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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2019)
REGION Tuesday, August 20, 2019 East Oregonian A3 Fifty years after Woodstock, there’s Wheatstock Chamber erects billboard in The Dalles Billboard features photo of former Happy Canyon princess Anna Harris By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Wes Duchek and Kathy Beck dance during Saturday’s Wheatstock Music Festival in Helix. BRIEFLY Hermiston police are investigating a two-vehicle crash HERMISTON — A two-vehicle crash involv- ing a car and a motor- cycle on Highway 395 near Walmart on Monday morning remains under investigation. Higinio Hernan- dez-Sanchez, 54, of Plym- outh Washington, was turning from East Cor- nell Place onto Highway 395 southbound in a red 2005 Dodge Neon when he crashed into Steven Brock- ett, 60, of Hermiston, who was riding a 2007 Honda motorcycle. Both Umatilla County Fire District 1 and the Hermiston Police Depart- ment responded to the scene. Brockett was trans- ported to Good Shepherd Medical Center for inju- ries, according to Herm- iston Police Department Capt. Scott Clark. Clark said that citations could be forthcoming. According to court doc- uments, Brockett’s driv- ers license was revoked for life in 2015, follow- ing his third DUII, which he pleaded not guilty to in 2014. That same month, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison after being convicted of first-degree theft. Murder defendant’s mental evaluation begins this week PENDLETON — Uma- tilla County Circuit Judge Christo- pher Brauer wants the O r egon State Hos- pital to get on with the psycholog- Vargas ical evalu- ation of murder defendant Antonio Vasquez-Vargas. Vasquez-Vargas, 53, faces charges of mur- der and felon in posses- sion of a firearm for the November 2018 shooting death of Renee Luiz-An- tonio where the two men worked at a dairy in Uma- pine. Vasquez-Vargas’ defense lawyers intend to show he suffered extreme emotional disturbance or mental illness. The crimi- nal case has been on hold, however, pending the Ore- gon State Hospital in Salem conducting the assessment. Kara Davis, one of Vasquez-Vargas’ public defenders, said she has Staff photo by Jessica Pollard Steven Brockett, 60, was transported to Good Shepherd Medical Center for injuries. tried to communicate with the state hospital, but its staff refuses to use her work email, so she can’t verify the status of the evaluation. Umatilla County Dis- trict Attorney Dan Pri- mus said the hospital confirmed for his office the evaluation begins Wednesday. Davis said she would like to confirm that and added the hospital ear- lier informed her it lacked enough experts to conduct the evaluation. Brauer did not like that. “That’s not a good rea- son to support anything,” he said. The judge asked Pri- mus to explain to the state hospital the urgency of conducting the evalua- tion. Primus said he would deliver the message. Until then, the case has its next hearing the morn- ing of Sept. 25. District hires new vice principal at Mac-Hi M I LT ON - F R E E WA- TER — The Milton-Free- water Uni- fied School District has hired a new vice principal at McL ou g h - lin High Saldana School. The new administrator is Mario Uribe Saldana, who was a bilingual dual lan- guage teacher in the Walla Walla School District for seven years. Saldana, a Mac-Hi graduate, said he is “eager to augment student aca- demic learning, support staff and build connec- tions with families and The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. www.eomediagroup.com the community.” Mac-Hi principal Mindi Vaughan said that because Saldana grew up in Mil- ton-Freewater, he knows many families well. “Mario will be a real asset in keeping commu- nication open with fami- lies and students and the school,” she said. “He is very progressive and inno- vative in finding what will meet the needs of our students.” Saldana earned a bach- elor’s degree in criminal justice from the Univer- sity of Idaho and two mas- ter’s degrees in education and administration from Heritage University. He is GLAD certified, Men- tor Academy certified, trained on Next Genera- tion Science Standards and has worked on curriculum review teams. Saldana has also coached wrestling and managed an indoor/ outdoor futbol club. Saldana’s contract began July 1. Jay Rodighi- ero, former vice principal, is now the district’s direc- tor of special programs and principal at Freewater Elementary. PENDLETON — The Pendleton Chamber of Commerce wants more travelers to stop in town on their drive through Inter- state 84, and it’s not afraid to be obvious about it. The chamber and its tourism arm, Travel Pend- leton, recently installed a billboard off I-84 in The Dalles to promote the city’s tourism. The billboard features a photo of Anna Harris, a former Happy Canyon princess, performing at the 2018 Wildhorse Pow Wow and a 125-mile reminder of how close Pendleton is. The billboard also quotes a 2018 Smithso- nian Magazine article that names Pendleton as one of the top 20 best small towns to visit. Kristen Dollarhide, Travel Pendleton tourism and hospitality manager, said the billboard isn’t the only way the chamber is trying to get Pendleton’s name out. The chamber has placed lit posters at Multnomah Falls and the Boardman visitor’s center and already has a similar billboard in La Grande. In combination with social media and other forms of traditional adver- tising, Dollarhide said bill- boards play a part in build- ing interest in Pendleton tourism. “Billboards are still a major player when it comes to advertising and marketing,” she said. Rosenberg said it’s hard to measure the return on investment for a billboard, but she thinks the increase in foot traffic the cham- ber’s visitor center has received is evidence that it’s publicity campaign is working. Funded by the city to run the travel center at 501 S. Main St., the chamber decided to expand the cen- ter’s hours in April. The center is now open seven days per week, with hours running from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rosenberg said most of the chamber’s week- day traffic comes from the business community, so a move to a schedule that kept the visitor’s center open Saturdays and Sun- days made sense if they were trying to reach more tourists. Rosenberg said the chamber was able to afford an extra day of operation and staffing by consoli- dating its membership and communications positions. Another consolida- tion, between the chamber and the Pendleton Down- town Association, is still ongoing. In November, both non- profits announced that they had signed a mem- orandum of agreement establishing a formal alli- ance that included collab- orating on various projects and co-locating at the visi- tors center. Rosenberg said all of her staff are already work- ing with the downtown association on various projects, but the associa- tion’s impending move is on hold while the cham- ber puts together a capital improvement plan. Wesley Murack, the downtown association’s executive director, said he’s already collaborat- ing with the chamber on grants and graphic design, and once he can move his office to the visitor center, the partnership will only get stronger. “It’s not what we do, it’s who we choose to be.” Read About How We are Working Together to be a Healthier Community Today and HealthyMC.org — East Oregonian staff 8/20 Cineplex Show Times $5 Classic Movie Showing Wednesday How to Train Your Dragon 2 at 10a and The Man Who Would Be King at 12p Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (PG13) 4:40p 7:20p 10:00p The Angry Birds Movie 2 (PG) 2D 6:50p 9:20p 4:30p 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (PG13) 4:50p 7:10p Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (PG13) 3:40p* 6:40p 9:40p The Lion King (PG) 4:20p 7:00p 9:50p The Kitchen (R) 9:30p * Matinee Pricing wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 Maximize the value of our relationships with community and regional partners through initiatives that promote health and bring valuable health services to Morrow County residents. 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