EO wins 2022 General Excellence award | REGION, A3
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2022
146th Year, No. 96
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2022 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Heat causes one death in Umatilla County, six in Oregon
Hermiston and
Pendleton set new
record highs Friday
Oregon Public Broadcasting
and East Oregonian
PENDLETON — State offi-
cials reported at least six people
in Oregon have died from heat-re-
ATHENA
Local law
sidelines
charging
station
project
lated issues, including one person
in Umatilla County.
Of the other potential heat-re-
lated deaths last week, three were
in Multnomah County and another
in Marion County. The Oregon
State Medical Examiner’s Offi ce
also is investigating the death of
an elderly man who died Saturday,
July 30, in his home in Clackamas
County. He didn’t have a work-
ing air conditioner, according to
a county press release. No other
details were released.
The Oregon Medical Exam-
iner’s Offi ce did not share addi-
tional details, though it noted the
heat-related death designations
are preliminary and a fi nal cause-
of-death determination may not be
available for several months.
In addition to the deaths, dozens
of people have sought medical
attention, as the region continues
to struggle with prolonged triple-
digit temperatures.
Multnomah County announced
July 28 that Portland’s Bureau
of Emergency Communications
had received 71 heat-related calls
since July 24, and emergency
medical services responded to
51 of them. Offi cials also said 22
people had been taken to emer-
gency rooms for heat-related
illnesses. Many of them were
exposed to the heat while on the
job.
The National Weather Service
reported the extreme heat now
will last longer than forecasters
initially expected. An excessive
heat warning covering most of
Umatilla and Morrow counties
and other areas is in eff ect through
until 11 p.m. July 31.
See Heat, Page A9
GOING OLD SCHOOL
Grant Richie contends
community would
benefi t; Athena mayor
doesn’t see it that way
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
ATHENA — Grant Richie of
Minam proposed building a high-
speed electric vehicle charging
station at his One Stop supermar-
ket and gas station at Main and Fifth
streets, Athena. But the project ran
afoul of Athena’s law banning new
overhead power cables.
“There is only one universal
fast-charging station in Pendleton,”
Richie said, “and one in Dayton.
Walla Walla doesn’t have one.
Wildhorse Resort has Tesla char-
gers, but there is no universal high-
speed charger between Pendleton
and Dayton or the Tri-Cities.”
He also owns stores in Minam
and Walla Walla, and Home Hard-
wood Floors, while working as a
river guide. The project ran afoul of
an Athena ordinance banning new
overhead power cables.
The Athena ordinance requires
connections to existing overhead
lines and any new local electricity or
telephone lines to go underground,
and lines to replace outdated exist-
ing overhead lines also have to go
underground.
Project two years
on process
Richie said he worked with
Pacifi c Power to draw up a proposal,
based on the less expensive option
of stringing power cables overhead.
The power pole across the alley
from the One Stop is maxed out
with transformers. Pacifi c Power
would have to put up a new pole and
run two lines about 20 feet to bring
480 volts for the charger.
See Athena, Page A9
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Hermiston police offi cer Trevor Limburg trains Saturday, July 30, 2022, at the former Rocky Heights Elementary School, Hermiston.
Former Hermiston elementary school
provides real-world place for police training
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Members of
local police
agencies and
Oregon State
Police train
Saturday,
July 30, 2022,
at the old
Rocky Heights
Elementary
School,
Hermiston.
H
ERMISTON — Oregon State
Police led local offi cers on train-
ing that mimicked real-world
situations, including working in
blazing heat.
The training took place Friday
and Saturday, July 29 and 30, in
Hermiston at the former Rocky Heights
Elementary School. Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said the plan was to allow
the OSP SWAT team to what training it
could do, then state police would oversee
training for local patrol offi cers that would
serve as a reminder to how to respond to
certain situations, such as a building alarm
or even an active shooter.
Yasser Marte/
East Oregonian
See Police, Page A9
Candidates for governor take stage in fi rst debate
Drazan, Kotek,
Johnson highlight
diff erences during
90-minute exchange
By COREY BUCHANAN
Oregon Capital Bureau
WELCHES — During the fi rst
general election debate in a race for
who will become the next governor of
Oregon, the three candidates empa-
thized with many Oregonians dissat-
isfi ed with where the state is headed.
Each of the three women,
however, offered differing solu-
tions to the state’s myriad issues in
a 90-minute forum that underscored
the chasms among their political
philosophies and leadership styles.
Republican nominee Chris-
tine Drazan, Democratic nominee
Tina Kotek and unaffi liated Betsy
Johnson — who are running neck-
and-neck in recent polls — shared
the stage in an event Friday,
July 29, hosted by Pamplin
Media Group and spon-
sored by the Oregon
Newspaper Publish-
ers Association at the
Mount Hood Oregon
Resort in Welches. The
debate was moderated by
PMG President Mark Garber
and included questions from local
journalists, as well as the opportu-
nity for the candidates to confront
each other with their own inquiries.
Drazan, a Canby resident and
former Oregon House of Represen-
tatives minority leader who won
the Republican nomination, made
clear that she views her opponents as
leaders of an establishment that has
brought Oregon to where it is today,
and that the state needs new solu-
tions to chronic problems such
as homelessness, a lack
of housing and mental
health services, and
economic insecurity.
“It’s a little bit ironic
to me to constantly hear
my opponents on the
stage be (aghast) on how
horrible Oregon is on this and
that and the other — ‘We’re 50th
(in the country) on this and we
have to work on that,’” Drazan said.
“They’ve been in charge. We got
here because of their voices. There
are not two other people in the state
with more power than them besides
the governor herself and maybe the
senate president.”
Johnson, a Scappoose resident
who was a Democratic state senator
before resigning to run as a unaffi li-
ated candidate, emphasized that she
represents a middle ground between
what she described as extremes on
her political right and left, noting
Drazan’s pro-life stance on abortion
and positing that Kotek is a part of a
progressive left that is responsible for
mounting problems.
“Oregonians are distrustful of the
radical right and they are terrifi ed of
the progressive left … What could be
more diff erent and impactful than a
governor with an allegiance only to
Oregonians and not to a party agenda
or special interests?” she said.
See Debate, Page A9