100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Aug. 6, 1920

A fund of sufficient size to erect a statue that will be a lasting tribute to the memory of Sheriff Taylor and a credit to the county whose laws he upheld for 22 years, obtained absolutely by voluntary subscriptions is the aim of the Til Taylor Memorial Association. Every person is to be allowed to give as he sees fit to the fund. There will be no drive, no solicitation. It is evident from reports that interest in the memorial is statewide and in fact may reach beyond the borders of Oregon. “It would be a fine tribute and a fitting thing to do,” Mayor Baker of Portland said. “Til Taylor … could well be chosen as the model after which all peace officers should pattern.” The first donation arrived before the association had formed. A letter received by the East Oregonian contained a check for $25 from W.R. Frey, of Vancouver, B.C., saying, “Doubtless the people of Umatilla county will establish some kind of memorial … to so worthy an officer, and to many, like myself, a very highly esteemed and much respected friend.” Til Taylor on horseback, the picture which is familiar to thousands, is rapidly gaining favor as the model of the memorial.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Aug. 6, 1970

The dynamic effect of slowing a 70-ton jetliner from 180 miles an hour to a crawl on a half-mile of runway has created the same problem at Pendleton as that experienced at Medford, Eugene, Salem and Portland: costly damage to the runway. The problem could result before next spring in the Federal Aviation Agency closing runways and in United Air Lines being forced to cancel flights. Cost of the minimum acceptable repair, a five-inch overlay of asphaltic concrete, was estimated at $164,100, of which the FFA would pay 56 percent. The city would have to come up with the $74,000 balance. The costly problem emphasizes that the burden of support for a regional airport such as Pendleton’s is too great for the city to carry alone. The Port of Umatilla recently refused to take the airport under its wing. County officials have not commented publicly on the proposal.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

Aug. 6, 1995

Damon Lee Petrie, the burglar convicted of attempted aggravated murder after running over a Stanfield police officer with a commandeered police car, was accidentally released from the Oregon State Penitentiary. Butch Parrish, the officer who suffered serious injuries in the February 1994 attack, was stunned. “To me it’s kind of shocking they could accidentally let him out after a year into a 35-year sentence,” said Parrish, who still cannot walk. The officer was pinned under the car and dragged around a parking lot before Petrie high-centered the car. Parrish sustained two broken legs, broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, punctured lung, dislocated elbow and a crushed spine. “He’s a public safety hazard,” Parrish said of Petrie. “He’ll do anything to keep from getting put back in prison. That’s why he did this to me.”