Hermiston Little League wins 10-12 state softball title| SPORTS, A10
TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022
146th Year, No. 87
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
$1.50
PENDLETON WHISKY MUSIC FEST
Pendleton Whisky Music Fest
makes a triumphant return
By ANTONIO ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — Mack-
lemore himself told the
crowd he had no idea
what he was doing in
Pendleton. The Gram-
my-award-winning artist
was making his first
appearance in the area
for the sixth Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest.
“But then I walked
out and saw everyone,
and was like, OK, this is what we’re
doing here,” Macklemore said to the
packed stands and roaring fans.
The fi lled seats at the Round-Up
Arena marked the triumphant, full
return of Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest. The pandemic canceled the
event in 2020, and in 2021 the festi-
val saw limited attendance and a
diff erent headliner than planned.
“At that time the state hadn’t
even opened up yet,” said Doug
Corey, Whisky Fest’s co-founder,
“we decided to do Toby and limit
the venue size.”
Toby Keith was onstage perform-
P
ing for the lucky 12,000 people who
secured a ticket in 2021. Due to the
change, Corey and his co-founder
Andy McAnally offered ticket
refunds. Even with refunds off ered,
Corey said they retained nearly 80%
of the ticket revenue.
Those ticket holders saw the
return of the original acts meant for
2020, headliner Eric Church and
Macklemore, who were moved to
2022 to perform in front of a packed
crowd.
The crowds made sure to show
up; Corey said more than 19,000
tickets had been sold, with the
ground-level party pit and arena
seating completely booked.
Fans trickled in through the open-
ing acts — Nate Botsford and Ashley
Cooke — before that trickle turned
into a solid stream. Midway through
Dylan Scott’s performance, the party
pit was full.
Macklemore stepped out for his
performance to a raucous crowd,
laughing, drinking and dancing to the
Seattle-based singer’s music. He was
the one non-country act of the day.
See Fest, Page A9
TOP LEFT: Ashley
Cooke performs
Saturday, July 9,
2022, at Pendle-
ton Whisky Music
Fest. TOP RIGHT:
Macklemore shines
on stage in front
of thousands of
people. ABOVE:
The crowd cheers
and hollers in the
Pendleton Round-
Up Arena where
the festival was
held. LEFT: Dylan
Scott commands
the stage Saturday,
July 9, 2022, as he
sings at Pendleton
Whisky Music Fest
Photos by Yasser Marte/
East Oregonian
Leak detectives
Mystery water fl oods
Pendleton man’s
North Hill basement
and keeps on coming
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The sound of
fl owing water can soothe the soul
— or be the stuff of nightmares.
The day after renters moved
out of his Pendleton North Hill
rental home in early February,
Dean Fouquette entered the house
to see what needed to be done.
He froze at the sound of running
water in the basement.
Fouquette quickly clomped
down the stairs to get a look.
Water streamed in through seams
in the bottom two steps with the
same volume as a garden hose at
full force. He grabbed a mop and
his 5-gallon wet/dry vacuum and
got busy.
Soon he drove to Zimmer-
man’s Hardware to buy a bigger
shop vac.
“I set it up in the basement so
the hose could vacuum up the
water and I wouldn’t have to stand
there and do it,” Fouquette said.
“So every hour I would come back
and empty this 12-gallon shop vac
... I did that from 6 in the morning
until about 8 at night, then I’d turn
it off and let the water run at night.”
See Flooding, Page A9
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Dean Fouquette on June 2, 2022, sits next to a sign in the yard of his Pend-
leton North Hill rental home. In February, water began fl ooding into the
home where Fouquette spent much of his boyhood and hasn’t stopped
since. A contractor who helped Fouquette deal with his fl ooded basement
placed the sign.