INSIDE: Heritage station Museum hosts Pioneer day | PAGE A3
E O
AST
145th year, No. 126
REGONIAN
Tuesday, augusT 10, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
TRCI
inmates get
to make
a splash
state corrections uses the
Oregon Way to humanize
inmates, break criminal cycles
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A young paradegoer carts away a Walchli watermelon after receiving it Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Hermiston at the Umatilla
County Fair Kick-Off Parade.
Streets fill for fair parade
after 18 months of being cooped up due to the pandemic, umatilla County
Fair paradegoers were ready, excited to be doing things again in person
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
eRMIsTON — With the honk of a
horn and a smattering of applause,
the Umatilla County Fair Kick-Off
Parade returned for 2021.
Veterans led the procession, which
commenced rolling a little after 6:30 p.m.
saturday, aug. 7, along Hermiston’s
seventh street, turning onto Hermis-
ton avenue, looping around city hall
and finishing on First Street and Locust
avenue.
Thousands of attendees from all over
the county lined the streets, clapping and
cheering as participants passed. some
had come a day early to snag a spot for
their folding chairs, and many already
lined up downtown Hermiston well in
advance of the official start on the other
side of town.
after a year and a half of being
cooped up inside due to the COVId-19
pandemic, many paradegoers were ready
and excited to be doing things in person
again, despite increasing COVId-19 case
numbers from the delta variant.
“It’s a bigger turnout this year, I
think because of COVId last year,” said
Linnea grotz, who set up a chair outside
of her friend Pam’s house right on the
H
uMaTILLa — Ten inmates from the
minimum security section of Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in umatilla are
heading for a day in the sun outside prison
walls.
The group gets to visit the Hermiston
splash Park for two hours the morning
of aug. 20, an event in partnership with
the city of Hermiston, Hermiston Parks
and Recreation and the Hermiston Police
department.
The outing is part of TRCI’s contin-
ual implementation of the Oregon Way,
the Oregon department of Correction’s
program to help reintegrate inmates
into society by having them spend time
with their families beyond prison walls.
The effort hopes to break what the state
describes as a multi-generational crimi-
nal cycle.
See Inmates, Page A10
Bentz talks
COVId-19,
says ‘get
vaccinated’
Rep. also concerned
with effects of
big infrastructure bill
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
The sun sets over the crowd Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, along East Main Street, Herm-
iston, during the annual Umatilla County Fair Kick-Off Parade.
‘IT’S A BIGGER TURNOUT THIS YEAR,
I THINK BECAUSE OF COVID LAST YEAR.
THE ENERGY IS AWESOME.’
— Linnea Grotz on watching the parade
PeNdLeTON — In the span of an
hour Monday, aug. 9, at the Pendleton
Convention Center, U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz
spoke about the COVId-19 pandemic,
unemployment, energy and the economy
during an in-person town hall meeting.
The Ontario Republican didn’t have
too much more time beyond the hour:
He was in the process of an 11-county
tour of his district, which encompasses
the entire state east of the Cascades plus
a significant chunk of southern Oregon.
elected to replace longtime Rep. greg
Walden in 2020, Bentz said he plans to
hold at least one town hall in each county
in his district per year.
See Parade, Page A10
See Bentz, Page A10
Judge rejects challenge to B2H transmission line
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
PORTLaNd — a federal judge
has rejected arguments by opponents
of a 300-mile transmission line in
eastern Oregon who sought to stop the
project for allegedly violating environ-
mental laws.
u.s. district Judge Michael simon
has determined the u.s. Bureau of
Land Management approved a right-
of-way across public land for the proj-
ect in compliance with the National
environmental Policy act and Federal
Lands Policy Management act.
The stop B2H Coalition and
other plaintiffs filed a complaint in
2019 claiming the transmission line
between Boardman and the Heming-
way substation in Idaho should have
been more closely scrutinized for
impacts to the greater sage grouse and
other factors.
The proposal also stirred contro-
versy for taking farmland out of
production and disrupting agricul-
tural practices, such as aerial pesti-
cide spraying.
Jim Kreider of La grande, co-chair
of the stop B2H Coalition, said his
group is meeting with attorneys to
consider what its next step will be in
its effort to prevent the transmission
line project from moving forward.
“Of course we don’t agree with the
judge’s decision and the coalition is
evaluating the opinion and assessing
our next steps regarding an appeal,”
Kreider said.
See Judge, Page A10
EO Media Group, File
A crew works on a transmission line tower outside Boardman. A federal
judge has rejected a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the government’s right-of-
way for the Boardman-to-Hemingway transmission line across public land.