REGION
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Familar face returns
to East Oregonian
Umatilla County govern-
ment, public safety and
courts.
Wright is a 1986 graduate
of Pendleton High School and
a 1993 graduate of then-West-
ern Oregon State College. He
later earned a master’s degree
East Oregonian
in English from Portland
State University.
PENDLETON — The
“We are excited to have
East Oregonian will welcome Phil back in Pendleton,” said
back a familiar face to its Andrew Cutler, the publisher/
newsroom.
editor of the East Orego-
Phil Wright returns to nian. “He’s a valuable asset
Pendleton as news editor, who will work well with our
beginning on Monday, May reporting staff and help us
24. Wright replaces
continue to provide
Wyatt Haupt Jr., who
valuable, credible
content for our read-
left to become editor
of The Daily World
ers.”
in Aberdeen, Wash-
Wright said he’s
ington.
looking forward to
“I was not expect-
bringing what he
ing this opportunity,
learned in Union
so when it came my
Wright
County back to Pend-
way I was surprised,
leton.
“To paraphrase a certain
sure,” Wright said. “But then
I gave it careful scrutiny action movie, I have a partic-
over a couple weeks. While ular set of skills, and I honed
I’m returning to the EO, the those to a greater degree at
coronavirus pandemic has The Observer,” he said. “The
reshaped the newsroom I left. newspaper and the crew
This really is a new challenge in La Grande mean a great
for me.”
deal to me, not just because
Wright returns to Pend- of the work or the expe-
leton after 18 months as rience I gained there, but
editor of The Observer in La really because of the people
Grande. Prior to La Grande, and what we were building
Wright had been a reporter together. Now I get to put all
for the East Oregonian for this to the test again. Yeah,
nearly 15 years, covering I’m down for that.”
Pendleton
native Phil
Wright to return
as news editor
Utilities customers in
M-F will pay more
East Oregonian
LOCAL BRIEFING
Suspicious device
behind Highway
730 closure
Heppner chamber
announces new
executive director
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
— A fisherman’s discov-
ery of a strange device this
weekend led to the brief
closure of U.S. Highway 730
in Walla Walla and Umatilla
counties.
Law enforcement closed
the highway near milepost
196 along the Columbia
River on Saturday, May 15.
Washington and Oregon
transportation departments
reported Highway 730
closed in both directions at
the junction of U.S. High-
way 12 due to “law enforce-
ment activity.”
Initially, the call to the
Umatilla County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce was for drug activ-
ity, with possible drug
paraphernalia. When the
deputy arrived on the scene
at 9:08 a.m. and observed
the device, it was described
as bottles wrapped with
electrical tape and wires
coming from them, UCSO
Lt. Sterrin Ward said.
There also was a strong
smell of either ammonia or
some type of accelerant,
Ward said.
At 9:58 a.m., the sher-
iff ’s offi ce contacted Oregon
State Police bomb techni-
cians. That team arrived at
2:03 p.m., and the Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation closed the highway
shortly after.
The nature of the device
was inconclusive, Ward
said, but at around 4:45 p.m.,
the device was destroyed
and the highway reopened.
H EPPN ER — T he
Heppner Chamber of
Commerce has a new exec-
utive director, according to
a press release.
JoA n na Lamb will
start her new position in
mid-June.
Lamb and her family
moved to Heppner in August
2019. Lamb has prior expe-
rience as an educational
assistant for the Ione
Community Charter School
and co-taught art apprecia-
tion, independent study
and daily living classes.
Lamb currently serves as a
member of the Heppner City
Council.
Goats return
to clean up
river levee
PENDLETON — An
annual spring tradition is
set to return to the Pendle-
ton levee system and river
parkway.
For the 10th year, as
many as 700 goats will be
herded throughout the ripar-
ian area by the Umatilla
River to graze on riverside
vegetation, clearing away
potentially fl ammable brush
in the process, according
to a press release from the
public works department.
According to the press
release, the goats are in town
on another city-owned prop-
erty and will be moved to
the levee either this week or
next week.
The goats will start at
the upriver end of the levee
at the end of Southeast Byers
Avenue near the Ken Melton
Little League Park. They
will work their way from the
east end of the levee through
town and make a second
pass before leaving town,
the release said. The goats
are typically on the levee for
four to six weeks.
The goats will be penned
in by an electric fence and
guided by trained dogs
or goatherds. Pedestrians
with dogs are urged to keep
their pets leashed and under
control.
City to hold grand
opening for vehicle
charging station
PENDLETON — The
city of Pendleton is hosting
a grand opening for its new
electric car charging station,
a fi rst of its kind for the city.
The 102 S.W. Frazer Ave.
station, in the same parking
lot as the Pendleton Cham-
ber of Commerce and the
Heritage Station Museum,
will feature a 15-20 minute
presentation during the
5 p.m. ceremony on Friday,
May 21.
The charging station
has been in operation since
April and joins the charging
station at the Wildhorse
Resort & Casino on the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion, which only services
Tesla vehicles.
The station cost $77,000
and was mostly paid for with
a grant from Pacifi c Power,
with the rest of the cost
supplemented by the city’s
urban renewal district.
Umatilla chamber
director leaving
UMATILLA — The
Umatilla Chamber of
Commerce is searching for a
new executive director after
its current director, Salud
Campos, announced she
was leaving for another job.
“It’s been an honor to
serve the businesses and
members of the city of
Umatilla,” Campos wrote
in an email announcing her
resignation to the commu-
nity. “I have come to know
many of you as valued
colleagues and more impor-
tantly friends.”
Campos began at the
chamber in 2019. Her last
day is on May 21. In a letter
to members, the board of
directors described her as a
“driving force in maintain-
ing the Chamber’s oper-
ations throughout a very
diffi cult 2020.”
“In fact, under her lead-
ership we saw our member-
ship grow, and welcomed
several new businesses to
Umatilla,” the letter stated.
“Her efforts to gather
information on all things
COVID-19, and share that
with us, was incredible to
say the least.”
According to the board,
the chamber offi ces’ hours of
operation may be diff erent in
the interim while the board
searches for a new director,
and members are encour-
aged to reach out by calling
541-922-4825 or emailing
info@umatillaorchamber.
org.
— EO Media Grop and
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
By SHEILA HAGAR
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER
— City offi cials this month
voted to add one and increase
other surcharges to utility
customer accounts.
Added up, the surcharge
will cost each utilit y
customer an additional $6.50
per month, which won’t fl uc-
tuate with use rates, City
Manager Linda Hall said.
The increase goes into
eff ect July 1.
Since July 2007, the city
has tacked on an extra fee to
water and sewer bills, which
was extended to electricity
use the next year.
The original charge
of $2.50 per month has
stayed the same over the
past 14 years, and it was
never applied to all utili-
ties, Hall said at last week’s
Milton-Freewater Cit y
Council meeting.
With cost of repairs
leaping and customer base
increasing, more money is
needed to maintain a consis-
tent fund for matching grants
or paying down loans for
major repairs or improve-
ments, Hall told the council.
A $1 fee added to the
costs to utility users, also
newly applied to solid waste
management, off ers a more
consistent source of that
funding than a rate increase,
she said.
The vote passed 4-1, with
council member John Lyon
opposing the raise. Coun-
cilor Brad Humbert was
absent.
Lyon said he found the
request incongruent with
other needs of the city for
now.
“We’re asking people to
give us $7 million for a new
police station,” he said. “This
doesn’t seem like the time to
ask for this.”
www.EastOregonian.com
SKYROCKETING PRIZES
EVERY WEEKEND!
WIN U
Drawings every
30 minutes
5-10pm
UMATILLA — About 40
fi refi ghters from four depart-
ments responded to a fi re at
Country Club Apartments in
Umatilla on Monday, May 17,
according to Steven Potts, fi re
chief of the Umatilla Rural
Fire Protection District.
Firefighters with the
Umatilla Rural Fire Protec-
tion District were fi rst noti-
fi ed of alarms going off at
the complex at 8:13 p.m.,
followed by reports of smoke
coming from a third floor
apartment, Potts said. Crews
arrived on the scene in seven
minutes, and by then, the fi re
had spread to the apartment
on the fourth fl oor.
Because of windy condi-
tions, there was concern the
blaze would spread even
further, but firefighters
contained the blaze using
portable water extinguishers
while establishing a water
supply on the third floor,
Potts said.
With the help of fi re offi -
cials from Umatilla County
Fire District 1, Echo, Board-
man and Irrigon, the fi re was
declared under control a little
more than an hour after the
first alarms had gone off.
Potts said the cause of the fi re
has yet to be determined, but
added “it appears to be fail-
ure of an electrical compo-
nent.”
The total cost of damage
to the two apartments, as well
as water damage to the fl oors
below, amounted to approxi-
mately $200,000, Potts said,
adding he expected people
living in six units to have
“long-term displacement.”
Offi cials with the Umatilla
Police Department and the
Umatilla School District
helped people who had been
displaced when the Red
Cross was unable to provide
assistance, Potts said.
There were no injuries
reported, according to Potts.
P TO
C A SH
WIN
C A SH
Drawings every
30 minutes
11pm-12am
Drawings every
30 minutes
5-10pm
GOLF DEALS
WILDHORSE GOLF COURSE
AN D
EN T R
WIN U
Six apartments damaged
by fi re, residents displaced
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
IES
P TO
C A SH
GOLF COURSE AT BIRCH CREEK
SENIOR DAYS
SENIOR DAYS
Tuesdays & Thursdays
$25 Greens Fee & $15 Cart
Wednesdays
$20 Greens Fee & $15 Cart
MILITARY MONDAYS
MILITARY MONDAYS
Discounted greens fees for all active
duty military members and veterans
$20 Greens Fee & $15 Cart
Discounted greens fees for all active
duty military members and veterans
$25 Greens Fee & $15 Cart
5/21-5/27
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Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
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1:20p 4:20p 7:20p
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WEDNESDAY thru SUNDAY 4pm-close
Spiral: SAW (R)
2:00p 5:00p 8:00p
Those Who Wish Me
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1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
reservations required 541.966.1610
limited seating available
Wrath of Man (R)
1:00p 4:00p 7:00p
Profile (R)
12:40p 6:40p
Raya and the Last
Dragon (PG)
3:40p
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