INSIDE: Hermiston police make arrest in 2015 murder |
REGION, A3
WEEKEND EDITION
JANUARY 15-16, 2022
146th Year, No.36
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
Cliff Bentz
alleges 2020
election was
‘bought’
Bentz also comments
on insurrection and
school board violence
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Oregon U.S.
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, does
not believe former President Donald
Trump’s claim that President Joe
Biden won the 2020 presidential
election because of voter fraud.
“The election was not stolen, it
was bought,’’ Bentz, a fi rst term
congressman, said during an
appearance Jan. 6. in La Grande.
It was one of several state-
ments Bentz made during the La
Grande event and later expanded
on Wednesday, Jan. 12, in an inter-
view.
‘It was bought’
Bentz said Democrats had an
enormous edge in funding donors
with deep pockets, including one
who donated $400 million to
Biden’s campaign. Bentz said the
Democrats spent several times more
money per vote than the Republi-
cans did.
Bentz referenced a large dona-
tion made by Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg and suggested it
benefi ted Biden and Democrats.
In September 2020, Zuckerberg
and his wife, Priscilla Chan, person-
ally made a $300 million donation
to two groups — Center for Tech
and Civic Life and the Center for
Election Innovation & Research.
The money was specifi cally desig-
nated to recruit poll workers, supply
them with personal protection
equipment and set up drive-thru
voting. The rest was distributed to
state election offi cials throughout
the country. According to a press
release, the Center for Tech and
Civic Life received an additional
$100 million from Zuckerberg and
Chan in October 2020.
Bentz said he based his
comments around an October
2021 article from The Federal-
ist, a conservative media website,
entitled “Zuckerbucks 101: How A
Media Mogul Took Over The 2020
Election And Why GOP Leaders
Must Never Let It Happen Again.”
The article, mostly citing other
conservative sources, argues the
Center for Tech and Civic Life
“corrupted” elections by sending
money to election offi ces in Demo-
cratic-leaning areas and by facili-
tating the mail-in voting process.
Referencing the article, Bentz
said the nonprofi t was not apoliti-
cal because the founders had once
worked for an organization with
See Bentz, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A disco ball spins Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, in the main hall of the Active Senior Center of Pendleton. The nonprofi t Pendleton Children’s
Center took ownership of the building Jan. 10.
Finding a home
Pendleton Children’s
Center acquires the
former senior center
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — A local nonprofi t
is looking to turn the Active
Senior Center of Pendleton into
a facility that serves residents on
the other end of the age spectrum.
On Monday, Jan. 10, the Pendleton Chil-
dren’s Center announced it had acquired the
senior center at 510 S.W. 10th St. with the
intention of renovating it into a child care
facility that will eventually serve 150 or more
children between the ages of six weeks and
kindergarten-age.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
See Home, Page A8
The Active Senior Center of Pendleton, 510 S.W. 10th St., is going to be home to the
Pendleton Children’s Center.
P
Hermison’s new schools get ready for fall
Projects are part
of $82.7 million
bond voters
passed in 2019
Voters in November 2019
approved an $82.7 million bond
measure to pay for projects to
address student capacity. The new
Rocky Heights and Loma Vista
schools are part of the district’s plans
to address capacity.
Anticipating a grand
opening
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Starting this
autumn, Hermiston will have two
new elementary schools.
Trudging around in the muck
Wednesday, Jan. 12, at the construc-
tion site of the new Rocky Heights
Elementary School, Hermiston
School District Superintendent
Tricia Mooney said she was pleased
with its progress.
“I am impressed,” she said.
This is the fi rst school construc-
tion she has overseen, she said, and
she is enjoying it.
“It’s going up fast, and it’s really
looking like a school.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston School District Superintendent Tricia Mooney, left, and Jose
Aparicio, a construction manager with the Wenaha Group Inc., walk the
site of the new Rocky Heights Elementary School Wednesday, Jan. 12,
2022, in Hermiston.
She added she also was happy
about the advancement on the Loma
Vista Elementary project.
She was on the site with Jose
ST. ANTHONY HOISPITAL &
OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY
NO APPOINTMENT
NEEDED.
ESTIMATED RESULTS
IN 3-5 DAYS
Aparicio, Wenaha Group Inc.,
construction manager, and Jon
Fowler, project superintendent with
Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.
EVERY WEDNESDAY
IN JANURARY 2022
11AM-1PM
ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL
2801 ST ANTHONY WAY - PENDLETON
FREE
Covid
Drive Thru
Testing
(Self Administered)
Mooney, along with the Wenaha
and Kirby Nagelhout bosses, said the
schools were on schedule to open for
classes in the fall.
Aparicio said the schools will
have the same “feel and layout” as
Hermiston’s West Park Elementary
School. The two new schools will
resemble each other, too, he said.
The biggest diff erence between them
will be the direction they are facing.
The buildings will have four
classrooms per grade level —
kindergarten through fi fth grade —
and four classrooms for additional
See Schools, Page A8
SAVE TIME
REGISTER
ONLINE
WWW.DOINEEDACOVID19TEST.COM