Federal funding package means money for the Columbia Basin

By Terry Murry on Friday, February 13th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

COLUMBIA BASIN – The final funding package that recently passed Congress means Oregon will receive more than $92 million in federal dollars for community-initiated projects (CIP). Some of it is earmarked for this area.

The Pendleton UAS Range is receiving $2 million to turn the B-17 Hangar at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport into a world-class tech accelerator. The money will be used to renovate the historic building and install equipment to help small startup businesses commercialize autonomous systems and robotics.

“This community-initiated project award will allow the city of Pendleton to renovate the currently unusable second story of the historic B-17 Hangar, creating state-of-the-art, ADA-compliant workspace,” Pendleton Economic Development and Airport Director Steve Chrisman said.

The Morrow County Health District is receiving $652,000 to purchase a new computed tomography (CT) machine for Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner. The hospital’s current CT equipment is nearing the end of its life and can no longer be upgraded.

“Frontier/rural critical access hospitals such as ours are in financial trouble,” Morrow County Health District Interim CEO Bob Houser said. He credited the efforts of Oregon’s delegation to the U.S. Senate for working to get the funding, saying it allows the hospital “to save lives and offer the best in patient care.”