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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2019)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Thomas rises above competition | SPORTS, A8 E O AST 143rd year, No. 111 REGONIAN THURSDAy, MARCH 21, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD New crime lab to open this summer Hansell Smith Lawmakers hesitant to commit on vaccine exemptions Smith, Hansell struggle to balance public health with parental rights By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Tyson McClure, of Pasco, installs cabinets in the main lab area while working on the construction of the Oregon State Police crime lab Wednesday in Pendleton. Facility exceeds 9,500 square feet By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Construction of Oregon’s newest crime lab in Pendleton is six weeks away from completion. The facility exceeds 9,500 square feet at the bottom of Airport Hill in what is effectively the county’s law enforcement center, with the entrance to the Pendleton Police Department and the Oregon State Police Pendleton Area Command just up Airport Road, and the sheriff’s office, jail and parole and probation department within a moment’s drive the other way. The state police Forensic Services Division operates labs in Bend, Cen- tral Point, Pendleton, Portland and Springfield. For years the agency and Oregon Legislature debated about closing the Pendleton lab in the office building at the corner of Southeast Eighth Street and Emigrant Ave- nue. The analysts there work in tight spaces, contend with shrinking stor- age and even a gnat infestation. Cal- vin Davis, the forensic scientist in charge of the Pendleton lab, said a central issue is the building was not designed for the work. That soon will no longer mat- ter. Davis during a tour of the site Wednesday said, “It will be a substan- tial upgrade for us for sure.” Portland-based Fortis Construction Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, hasn’t decided whether to vote for or against a bill to ban non-medical exemptions for vaccinations. “On one hand, you have to protect the community. When parents aren’t step- ping in and taking care of their children, it affects society,” Smith said. “On the other, you have parental rights. Should the government tell parents what to do?” House Bill 3063 passed out of com- mittee last Thursday and moved to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, where Smith serves as co-vice chair and Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, is a mem- ber. If the bill survives there, the House and Senate would need to approve and then Gov. Kate Smith could sign it into law. See Vaccines, Page A7 Staff photo by E.J. Harris Construction of the Oregon State Police crime lab is on schedule to be completed May 1. Morrow County energy project will bring surge of funding to schools By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian “IT WILL BE A SUBSTANTIAL UPGRADE FOR US FOR SURE.” “It’s a busy place,” Miner said. The building’s west side houses the main entrance, the front lobby, a conference room, office spaces and a high-density file storage room. Proj- ect engineer Jacob Gerard explained The major energy project slated for Morrow County is going to have a ripple effect — with the capacity for more bat- tery storage than any other facility in the country. With that surge in power storage will come funds for local schools’ sci- ence, technology and art programs. Portland General Electric and Nex- tEra Energy Resources have partnered to build the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility, which combines wind, solar and battery power. As of Wednes- day, the Morrow County Board of See Crime Lab, Page A7 See Energy, Page A7 Calvin Davis, the forensic scientist in charge of the Pendleton lab Inc. is building the $4.5 million lab and broke ground in August. Project superintendent Tim Miner said about 30 people a day are working at the site. Contractors measured, drilled and hammered around the place, working on everything from cabinets to door frames to lighting. Depot marks 75 years since igloo explosion By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian It was a cool spring night March 21, 1944, when Ken- neth Fraser took a crew of civilians out to igloo B-1014 at the Umatilla County Ord- nance Depot just outside Hermiston. Fraser, age 40, had a wife and four children waiting for him at home in Irrigon. He had moved the family there from Idaho two years earlier, switching careers from logging to crew fore- man at the Depot. That night 75 years ago, Fraser was accompanied by Alice Wolgamott, 20; Lance A. Stulz, 40; Hiram Cook, 26; William Sanders, 30; and Harry Sever, 33, as they unloaded 500-pound bombs into the igloo. Two other members of his crew, Glenn Long and Cecil Pennington, stayed behind to work at a railroad site. At 9:29 p.m. something went wrong. Later, some would speculate that one of the bombs malfunctioned. Others thought it might have been dropped “just right.” Whatever the case — the mystery has never been completely solved — a mas- sive boom shook the depot as the igloo containing 264 bombs exploded, killing all six people. Clara Ellen Fraser Brown was 15 when her father Ken- neth was killed in the explo- sion, which leveled the spe- cially reinforced concrete bunker and destroyed two vehicles. It took hours to ascertain who had died in the explosion, as there were no remains to identify. “We had nothing to bury,” she said. “It was just a horrible thing.” Most of those who were working 75 years ago at the Depot are no longer living. Evelyn Guerrant Thomas of Milton-Freewater, who died See Depot, Page A7 Photo contributed by the U.S. Army, File A worker inside an igloo at the Umatilla Ordnance Depot stacks 500-pound bombs similar to the ones that exploded on March 21, 1944.
