REGION
Thursday, January 7, 2016
IRS scam returns
East Oregonian
Do not fall for phone
callers claiming to be agents
with the Internal Revenue
Service. The old scam is
again hitting the local area.
Umatilla
County
assessment and taxation
director Paul Chalmers
said his of¿ce has ¿elded
a ton of calls from folks
who reported an IRS
agent told them they
owed property tax and to
send cash. Pendleton and
Hermiston police and the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Of¿ce also reported taking
calls Monday with similar
reports.
“We’re letting them
know its a scam,” Chalmers
said.
He also dialed up one
of the numbers in the con
— 406-924-9644 — and
a male answered who
claimed to be an IRS agent,
who asked Chalmers for
his address and phone
number. Chalmers said he
could hear others in the
background having similar
conversations and asked
the fake agent how much it
would cost to clear up the
non-existent problem. The
swindler wanted $9,800.
Chalmers said his next
call was to the FBI.
The IRS in late 2015
urged the public to be aware
of the scam and stated it
will not call you to demand
immediate payment nor
call you if you owe taxes
without ¿rst sending you
a bill in the mail. The IRS
also will not threaten to
bring in law enforcement to
arrest or deport you, or take
away your driver’s license.
The federal revenue
service
recommended
calling 800-366-4484 to
report these scams to the
Treasury Inspector General
for Tax Administration, or
visit /www.treasury.gov/
tigta/contact_report_scam.
shtml . You also can contact
the Federal Trade Commis-
sion at FTC.gov and use
the
“FTC
Complaint
Assistant,” and please add
“IRS Telephone Scam” in
the notes.
HERMISTON
Local stars tango
(and more) for charities
East Oregonian
A handful of Hermiston
“stars” have been learning
dance
moves
while
preparing to complete
and raise money for local
charities.
Presented by Desert Arts
Council, the third season
of Dancing with the Herm-
iston Stars features Dan
Briscoe, Debbie Cissna,
Blaine Ganvoa, Cam Preus,
Jesus (Chuy) Rome and
Shannon Snyder. The local
residents met their partners
with the Utah Ballroom
Dance Company Monday
and began taking their ¿rst
steps on the dance Àoor.
Dancing with the Herm-
iston Stars is Saturday at 7
p.m. in the Hermiston High
School auditorium, 600 S.
First St. Tickets purchased
in advance are $35 for
adults and $17.50 for those
under 18. Admission at the
door is an additional $5.
In addition to competing
for the coveted mirror ball
trophy, the local dancers
will raise money for their
chosen charities. The
nonpro¿t
organizations
include Vange John Memo-
rial Hospice (Briscoe),
Pregnancy Care Services
(Cissna), Martha’s House
(Ganvoa), the Blue Moun-
tain Community College
Foundation (Preus), Court
Appointed Special Advo-
cate (CASA) program
(Rome) and Made to Thrive
(Snyder).
Between the judges and
an interactive audience, a
winner will be announced
at the end of the show. Also,
people can make donations
at www.desertartscouncil.
com/event/21 on behalf of
their favorite star — each
dollar counts as one vote.
Money will go to the danc-
er’s selected charity.
Local children will open
the show and dance during
intermission with choreog-
raphy by the professional
troupe. The second half
of the evening features a
performance by members
of the Utah Ballroom
Dance Company.
Tickets are available
at www.desertartscouncil.
com,
the
Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce at
541-567-6151 and Herm-
iston Parks & Recreation,
180 N.E. Second St.
Drunk driving crackdown nets
29 warning, citations, no arrests
East Oregonian
Umatilla County sher-
iff’s deputies warned or
cited 29 drivers last month
during an overtime shift
crackdown on impaired
drivers, but made no arrests.
The “high visibility
enforcement event” to
catch driver under the inÀu-
ence of intoxicants ran from
Dec. 11 through New Year’s
Day, according to a written
statement from the sheriff’s
of¿ce. A grant from the
Oregon State Sheriff’s
Association covered the
cost of the shifts.
The sheriff’s of¿ce,
though, responded to six
crashes during standard
patrol hours. A victim in
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one crash suffered minor
injuries, according to the
sheriff’s of¿ce, and the
other wrecks were inju-
ry-free. One non-injury
crash led to the arrest of a
man for duii, but the sher-
iff’s of¿ce did not identify
the man.
The extra patrols were
part of a nationwide event
to get more impaired drivers
off the roads, the sheriff’s
of¿ce stated, and the next
duii crackdown will be on
Feb. 7, Super Bowl Sunday.
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Cabin Fever creates winter fun
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Things are heating up as John
Wambeke & Friends ward away the
chill of winter with the upcoming Cabin
Fever Concert.
Wambeke, who has a window
washing business, ponders the lineup
and antics for the annual show while
whistling away at work. In its eighth
year, Wambeke said the concert is sort
of a cross between “Hee Haw” and “The
Carol Burnett Show.”
“It reminds people of the good ol’
days,” he said. “It’s very homespun in
the humor.”
The Dutch oven dinner show features
a hearty beef stroganoff meal catered by
Sharon’s Sweet Treats. It also includes
a scrumptious, mouth-watering cobbler,
Wambeke said. With seating for 400,
Wambeke said only about 60 tickets
remain.
The event is Saturday, Jan. 16 at
6 p.m. at the Hermiston Conference
Center, 415 S. Highway 395. Tickets are
$38 and are available by calling Cottage
Flowers at 541-567-4305 or stopping by
at 1725 N. First St., Hermiston.
Leading the laughs is Pat Ward, who
prides himself on getting into character,
including as Eunice. This episode of
Thelma and Eunice, played by Wambeke
and Ward, ¿nds the “sweet” old spinsters
of the Dibbley Parrish hitting the road.
Eunice is taking her ¿rst driving lessons,
¿nally being able to squeeze behind the
steering wheel as gravity has shifted her
anatomy around.
Ward will get in touch with his femi-
nine side again as Lefty’s mom is intro-
duced to the audience. Pete and Lefty
were characters created for advertising
the show.
Described as “a delightful mixture
of music and humor,” Ward said people
don’t want to miss all the talented musi-
cians taking the stage.
“I enjoy the music side of it,” he said.
Courtesy of Lukes Photos
John Wambeke and Pat Ward are the masterminds behind the annual
Cabin Fever Concert. Only 60 tickets remain for the Jan. 16 Dutch oven
dinner event.
“The musicians are fantastic and they
really know their craft.”
Among the talented musicians,
Ward said, is Frazer Wambeke. The
2004 Hermiston High School graduate
— oldest son of John and Jordawn
Wambeke — was raised in a musical
family. Also a graduate of Columbia
Basin College in Pasco, Wambeke
performs several gigs a week, including
with the Frazer Wambeke Trio, which
includes Frazer Wambeke (piano/guitar/
vocals), Juan Hernandez (bass) and
Derek Munson (drums).
Other familiar faces include Eric
Jepsen, Joe Lindsay and Cory Cooley.
In addition, Wambeke raves about a pair
of special guests with Abbi Hernandez
of the Tri-Cities and Jimmy Creason of
Irrigon.
After seeing Hernandez, 11,
performing at a winery last spring,
Wambeke contacted her family to make
arrangements to bring her to Hermiston
for the show. With a “mean version”
of Taylor Swift, Wambeke said she has
“American Idol” potential. Creason,
19, has taken a number of lessons, yet
Wambeke calls him a self-styled guitar
player.
“Plus, he can sing ‘Marie Laveau’ like
you wouldn’t believe,” Wambeke added.
And, if you’re familiar with the Cabin
Fever Concert, you know the show is full
of explosive surprises.
“We ¿gured out something new to
explode. With a new cannon, no one is
going to ¿gure this one out,” Wambeke
said with a mischievous laugh.
For more information about the Jan.
16 concert and dinner show, search Face-
book for “Cabin Fever Concert.”
———
Contact Community Editor Tammy
Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539
UMATILLA
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Debbie Cissna learns the rumba from Collin Palian
of the Utah Ballroom Dance Company Monday in
the auditorium at Hermiston High School. Ciss-
na and five other Hermiston “stars” will compete
Saturday during Dancing with the Hermiston Stars.
East Oregonian
Council approves purchase of gas station property
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The City of Umatilla is
one step closer to its vision
of a park in the heart of
downtown after councilors
approved a land purchase
agreement Tuesday night.
City Manager Bob Ward
said the old gas station prop-
erty on Sixth Street is “just
another piece in the puzzle”
in putting together the ulti-
mate vision of a sprawling
city park across from the city
of¿ces and public library.
“There would be green
space from here to the Old
Town Site,” he said.
The city already owns two
adjacent parcels and would
like to eventually purchase
one or two more.
“It will be a long time
before we get there but
this was an opportunity we
couldn’t pass up,” he said.
The agreement is for the
city to purchase the property
for $87,280 barring any
major cost-prohibitive envi-
ronmental issues that crop up
with the gas station building.
The property’s underground
fuel storage tanks have
already been removed and
the soil remediated.
Councilor David Lougee
said he supported the overall
vision, but worried about the
city buying up three quarters
of the block and then letting
some of the land lie unused
for an extended period of
time while it sought funding
for the project. In the end,
however, councilors voted
unanimously to authorize the
purchase agreement.
The council was expected
to approve new contracts
for Ward and public works
director Russ Pelleberg, in
addition to a new payscale
for department heads, on
Tuesday but Ward said
Pelleberg’s contract was still
under negotiation and recom-
mended the entire package of
changes be considered at the
council’s next meeting on
Feb. 2.
Ward’s current contract
runs out Feb. 1, 2017 but the
council voted in October to
end Ward’s contract early in
favor of Pelleberg becoming
city manager on March
1. Ward will stay on in a
transitional capacity until
July 1, at which point the
plan approved by the council
states the city will buy out the
rest of his contract.
Pelleberg would continue
to serve as public works
director in addition to his city
manager duties, necessitating
a change in pay scale for
some administrators as they
took on additional respon-
sibilities formerly under the
city manager umbrella.
Ward told the council
that he didn’t believe the
Feb. 2 meeting needed to
include an executive session
to discuss details within
the ¿nal versions of the
contracts, since the contracts
will become public record
after being approved by the
council.
During
Tuesday’s
meeting a recommendation
by the city’s transient room
tax committee sparked a
discussion about the role of
the Umatilla Chamber of
Commerce.
The council was asked to
approve a grant of $2,600
to the chamber to support
operations and $7,000 to the
Umatilla Museum for repairs
to its building.
Councilor Mary Dedrick
said the chamber’s focus
seemed to be solely on
tourism and not on attracting
new businesses to town.
If the chamber was going
to ask for money, she said,
she would like to see staff
members actively working to
recruit businesses to town.
“I always hear, ‘Nothing
is being done about bringing
in business,’” Dedrick said.
“I think that should be your
¿rst order of business.”
Chamber director Karen
Hutchinson-Talaski
said
she understood Dedrick’s
concerns and said the
chamber
does
extend
itself beyond a tourism
focus by promoting local
businesses and providing
workshops, newsletters and
other supports to chamber
members. As for writing
letters to companies asking
them to consider expanding
into Umatilla, she said, she
felt that was outside of her
area of expertise but she
would love to partner with
the city on those types of
efforts.
“I agree with you there
should be more of that,” she
said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
BRIEFLY
School canceled
Wednesday in west
Umatilla, Morrow
counties
HERMISTON —
Freezing rain shut down
or delayed school in many
local districts Wednesday.
Hermiston, Umatilla,
Stan¿eld, Boardman,
Heppner, Irrigon and Ione
canceled classes for the day,
while Milton-Freewater,
Echo and the Blue Mountain
Community College campus
in Milton-Freewater started
two hours late.
Ag safety seminars
set for Hermiston
HERMISTON — SAIF
Corporation, Oregon’s
nonpro¿t state-chartered
workers’ compensation
insurance company, will
hold a pair of agriculture
safety seminars Jan. 12-13
in Hermiston.
The meeting Tuesday,
Jan. 12 will be presented in
English, and the meeting
Wednesday, Jan. 13 will
be presented in Spanish.
Seminars will run from
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at
the Hermiston Conference
Center, 415 S. Highway
395.
Work-related injuries cost
U.S. agriculture $8.3 billion
every year, according to
SAIF. Other losses include
broken machinery, hiring
and retraining employees
and reduced production due
to the disruption.
Topics for the seminars
will include: dealing with
workplace hazards, building
a safety culture, policies to
handle drugs and alcohol,
updates from Oregon OSHA
and continuing education.
Early registration is
required for the seminars. To
register, visit www.saif.com/
agseminar or call 1-800-
285-8525.
Agape House hosts
indoor sale
HERMISTON —
Clothing, knick-knacks and
furniture are among the items
available during an indoor
sale at the Agape House.
Clothes are three items
for $1, furniture is as marked
and knick-knacks are you
name the price. The sale
is Saturday from 8:30-11
a.m. at 500 Harper Road,
Hermiston. Donations are
accepted through Friday.
For more information,
call 541-567-8774.
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