Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2020)
PREP BASKETBALL: TigerScots fall to Bobcats at home | SPORTS, A8 E O AST 144th Year, No. 63 REGONIAN WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD SNOWMAGEDDON 2020 Snow doesn’t stop construction Staff photo by Ben Lonergan A car rests in a ditch alongside Southeast 10th Street in Pendleton on Tuesday morning. Winter weather complicates road travel in Eastern Oregon By ALEX CASTLE East Oregonian U MATILLA COUNTY — After days of antic- ipation, the year’s fi rst snow dusted Umatilla and Morrow counties through Monday night and into Tuesday morning, leaving state and local agencies busy in the aftermath. “As more snow has accumulated, so too have the calls for crashes or vehicles that have spun off the road,” Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts said. On Tuesday morning, the National Weather Ser- vice reported 3.5 inches of snowfall in Pendleton, while just over 1 inch was measured in Hermiston and another 3 inches were reported in Heppner. By Tuesday afternoon, the snow and ice had done its damage. Around 2:45 p.m., the Oregon Department of Transportation closed westbound lanes on Inter- state 84 at exit 265 in La Grande due to several spun-out trucks that were blocking traffi c. The situation got worse as safe parking spots for trucks traveling on the interstate quickly ran out in La Grande, and the ensuing congestion eventually led ODOT to close westbound lanes for over 80 miles between Baker City and Pendleton. Tom Standberg, spokesman for ODOT in East- ern Oregon, said the efforts to clean the interstate and reopen traffi c was further complicated by an injury that required emergency medical treatment at the scene of the crash. While the cause and extent of the injuries were unknown, according to Strandberg, the interstate and surrounding exits continued to fi ll with trucks and two hours after the initial crash ODOT had to restrict westbound travel all the way from Ontario to passenger vehicles only. As of Tuesday evening, Strandberg said esti- mates for reopening the interstate remained at “a couple of hours.” Crews were working day and night throughout the region, Strandberg said, plowing and salting the roads to try and keep conditions safe. However, he said, there’s limited crews and equipment avail- able, and the snowpack has grown thick enough to be resistant to their efforts in some places. “People should just be staying home if they can,” Strandberg said. “I know it’s frustrating, but See Weather, Page A7 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Construction workers brave the elements to continue work on the expansion project at Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Mis- sion on Tuesday morning. SCHOOLS TRACK SNOW DAYS Staff photo by Kathy Aney McCormack Construction worker Brendan Kight shovels water from a hole so that plumbing work can be done. Kight and his coworkers are braving the weather to build a new retail and ticketing facility for the Pendleton Round-Up. By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian P ENDLETON — Thou- sands of students and workers stayed home during the winter’s fi rst signifi cant snowstorm on Tuesday, but the local construction industry didn’t take a break. The snow started to fall on Mon- day night and continued intermit- tently throughout Tuesday, but construction crews stayed on-site for two Pendleton-area construc- tion projects: the Wildhorse Resort and Casino expansion and the new administrative building for the Pendleton Round-Up. Joseph Hull is the director of business development/operations at McCormack Construction Co., the contractor hired by the Round-Up to build the administrative building. Hull said snow and ice wasn’t going to prevent construction crews from continuing work on the build- Nearly all schools in Umatilla and Morrow counties either operated on a multi-hour delay or canceled classes altogether Tuesday. While the inclement weather pro- vides students and teachers with an unexpected day off , district offi cials have to track all the snow days to make sure schools don’t dip below the minimum number of instruction hours the state mandates. Pendleton School District adminis- trator Matt Yoshioka reported to the school board on Monday that high school seniors actually fell short of that threshold last school year after Pendleton needed to call nine snow days. The state required Pendleton to create a plan to prevent it from happening again, so the district scheduled fi ve make-up days should they need them. Even with Tuesday’s snow day, Yosh- ioka said most grades have enough instructional hours built into their calendar that they won’t need to activate the make-up days. But since high school seniors typi- cally end school more than a week ahead of the rest of the classroom, they can only call 2.5 snow days be- fore dipping below the instructional hour minimum. If weather forces the senior class to dip below that threshold, Yoshioka said the district could look at adding a few more days to their schedule. See Construction, Page A7 Hermiston council considers replacing city hall By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian HERMISTON — Hermiston City Hall could remain closed for much longer than previously esti- mated if the city council decides to replace the build- ing rather than repair it. The building, originally built as a bank in 1965, was damaged by a fi re in the HVAC system on Dec. 17, 2019. City Manager Byron Smith told the council on Monday night that he didn’t have all the fi nal quotes in yet, but it would require roughly $100,000 to replace the damaged HVAC system and pipes buried in con- crete, put in new carpet and repaint. The city council has included construction of a new city hall in its goal-set- ting sessions in recent years, as the city has run out of room and had to put staff in other locations, such as the old Carnegie Library and Hermiston Commu- nity Center. Smith told the council Monday that it may make sense to push up the timeline. “It’s hard for me to say, ‘Let’s spend $100,000 on a building that in two years I’m going to recom- mend you tear down,’” Smith said. Smith and several city councilors discussed the limitations of the current city hall, which has rooms spread out over fi ve lev- els, some of which are not ADA-accessible. That includes the bathrooms, which are located on one of the basement levels, and the council dais. Mayor David Drotz- mann said he believed the inaccessibility of city hall was a barrier to people with disabilities wanting to work for the city or serve on councils or in offi ce. See Hermiston, Page A7 Staff photo by Jade McDowell Hermiston City Hall remains closed due to damage from a fi re as the city discusses the possibility of building a new city hall rather than repairing the old one.
