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THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2022
146th Year, No. 59
MAR CH
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
INSIDE SOAR TO THE PENDLETON AIR MUSEUM IN GO!
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P e
Ai r ndlet on
Familiar names jump into commissioner races
PA G E 8
PA GE 3
Hermiston campaigns
competitive; Pendleton
council gets a pass
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY —
David Nelson made a sudden return
to local politics on Tuesday, March 8.
On the last day candidates could
file for local office ahead of the
May 17 election, Nelson, a former
state senator, joined a packed race
to replace Position 1 Commissioner
George Murdock.
The Pendleton resident repre-
sented District 29 as a Republican
in the Oregon Senate from 1997-
2013, including a stint as the major-
ity leader. After retiring from the
Legislature, Nelson served on the
Eastern Oregon University Board of
Trustees before stepping off in 2020.
T hen- Com missioner Bill
Hansell won election to succeed
Nelson in the senate. A decade later,
Nelson now is seeking the county
board seat Hansell once held.
It’s not unprecedented in Oregon
for legislators to seek county offi ce
after serving in Salem. Former
Republican Minority Leader
Herman Baertschiger left the
senate in 2020 after he was elected
to a seat on the Josephine County
Board of Commissioners. And
in 2016, former state Rep. Jessica
Vega Pederson successfully ran for
a county commissioner seat in Mult-
nomah County, although unlike
Nelson, both legislators imme-
diately transitioned from state to
county offi ce.
While Nelson brings plenty of
name recognition to the race, he
won’t have a glide path to a seat on
the board. Before Nelson entered his
name, fi ve other candidates already
fi led.
Two business owners — Susan
Bower of Pendleton and Cindy
Timmons of Milton-Freewater
— were the fi rst to join the race.
Bower has spent more than $18,000
PA GE 6
PA GE 9
on her campaign while Timmons
has reported more than $3,000 in
expenditures. The rest of the fi eld is
composed of Bob Barton, a Herm-
iston construction business owner;
Jesse Bonifer, an Athena city coun-
cilor and Second Amendment activ-
ist; and Alvin Young, a Hermiston
store manager.
A late entry means voters also
will weigh in on Position 2 in the
May primary.
See Races, Page A7
SHEARER’S FOODS FIRE
The other
shoe drops
Shearer’s Foods lays
off employees from
destroyed plant
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The devastat-
ing fi re last month at the Shearer’s
Foods facility in Hermiston has led
the company to end employment of
the men and women who worked
there. And the city is without a sure
sign the company will rebuild.
Shearer’s Foods CEO Bill
Nictakis made the announcement
in a press release Tuesday, March 8.
“After assessing the damage, it’s
clear that the destruction is too great
to quickly rebuild and begin produc-
tion in the near term,” according to
Nictakis. “Unfortunately, it would
take at least 15-18 months before
we could resume production. We
have not yet decided the future of
the Shearer’s Hermiston site. This
has led to the very diffi cult decision
to end employment for our team
members.”
The company has reported it
employed 230 people at the plant.
Nictakis stated the company is
“exploring opportunities to relocate
team members interested in work-
ing in our other plants” and has
“provided a severance and benefi ts
continuation package to recognize
the eff ort and tenure that has gone
into making the site successful over
the past years.”
He continued, “We will do
everything we can to support our
Shearer’s family during this tran-
sition.”
According to the press release,
Shearer’s Foods has been teaming
up with community organizations
on projects, including food drives,
family activities and job fairs, to
benefi t its former employees.
“We will continue to provide
counseling services to those
Unlocking
THE
VAULT
Lance Saling, owner of
The Vault Tavern, poses
for a portrait Tuesday,
March 8, 2022, at
his bar in Pilot Rock.
Photos by Ben Lonergan/
East Oregonian
Tavern owner Lance
Saling builds trailers
by day, manages his
bar in the evenings
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ILOT ROCK — When-
ever Lance Saling passed
by the building that used
to house Archie’s Restau-
rant, he kept expecting
someone to move in and
start something new.
Eventually, Saling realized he would be the
one to do it.
When it came time for Saling to come up
with a name for his new establishment, he
chose to lean on the building’s history.
P
A pool table sits in the dining
room of The Vault Tavern.
See Unlocking, Page A7
See Fire, Page A7
The Vault Tavern sits at the corner of Northwest
Birch Street and West Main Street in Pilot Rock.