rec supervisor recognized for stepping in on shooting | REGION, A3
E O
AST
145th year, No. 62
REGONIAN
Thursday, March 11, 2021
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
$1.50
california
company
pitches
electric
scooters
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENdLETON — a Los
angeles-area company has been
pitching small-town america
on adopting its electric scooter
program, and Pendleton is its
next target.
at a Tuesday, March 9,
workshop, Michael covato of
Bird, a santa Monica, califor-
nia, “micromobility” company,
fielded numerous questions
from the Pendleton city council
as it prepares to vote on an ordi-
nance allowing Bird’s scooters
on city streets and the Pendleton
river Parkway.
While Bird has been in
large metro areas for years,
covato told the council that the
company has been looking to
expand its presence across the
globe. he said one of the reasons
Bird was interested in Pendleton
was because of its demographics
and its “phenomenal grid struc-
ture” in the city’s core.
“I don’t think we’ll be
competing with the Los ange-
leses of the world, but I don’t
think we need to,” he said.
a cursory Google search
shows that Bird has been solic-
iting its services to rural and
suburban towns across the coun-
try, many of them with popula-
tions under 50,000 people. If
the council gives Bird the green
light, Pendleton would join
hermiston, which has already
launched the company’s scoot-
ers.
Pending council approval,
Bird intends to introduce as
many as 55 scooters in april
at no charge to the city. covato
said Bird would partner with a
local business or organization
to act as a “fleet manager” for
its scooters. In exchange for a
cut of the scooter rental revenue,
the manager would oversee the
program locally and resolve any
issues with the scooters.
all customer interactions
with the scooter — locating a
scooter, payment, activation and
deactivation — will be handled
by a downloadable cellphone
app.
Covato also fielded numer-
ous questions about the safety of
the scooters and how they would
integrate into existing traffic.
across several answers,
covato said all riders will be
required to view a safety tuto-
rial before operating the scoot-
ers. When operating a scooter,
a rider will also be required to
wear a helmet and avoid driving
on the sidewalks.
See Scooters, Page A8
EmmaLee Demianew/Contributed Photo
Analie Carnes, dancing the lead role of Clara, admires her gift of “The Nutcracker” during a performance at the Heritage Station Museum am-
phitheater.
The show must go on
complications with cOVId-19 forced annual holiday production to adapt
By TAMMY MALGESINI
For the East Oregonian
P
ENdLETON — In the midst of
a global pandemic, Julie sned-
en-carlson used creativity in
presenting “The Nutcracker” in its
13th holiday season in Pendleton.
anticipating things would be different for the
popular production, the owner of Pendleton
Ballet Theatre began planning early.
however, because of ever-changing restric-
tions with the coronavirus, by the time the
holiday season was being ushered in, sned-
en-carlson had gone from Plan B to Plan c,
with multiple changes on the fly. The end
result was the creation of a dVd featuring
costumed dancers clad in sparkly face masks
and white canvas tennis shoes accented with
sparkles.
sneden-carlson brainstormed with
Amanda Sauer/Contributed Photo
Steve Machajewski serves dancers from
“Grandmother Ginger” a gift of sipping choc-
olate from Alexander’s Artisan Chocolates
and Vino Bistro.
shannon Gruenhagen, marketing and tour
coordinator at heritage station Museum.
Because of restrictions on indoor gatherings,
rather than staging the production in the Bob
clapp Theatre at Blue Mountain community
college, sneden-carlson made some changes
and was looking at presenting “The history of
The Nutcracker, clara’s Magical Journey” at
the museum.
Walking through the building, they found
ways to integrate each piece into a living
history lesson, Gruenhagen said. The two
women planned out five different locations
within the museum, turning the performance
into one that had the audience traveling to the
different sets. Local musicians and actors Bill
Mayclin and Murray dunlap agreed to high-
light the historical aspect and serve as tour
guides, with “dance moms” narrating the story
changes, sneden-carlson said.
The collaborative effort between the
museum and Pendleton Ballet Theatre,
Gruenhagen said, provided a wonderful way
to connect with the community, fulfilled a
See Nutcracker, Page A8
Former motel to get new role
The Whiskey Inn to
become homeless facility
thanks to $1.3 million grant
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENdLETON — superficially, the
future of The Whiskey Inn doesn’t look
promising.
The former motel’s sign featuring a
cowboy slumped against a post is turned
inside out. Whatever visual evidence the
empty parking lot offers is confirmed by a
sign at the entrance that states the motel is
“permanently closed.”
But by the end of March, the 35-room
motel, situated at 205 s.E. dorion ave.,
will be reborn as a facility that will serve
the unhoused, a first of its kind in Eastern
Oregon.
On Wednesday, March 10, the Oregon
community Foundation announced it was
granting the community action Program
of East central Oregon a $1.3 million grant
to purchase the former motel and turn it
into a facility that will offer temporary
housing to local homeless residents.
caPEcO cEO Paula hall said she was
both excited and a little overwhelmed to
receive the grant, which the foundation
See Motel, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
The former The Whiskey Inn site, located at 205 S.E.
Dorion Ave., has been purchased by the Community
Action Program of East Central Oregon with the help of
a $1.3 million grant from the Oregon Community Foun-
dation. CAPECO intends to repurpose the site for transi-
tional housing for the homeless.
Morrow county moved to lower risk
county one of 13
lowered in state’s
latest assessment
of cOVId-19 risks
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
saLEM — Mor row
county has been lowered
from the moderate corona-
virus risk category to lower
risk, allowing restaurants,
fitness and entertainment
facilities to open at greater
capacities, according to a
press release from Gov. Kate
Brown’s office on Tuesday,
March 9.
The move comes as the
county continues to see rela-
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Irelynn Kollman serves up a pair of cookies to go at Breaking
Grounds Coffee in Heppner on Feb. 19, 2021. Morrow County
has been lowered from moderate coronavirus risk catego-
ry to lower risk, allowing a variety of businesses to open at
greater capacities.
tively low case counts, with
33 confirmed and presump-
tive cases reported between
Feb. 14 and 27, according to
data from the Oregon health
authority. The state looks
at a county’s case
showing positive signs
count or testing
that the state is making
positivity rate over
strides toward over-
a recent two-week
coming the pandemic.
period to deter-
“We are largely
mine what its risk
seeing case rates
level should be.
decline across the state,
Lindsay
“ We’r e ju s t
with the most counties
in the Lower risk level
really excited to
since the framework
see our numbers
get down to the point where was introduced in Novem-
we can celebrate the hard ber,” Gov. Kate Brown said
work that all the citizens in a press release. “I encour-
have done,” Morrow county age all Oregonians to keep it
commissioner Melissa Lind- up and to get your vaccine
say said.
when it’s available to you.”
The new levels go into
almost all the counties
effect on Friday, March 12.
that were lowered in the
Morrow county was one state’s risk category are
of 13 counties lowered in the located east of the cascades,
state’s latest assessment of
cOVId-19 risks on March 9,
See Virus, Page A8