REGION
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
PENDLETON
Registrations available for Daddy Daughter Dance
East Oregonian
Registration is now un-
derway for the annual Daddy
Daughter Dance sponsored
by Pendleton Parks & Recre-
ation. The event is Saturday,
Feb. 7 from 6-9 p.m. at the
Pendleton Convention Cen-
ter, 1601 Westgate.
Open to girls in kinder-
garten through eighth grade,
the cost is $32 per father and
daughter pair and $10 for
each additional girl. The eve-
ning includes dancing, snacks
and refreshments, including
the always popular chocolate
fountain, a posed picture, a
special gift at the door and a
chance to win prizes.
In its 11th year, the event
usually sells out. Organizers
encourage those planning to
attend to register early.
For more information, call
541-276-8100, go to www.
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
pendletonparksandrec.com Participants hit the dance floor during a past Daddy Daughter Dance. Registration
RU VWRS E\ WKH SDUNV RI¿FH is open for this year’s event, which is Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Pendleton Convention
Center.
865 Tutuilla Road.
MILTON-FREEWATER
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By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
When it came down to
choosing a replacement for
an open seat, the Milton-Free-
water City Council turned to a
familiar face.
Steven Patten’s natural in-
terest in city issues was listed
by multiple councilors as one
of the reasons he edged out the
two other applicants for the
position at a meeting Monday.
As an audience member,
Patten has been a frequent
attendee of council meetings
since moving to Milton-Free-
water in 2009.
“Steven Patten almost had
an unfair advantage in that
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tion several years ago when
he started attending council
meetings regularly,” Council-
man Ed Chesnut said. “That
impressed me partly because
that was my prelude to getting
on council. ... He was showing
an interest long before there
was any reason to be interest-
ed.”
Patten, an environmental
scientist for the Walla Wal-
la Basin Watershed Council,
beat out Frank Millar, retired
crop consultant for Wilbur-El-
lis Co., and Verl Pressnall, the
former maintenance director
for the now-defunct Ferndale
and Umapine school districts
and the president of the East
End Rod and Gun Club.
According to meeting
minutes of Patten’s Dec. 8
interview, he was selected
for the seat despite living in
Milton-Freewater for the least
amount of time.
After growing
up in Colorado,
Patten moved west-
ward to attend Wal-
la Walla University,
his family’s alma
mater dating back to
his grandfather.
Patten obtained
bachelor’s degrees
in history and biol- Patten
ogy in 2007 and a
master’s degree in 2009, mov-
ing to Milton-Freewater short-
ly thereafter.
Although he praised the
council for their practical
approach to governing, he
also offered ideas about ar-
eas where Milton-Freewater
could improve.
While Milton-Freewater
lies in close proximity to tour-
ist attractions like Tollgate and
the Blue Mountains, Patten
pointed out that there was no-
where in Milton-Freewater for
potential tourists to stay.
Patten also suggested the
city create a brand that busi-
nesses could use to attract
more customers.
A frequent topic of discus-
sions during the interviews
was the lack of integration
between Milton-Freewater’s
Hispanic population and the
rest of the community.
Despite comprising 43
percent of the city’s popula-
tion, no Latinos sit on the city
council and very
few are involved in
city government.
During his in-
terview, Millar said
he encouraged two
of his Hispanic ac-
quaintances to ap-
ply for the council
seat to no avail.
In an interview
after his appoint-
ment, Patten said
the city needed to take “baby
steps” in improving relation-
ships with the Hispanic com-
munity.
Patten said he’s made an
effort to talk with his Lati-
no neighbors, including his
recent decision to seek the
council seat. He added that
grassroots efforts like this
could help build a foundation
toward real progress.
Although ultimately un-
successful, the two other
candidates didn’t leave the
meeting completely emp-
ty-handed. After appointing
Patten, the council appointed
Pressnall to the city’s budget
committee and Millar to the
planning commission.
Another carryover from the
last meeting was a potential
all-terrain vehicle ordinance.
First presented at the Dec.
8 meeting, the council contin-
ued to discuss an ordinance
that would allow ATVs to
drive on city streets.
The issue was brought
about by resident Jesse Shaw,
who said he had a $15,000
ATV that he wasn’t allowed
to use on city streets.
At the December meet-
ing, Police Chief Doug
Boedigheimer said staff didn’t
have an opinion one way or
another about an ATV ordi-
nance.
But on Monday, City Man-
ager Linda Hall added that
staff was strongly opposed to
allowing ATVs on Highway
11, which they viewed as be-
ing too dangerous.
6KDZ VHHPHG WR ¿QG WKH
most traction with Council-
man Brad Humbert, who of-
fered to work with Shaw to
create an ATV committee that
would write an ordinance for
council consideration.
Although
supportive,
Humbert said Shaw and oth-
er ATV ordinance supporters
would need to provide details
on the ATV permitting pro-
cess and designated crossings
on Highway 11 before he
could approve it.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
HERMISTON
Board to pick from three locations for new senior center
Street behind Wal-Mart that
is for sale.
“It’s in a residential area
Now that Hermiston has and it has lots of opportunity
a $2 million grant to build a for green space around it,”
new senior center, it’s time Fetter said.
Another option would be
for the city to decide in what
part of town that $2 million the former Goodwill building
at 740 West Hermiston Ave-
should be invested.
Hermiston Parks and Rec- nue. Fetter said the property
reation director Larry Fetter, is 1.5 acres and has a “willing
who wrote the Community seller.” The building on the
Development Block Grant on property probably has asbes-
behalf of the senior center ad- tos and other issues making
visory board, told the Hermis- LW GLI¿FXOW WR UHSXUSRVH LQWR
ton City Council Monday that a senior center, Fetter said,
the board has narrowed down but the city would have the
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three properties to study.
7KH ¿UVW LV D DFUH lion block grant to tear down
parcel on Northeast Fourth the old building, rebuild and
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
turn some of the asphalt sur-
rounding it into landscaping
or some sort of community
garden.
“A $2 million investment
in that neighborhood would
be a game-changer, no doubt
about it,” Fetter said.
The third option would be
to build the 8,000-square-foot
facility behind the Hermiston
Public Library. The senior
center would span the park-
ing lot behind the library and
block the section of road near
the old Armand Larive arch-
way where Northeast Second
Street curves around to be-
come Ridgeway Avenue.
“It would go nicely with
the redevelopment work in
the Urban Renewal District,”
Fetter said, referencing the
“festival street” the city wants
to create in front of city hall
nearby.
Fetter said the advisory
board would study all three
options further and at some
point come to the city council
with a recommendation.
City councilors asked that
an informational report ac-
company the recommenda-
tion so they could see why
the board settled on that par-
ticular option.
“I think there are advan-
tages to all three,” councilor
John Kirwan said.
BRIEFLY
Hermiston police handled
fewer calls in 2014
HERMISTON — Police saw a drop
in total incidents and arrests from 2013
to 2014, according to the Hermiston
department’s annual report.
Hermiston police Chief Jason
Edmiston on Tuesday released the
by-the-numbers take on what his
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23,097 total incidents in 2014, down
14 percent from 2013. Most of that was
due to a drop in calls for service, which
fell 26 percent in the year.
Hermiston police made 1,279 arrests
in 2014, an 8 percent decrease from
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more citations: 6,045 in 2014 versus
5,575 in 2013, though the average over
the past 10 years is 7,206.
Hermiston Police Department has
31 employees, including the chief,
two captains, four sergeants, 14
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Department personnel, including seven
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than 5,900 hours of training in 2014.
That’s almost the equivalent of work of
three full-time jobs.
Edmiston reported the department in
2015 will track implementing policies
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affects of Measure 91, which allows
Oregonians to possess recreational
marijuana and goes into effect July
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suffering from mental health problems
in the midst of dwindling resources.
Tea party town hall
features Sen. Hansell
MILTON-FREEWATER – Sen. Bill
Hansell, R-Athena, will address a town
hall hosted by the Milton-Freewater Tea
Party Patriots Wednesday at 7 p.m. at
Milton-Freewater’s American Legion
Hall, 424 N.E. Eighth Ave.
Hansell plans to outline his ideas for
the 2015 Legislative Session, which
starts next Monday. The senator serves
on the Ways and Means Committee
and two sub-committees: Economic
Development and Transportation,
and Natural Resources, along with
the Transportation Sub-Committee
of Ways and Means. Hansell is
especially interested in opinions
about expenditures on transportation
projects and other topics affecting his
constituents.
Larry Nye, moderator of the town
hall and coordinator of the Milton-
Freewater Tea Party Patriots, urged
everyone who wishes to share thoughts
to bring written remarks, which can be
given to Hansell after the meeting.
OSBA looks to replace
vacant board seat
ATHENA — To replace the
ascending Dave Krumbein, Athena-
Weston School Board member Scott
Rogers was chosen to represent the
Gorge region for the Oregon School
Board Association Board of Directors.
Krumbein, a member of the
Pendleton School Board, vacated the
seat to become board president.
An association press release states
Rogers wants to prioritize replacing
aging school facilities and enrollment
while on the board.
Rogers, a Molalla native and
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Athena-Weston School Board in 2011.
The association is a member
services organization for locally elected
school boards at the school district,
educational service district, charter
school and community college levels.
East Oregonian
Page 3A
UMATILLA
Couple seeks
semi driver who
left crash scene
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
A Umatilla man has
offered a $100 reward for
information leading to the
semi driver who left after
his wife crashed into the
big rig Thursday morning.
Toshiko Boullester, 65,
was on her way to work at
about 5 a.m. from Umatil-
la to Hermiston when she
slammed into the side of a
semitrailer blocking both
lanes of Highway 730 near
milepost 180. The crash to-
taled her 2003 Nissan Alti-
ma, according to the police
report she and husband
Jack McWhinnie had with
them Tuesday. She suf-
fered deep bruises on both
knees and across her chest,
and even bruised her lungs.
“I’m lucky to be alive,”
she said. “God must have
been with me that day.”
Boullester said it was
still dark at the early hour
and the semi did not have
any lights on. She was
driving about 50 mph in
the Nissan, she said, when
she saw the trailer and
slammed on the brakes.
But, she said, it was too
late.
Boullester said she was
in pain and dazed from
the crash and the driver
of the semi never got out.
She tried to call McWhin-
nie, but his phone was on
vibrate and he was asleep.
Boullester said she decided
to seek help and walk back
to their home on South-
shore Drive, about a quar-
ter of a mile away.
She said she was hurt-
ing, dazed and a little
scared, and she encoun-
tered a man and asked for
his help, but he turned her
down. She reached their
home, she said, pounded
on the door and awoke her
husband.
McWhinnie said they
hopped into his pickup and
rushed back to the crash
scene, but the semitrailer
was gone. An ambulance
then rushed Boullester to
the emergency department
of Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston, which
also is where she works as
a room cleaner.
The local hospital sent
her to Kadlec Regional
Medical Center, Rich-
land, Washington, where
she stayed the night. She
visited her family doctor
Tuesday and said she is
still sore. She showed the
purple and yellow bruises
that mar her knees and up-
per chest and left shoulder.
McWhinnie said the
$100 is what he could of-
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yeah,” he said, “it’s well
worth it.”
McWhinnie said people
with information about the
crash can call him at 541-
922-4673, or call the Ore-
gon State Police in Pendle-
ton at 541-278-4090.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
Backhoe cuts phone
service for thousands
By ALFRED DIAZ
Union-Bulletin
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questioning how one back-
hoe could knock out 9-1-1
service for thousands of
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and cripple thousands of
businesses Friday after-
noon.
“How is it possible that
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that widespread of an issue
through multiple counties?”
Walla Walla Emergency
Services Communication
Director Steve Ruley said.
“We were very lucky in
this county. Things worked
out well. We had a prompt
response and things were
handled well.”
At approximately 2 p.m.,
a backhoe operator near
Lewis Road in Pasco cut
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cable, resulting in numer-
ous communication failures
for emergency personal in
Walla Walla, Franklin, Gar-
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and the Milton-Freewater
area, CenturyLink spokes-
woman Kerry Zimmer said.
The biggest source of
problems was loss of cell-
phone service, but even
landlines were said to have
experienced some failures,
Ruley said.
By 5:30 p.m. Friday,
CenturyLink crews had
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1 and other services that
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During the communi-
cations failure, cellphone
availability was sporadic.
Some users were able to
send texts and make phone
calls while others lost all
services.
Residents and busi-
nesses with phones service
through the Internet were
also unable to call, includ-
ing several businesses that
often rely on emergency
services.
“We get a lot of calls
from the nursing home fa-
cilities,” Ruley said.
In response to the fail-
ures, members of the local
chapter of Amateur Radio
Emergency Services came
forward to provide commu-
nications backup.
“They heard what was
going on and came down.
And we deployed them to
the nursing home facili-
ties,” Ruley said.
Emergency systems are
designed with redundan-
cy, which means there is a
backup system should the
main system fail. Many of
these backup system in-
volve rerouting 9-1-1 calls
to other nearby dispatch
centers.
In
Milton-Freewater,
Zimmer said dispatchers
also lost 9-1-1 commu-
nications, but were able
to reroute incoming calls
through Umatilla Emergen-
cy Dispatch.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
W e appreciate your
trust in our care.
27 SW Frazer, Pendleton, OR 97801
Kevin Andrews, MD, L.L.C.
Internal Medicine
(General Medical Care for Adults)
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