REGION
Thursday, April 21, 2016
East Oregonian
County budget limited by state demands
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Umatilla County e[pects
reYenue to increase by 4
percent Ior the 201617 ¿scal
year. But Commissioner
George Murdock reported
the “normal increases in the
cost oI doing business” will
eat the e[tra money.
Murdock deliYered the
budget message Wednesday
morning during the county
budget committee¶s ¿rst
hearing. He and his two
Iellow commissioners, Larry
GiYens and Bill ElIering,
serYe on the committee with
three members oI the public
² -erry Baker, 1ancy Mabry
and Bob Reese. Baker is the
committee chairman.
Umatilla
County¶s
201617 budget is $72
million with $27.5 million Ior
the general Iund. Murdock
said in his written budget
message the major source oI
reYenue growth Ior the county
comes “through grants and
billing in public health and
human serYices coupled with
the oYerall growth in terms
oI the assessed Yalue oI the
county.”
Umatilla County ² like
eYery county in Oregon ²
also Iaces budget hardships
Irom the state, he said, which
mandates counties take on
programs and serYices but
does not giYe them enough
Iunds to coYer those costs.
He said the county set aside
$1.1 million to deal with the
increased cost oI the Public
Employees
Retirement
System, which hits ne[t year
aIter the Oregon Supreme
Court in 2015 oYerturned
the Legislature¶s moYes to
reIorm PERS and cut costs.
“I think it is incumbent
on the Legislature to take
aggressiYe action to resolYe
this debacle,” Murdock told
the committee.
The budget committee
also brieÀy kicked the tires
on the county¶s commitment
to the Eastern Oregon Trade
and EYent Center in Herm
iston.
“Is that going OK?” Baker
asked.
“It is,” GiYens replied.
“Some would say it is not.”
“I¶Ye heard that, too,”
Baker said.
GiYens said the center
has reached $1.9 million oI
a $2 million Iunding goal Ior
construction, which now is
down to “little details on the
building.” And come May
13, he said, it will hold an
eYent.
Baker also asked iI the
2017 county Iair would be
there, and ElIering said it
would.
GiYens said the hope is
the center will be selIsus
taining. He said it has a leg
up on that because it will be
debt Iree.
And the budget committee
also heard a recommendation
to giYe 3 percent raises to
county commissioners, the
sheriII and district attorney
and to increase the stipend
Ior the district attorney by
$1,6, bringing the stipend
to $1,500.
Marie -ones, the assistant
budget and ¿nance director,
said the raises Ior elected
oI¿cials was based on past
aYerages and comparisons to
what other counties pay.
The budget hearing
continues Thursday starting
at 9 a.m. in room 130 at
the Umatilla County Court
house, 216 S.E. Fourth St.,
Pendleton.
²²²
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
HERMISTON
Outdoor School moYes to Meadowood Springs
By JENNIFER COLTON
Staff Writer
,n aEout tZo ZeeNs, ¿Ith
graders in the Hermiston
School District will load up
on buses with backpacks,
bug repellent and sunscreen
Ior outdoor school, an oYer
night, educational ¿eld trip
into the mountains.
Outdoor School was
reYitali]ed in the district
about 10 years ago, but
this year, the longstanding
program will celebrate some
big changes: a new location
and, in the Iall, the pilot oI a
new season.
Since its reYitali]ation,
outdoor school has taken
place at Kiwanis Cabins
on the 1orth )ork oI the
8matilla 5iYer, but ne[t
month, the students will
head
to
Meadowood
Springs, according to Bryn
Browning, Hermiston assis
tant superintendent.
The change oI Yenue
boils down to a common
challenge Ior the Hermiston
School District: enrollment.
The Hermiston School
District had about 475
students enrolled as oI
Tuesday. Each elementary
school will send ¿Ith
graders as one group; the
smallest oI Hermiston¶s
¿Ithgrade classes, 75
students, is at Highland
Hills. In addition to the
students, all ¿Ithgrade
teachers and elementary
principals will join the class,
along with 20 high school
counselors and multiple
Yolunteers.
³The biggest reason Ior
changing locations is with
our student growth, we haYe
simply outgrown Kiwanis
Cabins,” Browning said,
adding students haYe stayed
a mile away Irom the main
camp, reTuiring buses Ior
the daytime actiYities. ³One
oI the things that we¶re
e[cited about with Mead
owood is it¶s a diIIerent kind
oI space. Meadowood has a
meadow, a larger pond Ior
Umatilla County
gonorrhea rates
highest in state
Has increased 700
percent since 2013
East Oregonian
The Umatilla County
Public Health Department
reported a spike in gonor
rhea cases this year with 35
cases so Iar, the highest rate
in the state.
Con¿rmed gonorrhea
cases haYe increased at a
rate oI 700 percent since
2013. Umatilla Public
Health Director Meghan
DeBolt urged se[ually
actiYe indiYiduals to protect
themselYes against, and
screen Ior, se[ually trans
mitted diseases.
“Gonorrhea
is
a
common, se[ually trans
mitted inIection that has
been seen much more
IreTuently in the Paci¿c
1orthwest Ior the past
three years,” DeBolt said.
“The Centers Ior Disease
Control (CDC) estimates
that appro[imately 20,000
new gonorrheal inIections
occur in the U.S. each
year, and that less than
halI oI these inIections are
detected and reported. CDC
estimates that 570,000
oI these inIections occur
among young people
between 15 and 24 years
oI age. In Umatilla County
many oI the gonorrhea
cases in the past three years
haYe been in the 25to40
year age group, in addition
to the younger ages.”
“Any se[ually actiYe
person can become inIected
with gonorrhea, but many
do not show symptoms.”
said Riann Roggiero,
communicable
disease
nurse Ior Umatilla County
Public Health Roggiero,
“II leIt untreated gonorrhea
can cause inIertility in
both men and women.
Key preYention measures
include abstaining Irom se[
or using saIe se[ practices.”
She urged se[ually
actiYe people to get tested
eYen iI they don¶t haYe
symptoms and to get
routine screenings at least
yearly or more IreTuently
as needed.
Umatilla County Public
Health will screen, test and
treat Ior a minimal Iee at
both Pendleton or Herm
iston clinics. Insurance
can be billed. There may
be ¿nancial assistance Ior
those without insurance.
Call 541275432 Ior
Iurther inIormation or to
make an appointment.
)or more inIormation
go to the county health
page at www.co.umatilla.
or.us or www.cdc.goYstd
Gonorrhea.
EO file photo
Sunset Elementary fifth-graders brave cold stream water to search for macroinvert-
ibrates during an outdoor school lesson Tuesday at Kiwanis Kamp above Mission.
kayaking and paddleboats,
a ropes and obstacle course
builtin, trails builtin.”
Meadowood Springs is
best known as a speech and
hearing camp, with rental
aYailability when the camp
isn¶t not in session.
This year¶s ¿Ithgraders
could be the ¿rst and last
class to attend Meadowood
in the spring, howeYer, as
the district is also presenting
a pilot program to moYe
outdoor school Irom May to
September. Like enrollment,
the primary reason Ior
the second change is also
based on something out oI
the district¶s control ² the
weather.
³:e¶re Yery lucky this
year that there isn¶t snow
at the time we want to go,”
Browning said. ³:e¶Ye had
outdoor school with snow
one year and then the ne[t
year it was 90 degrees at the
same week.”
Three years ago, massiYe
snow melt also wiped out
the road to Kiwanis Cabin
three weeks beIore the camp
began.
MoYing outdoor school
to the Iall also Irees time
in the spring Ior the ¿Ith
graders, who must juggle
state
testing,
college
introduction programs and
readiness actiYities Ior the
moYe to middle school. To
help students be ready Ior
outdoor school at the earlier
time Irame, the district is
considering swapping the
science curricula Ior Iourth
and ¿Ith graders. Currently,
the Iourthgrade science
curriculum Iocuses on earth
materials, ideas and inYen
tions while the ¿Ithgrade
program Iocuses on water
and the planet. Switching the
programs will giYe students
a base understanding beIore
attending outdoor school
while still proYiding e[pe
riences applicable to the
“earth materials” unit.
The district does not
charge students any addi
tional Iees to participate in
outdoor school, and the trip
is open to all district ¿Ith
graders. AIter rentals, trans
portation, Iees and supplies,
outdoor school costs the
Hermiston School District
about $30,000 a year.
“Outdoor school is one
oI those programs that we¶re
May 8th
Let your mother know
how much she is
appreciated & loved!
Publishes in the Hermiston Herald May 4th
Publishes in the East Oregonian May 7th
SAMPLE
Happy Mother’s Day
For a very special mother!
Your Name
Turn in a photo & short message for your mom.
Runs in EO & the HH for only $25 per spot
Contact: Stephanie Newsom
541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com
Your Name:
Phone Number:
Mother’s Name:
Message:
Page 3A
Send in, or drop by your photo
and information to:
211 SE Byers, Pendleton, OR 97801
333 E. Main, Hermiston, OR 97838
or email snewsom@eastoregonian.com
really lucky to haYe in the
Hermiston School District
because we don¶t receiYe
anything Irom the state Ior
it, and we don¶t charge the
kids Ior it,” Browning said.
“Some oI these kids haYe
neYer been into the moun
tains beIore. This is putting
into practice eYerything they
learn in a classroom. They¶re
in rubber boots wading in
the creek, they¶re actually
seeing animal tracks and the
diIIerent types oI mosses
on trees ... It¶s an ama]ing
opportunity.”
²²²
Contact Jennifer Colton
at jcolton@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4534.
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Photo courtesy Oregon State Police
A man was killed on Interstate 84 near milepost 219
Thursday after crashing his bike into a guardrail.
Man dies in motorcycle wreck
East Oregonian
A man is dead aIter
wrecking his motorcycle
Tuesday on Interstate 4
east oI Pendleton.
Oregon State Police are
working with the Walla
Walla County coroner to
identiIy the man. Authorities
say he was riding eastbound
on the highway at about 3:30
p.m. when, Ior unknown
reasons, he driIted out oI the
lane and hit a guardrail. He
was taken by air ambulance
to Saint Mary¶s Hospital in
Walla Walla, where he was
pronounced dead.
More inIormation will
be proYided as it is aYail
able. OSP was assisted on
scene by Umatilla Tribal
Fire and Ambulance and
the Oregon Department oI
Transportation.
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