REGION Friday, April 3, 2015 East Oregonian For rural Internet providers, redundancy is necessary cable going out. A lack of redundancy struck Pendleton in 2011, when a Cen- Internet access has become in- turyLink technician accidentally dispensable in many American disconnected Eastern Oregon Tele- homes, making potential outages a FRP¶V¿EHURSWLFFDEOH7KHFRPSD- ny’s 1,000 customers in Pendleton point of consternation. While lapses in Internet services were without Internet and phone are more common in rural areas, service for more than six hours. Joe Franell, the CEO of EOT, local Internet service providers say they have the safety nets needed to said the incident convinced the company to invest in several types avoid long-term local problems. Rural areas have made head- of redundancy. The company now has back- lines in recent years for Internet outages that wipe out Web access up bandwidth, access to a second cable that comes from Seattle in for whole communities. According to the Associated addition to their regular line from Press, vandals in Northern Arizona Portland, and another provider they LQWHQWLRQDOO\FXWD¿EHURSWLFFDEOH can buy Internet services from. Due to Seattle and Portland’s last month, shutting down Internet service for nearby residents for up proximity to the Cascadia fault, to 15 hours. Two years ago, res- Franell said Telecom is also look- idents of the San Juan Islands off ing into access to a third source of the coast of Washington state were ¿EHUIURPWKH6DOW/DNH&LW\DUHD All of these efforts from EOT left without Internet for 10 days DUH EHLQJ PDGH WR VLJQL¿FDQWO\ when an underwater cable broke. What many of these communi- reduce the chance of Internet ser- ties shared is a lack of redundancy vice interruption for the company’s ZLWKWKHLU¿EHURSWLFOLQHV²WKHUH customers, which number between was just one cable going in and one 5,000 and 10,000 across Umatilla By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian and Morrow counties. Wtechlink is another top lo- cal Internet service provider, with about 2,500 accounts in Umatilla County. Co-owner Jordan McDon- ald said Wtechlink also has redun- dancies in its Internet network. Unlike other utilities, McDon- ald said the impetus to create that infrastructure is on the providers. Franell said those redundancies aren’t cheap, especially for provid- ers in rural areas. With a proximity to two interstate highways, Franell said it can be cheaper for commu- nities such as Hermiston, which are easily connected to major lines. Still, that’s not to say Internet outages are a thing of the past. While the lines going in and out of town have reliable backups, McDonald said most customers don’t invest in redundancies for the cables directly connected to their home, which can lead to small- scale, more personal outages. ²²² Contact Antonio Sierra at asi- erra@eastoregonian.com or 541- 966-0836. Page 3A HERMISTON Scammers claim to be police chief “Later in the evening, the re- porting resident received not only A Hermiston couple saved them- a call from someone claiming to selves a few hundred dollars after EH D +HUPLVWRQ SROLFH RI¿FHU EXW they realized a call from the “police they also received an additional call from the ‘chief’ to give addition- chief” was actually a scam. Hermiston Police Department’s al information about getting their actual police chief Jason Edmiston ‘winnings,’” Sandoval wrote. “The said in an email that the couple, residents were vigilant and recog- who wish to remain anonymous, nized the scam, stopping their in- told him Thursday that they had volvement.” 6KH VDLG VSRR¿QJ WHFKQRORJ\ spoken on the phone with a man makes it easy for scammers to fool claiming to be Edmiston. According to a press release caller ID into displaying the correct from Hermiston’s crime prevention number of the Hermiston Police RI¿FHU (ULFD 6DQGRYDO WKH FRXSOH Department, lending legitimacy to the call. was targeted by a scam. She urged residents to be vig- First they received a call from a man who introduced himself as ilant and to educate friends and Walter Simmons of the Federal Bu- neighbors about the scam as reau of Investigations. He told them well. She said Hermiston Police they had won more than $600,000 Department would never act as a from Publisher’s Clearinghouse representative of Publisher’s Clear- Sweepstakes but the money had inghouse or facilitate the transfer been stolen while en route to them. of money unless it was something Now the money had been recovered seized by the department in the line at the Mexican border, he said, and of duty. If anyone has questions or con- the couple would be contacted soon by Edmiston with the information cerns that they are being targeted of how to pay the more than $900 by a similar scam, they can contact in fees needed to get the money re- Sandoval at 541-667-5112 or esan- doval@hermiston.or.us. leased from Mexico. East Oregonian BRIEFLY Music festival set for Tuesday Kids make candles in new workshop +(50,6721²7KH Hermiston School District’s annual music festival will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Hermiston High School main gym. The evening will include performances from the bands and choirs of Hermiston High School, Sandstone Middle School and Armand Larive Middle School. The night will end with a joint performance of “America the Beautiful” played and sung by more than 500 students in grades 6 through 12. 3(1'/(721²7XUQ any space into a medieval castle with the old-time practice of candle making. In the Ye Olde Candlemaking Workshop, kids ages 8-12 will dip, pour and wrap warmed wax to create classic pieces of functional art, adding colorful dyes and scents to put an updated twist on this traditional handicraft just in time for Mother’s Day. The class, taught by Ian Shadle, will be held on three consecutive Saturdays ²$SULOWKURXJK0D\ 9, from 1-2 p.m. at the Pendleton Center for the Arts, 214 N. Main St., Pendleton. The cost is $25 for members, $30 for non-members plus a $7 materials fee. Registration is requested; call 541-278-9201 or stop Ribbons available for police appreciation +(50,6721²%OXH ribbons are available around Hermiston for residents who want to show their appreciation to law enforcement. The ribbons are part of an annual tradition celebrating National Law Enforcement Appreciation Week May 10-16. But Hermiston Police Department chaplain Terry Cummings said some people choose to display the ribbons for more than just the designated week. The ribbons are provided for free by Concerns of Police Survivors, or COPS, an organization for the IDPLO\PHPEHUVRIRI¿FHUV killed in the line of duty. They started as something to tie around a car antenna, but since many newer cars don’t have an antenna to tie around Cummings said people have taken to tying them around a mirror, closing them in DEDFNZLQGRZRU¿QGLQJ somewhere else to display them. He said the gesture brightens the day of police RI¿FHUVDQGVKHULII¶V deputies who are often met with hostility in the course of their jobs. The ribbons can be picked up at the Hermiston police station, city hall, Banner EO file photo Hermiston High School music teacher Paul Dunsmoor directs the Hermiston High School band during the district wide music concert last year. This year’s district music festival will be held Tuesday, 7 p.m. at Hermiston High School. Bank, Hermiston Drug, Ace Hardware and Washington Mutual. Cummings said a variety of local churches will also be handing them out to members of their congregations. Last year more than 1,100 ribbons were distributed and Cummings said he hopes to beat that mark this year. Business tips for working with the government 3(1'/(721² A workshop offering businesses advice on how to make money by selling items and services to the government is planned. The free session introduces participants Live Music at t to who the Federal Public Land Agencies are, offers advice and tools for growing their business by selling to the government and give the opportunity to network with representatives from different state and federal agencies. The event is Monday, April 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at ST 214 at Blue Mountain Community College, 2411 N.W. Carden Ave., Pendleton. In addition, 30-minute one-on-one counseling sessions with a procurement counselor are available following the training. For more information, contact; Sue LaCroix at slacroix@gcap.org or 541- SATURDAY, APRIL 4 John MacBeth & Nick Berg 9 PM - M IDNIGHT 541.278.1100 8 S.E. COURT, PENDLETON 786-7344. To register, visit www.ptassist.com. by the arts center. Teacher job fair coming to town +(50,6721² Prospective teachers from Eastern Oregon will have a golden opportunity for networking on April 11 at the Northeast Oregon Educator Job Fair. Building principals and other staff from districts in northeastern Oregon and the InterMountain ESD will be on hand to meet one on one with interested educators. Participants’ contact information will also be available to the participating school districts through 2016. The conference is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 11 at Hermiston High School, 600 S. First St. Attendance is free but participants are asked to sign up ahead of time at https://hermiston.tedk12.com/ Join us for the Relay For Life Of Pendleton June 19 th -20 th 6pm-7am Sunridge Middle School Track www.relayforlife.org/pendletonor Sandy Morris, Event Lead 541-969-1712 smorrissgee@charter.net Heather Farnworth, ACS Staff 509-783-1574, heather.farnworth@cancer.org We want YOU! To join in the fight against cancer! Join us and Sign up a Team! Businesses! Looking for a way to give back that is both fun and rewarding? Join us and sign up a team to fundraise and make a difference in your community! Become a Sponsor for the 2015 Relay For Life event and receive recognition for helping in the fight against cancer! Event Lead: Cancer Sandy Society Morris,smorrissgee@charter.net, 541-969-1712 The American Relay For Life is an overnight that raises funds and awareness to fight ACS Staff: event Heather Farnworth, How your Donations Help! cancer. Because cancer never sleeps, dedicated teams of friends, families, and coworkers commit to keeping at least one member on a track or path at all times. $20 can help connect 20 people to clinical trials through our clinical trials matching service, which currently lists 6,000 ongoing studies. Make a donation to honor or remember a loved one or friend. All proceeds go directly to The American Cancer Society to help save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back. $50 can help provide 4 rides to or from treatment for a cancer patient. Through our Road To Recovery® program, The American Cancer Society volunteer drivers provided nearly 380,000 free rides to and from treatment for cancer patients last year. Did You Know... $1,000 can help support an early career researcher turning to The American Cancer Society to investigate cancer, its causes or how to help patients cope with the effects of the disease and its treatments. From 1991 to 2010, the combined cancer rate for men and women DECLINED 20%, and more than 1.3 Million cancer deaths were averted due to this decline.