WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
NEWS
Food plant has yet
to find a buyer
HH FILE PHOTO
The Hermiston Foods plant is up for sale.
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY NATE RIVERA
Hermiston city manager Byron Smith unloads watermelons at Pioneer Square in Portland on Friday.
Hermiston gives away watermelons to Portlanders
HERMISTON HERALD
Portland residents got a taste of the
sweet life Friday as the city of Herm-
iston and Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce gave away 500
Hermiston watermelons in less than 20
minutes.
Nate Rivera, superintendent of
Hermiston Energy Services, was one of
the city staff on hand. He said there was
a line starting an hour and a half before
the giveaway began in Portland’s Pio-
neer Square. The event also included
a seed-spitting contest between Herm-
iston and Portland officials, won this
year by Hermiston chamber board
chairman Paul Keeler.
Some years Hermiston has also
given away other types of produce, but
this year stuck to Hermiston’s signa-
ture crop, donated by Walchli Farms
and Bellinger Farms.
The tradition started with former
Hermiston mayor Frank Harkenrider in
the 1980s and stopped in 2007 before
being resurrected in 2015. Its aim is to
build goodwill between the two cities
and give their leaders a chance to get
to know each other and discuss issues
both communities face.
For a photo gallery from the event,
visit www.hermistonherald.com.
A little over a year after
announcing the closure of
Hermiston Foods, its par-
ent company NORPAC is
still actively marketing the
property but hasn’t had a
buyer yet.
NORPAC announced
in early July of 2017 that
it would close the vegeta-
ble-processing plant south
of Hermiston later in the
year, and did so in Novem-
ber 2017. Before its closure
the plant was Hermiston’s
ninth-largest employer.
Commercial real estate
firm Kidder Mathews is
marketing the property at
2250 S. Highway 395 with
a website, www.hermis-
tonfoodsproperty.com.
The website states that the
property includes 137,300
square feet of “state-of-
the-art food processing
facility” on 45.3 acres.
“With high clear height,
very heavy power, expan-
sion capabilities the facil-
ity can be adapted to
handle many types of
manufacturing and dis-
tribution,” it states. “The
facility is considered rela-
tively new in its construc-
tion and features and has
been methodically main-
tained and is in excellent
condition.”
Hermiston
Foods
opened in April 1990.
When it closed, the com-
pany stated that its func-
tions would be consol-
idated with facilities in
Brooks and Quincy, Wash-
ington, for increased
efficiency.
According to a Worker
Adjustment and Retrain-
ing Notification sent to the
state, 199 people were laid
off, including 14 salaried
employees,
While the plant is no
longer processing produce,
spokeswoman Amy Wood
said the offices there are
still being used by the com-
pany’s field department.
Revamp takes Judge Temple off criminal cases
Other judges
will assign non-
criminal cases to
Temple
Primus began filing
motions a couple of weeks
ago to block Temple from
presiding over new crimi-
nal cases. In affidavits, Pri-
mus claims the state cannot
receive fair and impartial
treatment from Temple. Pri-
mus has not specified what
By PHIL WRIGHT
led to the decision.
STAFF WRITER
Attorneys in Oregon can
disqualify up to two judges
Circuit Judge Eva Tem- for no reason. Defense attor-
ple no longer will han- neys make the demand more
dle criminal cases in Uma- often than prosecutors.
tilla County. The change is
An affidavit from a law-
yer asserting the judge is
effective Friday.
Roy Blaine, trial
unfair is rare. Blaine
court
administra-
said prosecutors dis-
qualifying a partic-
tor for the 6th Judi-
ular judge happens,
cial District, said any
but in his experience
good
organization
the situation is “fairly
reviews its business
uncommon.”
model to look for bet-
ter ways to deliver
Presiding Judge
services. The dis- Temple
Christopher Brauer
trict has done that
put together an
before, he said, and in this “executive committee” con-
case two major factors are sisting of himself, Circuit
driving the redistribution of Judge Dan Hill, who is the
cases and other changes: the past presiding judge, and
coming retirement of Cir- Blaine. They came up with
cuit Judge Lynn Hampton, a plan to redistribute cases,
who handles family law, Blaine said, while improv-
and District Attorney Dan ing court services to the
Primus’ moves to disqualify public.
According to the copy
Temple.
of the plan from Blaine,
several changes take place
immediately.
Temple becomes the
chief administrative judge
for all case types other than
criminal. This spans law-
suits, small claims, mental
health, domestic relations
and more. She also hands
most of her criminal case-
load to Hill, who will man-
age it for the near term.
Brauer, Hill and Judge
Jon Lieuallen will reassign
their non-criminal cases to
Temple. And all new crim-
inal cases land in the either
Brauer’s or Lieuallen’s
courtrooms, which are both
in the county courthouse
in Pendleton. That will last
until at least the end of 2018.
Other changes are also in
the works. Effective Sept,
1, service counters in Pend-
leton, Hermiston and Hep-
pner will close at 3 p.m. on
Fridays instead of 4:30 for
staff training and learning
opportunities.
And in January, Robert
Collins takes over court-
room 2 in Pendleton from
Hampton, and he will get a
share of Temple’s non-crim-
inal work. Court staff also
begin assigning all new civil
and non-criminal cases ran-
domly between Collins and
Temple, and Hill’s caseload
will undergo review, per the
plan, “for equitable rebal-
ancing” between his court,
Lieuallen’s and Brauer’s.
And with any new plan,
Blaine said, this is a work in
progress.
Defense attorney John
Ballard of Hermiston han-
dled an intoxicated driv-
ing trial Thursday in Tem-
ple’s courtroom. He said
he hopes for a resolution to
the mess he saw in the cir-
cuit court because the situa-
tion as it stood “kind of puts
an avalanche on the other
judges.”
Ballard said he likes Pri-
mus and does not know his
motive for disqualifying
Temple, who he thinks is
good at her job.
“I’ve got no beef with
Judge Temple. I find her to
be fair. Every judge has their
own little quirks. Not every
ruling goes the way you
want it or the way you think
it should,” Ballard said, but
“... That’s the nature of the
beast.”
Ballard said the disquali-
fications also made him con-
cerned about a defendant’s
right to a speedy trial. The
citation in his case came on
July 23, 2016, he said, a bit
more than two years ago.
Ballard said he assumes any
criminal case going to trial
takes a year, and shutting off
the flow to Temple’s court-
room could add six months
or more to that slog.
“At some point you’re
going to run into speedy
trial issues,” he said.
Blaine agreed, and said
the plan is to mitigate that
problem, but it does come
with inconvenience for resi-
dents on the west side of the
county, who now may have
to travel to Pendleton for
their cases.
Blaine also said the
changes to Temple’s docket
only apply to Umatilla
County cases and have
no effect on her Morrow
County cases. Blaine also
said no one should con-
sider Temple a poor judge
because Primus wants her
off criminal matters.
“Really, in my mind, it’s
over a technicality,” Blaine
said. “I think the district
attorney has an opinion, and
this is his tool for express-
ing that opinion.”
The East Oregonian tried
to talk to other attorneys
who have worked in Tem-
ple’s courtroom, but only
Ballard returned the call.
Several others have written
letters of support for Temple
that have appeared on that
paper’s opinion page.
Hermiston
August 31,
September 1 & 2,
2018
Class of 1958
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