REGION
Thursday, June 30, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Woman recounts her rescue from Umatilla River
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Renata
Burns on the afternoon of
Tuesday, June 28, stopped by
the Umatilla River in Pend-
leton to mourn the loss of
her 18-year-old service dog,
Mama, nine days prior. A
moment later, she was in the
river and worried she might
not make it out until a bicy-
clist stopped and saved her.
Burns recalled she saw
goats in the area, so she
veered closer to the river
to get a better look. While
there, she sat down in the
river to cool off, using a stick
she found to keep her close to
the bank.
“Pretty soon, before I
knew it, the stick wasn’t
holding on anymore and I
found myself drifting down
the current,” Burns said.
An inexperienced swim-
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Renata Burns poses for a portrait Tuesday, June 28, 2022, along the Umatilla River near the
Eighth Street Bridge, Pendleton, where she says she nearly drowned earlier that day before
Gary Taber rescued her.
mer, Burns finally reached
an area where she could
stand up. When she stood,
though, she ran into a prob-
lem: The quick current
and slippery rocks made
her unable to walk.
At first, she suffered
through the experience alone.
Pendleton house fire displaces two
A paramedic firefighter for
15 years in St. Louis, Burns
admitted the situation embar-
rassed her. So when several
people rode past her on the
Pendleton River Parkway
above the river, Burns said
nothing to them.
Fear, though, crept into
the back of Burns’ mind.
Finally, she began to worry
and called for help, nervous
she may become weak and
drown.
“I was standing there, the
current was too strong and
the rocks were too slippery,”
Burns said. “For an hour,
I was standing there in the
middle of the river.”
Gary Taber was the first
person to ride by while Burns
shouted for help, she said.
Hearing the cry, he quit his
ride and walked out into the
river, grabbing a stick to help
bring Burns ashore.
After the two slipped
and stumbled a few times
each, Burns said they both
emerged from the river, wet
but alive. Burns is especially
grateful for the rescuer that
came in the nick of time.
“I could’ve died,” Burns
said. “I was scared for my
life, and he went out of his
way to stop and help me.”
Following the incident,
Burns thanked Taber again
and again and snapped a
picture of him to hold on to.
She said she hopes the inci-
dent serves as a reminder
to be careful around the
Umatilla River.
After record rainfall from
May through early June, the
river has been running much
higher than normal. While
the wetness has receded in
the latter half of the month,
it is still swifter than usual.
“People need to be care-
ful,” Burns said. “It might
not look like the current’s so
bad, but it can take you away
in an instant.”
EASTERN OREGON REGIONAL AIRPORT
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pend-
leton firefighters knocked
down a fire in a house
Monday, June 27, that
displaced two people. And a
Chihuahua also escaped.
Pendleton Fire and Ambu-
lance Department at about
2 p.m. responded to reports
of black smoke seeping out
of a house on the corner of
Southeast Byers Avenue and
Southeast 11th Street. Fire-
fighters were on the scene at
1005 S.E. Byers Ave. within
a few minutes and extin-
guished the blaze in about 10
minutes.
“The fire appears to have
started in the bedroom,” Fire
Chief Jim Critchley said. “No
investigation will be needed
as it is accidental.”
Pendleton police
k nocked on neighbors’
doors to alert those next
to the house, with the one
occupant and one dog
East Oregonian, File
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Gear from a Pendleton firefighter on Monday, June 27, 2022, remains in front of 1005 S.E.
Byers Ave., Pendleton, after a fire broke out in a bedroom.
safely outside. One other
dog, a Chihuahua, still was
in the house.
When firefighters arrived
and entered the house, the
chihuahua raced outside.
All occupants and pets of
the house were safe and unin-
jured.
Critchley said the struc-
ture was a fourplex and the
fire damaged only one unit,
displacing two residents, and
at least one stayed with the
Red Cross for the night.
John Honemann, former manager of the Eastern Oregon
Regional Airport in Pendleton, poses for a portrait Nov. 9,
2021, in a World War II era hanger at the airport. Honemann
relocated from northern Colorado to Pendleton to start the
job in July 2021. Less than a year later, he no longer works
for the city.
John Honemann out
as airport manager
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
Echo receives infrastructure grants
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
ECHO — The city of Echo
has received grants to upgrade
its sewer and water systems,
while a northern addition is in
the works.
Echo received $7 million
in federal funds for infrastruc-
ture grants to update its sewer
system last year, which the
town has needed to improve
since 2007, according to City
Administrator Dave Slaght.
The city also received $5.9
million in water system grants
this year.
Echo chose to build a water
tower rather than drilling a
well, Slaght explained.
“We’re putting in a
500,000-gallon tank,” he
said, “which will bring us up
to 845,000 gallons of storage.
That’s enough to meet fire-
fighting requirements. We’ve
needed that for a long time.”
Echo aims to let bids
begin in the spring.
“There must be some
people thinking that Echo is
worthy of major investment,”
Slaght said.
Echo lobbied the Oregon
legislature for federal Amer-
ican Rescue Plan capi-
tal improvement funds for
its water and wastewater
systems, Slaght recounted.
State Reps. Bobby Levy and
Greg Smith and Sen. Bill
Hansell supported Echo’s
requests, he said, and the city
was awarded $5.53 million
for its water system and $1.5
million for its wastewater
system improvement.
Echo also received
$450,000 in federal appropri-
ation funds for its water meter
service replacement, Slaght
added. U.S. Sens. Jeff Merk-
ley and Ron Wyden champi-
oned this application.
The Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality
approved a $1 million loan
as well, Slaght reported. Up
to half of the loan may be
forgiven to offset wastewa-
ter upgrade expenses, which
should cost around $2 million.
“The city of Echo has
been very blessed with this
opportunity and is grateful
for all the support from our
county commissioners, state
legislators and federal sena-
tors,” Slaght concluded. “The
city council has been very
involved and Mayor Chad
Ray sat with me as we lobbied
for the funds, and was huge
in helping convince them how
important this was to Echo’s
future.”
Annexation application
The city council consid-
ered Kent and Laura Madi-
son’s application to annex to
Echo their 132-acre property,
adjoining Interstate 84, at its
June 14 meeting. The Madi-
sons proposed withdrawing
their application to submit a
corrected version. The coun-
cil approved this motion and
would welcome the new appli-
cation.
If annexed, the Madison
Addition would be connected
to Echo by Thielson Road,
which the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation has
approved, according to docu-
mentation presented to the
council.
Residents of the county
within Echo’s urban growth
boundary spoke in opposi-
tion to the annexation at the
May 10 city council meet-
ing. James Shelton, Brad and
Don Miltenberger, who has
lived north of the city for 45
years, cited water and sewer
issues. Shelton spoke as an
individual, not as president
of the Echo Citizens for
Responsible Development.
He was also concerned
about housing, roads, open
spaces and parks, according
to the meeting’s minutes.
Pendleton graduate buys Dutch Bros franchises
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — David
Beamer of Walla Walla has
bought Dutch Bros coffee
shop franchises in La Grande
and his hometown of Pend-
leton. He acquired two fran-
chises in Walla Walla in
2008 and 2018 and another
in Milton-Freewater in 2013.
“I was born in Walla Walla
and lived in Athena through
kindergarten,” Beamer said,
”but moved to Pendleton for
first grade, and graduated
from high school there in
2000. It’s exciting to own a
franchise in my home town.”
Beamer graduated from
Oregon State University in
2004.
“I worked at Hill Meat,
slaughtering hogs every
morning,” he said. “In Octo-
ber 2002, I started working
night shifts at Dutch Bros,
and made manager in 2007.
I never thought that pouring
and handing out coffee was
going to be my future. But it’s
the easiest and funnest job I’d
ever had, so I made a career
of it.”
At a Dutch Bros meet-
ing in Nashville, Tennessee,
Beamer learned about the
opportunity to buy franchises
in La Grande, Pendleton and
Hermiston from their owner
Marc Lee. A friend from
the Tri-Cities purchased the
Hermiston shop.
“I might be the only fran-
chisee with a store in his home-
town,” he surmised. “There
may be only about 40 fran-
chises left. The company owns
most of the stores. Dutch Bros’
target is 4,000 locations.”
Beamer has been amazed
at the loyalty of his customers.
“We had regulars at the
Milton-Freewater store who
drove daily from Pilot Rock,”
he said. “The Pendleton outlet
has saved them a lot of time
and money. It’s exciting for
me to be on the road to Pend-
leton and La Grande every
Wednesday and Thursday.”
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PENDLETON — John
Honemann as of last week
is no longer the manager
of the Eastern Oregon
Regional Airport in Pend-
leton, City Manager Robb
Corbett confirmed Monday,
June 27.
Corbett would not say
whether Honemann quit
or the city terminated his
employment.
Economic Development
Director Steve Chrisman is
serving as interim airport
manager.
The cit y hired
Honemann in July 2021
to oversee the airport, two
industrial parks with more
than 90 tenants and a 1,000-
acre wheat farm.
He came to the city
with a long career in avia-
tion, having spent the eight
years prior working for the
Federal Aviation Admin-
istration in safety and
compliance Before that,
his career includes stints as
the general manager of a jet
center in Montrose, Colo-
rado, and as a flight officer
and UAS pilot for the U.S.
Navy.
Chrisman served as the
airport manager before
Honemann. Chrisman,
however, had no experi-
ence in aviation. In Novem-
ber 2021, the city made the
airport manager its own
position again so Chris-
man could focus more on
economic development.
Harold Nelson, owner of
Pendleton Aircraft Service,
said he was “shocked”
that Honemann no longer
worked for the city.
“In my 53 years at the
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airport, John was the first
manager with a pilot’s
license and an aviation
background as a veteran,”
Nelson said. “He was on a
mission to save the airport.
He came around to talk to
businesses up here, to find
out what he could do to
help.”
Nelson’s son Curtiss
Nelson said the Pendleton
Airport Commission had
an upbeat meeting June 22,
and then “suddenly John
was gone” a day or two
after.
Airport commission
member Gary Zollman
commented that everybody
liked Honemann, who had
provided the airport budget
to the advisory group, at its
request.
Air por t commis-
sion Chair Jim Webster
said he was “surprised
and disappointed” about
Honemann’s departure.
“The commission felt
that he was doing a good
job,” he said. “We weren’t
privy to the deliberations.
It takes time to get a new
person on board, so now
we’ll have to go through
that process again.”
The East Oregonian has
tried to contact Honemann
for comment but has not
reached him.
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