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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2021
Bi-Mart pharmacies ship
customer fi les to nearby
pharmacies as close
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
The long lines at local
pharmacy checkouts may
grow even longer, as
Bi-Mart pharmacies close
and ship customer fi les to
other locations.
Don Leber, Bi-Mart
vice president of marketing
and advertising, explained
the situation in an inter-
view Thursday, Oct. 28. As
Bi-Mart sold its pharmacies
to Walgreens, most Bi-Mart
pharmacies began clos-
ing — 56 in the Northwest,
including 37 in Oregon. In
cities where there is a Wal-
greens, Bi-Mart is sending
customer fi les to Walgreens.
Several towns, however,
do not have a nearby Wal-
greens pharmacy, which
is the case for Bi-Marts
in Hermiston, Pendleton,
Baker City and La Grande.
The distance from one of
these locations to the near-
est Walgreens pharmacy
— in Kennewick, Ontario
or Walla Walla — would
involve a drive of more
than 30 miles to around
100 miles, depending on
location.
As commutes to dis-
tant pharmacies is imprac-
tical, Leber said arrange-
ments are in the works to
send customer fi les to other
pharmacies.
The Hermiston Bi-Mart
pharmacy, which closed
Oct. 26, began transfer-
ring fi les to the Hermis-
ton Safeway pharmacy Oct.
27, Leber said. Pendleton’s
fi les are going to the phar-
macy at the towns’s Safe-
way as well on Nov. 11, the
day after Bi-Mart’s last day
of operations, Leber said.
The La Grande Bi-Mart
pharmacy is likely to trans-
fer fi les to Safeway, too,
though a deal was not yet
confi rmed, Leber said. The
transition would occur in
mid-November.
On Oct. 28, Leber said he
did not know where Baker
City fi les would be shipped.
Discussions over their trans-
fer were ongoing. He said
the Baker City Bi-Mart
pharmacy would be open
into November and would
not close before a decision
was made.
He added these dates are
subject to change.
Leber said Walgreens
will keep 10 Oregon Bi-Mart
pharmacies open. These
pharmacies will operate
under the Walgreens name.
The list of 10 had yet to be
confi rmed by Thursday.
The problem of closing
pharmacies
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Oregon, released a let-
ter Oct. 20 referencing the
Bi-Mart sale. In the letter,
he expressed his “deep con-
cerns about these closures.”
Wyden, in the letter,
alludes also to fees that
impose “fi nancial strain”
on pharmacies, which has
caused 2,200 U.S. phar-
macies to close. His letter
calls for a “formal review
of pharmacy closures in the
U.S. in the last fi ve years”
and for regulation of fees.
Leber said that these
fees, which Wyden sees as a
problem, cost Bi-Mart mil-
lions of dollars every year.
This is forcing the company
to make this decision to exit
the pharmacy business.
“We could no longer do it
at a profi t,” he said. “Long
haul, it would put Bi-Mart
in jeopardy.”
Investigation leads to arrest of
man accused of child sex crimes
By BRYCE DOLE
Hermiston Herald
A months-long Hermis-
ton police investigation led
to the arrest of a man on Oct.
26 for a slew of child sex
crimes, according to Herm-
iston Police Chief Jason
Edmiston.
Steven Ira Brown, 36, is
in the Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, for felony counts
of using a child in sexual
conduct, second-degree sex-
ual abuse, luring a minor,
and misdemeanor counts of
contributing to the sexual
delinquency of a minor and
third-degree sexual abuse.
Edmiston said police
began investigating Brown
in June. He wouldn’t dis-
close any details about the
charges, but said the vic-
tim involved in the case is a
16-year-old girl who knew
Brown. He said Brown’s
alleged actions started at
least six months before the
police investigation began.
Edmiston also wouldn’t
describe their relationship
other than to say that the
two knew each other, adding
Brown was “not a stranger”
to the teen.
Brown knew Hermiston
police were investigating
him, Edmiston said, as offi -
cers seized property from
his home. Edmiston said
Brown tried to hide from
police but was eventually
found in his home. On Oct.
26, police waited outside
his home. After calling his
attorney, Brown “came out
to face the music,” Edmis-
ton said.
Edmiston also described
Brown as a “well-known
social media warrior antag-
onist.” On his Facebook
page, Brown has posted sev-
eral videos criticizing police
and the Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Offi ce.
Edmiston said police
have been in the process of
locking down digital infor-
mation in the case that they
will provide to prosecutors.
Brown remains in the
local jail with a preliminary
bail of $100,000.
Normal November expected
after warm October, NOAA says
Hermiston Herald
According to preliminary
data received by NOAA’s
National Weather Service in
Pendleton, temperatures at
the Hermiston airport aver-
aged warmer than normal
during the month of October.
The average temperature
was 54.1 degrees, which was
2.2 degrees above normal.
High temperatures averaged
66.6 degrees, which was
1.4 degrees above normal.
The highest was 78 degrees
on Oct. 3. Low tempera-
tures averaged 41.5 degrees,
which was 2.9 degrees above
normal. The lowest was 27
degrees, on the Oct. 12.
The outlook for Novem-
There were two days with ber from NOAA’s Climate
the low temperature below Prediction Center calls for
32 degrees.
near normal temperatures
Precipitation
totaled and above normal precipi-
1.25 inches during Octo- tation. Normal highs for the
ber, which was 0.53 inches Hermiston Municipal Air-
above normal. Measurable port fall from 57.0 degrees
precipitation — at least .01 at the start of November to
inch — was received on fi ve 43.0 degrees at the end of
days, with the heaviest, 0.46 November. Normal lows fall
inches, reported on Oct. 22. from 33.0 degrees to 28.0
Precipitation this year has degrees. The 30-year normal
reached 3.78 inches, which precipitation is 1.19 inches.
is 4.13 inches below normal.
The National Weather
The highest wind gust Service is an offi ce of the
was 54 mph, which occurred National Oceanic and Atmo-
Oct. 24. There was one day spheric Administration, an
when the wind
exceeded candidates
agency of provide:
the U.S. Com-
Qualified
50 mph.
merce Department.
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Umatilla Rural Fire
Protection District chief on
leave amid investigation
Private investigator
looks into the matter
By BRYCE DOLE
Hermiston Herald
The Umatilla Rural
Fire Protection District
has placed its fi re chief,
Steve Potts, on paid leave
amid an investigation
into an “internal matter,”
according to Kyle Sipe,
chairman of the fi re dis-
trict board.
Sipe said two volun-
teers with the fi re district
recently met with him
and had complaints about
Potts. That prompted the
board to place Potts on
leave on Oct. 19 and hire
a private investigator to
look into the matter, Sipe
said.
Sipe would not dis-
close any information
about what the complaints
were, nor why the board
placed Potts on leave. He
said he was “not at lib-
erty” to discuss the ongo-
ing investigation.
Potts did not respond to
a call seeking comment.
Scott Stanton, chief of
Umatilla Fire District No.
1, will take charge of the
department for now, Sipe
said.
Sipe, an instructional
and robotics teacher with
the Umatilla School Dis-
trict, could not elabo-
rate on the investigation’s
timeline and would not
disclose any information
about the investigator.
When the investiga-
tion concludes, Sipe said
the board will analyze the
fi ndings and determine
what to do next.
Police pursue man for more
than an hour after stabbing
By BRYCE DOLE
Hermiston Herald
Hermiston
police
chased a local man by car
and foot for more than an
hour on Oct. 26 after a stab-
bing, according to Herm-
iston Police Chief Jason
Edmiston.
The arrest came, Edmis-
ton said, after the man
crashed his car into some-
one’s garage.
Anthony Robert Jones,
44, of Hermiston, is in the
Umatilla County Jail, Pend-
leton, and faces numerous
charges, including fi rst-de-
gree robbery, second-de-
gree assault, domestic
violence crimes and endan-
gering a person protected
by a Family Abuse Protec-
tion Act order.
Edmiston said police at
about 9:50 p.m. on Oct. 26
responded to the Walmart
Supercenter after receiv-
ing reports of a domestic
incident. Offi cers found a
44-year-old woman was
stabbed twice.
Jones, police reported,
is her ex-husband and the
suspect in the stabbing.
Bystanders told police
the man was trying to get
money from the woman.
She drove to Good Shep-
herd Medical Center,
Hermiston, along with
police.
Jones left his car at
Walmart, so police waited
for him there.
He returned and got in
the car before police could
stop him, Edmiston said.
That began a car chase
around Hermiston that
would last from 12:14 a.m.
to nearly 1 a.m.
At least four police cars
pursued Jones, who Edmis-
ton said traveled at “crazy”
speeds around town. Police
tried to set down spike
strips but were unable to in
time, Edmiston said.
The car chase ended
when Jones crashed into
a garage on the 800 block
of East Pine Avenue. He
fl ed on foot. Police caught
Jones and arrested him
around 1:25 a.m. on the
200 block of Southeast
Seventh Street. He remains
in the jail on preliminary
bail of $790,000.
Edmiston described the
length of the chase around
town as “atypical.” He said
police want car chases to
end sooner, calling it a “risk
versus reward” scenario.
He said police decided to
continue the evening pur-
suit because there were
few cars on the road and
the weather was favorable.
The case now is in the
hands of the Umatilla
County District Attorney’s
Offi ce.
State court records
show a grand jury on Oct.
28 indicted Jones on 14
counts in all — six misde-
meanors and eight felonies.
He faces an arraignment on
the charges on Wednesday,
Nov. 3.
Records also show
Jones has a history of
criminal cases, includ-
ing a 1998 conviction for
attempted murder.
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