REGION
Saturday, April 23, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Wagons Ho: Oregon Trail
runs through Highland Hills
East Oregonian
Staff Photo by Jennifer Colton
Highland Hills Elementary School students watch a covered wagon move through the playground
Friday. The Meyers family brought the wagon as part of the fourth grade’s Oregon Trail unit.
A piece of the Oregon Trail rolled to
Highland Hills Elementary School on
Friday as the Meyers family brought
a covered wagon to help students
visualize their lessons.
The fourth-grade classes at High-
land Hills are currently studying the
Oregon Trail, and one Highland Hills
family brought down a Conesto-
ga-esque, custom built covered wagon
pulled by two Belgian draft horses,
Gus and Call. Students were able to
see the wagon up close and ask ques-
tions of the Meyers family. The wagon
belongs to Bill and Lorre Meyers,
but three generations of the family
were on hand to help with the demon-
stration. Both students in the family
— second-grader Daniel Meyers and
fourth-grader Laura Plum — dressed
in pioneer clothing during the activity.
As part of the Oregon Trail unit,
students have also made butter,
participated in Oregon Trail scenarios
and will be hand-washing clothes with
washboards.
“This is something fun we do
during testing, so they will test in the
mornings and then have something fun
to do in the afternoons,” fourth-grade
teacher Deanna Plum said Friday.
“The kids love it.”
PENDLETON
Morrow County candidates talk economic
School district preps development, government reorganization
for changes at top
Four candidates
“There are certain
vying for two
commissioner seats
Peterson, Mooney
leaving district
“The strength of a district
is a leadership team. It’s not
any one or two people,”
Peterson said. “We have
By JENNIFER COLTON
a very strong leadership
East Oregonian
team, and we have followed
a very collaborative lead-
The Pendleton School ership model, which I am
'LVWULFW RI¿FH ZLOO KDYH sure they will continue.
different faces at the top this This gives the leadership
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for a smooth transition.
want to promote someone
Both
Superintendent from within (to) assistant
Jon Peterson and Assistant superintendent.”
Superintendent
Tricia
Locally, each change
Mooney will be leaving the had a domino effect.
district on June 30.
Hermiston Deputy Super-
A longtime educator, intendent Wade Smith
Peterson
became
the accepted a position as the
Pendleton superintendent superintendent of Walla
in 2009 and will retire June Walla Public Schools,
30. Ontario High School which led Mooney to apply
Principal Andy Kovach for his position, leaving the
has been hired to replace opening with the Pendleton
Peterson on July 1.
School District.
Mooney has taken the
In another example,
assistant superintendent for Hermiston currently has an
human resources position opening for a principal at
across the county in the Sandstone Middle School
Hermiston School District. after Larry Usher accepted
Pendleton has posted a position at the Herm-
an opening for human iston School District. The
resources director to replace 6WDQ¿HOG6FKRRO'LVWULFWLV
Mooney, and Peterson said also currently looking for a
the district should have principal for its secondary
enough time to bring out a school.
quality replacement before
And prime hiring season
July.
for school administrators is
The district has opted to quickly drawing to a close.
post the opening as human
“I think that a critical
resources director instead step in any leadership
of as assistant superinten- change is that the new lead-
dent to give the leadership ership has the opportunity
team the opportunity to to develop relationships
make that decision once and trust,” Peterson said.
replacements are estab- ³,¶PFRQ¿GHQWWKDWZLOOEH
lished.
the case now in Pendleton.”
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Candidates for the soon-
to-be restructured Morrow
County Court were asked
if they agreed with axing
the local judge position at a
forum Thursday in Heppner,
along with a bevy of ques-
tions about how they would
address economic develop-
ment.
Melissa Lindsay and Greg
Sweek are running for what
is now county judge, which
will transition to a third part-
time commissioner seat after
Jan. 1, 2017. Juvenile court
cases will be absorbed into
circuit court, and the county
hired a full-time administra-
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year.
Lindsay told the crowd of
about 50 people at Heppner
City Hall that she felt it was
the right move to make,
having one administrator
to communicate daily with
department heads. Sweek,
a longtime former assessor
and tax collector for the
county, was unable to attend
the forum due to illness.
The event was hosted by
the Heppner Chamber of
Commerce.
Incumbent Commissioner
Leann Rea is also up for
reelection, facing challenger
Jim Doherty of Boardman.
Rea, who voted in favor
of reorganizing the county
court, said she thinks it was
an “excellent decision,” and
was concerned with a having
a layperson preside over
juvenile hearings.
“We have juveniles
committing
horrendous
crimes,” Rea said. “I think
it needs to be handled at a
higher level.”
Doherty expressed skep-
ticism about the changeover,
saying the new administrator
will not have the freedom to
do what needs to be done. It
is the administrator’s job to
serve the commissioners, and
put their ideas and policies
into place.
In years past, the Morrow
County judge acted as
both an administrator and
presided over juvenile court.
That is set to change as
Bank of Eastern Oregon
reports ¿rstTuarter earnings
East Oregonian
First-quarter
earnings
for Bank of Eastern Oregon
are higher in 2016 than they
were in 2015, according
to an announcement from
parent company BEO
Bancorp on Tuesday.
Net
income
was
$782,000, or 64 cents per
share, for the quarter. That
tops $470,000, or 39 cents
per share, over the same
period last year. Total assets
were also up 3.7 percent at
$352.3 million; net loans up
3.8 percent to $284 million;
and deposits up 3.4 percent
at $312.3 million.
President and CEO Jeff
Bailey said 2016 is off to a
strong year, with shareholder
equity up 5.26 percent year
over year. Chief Financial
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earnings should only get
stronger as the year goes on,
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cally marks the low point in
the cycle.
“As lines of credit get
utilized with the 2016
people who need to
die in prison. I have
no qualms about
sending someone to
prison for the rest
of their life.”
growing season, we should
see our loan volume increase
accordingly,” Lemmon said.
Bailey said they are
cautiously optimistic about
the prospects for farmers
this year as better rains and
higher snowpack could
translate to better growing
conditions. However, he
said they recognize there’s
still a ways to go before
harvest.
“Even with the drought
of the past couple of years,
our loan portfolio has
performed relatively well,”
Bailey said.
— John Ballard, circuit
court judge candidate
Staff photo by George Plaven
John Ballard, left, speaks to the audience as Jon Lieual-
len looks on at the Heppner Chamber of Commerce
candidate’s forum on Thursday in Heppner.
current Judge Terry Tallman
heads into retirement. Juve-
nile cases will instead be
handled by the Sixth District
Circuit Court, which handles
both Morrow and Umatilla
counties.
Tying into that discussion,
attorneys Jon Lieuallen
and John Ballard are vying
for circuit court judge and
also appeared at Thursday’s
forum. They were asked
about what they will bring to
the bench, and what factors
will play a role in their
sentencing of criminals.
Lieuallen said there are
few people who serve life
sentences. Thus, rehabilita-
tion needs to be considered
so offenders are ready to
reenter society.
Ballard took a harder,
tough-on-crime
stance,
saying criminals are being
coddled and questioning
whether rehabilitation works.
“There are certain people
who need to die in prison,”
Ballard said. “I have no
qualms
about
sending
someone to prison for the rest
of their life.”
The
candidates
for
commissioner also responded
to questions about wind
energy and luring industry
to both the north and south
ends of the county. Lindsay,
who serves on the county
planning commission and
has 25 years of experience
in the banking business, said
she would lean on her energy
and ability to forge relation-
ships. As for wind turbines,
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PRESBYTERIAN PRESCHOOL
Fall Registration
May 2, 2016
at 6:30 pm
$50.00 non-refundable
registration fee
3 year olds T-TH
4 & 5 year olds M-W-F
ronment
“a child centered m en os vi phere.”
in a Christian at
201 SW Dorion Ave.
Pendleton
For more information call
First Presbyterian Church at 541-276-7681
May 8th
W e’ve Got YOU covered!
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consider the impacts of any
new development.
“Continued development
on our end of the county is
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to focus on,” Lindsay said.
Rea, who is seeking a
third term as commissioner,
said she has already seen
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county, and they are better
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ever been. She admitted she
doesn’t like the looks of the
turbines, but “man, do I like
that money.”
Doherty,
who
runs
O’Doherty Cattle Co. in
Boardman, said he would
not advocate for more wind
farms, and said the region
already has a dependable
source of renewable hydro
power on the Columbia
River. He said the county can
do more to think outside the
box on economic develop-
ment — such as bike paths
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tion projects that can lure
in new residents and Main
Street businesses.
“Economic development
doesn’t have to be wind
towers and coal,” Doherty
said.
)RUWKH¿UVWWLPH0RUURZ
County commission seats
will be nonpartisan, lumping
all candidates into one
primary. Normally, the top
two vote-getters would
advance to the general
election. But since both seats
only have two candidates,
the winner of both primary
races will win the election,
barring a successful write-in
campaign.
The primary will be held
May 17.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
Let your mother know
how much she is
appreciated & loved!
Publishes in the Hermiston Herald May 4th
Publishes in the East Oregonian May 7th
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