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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2020)
REGION Thursday, May 21, 2020 East Oregonian A3 Celebrating 90 HOUSE DISTRICT 58 Bylenga to face Levy in November By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian PENDLETON — Nolan Bylenga came from behind on Tuesday night to win the Democratic primary for House District 58. He fi nished the night with 53% of the vote against Barbara Wright, who received 45%. Wright won the vote in Union and Wallowa counties and was initially ahead, but a surge of votes from Umatilla County put Bylenga in the lead later in the evening. Bylenga, a 22-year- old Portland State Univer- sity senior and Pendleton High School alumnus, will face Bobby Levy, an Echo farmer and president of the Eastern Oregon Women’s Coalition, in the general election in November. Levy ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for the seat currently held Bylenga Levy by Republican Greg Bar- reto of Cove, who is retir- ing from offi ce at the end of his term. Statewide, Levy received 37 write-in votes against her out of 9,437 votes. Bylenga said he knows that his youth probably counted against him in the race against Wright. During the primary, he said, he was focused on getting voters to take him seriously as a candidate who has experience lob- bying in Salem as part of his work to earn his polit- ical science degree. Now, he hopes to talk about the issues as he faces off with Levy. “I want to be excited, but I also know there’s a lot of work to do in the general,” he said of his win. The legislative seat hasn’t been won by a Democrat since 1996, but Bylenga said even though that is his party affi liation, in some cases he has com- mon ground with Eastern Oregon Republicans. “Like cap and trade — personally, I’m not a big fan of that, even though I’m part of the Democratic Party,” he said. Levy said she was look- ing forward to continuing her campaign and listening to the concerns of voters, including some one-on- one interactions with peo- ple as stay-at-home restric- tions begin to lift. She said she will continue to be pas- sionate about fi nding ways to ease the tax burdens on Oregonians, and she is hon- ored to be able to continue on to November. “It’s been an incredi- bly humbling experience to see how many people voted, and how many peo- ple voted for me,” she said. House District 57 Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, didn’t have a primary challenger for his seat representing House District 57, but he will face off with a Democratic opponent in November. Smith received 99% of the vote as he ran unop- posed to keep the seat he has held for 10 terms after being elected in November 2000. This is the fi rst time he has had a Democratic opponent since 2010. He will run against Roland Ruhe, a Democrat from Irrigon who owns a construction business. Ruhe ran unopposed in the primary. SENATE DISTRICT 29 Hansell beats primary challenger Athena senator receives 92% of the vote in east win By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian PENDLETON — State Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Ath- ena, survived a primary challenge on Tuesday night, but still has to face off against a Democratic challenger in November. Hansell, who is in his eighth year of offi ce, received 92% of the vote in the Republican primary against Garison Lee Alger, a Pendleton carpenter. On the Democratic side, Mildred O’Callaghan of Joseph ran unopposed, sweeping up 97% of the vote. Hansell said he Hansell was “grat- ifi ed” by Tuesday’s wide margin of victory. “Whenever you throw your hat in the ring, you’re always very pleased when it’s chosen,” he said. As he looks forward to November, Hansell said he remains focused on issues surrounding agri- culture, water, timber and other natural resources important to such a heav- ily agricultural district. He said he is already hearing reports of bills planned for 2021 that would “greatly affect” farmers’ work, and he is anxious to be able to address those in the next legislative session. He also said he was pleased to hear of his former colleague Cliff Bentz’s victory in the Republican primary for Congressional District 2, and, if both men win in November, looks forward to working with him in a new capacity. Hansell’s Democratic challenger, O’Callaghan, acknowledged Wednesday that it would be tough for a Democrat to win District 29, but she said she wanted to see Democrats provide more opposition to Repub- licans in red counties, and to spark increased voter turnout for Democrats in November, when a presi- dential election is on the line. “I was disappointed in the Democratic turnout,” O’Callaghan said of Tues- day’s primary. She added, “My concern is trying to get more Democrats to be energetic in the general.” She said in the coming months she will also be concerned with encourag- ing businesses in Wallowa County and the rest of the district to follow proper protocols to try to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Sharron Reis, 90, waves from the window of Avamere at Hermiston during a drive-thru birthday party in her honor on Tuesday afternoon. MORROW COUNTY Bailey Cave, Papineau advance in treasurer race By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian MORROW COUNTY — The races for county posi- tions in Morrow County were all close on Tuesday night, meaning top vote-getters will have to run off against each other again in November after failing to receive more than 50% of the vote. SaBrina Bailey Cave came in fi rst in the race for trea- surer, with 30.6% of the vote, while only 16 votes separate Jaylene Papineau and Erik Patton in unoffi cial results released Tuesday night. Pap- ineau edged out Patton with 684 votes to his 668, sending her into a runoff with Bailey Cave in November. Bailey Cave, who is run- ning for offi ce for the fi rst time, said the experience has been an educational one, and she enjoyed waiting for results on election night. “It was pretty exciting,” she said. Morrow County’s voter turnout stood at 47% for the election, but Bailey Cave said she was disappointed it wasn’t higher, particularly since sev- eral races were so close. The treasurer’s race, which stood Bailey Cave Diehl alone on the back of the ballot for Democratic ballots, had more than 300 undervotes — signifi cantly more than the other races — and she won- dered if some voters forgot to turn over their ballot. She said she had hoped that if she didn’t make the cut to compete in Novem- ber, Papineau would, so she is looking forward to a good race between the two of them. In the race for judge for the Morrow County Justice Court, incumbent Glen Diehl ended up with 42.2% of the vote. He will face off in the November general election against Theresa Crawford, who received 39.7%. With a third-place fi nish at 17.8%, Kelly Doherty will not be on the ballot again in November. Diehl was appointed as Justice of the Peace in November 2019 after the retirement of Judge Annetta Spicer. LOCAL BRIEFING Man charged with vehicle theft after turning himself in IRRIGON — A man was arrested Monday after turning himself into the La Grande Police Department and confessing to stealing a vehicle from Western Alfalfa in Irrigon, according to Mor- row County Sheriff Ken Matlack. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Offi ce arrested Gregory Carl Rogers, 46, and he was arraigned on four charges, including one count of second-degree burglary and one count of unautho- rized use of a motor vehicle, which are both felonies. Rogers is also charged with second-degree criminal mischief and trespassing. Matlack said his depart- ment was fi rst contacted on May 16 about a 2014 Chev- rolet Silverado that was sto- len from Western Alfalfa on Patterson Ferry Road. The next day, Morrow County was contacted by La Grande police about a man who had turned himself in and confessed to the crime. Rogers told police he left the vehicle somewhere on Inter- state 84 between Ontario and Huntington, Matlack said, and Oregon State Police located the vehicle and are arranging to return it to the owners. Matlack said Rogers allegedly cut a chain and damaged a shop door in the process of the theft. Rogers is currently being held at the Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton on $40,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear for a probable cause preliminary hearing on May 26. Hermiston Budget Committee meeting on YouTube Live HERMISTON — The Hermiston Budget Com- mittee will review the city’s 2020-21 proposed budget at 6 p.m. Thursday at the East- ern Oregon Trade and Event Center. The meeting will be accessible on the city’s You- Tube channel and through the Amazon Chime phone platform. The budget committee is responsible for reviewing the proposed city budget and making recommendations to the city council, which will vote in June on whether to adopt the budget for the upcoming fi scal year begin- ning on July 1. The proposed budget includes funding for city departments and projects. Once approved, it becomes the policy document to implement the goals and objectives of the elected city council. State and local pol- icy requires an annually balanced operating budget before funds can be spent. The city council will review the proposed bud- get at its regular meeting on June 8, and public comment will be accepted at that time. To view the proposed budget, as well as previous budgets, visit www.hermiston.or.us/ fi nance/budget. — EO Media Group SAVE $10 ON THIS GREAT GIFT FOR DAD! $34.95 $44.95 plus shipping offer expires 6/21/20 Order online and save with flat-rate shipping at Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Order by mail now (discount expires 6/21/20): ☐ Ship my order to me: $34.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling per book. Order will be shipped to the address below. Quantity: ___ x $41.90 = $______ total Payment method: ☐ Check/Money Order Credit card orders can be placed online: Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Name Address City State Phone E-mail Zip From the archives of Athena Public Library, City of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society, Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute and Umatilla County Historical Society Send form and payment to: East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or call 800-522-0255
