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Pendleton
considers
program
for blighted
homes
Your Weekend
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
• Jackalope Jamboree
Happy Canyon Arena
• Walden (Athena) and
Wyden (Pendleton) town halls
• Tylor & The Train Robbers
concert, SAGE Center
PENDLETON — The Pend-
leton Development Commission
could soon get into the home
improvement business.
On behalf of the commis-
sion, Kaitlyn Cook, an associate
from the University of Oregon’s
Resource Assistance for Rural
Environments program, stud-
ied downtown blight and pre-
sented the results at a commis-
sion meeting on Tuesday.
Cook said she did the study
so that the commission, which
is comprised of members of the
Pendleton City Council, would
better understand the issue of
blight while members consider
how to move the urban renewal
district forward during the last
four years of its lifespan.
“I’m not a structural engi-
neer,” she said. “I looked at the
buildings and looked at determi-
nators of blight.”
Cook studied every structure
from Southeast Sixth Street to
Southwest Sixth Street, Umatilla
River to railroad, and graded
them on a 900 point scale.
She assessed the buildings
based on nine qualities of blight,
including peeling paint, yard
maintenance issues, and struc-
tural problems.
Based on her scores, she
determined that there were 52
blighted buildings in the down-
town area, 25 of them residential.
Although city officials have
long been critical of absentee
landlords and banks who let
their properties fall into disre-
pair, only a little more than half
of the blighted structures were
renter occupied.
The development commis-
sion’s advisory committee has
been exploring how the urban
renewal district could take a
greater role in housing, said
Charles Denight, the commis-
sion’s associate director.
They’ve been busy crafting
a proposal to improve the urban
renewal district’s existing stock
while still filling an unmet need.
Denight said the Greater
Eastern Oregon Development
Corp. and Community Action
Program of East Central Ore-
gon already offer housing ren-
ovation programs, but they’re
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Purchase of
Observer, Herald
becomes final
EO Media Group to
add La Grande, Baker
City papers July 1
By ANDREW CUTLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — For the
staffs of the Baker City Herald
and The Observer in La Grande,
Thursday’s news that Bank-
ruptcy Judge Trish M. Brown
authorized the sale of the two
papers to the EO Media Group
was a chance to breathe a sigh
of relief.
For the EO Media Group,
the news continues the compa-
ny’s push to strengthen its posi-
tion as a leading regional media
presence.
“We’re very pleased to have
La Grande and Baker City as
part of the EO Media Group.
We’re excited about the many
possibilities this affords us in
Eastern Oregon,” said Heidi
Wright, the EO Media Group
chief operations officer. “The
purchase of these papers gives
our company a greater ability
to serve the region in a more
effective way. This will grow
EO Media Group’s presence in
Eastern Oregon from four news-
papers to six.”
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Richard Allstott stands in his front yard where he displays the American flag every day of the year.
Korean War veteran
will lead Pendleton’s
Fourth of July parade
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — Richard Allstott
has two souvenirs from the Korean
War — a Bronze Star and pro-
found hearing loss resulting from
an enemy grenade that tossed him 40 feet.
Allstott, this year’s grand marshal for
P
Pendleton’s Independence Day Parade,
doesn’t often talk about those months in
Korea, although some harrowing experi-
ences lurk in his memory. Tom Tangney,
who nominated Allstott for grand marshal,
said even some members of the local Veter-
ans of Foreign Wars post weren’t aware of
Allstott’s heroism.
“People don’t know what Richard went
through because he doesn’t talk about it,”
said Tangney, who is also a Korean War vet-
eran. “He is not one to blow his own horn.”
A detailed description of Allstott’s hero-
See Hero, Page A7
See Newspapers, Page A7
See Homes, Page A7
Demonstrators urge GOP senators to stay away for rural Oregon
By DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — The days before the
Oregon Legislature adjourns are
typically chaotic affairs, with law-
makers rushing to pass bills in time
to meet the constitutional deadline.
But on Thursday — just three
days before this year’s deadline —
Oregon lawmakers did not plan to
take up a single bill. The House
and Senate remained largely silent.
Action at the Capitol was instead
centered out front, where cheers
from hundreds of demonstrators
mixed with the constant blare of
truck horns.
The so-called “Stay Strong Stay
Gone” rally marked the latest back-
lash over bills seeking to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in Ore-
gon. Loggers, truckers, farmers and
their supporters had all come, they
said, to urge 11 Senate Republicans
who’ve been absent from the state-
house since last week to remain in
hiding.
Democrats have said that House
Bill 2020, a sweeping proposal for
capping emissions and charging
companies that pollute, is dead this
session. But those who attended the
rally were dubious.
“I don’t want the Republicans
coming back because I’m afraid
that crooked Kate Brown is try-
ing to pull a fast one on us,” said
37-year-old Joe Poetter, a logger
from Banks.
“I actually have family members
who work inside with the senators,
and I have been told that that’s just a
ruse,” said Wendy Cunningham, of
Brownsville, who stood in the rain
with her four children. “They’re
See Demonstrators, Page A7
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