Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2016)
REGION Saturday, January 9, 2016 Counties to collaborate on B2H comments Deadline extended to January 22 By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Umatilla and Morrow county planners will work together on comments to the Bureau of Land Management seeking common ground on where to build the proposed Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line. As the project’s lead envi ronmental review agency, the BLM is responsible for coming up with a preferred alternative for the 00mile line. Their current preference is to follow Interstate 84 from Boardman to just west of Pendleton, before breaking south to avoid the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The counties, however, say that proposal would inter fere with too many homes and farms on either side of the highway. They want the line to run signi¿cantly farther south, but just how far south remains to be determined. Both counties are concerned with protecting highvalue agriculture within their borders. Transmission towers can interrupt farming operations and, in some cases, take swaths of land out of production. Boardman to Hemingway has been in the works for a decade, proposed by Boise based Idaho Power to share electricity with the Columbia Basin during times of peak demand. The trick has been identifying the route with the fewest impacts to farms and wildlife, while keeping the project affordable. Early estimates have pegged the project at anywhere between 890940 million. Morrow County Planning Director Carla McLane and Umatilla County Senior Planner Bob Waldher plan to meet and collaborate on comments to the BLM. Comments are due Jan. 22 after the agency granted coun ties a twoweek extension. Umatilla County commis sioners say they favor the most southerly alternative, while Morrow County is focused primarily on placing 22 miles of line along the west side of Bombing Range Road on Navy land. Waldher said the goal is to identify and re¿ne a route that works for both counties. “Our hope is the Umatilla South route can tie into the west side of Bombing Range Road,” he said. McLane said most of their conversation will likely center on how far south the line needs to go to balance everyone’s interests. They hope to make site visits as early as next week. The Morrow County Court held a public meeting on Boardman to Hemingway on Wednesday, and McLane said residents seem to understand the project is needed. It’s just a matter of compromising on the location. “At the end of the day, the noaction alternative just isn’t reasonable,” she said. “This really does provide additional reliability to our power supply.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825. HERMISTON Head Start gathering focuses on literacy East Oregonian All 205 employees of UmatillaMorrow Head Start came together in Hermiston on Friday to kick off a year long focus on literacy in 2016. UMCHS director Maureen McGrath said in a news release that equipping children and families to succeed starts with equipping teachers and other staff with the skills to help them. “Creating a cuttingedge team begins with sharing the latest knowledge and techniques with our staff,” she said. Research has linked early literacy to better grades, higher graduation rates and more success in adult life, which is why Umatil laMorrow Head Start is making it a strong focus for 2016. The daylong conference, held at New Hope Church, had a Dr. Seuss theme that promoted the idea that stories can be transformative. Partic ipants attended sessions with titles like “Cradling Literacy” and “The ABCs of Family Engagement and Literacy.” During a midday exercise, Staff photo by Jade McDowell Umatilla-Morrow Head Start staff build a robot out of cardboard boxes during a staff training in Hermiston. staff members broke into groups for a teambuilding activity in which they used craft materials to represent the story of their work at Head Start. Results included a robot programmed to increase literacy, a set of steps leading up to a star with smiling chil dren on top and a ¿re truck putting out Àames labeled with problems Head Start teachers face every day. “We work together like the ¿re department does to put out ¿res,” said the staff member called on to explain the model to the group. Participants were chal lenged to go ¿nd gently used children’s books to place at the Little Libraries at Belt Park and the Head Start of¿ces. New fair manager excited for moving challenge “It’s going to be probably the biggest challenge I’ve encountered in my life.” By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Before this week, the announcement that new Umatilla County Fair manager Don Slone is from Harney County would have been met with a shrug. The county has been making national headlines all week, however, after armed protesters took over the Malheur National Wildlife 5efuge in protest of a ¿ve year prison sentence handed down to local ranchers convicted of arson on federal land. Slone got home from a Western Fairs Association conference in California on Thursday night, and said it was an interesting experience watching his little hometown of Burns in the news while he was gone. “I don’t think the town of Burns wants to be splattered across newspapers across America, but maybe some good will come of it,” he said. Slone didn’t condone the armed takeover of a federal building, and said he doesn’t pretend to know all of the ins and outs of the land use issues surrounding the incident. But he said he does know Steve and Dwight Hammond well and is sad to see what their family is going through after they returned to a California — Don Slone, Umatilla County Fair manager Slone prison to complete their ¿ve year sentences. “I think an injustice was done,” he said. The controversy in Harney County has nothing to do with why Slone is leaving, however. After growing up in Burns, spending several years on the Harney County Fair Board and then managing the fair for more than 25 years, Slone said he felt it was time to seek out a new challenge. The idea of helping move the Umatilla County Fair from its place in the center of Hermiston to the new facili ties being constructed at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center is an exciting one, he said. “It’s going to be probably the biggest challenge I’ve encountered in my life,” he said. His credentials suggest it’s a challenge he will embrace. At this week’s conference for the Western Fair Associ ation — which includes 11 states and Canada — Slone was made the association’s 2016 treasurer, with the understanding that he will serve as vice president of the association in 2017 and president in 2018. Slone is also serving as the president of the Oregon Fairs Association for the second time. He said that position has given him the opportunity to work with all three Umatilla County commissioners and a variety of fair board members over the year. He has been active in the SALE IN PROGRESS SAVINGS UP TO 50% 8 AM-6 PM Mon.-Sat. • 12 PM-4 PM Sun. 613 N Main St., Milton Freewater, OR 541-938-5162 • www.saagershoeshop.com CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS Oregon - Utah - Valid 35 States PENDLETON Burns sports community over his career, coaching baseball and softball and playing in an over0 Harney County basketball league. During his college career at Eastern Oregon State College (now Eastern Oregon Univer sity from 1971197 he played basketball, baseball and soccer. He served as president of the 4H Leaders Association and was a Parks and Recreation committee member for six years. He said he appreciates that the Umatilla County Fair has kept its focus on agriculture while other fairs have drifted from that mission. He also likes the way the FarmCity Pro Rodeo complements the fair. Slone said he loves attending other county fairs in his free time, because there is always something to learn. “I’m not only a person who works at a fair, but I am a fan of other fairs,” he said. East Oregonian Page 3A ATHENA School district considers going for a piece of $12 million By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The AthenaWeston School District is the latest to consider entering the Senate Bill 447 sweepstakes. The bill established a 12 million pot for school capital improvements over the next two years, and any given district can access up to an $8 million grant if it passes a local bond measure for the same amount. With the district’s current bond set to expire later this year and the lion’s share of the state’s money allocated for bonds passed during the May 17 election, the Athe naWeston School Board started discussing pursuing the bond in the spring. Interim Superintendent Jim Reger went over possible options at a public meeting Thursday at WestonMcEwen High School. The crux of the Reger’s presentation was whether to continue the current bond rate of $1.01 per assessed $1,000 in home value or increase the rate to $1.45, the difference between $2.8 million in revenue over the life of the 10year bond and $4 million. If the district wins the state grant, those ¿gures would be doubled. The last bond paid for capital improvements like electrical work, air conditioning units and new roo¿ng, and a new bond would pay for similar improvements across the district’s three schools, with a greater focus on school safety. Reger said Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts conducted a security assess ment of the school district, and among his recommen dations was a onetouch lockdown system and key cardenabled locks. The handful of people that attended the meeting were supportive of the higher bond rate, even without a matching state grant, a sentiment Reger said was echoed at a public meeting at Weston Middle School Wednesday. What appealed to the audience members who spoke was that even with the $1.45 bond rate, the rate for the AthenaWeston school system would still be signi¿ cantly lower than bond rates in surrounding districts. The school board will decide whether to pursue the grant at a meeting Monday and will vote on the bond and its amount at a later date. If the board does decide to seek a bond, it will do so without a permanent super intendent. Reger took the job on an interim basis in July after former superintendent Jerry Copeland resigned to become the human resources director at the InterMountain Education Service District. A longtime employee of the MiltonFreewater Uni¿ed School District, where he once also served as interim superintendent, Reger will ¿ll the superin tendent role for the 2015 2016 school year while the board searches for a permanent replacement. There’s one more public meeting on the bond, which will be held at Athena Elementary School Jan. 14 at 60 p.m. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. UMATILLA Landing Days canceled Firework show a go, parade still possible East Oregonian Umatilla has canceled its annual Landing Days event for 2016, but will still have a ¿reworks show. .aren HutchinsonTa laski, director of the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce, said volunteer support for the celebration of the town’s history had been dwindling in recent years and there were not enough volunteers to go forward this year. She said organizers will have a meeting in late spring to discuss bringing the full event back in 2017. “We don’t want this to go away,” she said. HutchinsonTalaski said she has seen several events in the Hermiston and Umatilla area canceled or scaled down because of a lack of volunteers. “It’s the same problem for everyone,” she said. “The same people who volunteer for everything are burned out. New people need to step up.” The live music, booths and other daylong events will be missing this year, but there will still be a ¿reworks show at 10 p.m. on the last weekend in June. HutchinsonTalaski said if there is enough interest the parade might still happen as well. She said volunteers are still needed for cleanup and parking duty. The parking fee for the ¿re works show will help pay for the next year’s display. To volunteer, call the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce at 541922 4825. Submit community news 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. Diabetes Education Series Diabetes Self Management Series January 14 th , 21 st , 28 th & February 4 th 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM Advance Registration Required Most Major Insurances, Medicare, Medicaid For more information or to register 541-278-3249 Melissa Naff, RD, LD, CDE Diabetes Educator • 541-278-3249 Red Lion - 304 SE Nye Ave. January 14 th • 1:00 pm or 6:00 pm Walk-Ins Welcome! OR/Utah: (Valid in WA) $80.00 or Oregon only: $45 www.FirearmTrainingNW.com • FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com 360-921-2071 2801 St. Anthony Way Pendleton, OR 97801 www.sahpendleton.org
