LOCAL FARMS
ADD CENTURY
DESIGNATION
SEAHAWKS ADD
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FRONT
REGION/3A
SPORTS/1B
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018
142nd Year, No. 209
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
Home
for the
summer
Data center
company
returns with
hotel pitch
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The company behind a proposed
data center in the Airport Road indus-
trial park is asking for the city’s help
building a hotel at the airport itself.
At a council workshop Tuesday,
City Manager Robb Corbett distrib-
uted a memo that detailed an airport
hotel proposal from Horse Valley
LLC, a subsidiary of the Vancouver,
Washington company Makad Corp.
According to Corbett, Makad has
financing through a U.S. Department
of Agriculture loan to build a $11.5
million hotel with three-stories, 74
rooms, a restaurant, and a bar.
Instead of a standard land lease,
which Corbett estimated would bring
the city $2,100 per year, Makad is
proposing it pay its rent through a
percentage of gross revenue, maxing
out at 2 percent per year starting in the
seventh year of the lease.
In exchange for signing a 50-year
lease, Makad wants an incentive
package that includes in-kind site
preparation and environmental engi-
neering work, water and sewer con-
nection fee waivers and a permit cost
reduction based on the number of
full-time employees up to 50 percent.
Corbett said the city has been
discussing the proposed hotel with
See HOTEL/8A
HERMISTON
Staff photos by E.J. Harris
The trophy saddle for the 1959 Pendleton Round-Up was made to honor Oregon’s centennial anniversary. TOP: A medallion
with the Oregon state seal engraved on it adorns the top of the saddle horn.
A saddle with a distinct style, mysterious maker
finds its way back to Pendleton
By BRITTANY NORTON
East Oregonian
amley’s store is filled with opulent goods and
big-ticket items ranging from hundreds to thou-
sands of dollars.
But in the back of the store, the saddle shop has one
of the most valuable items: the trophy saddle for the
1959 Pendleton Round-Up, which was made to honor
Oregon’s centennial anniversary.
“When Oregon celebrated its centennial in 1959,
the Pendleton Round-Up was still basically the world
championships,” said Hamley’s co-owner Parley
Pearce.
The store acquired the saddle on a loan from its
owner — Jim Bergevin, who received it after it was
passed down from his father Joe Bergevin, the champi-
H
onship steer roper for that year.
Penny French, a manager at Hamley’s, had a friend
who knew the Bergevins and that’s how the store was
able to borrow it, she said.
They are studying the saddle for its style — called
“northwest style” — which is one of the many ways
to craft a saddle. The Oregon centennial saddle is
believed to have been made by Bill Knight, a promi-
nent saddle maker during that time.
“Finding work done by him is difficult because his
name wasn’t in the saddle records,” said French.
Hamley’s keeps documentation of all the saddles
made in its store, including the date, who it was made
for and the initials of the person that made it. But there
were no references of “B.K.,” which would have been
Theft suspect
disappears
into cornfield
East Oregonian
Police spent nearly five hours
searching for a man who crashed a
stolen vehicle into a guard rail near
Hermiston and ran into a nearby
cornfield.
Six police agencies surrounded the
150-acre cornfield near the intersec-
tion of Interstate 84 and Interstate 82,
deploying both dogs and drones, but
to no avail.
The search began at about 9:30
a.m. and at 2:30 p.m. it was called off,
though Oregon State Police Sgt. Seth
Cooney said police continued to look
for the man.
See SADDLE/8A
See THEFT/8A
“This is meant to encompass what a small community is”
— Raymon Smith, superintendent of Echo School District
New digs for Echo
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A group of Echo fifth-graders hang out in their new classroom
on Wednesday during an open house for the new addition of the
Echo School.
A new addition to Echo school
swill be enjoyed by all the city’s res-
idents. About 150 people gathered on
Wednesday to celebrate the school’s
new facility, which includes new
classrooms and a new gymnasium, art
room, wood and welding shop, public
workout room and community center.
“This is meant to encompass what
a small community is,” said Raymon
Smith, superintendent of Echo School
District. “To meet all the needs of the
community, not just one aspect.”
The project, on which construction
began in July 2017, cost $8 million and
was funded half by a school bond and
half by a grant from the state.
After the ribbon-cutting, students
and their families toured the new facil-
ity and visited their new teachers and
classrooms.
Sophomore Zoe Russell said she
was excited to have a school and a gym
that was on par with other districts.
“It’s really cool and modern,” she
said. “I just like the space.”
Keith Holman, Echo School prin-
cipal and shop teacher, said the new
space will allow Echo students more
opportunities.
“It’s given us room to do the things
See ECHO/8A