Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Thursday, April 7, 2016
UAS: Drone companies developing vehicles,
software to address pest control, disease detection
Continued from 1A
Farm to attract drone compa-
nies from around the world to
Pendleton.
Lorton describes Future
Farm as a “sub-brand” of the
UAS range, a project that can
take advantage of the range’s
e[isting infrastructure and
Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration authorizations to test
and promote the agricultural
capabilities of drones.
Lorton said drone compa-
nies in urban areas across the
country are developing vehi-
cles and software to address
common crop issues like pest
control and disease detection,
but don’t have access to the
farmlands to further develop
their technology.
Between a multi-billion
agricultural industry, a wide
variety of crop types and
a group of farmers willing
to e[plore new technology,
Lorton said the Columbia
Basin was the best place to
establish the Future Farm.
Future Farm’s job will be
to facilitate access for drone
companies to farms and rural
areas, depending on what
their needs are.
In order to start the
project, Digital Harvest will
move one of its pilots and
his family from Virginia to
Pendleton and establish an
of¿ce in town.
Pilot Steve Lawn will
spend the ne[t year building
out UAS communication
infrastructure, which coordi-
nates operations between the
drone and farm equipment
such as soil moisture moni-
tors and pivots. He will also
work farm operations with
a Yamaha RMAX drone, a
UAV resembling a helicopter
that Lorton called “the most
advanced agricultural drone
in the world.”
Future Farm is also
planning a summer “drone
rodeo,” a series of demon-
strations for local farmers,
and a one-week “crash
course” on UAS operation
this winter.
Lorton said all of these
moves are being done to
start integrating drones into
the agricultural community
and advertise to farmers that
UASs are worth looking into.
“You can’t do that in a
booth at a trade show,” he
said.
Lorton said Future Farm
will also work toward the
helping the city rent the
range’s facilities and services
as well as increase the pres-
ence of drone companies’
presence in Pendleton, a
signi¿cant part of the range’s
longterm goal.
Steve Chrisman, Pendle-
ton’s economic development
director and airport manager,
and Lorton gave a presenta-
tion on Future Farm before
the Pendleton City Council
Tuesday. The council will
consider paying the $10,000
match for the $150,000
SOAR Oregon grant its April
19 meeting.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
BULLY: Actors visited classrooms after performance
Continued from 1A
those relationships.”
“This play has a lot of
pranking going on,” said
Shakespeare Walla Walla
Director of Education Kate
Beck, who orchestrated the
whirlwind costume and prop
changes. “It’s an illustration
of what happens in the cycle
of violence.”
The abridged “Twelfth
Night” script evolved from
a collaboration between
the Colorado Shakespeare
Festival, the Colorado
University Center for the
Study
and
Prevention
of Violence and the CU
Department of Drama &
Dance.
This version cuts out
some of the windier original
dialogue in favor of a faster,
kid-friendly pace. Williams
and fellow actors Clint
Bidwell and Cyndi Kimmel
played 16 roles and used
dialogue that wove modern
pop culture and technology
into the 400-year-old play.
At one point, Duke Orsino
(an eligible bachelor played
by Bidwell) walks onstage
wearing baggy plaid shorts.
Desperately in love with
Countess Olivia and seeking
music to match his mood,
Orsino ¿nds a song on his
iPhone.
“If music be the food
of love, play on,” he says.
“Play on Bieber.”
One of the show’s
bullying victims is Malvolio,
the high-minded butler
who becomes the victim
of a plot to make him look
foolish. The butler loves his
beautiful employer, Olivia,
and dreams of rising above
his station to marry her one
day. Olivia’s drunken uncle
(Sir Toby Belch) and the
sneaky serving lady (Maria)
team up to fool the butler
by sending him a fake love
letter, not so far off from
today’s cyberbullying. At
what Malvolio thinks is
Olivia’s request, he wears
a goofy smile and parades
around her house in bright
yellow stockings. After
others decide he has gone
mad, Malvolio is locked up.
“You locked me in a
dungeon,” Malvolio tells
HERMISTON
Contributed by Umatilla County Fair
Estefany Sanchez, a fifth grader at West Park El-
ementary in School in Hermiston, won Umatilla
County’s Fun at the Fair Day Camp logo contest.
Fifth-grader
creates winning
fair day camp logo
Will receive several
fair passes and
carnival wristband
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Ron Williams, executive director of Shakespeare Walla Walla, dances with a shawl
while dressed as a woman while portraying an part in the Shakespeare play “Twelfth
Night” recently at Sunridge Middle School in Pendleton.
“A kid who is
being bullied feels
like they are by
themselves, but
that’s not the case.”
— Ron Williams,
executive director of
Shakespeare Walla Walla
them after his release.
“People were teasing me
and I did not like it. I’ll be
revenged of the whole pack
of you.”
Squint a bit and this
Shakespearean strife resem-
bles the back-and-forth
escalation of middle school
conÀict.
The production was
likely the ¿rst e[posure
to Shakespeare for many
of the 300-or-so students
sprawled in front of the
Sunridge stage. Brows
furrowed at such words as
beguile, quaff, sepulcher,
clamorous, fustian and
fadge used to tell this knotty
tale. One of the words,
“gulling,” meaning to dupe,
cheat or trick, is similar to
our word: bullying. During
the show, the young audi-
ence members worked to
grasp plot twists and turns,
¿dgeting at times. Physical
humor brought intermittent
relief, such as Williams,
portraying Olivia, drawing
raucous laughter as he
pranced around the stage
wearing a shawl and heels.
After the performance,
the actors split up and visited
classrooms, using discus-
sion and improvisation
to help students e[amine
bullying and talk about
ways to diffuse conÀict and
stop mistreatment.
Williams said part of
the goal was simply to let
bullying victims know they
are not alone.
“A kid who is being
bullied feels like they are by
themselves,” said Williams,
“but that’s not the case.” He
made his point by asking
the students, “Can anybody
tell me they’ve never been
bullied?”
No one raised a hand.
Sunridge Principal Dave
Williams watched with
interest as the students got
their
post-Shakespeare
debrie¿ng from the actors.
“We talk a lot about
bullying here at the
school,” he said, “but it was
impacting for our kids to
receive information from a
different source.”
Williams said he doesn’t
see outright bullying at
Sunridge.
“By de¿nition, with
bullying, you need a target,
a power imbalance and
repetitiveness,” he said.
“In middle school, kids are
learning about relationships.
Connections get kind of
messy and we see mistreat-
ment. Kids don’t treat each
other very well sometimes.
They are learning that their
behavior affects each other
negatively.”
Beck, Shakespeare Walla
Walla’s education coordi-
nator, said it another way.
“We go through our lives
being either the perpetrator,
the victim or the bystander.
In bullying, there are roles
we play. They have a choice
and the power to stop what
is happening.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
A trio of ¿fth graders
from West Park Elemen-
tary School in Hermiston
swept the Umatilla Coun-
ty’s Fun at the Fair Day
Camp logo contest.
The winning entry by
Estefany Sanchez best
e[empli¿ed the 2016
Umatilla County Fair
theme “Traditions &
Transitions,”
according
to a press release from
the county. The colorful
creation features carnival
booths and a Ferris wheel
— complete with “must be
this tall” signage. Second
place went to Nathalie
Hoyos, and Lily Wick-
strom was third.
For her efforts, Sanchez
will receive a pair of adult
day passes, four children’s
day passes and a carnival
wristband for the 2016
Umatilla County Fair. In
addition, her logo will be
featured on the Fun at the
Fair Day Camp T-shirt,
which she’ll receive free
of charge.
As runners-up, Hoyos
will receive an adult day
pass and two children’s
day passes, and Wickstrom
will receive two children’s
day passes.
Sanchez’s winning logo
also will be used on the
Umatilla County Fair’s
website, Facebook page
and on all Fun at the Fair
Day Camp correspon-
dence.
Estefany’s logo is the
third theme logo created
for the camp since the
decision was made to hold
a county-wide contest two
years ago. Fair Manager
Don Slone hopes to rally
additional
participation
for the contest ne[t year,
which is open to Umatilla
County students in kinder-
garten through ¿fth grade.
In its ¿fth year, the
Fun at the Fair Day
Camp — which runs four
days during fair week —
features arts and crafts,
science e[periments and
music. Open to students
entering ¿rst through
¿fth grades in the fall, it
highlights activities and
e[hibits at the fair. The
camp costs $65, which
includes a camp T-shirt, a
week-long fair pass, daily
snacks and a one-day
carnival wristband.
Registration forms will
be available soon at www.
umatillacounty.net/fair
or by stopping by the fair
of¿ce at 515 W. Orchard
Ave., Hermiston. For
more information, contact
Angie McNalley at angie.
mcnalley@umatillacounty.
net or 541-567-6121.
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.
HIT THE ROAD WITH
AN RV LOAN!
UMATILLA: Rejected increase to tourism fee
that supports marketing e[penses for EOTEC
Continued from 1A
of the city’s employees were
at the top of their pay scale
and many had been unable
to receive a raise for years.
Pelleberg, who acts as public
works director in addition to
his new role as city manager,
said he worried some of them
would jump ship when given
the chance.
“In the case of public
works, a lot of these guys at
the top of the scale are long-
time employees, and we’d
like to keep them here and not
have them run off,” he said.
Councilors David Lougee
and Roak Ten Eyck voiced
the opinion that the city
needed to be willing to pay
well if it wanted to recruit and
retain good employees. The
council also voted in favor
of a $150 a month bilingual
incentive for employees who
could pass a test proving
pro¿ciency in speaking and
writing Spanish.
On Tuesday the council
also agreed to utility rate
increases.
Mike Jewett, president
of Sanitary Disposal, got
approval for a 7.2 percent
rate increase, citing the
need for more revenue
to
counteract
inÀation,
increased Department of
Environmental Quality fees
and the upcoming statewide
minimum wage hike.
Ince also gave a presen-
tation on water and sewer
rates and said in light of the
city’s aging infrastructure
and
several
upcoming
capital improvement needs,
including new pumps, she
recommended
the
city
increase the amount going
into its reserve funds.
To accomplish that, she
recommended a 6 percent
increase in water rates in
2016-2017 and a 2 percent
sewer increase.
The water, sewer and
sanitary disposal increases
combined would add about
$4.70 a month to the average
family’s utility bill, she said.
Councilors unanimously
approved the rate increases.
“It’s not going to be long
until we’re going to have
some major e[penses for
repairs and upgrades, and
if we don’t plan for that it’s
going to get painful,” Ten
Eyck said.
The council did reject a
request for one fee increase
on Tuesday night by voting
against an increase in the
Tourism Promotion Assess-
ment that supports marketing
e[penses for the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center.
The current TPA is $1 per
room per night and 50 cent per
RV space. The city collects
the money and passes it on to
EOTEC, which requested the
fees be doubled to help cover
the costs of construction.
After hearing from the
manager of the Tillicum Inn
that the increase would be a
burden on the already-strug-
gling inn, however, coun-
cilors Mary Dedrick, Sharon
Farnsworth and Mark Ribich
voted against the increase
and Mayor David Trott cast a
tie-breaking vote with them.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
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