day to the Pendleton Post Office to pick up ballots that have been set apart from the rest of the mail. Instead of going to Portland for pro- cessing, the ballots are fast-tracked over to the courthouse. Inside the office’s work room See BALLOTS/8A PENDLETON Fire station property sale stalled until at least June St. Anthony Hospital’s parent company must still sign off on the deal By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris The land deal for the site of the new fire station in Pendleton has yet to be approved by the Catholic Health Initiatives, the parent organization of St. Anthony Hospital. When the city of Pendleton breaks ground on the new fire sta- tion next week, it will be on land that doesn’t belong to them. At a Pendleton City Coun- cil meeting Tuesday, city staff told council members that the deal to purchase a 1-acre property at 1455 S.E. Court Ave. from St. Anthony Hospital hasn’t closed yet. Former Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo announced in January that the two sides had agreed to buy a piece of the old St. Anthony Hospital site for $360,000, but city officials now say that the sale process has taken its time working its way through the hospital bureaucratic process. See BOND/8A
