REGION
Saturday, August 13, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
High winds, rain, hail batter M-F area Bentz discusses hot
topics in town halls
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
MILTON-FREEWATER
— The Walla Walla Valley
suffered extensive damage
from a thunderstorm on
Wednesday night, Aug. 10.
“It was a tornado-like
storm, with extremely
high wind, rain and hail,”
Milton-Freewater Cit y
Manager Linda Hall said.
“Water, street, sewer and elec-
tric power crews from the city
have been working since last
night to restore services and
clean things up. It was unusu-
ally damaging. Poles were
sheared off and trees downed.”
Much of the city was with-
out power during the night.
“Some customers north of
the city but within the utility’s
service area are still out,” Hall
said. “BPA lost some trans-
mission lines, but their eff orts
to restore power have borne
fruit. The torrential downpour
caused fl ash fl ood-like condi-
tions in parts of the city.”
Hall reported that downed
trees caused property damage
outside the city.
“Some did hit structures
and roofs and corners were
lost,” she said. “A car was
smashed.”
The storm launched
Michelle Morgan’s 10x10-foot
Michelle Morgan/Contributed Photo
Milton-Freewater resident Michelle Morgan’s shed rests in a
ditch Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, after a storm hit the town and
wind blew the shed over a fence and into the ditch.
backyard shed over her
cyclone fence into an irriga-
tion ditch 40 feet away in her
side yard. She lives at 1116
Vining St.
“It escaped the yard,” she
said. “Crazy! The wind lifted
the old metal shed over the
cyclone fence. It landed about
half into the ditch. It was a
powerful squall.”
The gust came after the
first, heavier hailstorm,
Morgan said.
“It was about 8:15,” she
said, “post the quarter-inch
hail and after the lull before
the lighter hail and rain.”
Her family just bought the
house, and were planning to
redesign the backyard.
“We had just hired a land-
scaper,” she said. “The shed
isn’t needed. We might pull
up the pad and plant tomatoes.
Next year, the site could be a
tomato haven.”
Hall hoped that the fore-
cast for Thursday evening was
not a repeat of Wednesday’s
weather.
The National Weather
Service’s 2:10 p.m. forecast
called for a “marginal risk” of
severe thunderstorms for the
region, according to its Storm
Prediction Center. NWS
sensors at Pendleton recorded
winds no higher than 35 miles
per hour Wednesday. Isolated
thunderstorms did strike the
area, meteorologist Camden
Plunkett reported.
However, a team went to
the Walla Walla Valley on
Thursday afternoon to inves-
tigate the reports of storm
damage. The investigators did
fi nd evidence of high winds in
two areas, Senior Meteorolo-
gist Larry Nierenberg’s local
storm report said.
“What we found out,”
he said, “based upon struc-
tural damage to an auto
shop (owner’s) mobile home
near State Line Road around
7:15 p.m., was that wind
speeds then reached 60 to 70
miles per hour. Tree limbs
were down and corn was
blown over.”
However, later in the storm,
gusts apparently picked up to
hurricane force.
“Around 9 o’clock, they
were probably close to 90
mph,” Nierenberg said. “An
empty mobile home near the
drive-in theater was thrown
about 30 feet. We did not fi nd
evidence of a tornado. These
all appeared to have been
straight winds, not twisting.”
Sometimes radar can’t pick
up high winds, Nierenberg
noted.
“The farther out you go,
the higher will the radar beam
track,” he said. “And winds
can be wrapped in rain, which
obscures them.”
STANFIELD
Housing developments in Stanfi eld’s future
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
STANFIELD — Stanfi eld
is growing.
After two other develop-
ments already started, the
Stanfi eld City Council at its
meeting Tuesday, Aug. 4,
approved a third.
Stanfield City Manager
Ben Burgener confirmed
SGS Contracting Services
Inc. is working on a new
development on the north
end of Stanfi eld at the inter-
section of Highway 395 and
Canal Road.
The lot will be built across
from the Silver Ridge devel-
opment, another recent hous-
ing project Burgener said is
nearing completion.
There have been two
public hearings discussing
the proposed project, with the
most recent on Aug. 4. While
Burgener said there were not
a lot of public comments at
the time, it meant the housing
development moved on with-
out a hitch. Two weeks from
now, a private meeting will
discuss the proposed housing
further.
As it stands now, the
Mackenzie Whaley/East Oregonian
The site of a future housing development in Stanfi eld is a
wheat fi eld as of Aug. 4, 2022. While there is no timeline , the
project at the intersection of Canal Road and Highway 395 in
Stanfi eld calls for nearly 300 houses.
SGS development will be
107 houses, with plans for
improvements to Canal Road
as well as several new streets.
Canal Road is unpaved and
runs through a wheat and
corn fi eld.
“They’ve mentioned
paving Canal Road all the
way to Feedville (Road),
which would be nice,” Burge-
ner said.
An additional hearing is
upcoming for a manufactured
home complex in the same
development. One hundred
or so extra homes could
be placed next to the area.
Burgener said as of right now,
plans are for 107 single-fam-
ily residences and 180 manu-
factured homes.
While there’s still no time-
line on the Canal Road proj-
ect, it’s one of three major
projects that have begun over
the last 18 months.
After a rezone in July
2021 paved the way for Silver
Ridge, the new development
on the north side of Stanfi eld
has added more than 58 acres
of housing to the area. So far,
several homes are built with
nearly 40 still to go, Burge-
ner said.
The south side of Stanfi eld
also is seeing new projects.
Bumble B Estates has broken
ground and plans to add 99
single-family residences. The
East Ball Avenue construc-
tion is visible when entering
the city.
According to the city
of Stanfield’s website, this
trend started in 2020 with the
addition of Patriot Heights, a
41-home development also
off of 395 on the north side of
town. The Turner Addition
on Sloan Street is a smaller,
eight-house project also
underway.
In total, Burgener said
the developments could add
as many as 1,000 residents
to Stanfi eld. For a town with
a population at 2,144 in the
2020 census, this new wave
of houses is a sign of a chang-
ing city.
“These developments are
going to improve our infra-
structure,” he said, “It’s going
to make Stanfi eld a lot more
competitive for businesses.”
Most importantly, Burge-
ner said while the town is
growing, it will keep that
rural hometown charm that
many in Eastern Oregon
love. And the new develop-
ments only show how popu-
lar that feeling is becoming.
Stanfi eld fi nance director retires after 40 years
ANTONIO
ARREDONDO
East Oregonian
STANFIELD — After 40
years serving the public sector,
city of Stanfi eld fi nance direc-
tor Jerry Carlson retired.
Carlson began his career
as a Stanfi eld city administra-
tor and worked various roles
throughout his career, includ-
ing spending time as a judge.
“I enjoyed my time here
in the city,” Carlson said, “I
appreciated my ability to work
for the city.”
“He was a man of many tal in projects such as the 2009
hats,” deputy city recorder Flood Mitigation Project and
Sandy Endicott said.
the yearly July 4 committee,
Originally hail-
Endicott said Carlson
ing from Spring-
never stepped into the
fi eld, Carlson moved
spotlight, instead stay-
to Eastern Oregon.
ing in the background
and working behind the
Though he now
scenes. Endicott said
resides in Hermis-
Carlson viewed Stan-
ton, Carlson spent
fi eld as an “investment.”
19 years living in
Carlson
After years with the
Stanfield. During
city, Carlson said he
his years working
with the city, Carlson said he will be spending more time
has grown to appreciate Stan- with his family in Hermis-
fi eld.
ton. Thursday, Aug. 11, was
Though he was instrumen- Carlon’s fi nal day at the offi ce.
After initially planning
a party, the city of Stanfi eld
staff agreed a more low-key
event fi t better. Endicott said
it’s hard to picture the offi ce
without the man who’s been
there 40 years.
Meanwhile, Carlson in his
fi nal week continued work-
ing away out of the lime-
light, preparing the offi ce for
whoever comes next to take
his position.
“I will certainly miss every-
one,” Carlson said. “Grown
to appreciate the city and
community over the years.”
Locals ask
about FBI raid
on Trump,
social media,
immigration
By ANTONIO
ARREDONDO AND
ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
FBI raid on the residence
of former President Donald
Trump, social media and
immigration were some
of the hot topics U.S. Rep.
Cliff Bentz addressed
during town hall meetings
Wednesday, Aug. 10, in
Eastern Oregon.
Fift y or so locals
attended the afternoon event
at Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College Science &
Technology Center, Pend-
leton. While not every
audience member got their
number called to speak,
many did get an opportunity
to make their voices heard.
After briefl y introduc-
ing himself, Bentz opened
up the fl oor for questions.
Jim Setzer of Adams had
the first question of the
day, asking Bentz about his
voting history, including his
stance on abortion and other
health care options.
“I am a right-to-life
candidate,” Bentz said in
response. “If you would
like a choice candidate, you
should vote for someone
else.”
Audience members
asked two separate ques-
tions regarding the recent
FBI raid of former President
Donald Trump’s private
residence at his Mar-a-Lago
resort in Palm Beach, Flor-
ida. Bentz said he wanted
to get more information
on the situation, but ques-
tioned why the FBI was in
the vicinity.
“The FBI has over-
reached over and over
again,” Bentz said. “One
thing we’re waiting for is
why did they do it?”
Bentz also discussed
the dangers of social media
throughout the meeting. He
questioned the abilities for
tech companies to distin-
guish between misinfor-
mation and “something you
don’t like.”
Ap p rox i m at ely 15
people addressed Bentz
during the public forum
though some did not have
a question. Several partici-
pants thanked Bentz for his
work in Washington or the
veterans on his staff for their
service.
The first-term repre-
sentative briefly touched
on other issues such as the
2020 presidential election
and voting issues before
concluding the town hall
and thanking all partici-
pants for their participation
and time.
Pendleton Mayor John
Turner, Umatilla County
Commissioner John Shafer,
and BMCC President Mark
Browning were all in atten-
dance. None of them asked
questions.
It was the sixth stop for
Bentz on his trip around
Oregon’s 2nd Congressio-
nal District. The represen-
tative before the Pendleton
event made stops in Grants
Pass, Medford, Prineville,
Madras and that morning
in Boardman. He said he
plans to make more stops
throughout the district in
the following weeks.
Boardman town hall
Bentz addressed immi-
gration, child care and veter-
ans’ benefi ts a few hours
before at the SAGE Center
at the Port of Morrow,
Boardman. About a dozen
residents attended the town
hall.
He also gave some indi-
cation as to how things
might change in Wash-
ington with the upcoming
midterm election. If Repub-
licans are in the majority
next year, he said, they will
be looking for ways to cut
back on government spend-
ing.
Some in the meeting
wanted to know about
government assistance.
Debbie Radie of Boardman
Foods asked Bentz about
issues related to employ-
ment.
Radie pointed out the
nation has a low unemploy-
ment rate, but Boardman
Foods is having trouble
finding enough employ-
ees. She said businesses
such as Boardman Foods
could benefi t if the federal
government acted on child
care, freeing parents to
work. Also, she said, busi-
nesses need foreign immi-
grants for their labor, and
government could help with
that, too.
Cameron Krebs agreed,
saying foreign workers
are key to our community
and essential to local busi-
ness. He called for Bentz to
support their eff orts, possi-
bly with a program to off er
amnesty.
Bentz responded to both,
saying the U.S. is facing an
“organized wave” of immi-
gration that will need to
be addressed before it can
expand a visa program.
He said he has visited
the U.S.-Mexico border,
and he has seen immigrants
massing there. Many of the
people, he said, are poor,
uneducated and lacking
proficiency in English.
According to Bentz, many
people are illegitimately
claiming asylum. And
Bentz expressed the hope
the border could be fi xed.
Radie also asked about
nitrate contamination, a
major issue of concern in
the Boardman area. Bentz
acknowledged there has
been a long-standing prac-
tice of imprecise nitrate
use, which has led to the
contamination of many
private wells. He said this
problem needs address-
ing, both in short and long
terms.
And veteran Chris
Brown said he suff ers from
health problems and has had
difficulty receiving care.
According to Brown, the
system of providing health
care to veterans is “not user
friendly.” Other vets agreed
more needs to be done.
He said he would look
into the issue and commu-
nicate further with people
who were having troubles.
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