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EASTERN OREGON, A8
APRIL 2 – 3, 2022
146th Year, No. 69
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
EASTERN OREGON
Fed judge
won’t block
grazing in
six pastures
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
PORTLAND — A federal judge
has denied a temporary restrain-
ing order sought by environmental
groups that would block grazing in
six Eastern Oregon pastures.
U.S. District Judge Michael
Simon said the environmental
plaintiffs haven’t shown that turning
cattle out on the pastures will cause
irreparable harm to sage grouse or
to rangeland research.
Continued grazing isn’t likely to
irreparably harm the ability of envi-
ronmental plaintiffs to enjoy undis-
turbed sagebrush grassland, since
the pastures have long been grazed
and are commonly rested on a rotat-
ing basis, he said.
Any hardship suffered by the
environmental nonprofits is also
“minimal” compared to the harm
that a temporary restraining order
would cause Cahill Ranches near
Adel, Ore., which relies on an
affected pasture to turn out cattle,
the judge said.
“Several families’ livelihoods
depend on Cahill, which in turn
depends on the ability to use public
lands for its livestock operations,”
said Simon, noting that the public
interest also doesn’t weigh in favor
of a temporary restraining order.
Six other ranches are also seek-
ing to intervene in the case, which
was filed against the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management by the nonprofits
Oregon Natural Desert Association,
Audubon Society of Portland and
Defenders of Wildlife.
Aside from seeking a temporary
restraining order to stop cattle from
being turned out on six pastures in
April, the environmental plaintiffs
have requested a broader prelimi-
nary injunction against grazing on
a total of 13 Oregon pastures.
“There are a lot of other places
the cattle can go,” said Mac Lacy,
attorney for the environmen-
tal groups during oral arguments
March 28. “The permittees, we
believe, have greatly overstated the
harm they may suffer.”
Grazing in the 13 pastures must
end to allow for research into its
impacts on sage grouse habitat,
which has already been delayed to
the detriment of that species and the
environment, he said.
“ E c onom ic h a r m neve r
outweighs irreparable environmen-
tal harm,” Lacy said.
The environmental plaintiffs
would suffer “severe” hardship from
continued grazing, but the impact
on BLM would be minimal while
the affected ranchers have been on
notice for years that livestock would
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Chris Zimmerman and Tanner Hawkins stand behind the bar of the Rainbow Cafe on Monday, March 28, 2202. They acquired the es-
tablishment in December. The pair plans to make some improvements but say they will retain the decor and ambiance of Pendleton’s
longest continually operating business.
New bosses at the ‘Bow
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — Pendleton’s most
famous bar is under new owner-
ship.
Business partners Tanner
Hawkins and Chris Zimmerman
bought the historic Rainbow Cafe
late last year, taking over for the McGee
family. Hawkins, a farmer north of Pend-
leton, and Zimmerman, an office manager
for his father’s chiropractic office, officially
bought the Rainbow on Dec. 28, the Rain-
bow’s New Years celebration acting as an
unofficial coming out party for the bar’s
new owners.
Hawkins and Zimmerman view them-
selves as stewards of one of Pendleton’s
oldest businesses, and are looking to main-
tain the spirit of the Rainbow that’s been
established over the decades.
“It’s more than just a bar and cafe,”
Hawkins said. “It’s an iconic little piece
(of) downtown Pendleton. If it was any
other business, I don’t know that Chris
and I ever would have pulled the trigger.”
The Rainbow, the oldest, continuously
operating bar in Oregon, began its life in
1883 as The State Saloon and Banquet,
its business including both a brothel and
opium den. After operating as a cigar shop
during the Prohibition years, the busi-
ness relaunched as the Rainbow, gaining
its iconic neon sign and Irish themes in
the early 1940s.
P
An accomplished drag car racer and
longtime auto shop owner, Steve McGee
moved from Lake Oswego back to his
hometown of Pendleton in 1999 and
bought the Rainbow with his wife, Joanne.
McGee died in 2017, but Joanne continued
to run the bar until selling it to Hawkins
and Zimmerman.
The pair said they didn’t buy the Rain-
bow looking to make money. They’re
keeping their day jobs and plan to reinvest
any profits they make from operating the
Rainbow back into the business. Hawkins
said the new owners plan to renovate the
Rainbow’s bathrooms and are looking into
converting the building’s second story
space into a vacation rental. But otherwise
the core look and service that the Rainbow
has been offering for decades will remain.
“We’re not going to turn it into an
Applebee’s,” Hawkins said. “It’s gonna
stay what it is. We’re going to upgrade the
bathrooms. (They) really need it. There’s
a lot of wear and tear that can be upgraded.
But the Rainbow itself is not is not going
to change.”
The Rainbow is open from 6 a.m.
to 2 a.m. six days per week (it closes at
midnight on Sundays), meaning it serves
both the early-morning coffee klatches and
the late-night bar crowds. Zimmerman and
Hawkins said they’ve been on both sides
of the customer spectrum and wanted to
respect the views of long standing patrons.
Hawkins said the pair consulted with
regulars and staff to make sure they got
the traditions and decorations right during
St. Patrick’s Day, one of the Rainbow’s
biggest days of the year. Following two
years of COVID-19, Hawkins said they
were happy with the packed house they
saw on March 17.
The partners credited staff for ensur-
ing the business stayed open during the
ownership transition. Hawkins compared
the learning curve of operating a restau-
rant and bar to “drinking out of a fire
hose,” but he and Zimmerman have been
able to lean on the Rainbow’s workers to
help teach them the ropes, from work-
ing with vendors to contacting tempo-
rary employees who help out during busy
times.
Hawkins and Zimmerman said their
workforce ranges from 12-15 employees,
but they would like to hire more perma-
nent workers to help keep their staff from
getting stretched too thin. When a dish-
washer called in sick one day, Zimmerman
said he washed dishes for five hours at the
Rainbow to help keep things moving.
While the new owners’ first St. Patrick’s
Day is already in the books, summer event
season is right around the corner. Hawkins
said the Rainbow made a deal with Jacka-
lope Jamboree to become the June music
festival’s official afterparty.
The Rainbow also is keeping an eye
on the culmination of Pendleton’s event
season: the Round-Up. In the eyes of the
Rainbow, Round-Up is “three or four
St. Patrick’s Days” put together.
County commissioner candidates take the stage
7 candidates running
for 2 seats gave their
spiels Thursday in
Pendleton
See Grazing, Page A9
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Umatilla
County commissioner candi-
dates during a forum Thursday
night, March 31, generally agreed
homelessness, drug addiction and
mental health are key areas to
improve in the county.
The seven candidates on the
stage at the Pendleton Conven-
tion Center also expressed near
identical stances on a number
of issues, including universal
support for Umatilla County as a
2nd Amendment sanctuary, which
voters passed in 2020, legal immi-
gration and opposition to moving
from a board of commissioners to
a county manager.
Incumbent John Shafer is vying
against two challengers: conser-
vative activist HollyJo Beers and
former Umatilla County employee
Rick Pullen. Six candidates are
running for the open Position 1
seat on the board: Business owners
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Umatilla County commissioner candidate Rick Pullen speaks to the au-
dience during a candidates forum on Thursday, March 31, 2022, at the
Pendleton Convention Center. Holly Jo Beers sits to his left and incum-
bent John Shafer is on the right.
Bob Barton of Hermiston, Jesse
Bonifer of Athena, Susan Bower
of Pendleton and Cindy Timmons
of Milton-Freewater participated
in the forum, but Alvin Young,
a Hermiston store manager, and
David Nelson, former state sena-
tor of Pendleton, were no-shows.
The format allowed a minute for
some answers and 30 seconds for
others. Sometimes, then, responses
from candidates were like a puddle
— wide but not very deep.
Shafer touted his work spear-
heading the move for the county
to not renew the contract with
Lifeways Inc. for mental health
services and instead bring on
Community Counseling Solu-
tions. The new nonprofit has
been handling County mental
health and addiction treatment
since December 2021, and Shafer
said there has been significant
improvement in services.
“Now we go to where you are
when you are in crisis,” he said,
instead of telling someone they
should go to a hospital.
He also said communities and
organizations are making some
headway dealing with home-
lessness, pointing to the work of
Community Action Program of
East Central Oregon to revitalize
a former hotel in downtown Pend-
leton as the Promise Inn, homeless
shelter and transitional housing
project.
But the county has work to do
when it comes to recharging aqui-
fers in the west side of the county,
he said, in critical ground water
areas.
Beers said she is the Eastern
Oregon head of Oregon Three
Percenters, a right-wing group.
She said she is a constitutionalist
and would “bring a constitutional
approach to county government.”
She said she would push for more
accessibility and transparency in
county government if she wins and
make fighting drugs a priority.
She and several candidates
said the county has to take on the
increase in drug use and addiction
See Forum, Page A9