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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2019)
TACO TRUCK STAPLE OPENS HERMISTON RESTAURANT REGION, A3 WEEKEND EDITION GOLDEN EAGLES SOAR INTO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LONG-HAUL TRUCKER SHORTAGE HITTING HOME BUSINESS, A8 SPORTS, B1 E O AST 143rd Year, No. 98 REGONIAN MARCH 2-3, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD BRINGING THE MOUNTAIN TO LIFE Legislators prepare for statewide redistricting By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian From his home in Heppner, Greg Smith has represented various swaths of eastern and central Oregon without hav- ing to move. Thanks to multiple rounds of redis- tricting, the Republican legislator has represented Wallowa County to the east, Crook County to the south, parts of Wasco County to the west and a lot of the space in between over his 10 terms in the Oregon House of Representatives. And in a state where the Oregon Leg- islature draws its own districts, Smith expects his constituency will change again once the U.S. Census delivers its 2020 population count. “There’s nothing more political than redistricting,” he said. A coalition of civic organizations is banding together to try to take the poli- tics out of the process. See Redistricting, Page A10 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Victoria and Ren Williams sit in the common area of the bed-and-breakfast they are developing to complement their other business, Alpine Outpost restaurant, in Tollgate east of Weston. Alpine Outpost owners expand restaurant, lodge to Blue Mountains Lawmakers come and go, but the lobby remains a powerful voice in Oregon By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian M ountain travelers stopping for a hot meal or fresh baked bread will soon have a place to sit back and stay a while — and it’s just across the road. Ren and Victoria Williams, who operate the Outpost farm stand and the Alpine Outpost restaurant on Highway 204 between Weston and Elgin, are working to turn the vacant building across the highway back into a bed-and-breakfast. The house, with four bedrooms, a hot tub, and a large kitchen and living room, was once the Tamarack Inn Bed-and- Breakfast. The previous owners closed it several years ago, according to Ren Williams, due to health problems. Ren said an investor purchased it, and he and his wife will manage and operate it. He hopes to retain the name “Tamarack.” Wood-paneled walls and A-frame ceilings give the place a cabin-like feel. With the exception of one bedroom that’s under construction, the place is almost ready for visitors. The cou- ple awaits permits, and plans to open to the public within six weeks. In the summer, they hope to add RV hookups in the back of the property. “It’s nice we didn’t have to do much work (on the place),” Victoria said. “They kept it up well.” Lobbyists the only constant in Capitol By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE, AUBREY WIEBER and PARIS ACHEN Oregon Capital Bureau Staff photo by E.J. Harris Cookies are among the more popular items on the menu at the Alpine Outpost in Tollgate. Owners say they have sold 33,000 cookies in the last six months alone to visitors. The couple have big plans for the space. In the large, open kitchen, they’d like to host classes for things like baking and soap-making. They hope to bring back the weekend brunch that the previous owners used to host. Reopening the bed-and-breakfast is the couple’s latest step in trying to tap into the mountain’s potential. SALEM — As the 2019 Legislature steams ahead, an army of 1,000 lobbyists is at work to gain political favors from the state’s 90 legislators. Two years ago, special interests reported to the state that they spent $39 million on that effort. The most expensive lobbying effort in 2017 was staged by the Oregon Asso- ciation of Realtors, followed by West- ern States Petroleum Association and the Oregon Nurses Association, according to spending reports required by the state. See Lodge, Page A10 See Lobbyists, Page A10 February snowfall destroys previous record By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Snowfall for February in Pendleton reached 32.5 inches, almost twice the previous record. The National Weather Service in Pendleton also reported record amounts of snow for the month in other local towns. Pendleton’s old record stood at 16.8 inches from 1994. Snowfall this February surpassed that by Valentine’s Day. Hermiston recorded 17.6 inches for the month at the treatment plant in Hermiston’s northwest end. Assistant forecaster Ann Adams explained the Weather Service has used that locale since 1999, and before it used the airport on the oppo- site end of Hermiston. That site holds the record for February snowfall in Hermiston at 25 inches from 1916. Heppner reported 31 inches of snow for the month, well past the previous best of 22.5 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Many areas of Eastern Oregon still had a foot or more of snow on the ground on the last day of February. inches, also from 1916. And Milton-Freewater set a new monthly total with 19.8 inches. The old mark was 13.5 inches in 1993. Snow fell more days than not during the month. Adams said counting even trace amounts, Pendleton had 22 days of snowfall and Hermiston had 19. And it was enough to shut down schools for multiple days, including Pend- leton schools the last four days of the month. Temperatures also were below normal for the month. Pendleton’s average was 27.7, 10.8 degrees below normal, with the lowest at 3 on Feb. 7. Low temperatures for the town dropped below the freezing point 25 out of the 28 days. Hermiston averaged 27.8 for the month, 10 degrees below normal and with low tempera- tures below freezing 26 days. Adams said the cold temperatures will remain through the weekend but without much chance of more snow. That could change by the middle of next week. She said another moisture system looks to be pushing in Tuesday from the south-southwest and could deliver more snow. “But that’s still too far out for us to guessti- mate amounts,” she said.
