25 years ago this week — 1999

PILOT ROCK — One local resident called it “shocking” news when Masonite Corp. announced plans to close its fiberboard manufacturing plant Wednesday.

Expected to be complete by the end of February, the closure will put 160 people out of work.

The plant is shutting down due to excess capacity within our manufacturing system,” said Hillary Huford, communications manager for Masonite’s corporate office in Chicago.

“The (fiberboard) market is extremely mature,” Hufford said. “The market is very stable and we don’t see it growing in capacity.”

Hufford said the Pilot Rock mill will run at full production through the end of the year and then will be downsized until the plant is closed sometime in February.

The plant’s manufacturing equipment will be transferred to other Masonite facilities, and the Pilot Rock property will be sold, she said.

Masonite, a subsidiary of International Paper based in Purchase, N.Y., will provide severance benefits, counseling and job placement assistance to employees, Hufford said.

“The decision to close the Pilot Rock facility was a difficult one to make,” plant manager Cliff Judy said in a press release. “We will be working very closely with employees and their families during the transition to assist them in pursuing other employment opportunities.”

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PENDLETON — A new viaduct to be built over the railroad tracks in east Pendleton received final approval from the city’s Planning Commission Thursday.

Replacing the viaduct will cost an estimated $10 million. The Oregon Department of Transportation will foot the bill, because the Court Avenue overpass between Southeast Ninth Drive and Southeast 14th Street is a state highway.

Construction will begin next spring and will last about two years, said project leader Ted Keasey. He said the viaduct will be built in stages so that motorists can continue to use the overpass during construction.

When complete, the new overpass will have three lanes, seven-foot side-walks and six-foot bicycle lanes on each side. A more standardized interchange will be developed at the west end of the viaduct with the addition of a traffic signal.

ODOT purchased nine pieces of property in the vicinity in order to build the expanded route over Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Relocation of three or four residences is under way, according to Keasey.

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PENDLETON — Dennis O’Hara wants Sunridge Middle School students to be safe. Because that’s his mission as assistant principal, he’s working on two plans – a safety plan and a crisis plan.

It would be easier to ignore escaped convicts, students with guns, bomb threats and trench coats. O’Hara cannot afford that luxury.

He constantly is on the prowl, searching for outside doors left ajar, adults who don’t have visitor’s badges on the campus — basically anything that isn’t quite right.

“Vigilance is the first step,” he said recently to a group of teachers. “We must always be prepared. We tend to get lackadaisical.”

Vigilance alerts the teachers to safety issues. That’s when intervention occurs. O’Hara stops anyone who doesn’t look like they belong. Already this year he’s questioned a grandfather who had a BB gun in his truck’s gun rack and a few parents who tried to intercept their children at the bus stop instead of going to the office to pick them up after school.

O’Hara doesn’t mind these false alarms. While he is preparing for something bad, he is hoping for the opposite.

50 years ago this week — 1974

One Pendleton man and a Milton-Freewater man were injured in separate hunting accidents as the Oregon deer hunting season opened Saturday. Four other hunters were reported to have died of heart attacks over the weekend.

The Oregon State Police reported that Raymond F. Barnes, 20, Pendleton was wounded in the right thigh Saturday night near Ukiah. A friend, Robin M. Scofield, 20, Pendleton, attempted to remove a 30-30 rifle from the front seat of a car when it discharged, police said. Barnes was taken to Pendleton Community Hospital where his condition was said to be not serious.

The Umatilla County sheriff’s office reported that James Gibson, Milton-Freewater, was accidentally shot in a hunting accident Saturday near Honeyview Point. He was taken to Walla Walla Hospital where his condition was listed as good.

Elsewhere in the state, the Associated Press reported that Perry Eldon Decker, 64, Coos Bay, was pronounced dead on arrival at Burns Hospital Sunday, after having suffered an apparent heart attack. He was found unconscious in his tent Sunday after complaining of stomach pains.

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Whether Pendleton School District voters will be asked Nov. 5 to approve a bond issue was undecided today. The school board was told Tuesday night that a separate election board will be needed. It had been presumed the same boards would handle the general election ballots and the bond issue ballots.

But board authorities advised school officials that separate boards would be required. In some cases, this would necessitate a voter to cast his ballot in different buildings.

The board worried that this would deter some voters.

The board last week decided to put a vote Nov. 5 to a $1,575,000 bond issue for additional school facilities. Another election could not be held until next year, and the board was concerned that inflation would drive up building costs too much by then.

A steering committee was appointed Tuesday night to meet this week and recommend whether to go ahead with the Nov. 5 vote or delay it. If the committee recommends the November vote, members will plan how to best publicize the issue.

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WESTON — Opposition finally aired itself, but the overriding sentiment at a public hearing Thursday night favored the merger of the Athena and Weston School District.

The Umatilla Intermediate Education District Board then took no time unanimously approving the merger following the hour-long hearing in Athena-Weston Junior High School auditorium.

The IED board is authorized by law to serve as the legal boundary board for school districts in the county.

Nearly 20 residents spoke on the proposed merger with more than 85 per cent favoring the move. Those favoring it emphasized that the pilot merger now in its second year has brought about improved instruction, course selection and socialization.

The opposed complained of the busing, poor lunch at Athena and loss of local control in Weston.

Thursday night was the first public display of opposition to the merger attempt.

Now that the IED has approved the merger there will be a 20-day period in which persons opposing the action of the board can file a remonstrance. It would require signatures of at least five per cent of the registered voters in either district.

100 years ago this week — 1924

What a Bostonese thinks of the Pendleton Round-Up is most entertainingly set fourth by H. Wendell Endicott, of the Endicott Shoe Co., in the following letter to his sister, a copy of which is in the hands of H. W. Collins, president of the Round-Up.

Never had I expected to have an opportunity to witness the world famous Round-Up at Pendleton, Oregon – but the opportunity came – and I went. I saw it all with my own eyes from the best and most advantageous angle.

The Round-Up as you know is a gathering of all the expert cowboys and cowgirls – as well as Indians competing in contests for the best and quickest work of what is for the most part “every day” experiences in ranch life – quick, accurate, dangerous and thrilling. Hundreds of these competitors coming from all over the west gather at Pendleton for the famous “Round-Up” to perform there their marvelous feats of bravery and skill before thousands of people who for the most part are themselves skilled or well versed in that very life and action — it is the struggle of experts witnessed by experts. Of course there are many “tenderfeet” present as well but it all means a real struggle — a real fight — a marvelous display of bravery and action.

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A loss of approximately $80,000 to $85,000 was done early this morning when fire of an unknown origin destroyed the H. W. Collins grain elevator and warehouse at Nolin, 18 miles west of Pendleton.

In addition to the two buildings owned by Mr. Collins, the small railroad waiting room and a section house owned by the O. W. R. & N. were consumed by the flames, and damage to the track of the carrier company was done. Between 45,000 and 50,000 bushels of wheat and barely are said to have been stored in the two buildings, part of it being owned by Mr. Collins but a much bigger volume was the property of farmers.

The loss on the buildings proper is said to have amounted to about $20,000 with insurance of $15,000. Practically all of the grain was also insured, but some of it is reported to have been of the 1923 crop and was insured for only one dollar the bushel. No estimate of the railroad company’s loss could be secured.

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The Pendleton Buckaroos are scheduled to tangle with Baker high school and Baker tomorrow afternoon in their second start of the season. Baker has high hopes this year under their new coach, Glindeman, former Idaho star and resent the fact that Pendleton has scheduled a so called practice game with them. The watchword in Baker at present is “Beat Pendleton” and the Baker fans insist that Glindeman has the stuff to do it with.

Since the defeat at the hands of Yakima last Saturday Coach Taylor has been dragging his men hard and teaching them to tackle properly. The ragged tackling and blocking of the Buckaroos were two of the causes for their defeat at the hands of Yakima. Baker has not been scored on yet this season having defeated Halfway twice, 25-0 and 39-0 and Enterprise by 18-0. Both these teams trounced Baker last year.

Harold Hatton, star quarterback and punter will start the game and that means that the team will operate more smoothly and efficiently than on Saturday as Hatton has had far more experience in the signal calling department than Cliff Christenson who handled the eleven Sunday.