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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2019)
PREP BASKETBALL: Nixyaawii boys, girls post home tournament wins | SPORTS, A8 E O AST 143rd year, No. 297 REGONIAN TuESDAy, DECEmBER 10, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON Developments planned for 2 area buildings Planning commission to hear requests for forest service building and the Gilbert Auto property By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Members of the Oregon Army National Guard 168th Aviation Regiment and their families sit for a meal in the hangar at the Oregon National Guard Armory in Pendleton on Sunday morning. Special celebration 168th Aviation Regiment holds annual Christmas dinner prior to 2020 deployment to Afghanistan By BEN LONERGAN East Oregonian P ENDLETON — The sound of Christmas music filled the han- gar at the Oregon National Guard Armory in Pendleton on Sun- day morning as members of the Oregon Army National Guard 168th Aviation Regiment and their families, gathered to enjoy a Christmas dinner organized by the regiment’s Family Readiness Group and the Pendleton Lions Club. While the dinner is an annual occur- rence celebrating the end of the fall train- ing season, this year’s event was par- ticularly important to the more than 60 members of the regiment who will be deploying to Afghanistan for 12 months in 2020. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jacob Radke, who will be deploying with the regiment, said the event offered him a chance to spend time with his family and the fam- ilies of his fellow National Guardsmen. “This will be our last Christmas with our families for a while,” he said. “It’s a really good experience to be here and an important time to spend with our families.” Capt. Taylor Frye said the party helps connect family members to the rest of the unit. He said the event is predominantly used to support the families and show Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Carleigh Radke, left, serves a roll to Adrienne Fairbanks during the Christmas dinner as her uncle, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jacob Radke, supervises. thanks to them for their support of their Guardsmen. “This is the most important event we do,” he said. “It’s a chance to give back to our families and support them.” Chief Warrant Officer 4 Don Ford, a senior instructor pilot, emphasized the importance of the family bonds formed within the National Guard. Ford said that he views the Christmas dinner as a way PENDLETON — Two vacant build- ings on opposite sides of town could see new life in the months ahead. On Thursday, the Pendleton Planning Commission will hear requests from applicants looking to fill the vacated Gil- bert Auto property at 2470 S.E. Court Ave. and the old U.S. Forest Service office at 2601 S.W. Hailey Ave. Developer Justin Pratt of Richland, Wash., wants to turn the former head- quarters for the Umatilla National Forest, shuttered since 2012, into a 33-unit apart- ment complex. Pratt will go before the commission to get a conditional use approval, rezone the property to a medium density residential zone, and replat the property to combine some surrounding properties. In an interview Monday, Pratt listed several reasons why he was interested in the property: it came at the right price, the building was located near Interstate 84 and had a scenic viewpoint, and Pend- leton’s continual need for more housing. Pratt said his investing company will be buying the property from Premium Rental LLC, a Pendleton company that bought the land for $110,000 in July. Pratt said most of his experience is in rehabbing homes, but he also owns his own construction company. He is work- ing with a project manager who has expe- rience with multimillion-dollar projects. “The numbers made sense, so we’re going to move forward,” he said. Converting a former office building that’s been empty for seven years into apartments will not be a simple task. Pratt intends to completely gut the building, installing new plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Once complete, Pratt said the complex will house mostly two-bedroom apart- ments with a mix of one- and three-bed- room units. Each unit will be 850-square feet and range from $900 to $1,200 per month. If he gets commission approval, Pratt plans to hit the ground running, complet- ing the first 10 units this summer with plans to build approximately 10 more every six months until the complex is complete. The forest service was located on Hai- ley from 1967 to 2012, when the Con- federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation built a new facility and suc- cessfully bid to have the forest headquar- ters move onto tribal land. The old Gilbert Auto car dealership on Southeast Court has also been without an occupant for several years. But officials with Tum-A-Lum See Celebration, Page A7 See Developments, Page A7 Showing gratitude to those who served Helix teens lay wreaths to remember veterans By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian HELIX — Lorin Kubishta has an uncanny ability to see his teenaged students for not just who they are but who they could become. The Griswold High School his- tory teacher has a soft spot for teens, but realizes that most students hav- en’t yet realized their debt to those who secured the freedoms they enjoy. “Kids are self-centered,” Kubishta said. “Their whole world is them.” So the teacher does what he can to prod his young students into dis- covering the gratitude that he knows lurks inside their teenage souls. On Sunday afternoon, Kubishta arrived at Olney Cemetery with a contingent of students as he has for the last 10 years. They, plus some sib- lings and parents, would gather for a short ceremony then spend a half hour or so laying wreaths on veter- ans’ graves. Before sending them forth, Kubishta instructed wreath layers to read the name of each vet- eran, and then say it out loud while placing the laurel. A person does not truly die, he likes to say, until his or her name is never spoken again. The school’s Wreaths for Remembrance event is modeled Staff photo by Kathy Aney See Gratitude, Page A7 Griswold High School student Zoe Johnson pauses for a solemn moment to whisper the name of a veteran buried in Olney Cemetery
