REGION
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN
Page 3A
HERMISTON
FSA administrator visits Eastern Oregon Dozen report
Dolcini appointed to
lead agency in 2014
debit card fraud
By JENNIFER COLTON
East Oregonian
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
For the irst time since he
was appointed administrator
of the Farm Service Agency
in 2014, Val Dolcini made
his way Tuesday to Eastern
Oregon to visit with local
FSA employees and farmers.
The morning started
with a tour of Oregon Hay
Products in Boardman, where
brothers Vernon and Gary
Frederickson showed Dolcini
their processing facility and
discussed how hay makes
it from the farm to export
markets in Japan, China and
the Middle East.
“It’s important for me to
get out in the countryside and
visit with my colleagues,”
said Dolcini, who spent
Monday in Walla Walla
before dropping into Oregon.
“I’m certainly always open to
new information when I take
tours like this.”
The Farm Service Agency
operates under the U.S.
Department of Agriculture,
and is primarily in charge of
implementing farm conser-
vation and regulation laws.
Dolcini was chosen to head
up the FSA after serving as
state executive director of
California for more than a
decade.
By visiting face-to-face
with growers, Dolcini said
he can learn how to make
programs more responsive to
local needs at the policy level.
“There
are
always
program issues to shine a
light on,” he said.
Since Congress passed
the 2014 Farm Bill, Dolcini
said the FSA has renewed its
commitment to farm credit
programs, lending $5.5 billion
nationwide in iscal year
Staff photo by George Plaven
Val Dolcini, administrator of the USDA Farm Service Agency, looks at hay samples
with Gary Frederickson of Oregon Hay Products Tuesday in Boardman.
2015. The agency has also
taken on new commodities
initiatives, such as the Dairy
Margin Protection Program,
Microloans Program and
expanding the Conservation
Reserve Program to include
working landscapes.
More than 800,000 acres
were enrolled in CRP earlier
this year, which helps farmers
offset the cost of restoring
their land and cutting down
on soil erosion. Over the
past 30 years, Dolcini said
the program has prevented
600 million dump trucks of
soil being lost to erosion and
sequestered enough carbon
to equal removing 9 million
cars off the road. That has
been particularly valuable to
combating climate change,
which has required an
all-hands-on-deck approach,
he said.
“I think we’ve been able
to have a positive impact,”
Dolcini said.
Darcy Sexson, executive
director of the Umatilla
County FSA ofice, said
it’s the irst time an agency
administrator has visited the
area since 1977. She said the
number and amount of farm
loans issued by her ofice have
rocketed to all-time highs,
and the more employees can
learn about new policies from
administration, the better.
“Our ofice really wants to
be producer-friendly, and we
want to make sure producers
are aware and taking advan-
tage of as many programs as
possible,” Sexson said.
During Tuesday’s tour
of Oregon Hay Products,
Gary Frederickson said the
business has seen challenges
from the loss of container
shipping business at Port-
land’s Terminal 6, which has
given rise to new competi-
tion. Dolcini said the USDA
is working to make sure
agricultural exporters have
eficient access to their usual
markets.
“There’s nowhere else that
grows this kind of quality that
we can (grow), all along the
West Coast,” Frederickson
said. “It comes down to price
and delivery.”
Dolcini plans to make
additional stops in Harney
and Malheur counties before
continuing his trip into Idaho
on Wednesday.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
About a dozen local
residents reported debit
card fraud this week in
Hermiston, according to
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston.
In many cases, a Herm-
iston resident’s card number
has been used to withdraw
money from an ATM in
Portland, Clackamas or
Lake Oswego. Edmiston
said HPD has not seen a
case in which a physical
card has been stolen.
The recent fraud cases
are not limited to one inan-
cial institution. Fraud has
been reported by users of at
least four different banks or
credit unions.
“We are seeing some
fraud in the Hermiston area.
It’s not limited to Hermiston,
and it’s not limited to Banner
Bank,” said Kelly McPhee,
communications manager
for Banner Bank. “Because
it’s so early, there’s a lot of
details we don’t have. We
know it did not originate
from the bank, but we are
working with local law
enforcement. We are doing
everything we can on our
end, behind the scenes.”
McPhee recommends
fraud victims — or any
customers concerned they
might have been a victim of
fraud — contact the bank as
soon as they ind a fraudu-
lent charge.
“Immediately pick up the
phone and call us. Notify us.
We can get into the account
and take a look at it, we can
go through the most recent
transactions and start that
conversation. We’ll deter-
mine if we need to freeze
that debit card number
and issue you a new card,”
McPhee said.
Most banks provide
provisional credit while the
fraud is investigated.
Edmiston also recom-
mends contacting his ofice
if you notice suspicious
activity on a card.
“Where the majority of
the criminal activity (actual
transaction of money) is
outside our service area, our
department is taking infor-
mation reports,” Edmiston
said, adding people can
minimize their risks by
keeping personal informa-
tion secure and reporting
suspicious activity as soon
as possible. “People just
need to be vigilant of their
account information and
report immediately to their
bank if something is amiss.”
PENDLETON
Contributed photo
BRIEFLY
District agrees
to raise pay for
classiied employees
HERMISTON —
Classiied employees in the
Hermiston School District
will receive raises in each of
the next two years.
The classiied employees
approved the agreement
May 6, and the school board
accepted it May 9 after
meeting in a closed-door,
executive session.
The agreement covers
the 2016-8 biennium and
includes a modiied salary
increase for the 2016-7
school year and a 4 percent
cost-of-living increase in
the 2017-8 school year.
The insurance cap will be
increased by $25 each year.
The Hermiston School
Board of Education
unanimously approved
the agreement with the
Oregon School Employees
Association Chapter 10, the
local union for the district’s
classiied employees.
Classiied employees are
not certiied teachers or
administrators and include
classroom assistants,
custodians and maintenance
workers.
In other business, the
board:
• Received pins in
recognition for years of
service. Board members
Karen Sherman (35 years),
Dave Smith (5 years) and
Josh Goller (1 year) each
received pins. The pins are
awarded for every ive years
of service as well as for
the irst full year of service
to the Hermiston School
District as an employee or
board member.
• Accepted the resignation
of ive district employees,
including Deputy Superin-
tendent Wade Smith. His last
day with the district will be
June 30, before leaving to
take over as superintendent
in Walla Walla.
• Approved contracts
naming Elise Flemming
head volleyball coach and
Krystofer Lopez head
lacrosse coach at Hermiston
High School.
• Heard a presentation on
Oregon Rising.
Hermiston garbage
rates going up
HERMISTON — Herm-
iston residents will see their
garbage rates go up in July
after the Hermiston City
Council approved a rate
increase Monday.
The 7.81 percent rate
hike is a $1.25 per month
increase for the typical
90-gallon cart service for
residents.
Sanitary Disposal, Inc.
is a private company that
handles garbage service for
the city. Because it has an
exclusive franchise with the
city, the company comes to
the city council for approval
of rate increases.
Mike Jewett, owner of
Sanitary Disposal, told the
council that the company’s
last rate increase was in
2013 and had been meant
to last for two years.
Now Department of
Environmental Quality fees
are increasing 58 cents per
ton, minimum wage is set
to jump signiicantly and
inlation continues to push
up costs.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said the rate
increase received a thorough
vetting from the city’s solid
waste subcommittee and
Sanitary Disposal agreed to
a slightly lower increase plus
an independent third party
review of rates in the future.
He also said the increase
included a .5 percent
increase in the company’s
franchise fee it pays to the
city. The approximately
$10,000 generated by the
increase will be put toward
nuisance abatement and city
cleanup events.
Stanield band trip
features ‘The Lion
King’
STANFIELD — The
Stanield band department
has made arrangements for
a trip to Portland to see the
Broadway musical “The
Lion King.”
Several seats are available
for interested community
members who would like
to attend. The day-long trip
is Thursday, Aug. 11 with a
departure time of 7:45 a.m.
and an anticipated return at 9
p.m. The fee is $80.
The cost includes travel
by motor coach and reserved
seats at Keller Auditorium.
Those who attend must bring
a sack lunch and money for
dinner. In addition, a stop is
planned at Voodoo Donuts in
Portland.
For more information
or to reserve a seat, contact
Deborah Wryn at deborah.
wryn@stanieldsd.org or
541-422-7017.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
People enjoy a past Adult Prom, a fundraiser for the
Friends of the Pendleton Public Library. This year’s
event is Saturday at the Pendleton Recreation Center.
The prom strikes back
with library fundraiser
East Oregonian
Continuing the “Star
Wars” theme, the Pendleton
Friends of the Library is
hosting an adult prom.
The Prom Strikes Back
is Saturday from 7-10 p.m.
at the Pendleton Recreation
Center, 510 S.W. Dorion
Ave. The tickets are $20 per
person.
People can hit the dance
loor and listen to DJ music
presented by Desert Sounds.
In addition, there will be a
costume contest, a silent
auction and an intergalactic
photo booth with an oficial
photographer.
Wine and beer will be
available from The Prodigal
Son Brewery & Pub. Also,
the snacks and treats will
feature a “Star Wars” theme.
In its third year, the adult
prom fundraiser is orga-
nized by Jennifer Costley,
youth services librarian/
interim assistant director,
and Maura O’Daniel, the
library’s circulation super-
visor.
To buy tickets in advance,
visit www.pendletonlibrary.
weebly.com or stop by the
library at 502 S.W. Dorion
Ave., Pendleton. For more
information, contact pend-
letonfriendsofthelibrary@
gmail.com or 541-966-
0380.
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