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
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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.
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