REGION
Saturday, May 21, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Hermiston City Council
to discuss electric rates
East Oregonian
Hermiston city council will
discuss electric rates Monday
at a work session before their
regular council meeting.
The work session will
begin at 6 p.m. at city hall,
followed by a meeting at 7
p.m.
A year ago the council
approved a rate increase,
which for residential accounts
raised the base charge from
$6.50 to $10.50 per month
and increased the charge per
kilowatt hour for residential
customers by 12.4 percent.
City manager Byron Smith
said at the time city staff did
not know how much Bonne-
ville Power Administration
was going to raise the price
on the wholesale power it
supplies to Hermiston Energy
Services.
“We said we know we’re
going to need an increase, but
we may need to come back
and talk about it again,” he
said.
The city also put some
money into smaller improve-
ments to Hermiston’s power
grid this year, but will need to
come up with the money for
larger capital improvement
projects soon.
Smith said there were
ways to do that besides a
rate increase, such as bond
reinance, so staff wanted to
discuss options with the city
council on Monday.
The regular meeting
following the work session
does not have any new
resolutions or ordinances, but
includes committee reports,
the city manager’s report,
introductions from the police
department and a monthly
report on the progress of the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center.
Smith said they tried to
keep Monday’s meeting
agenda short because the
city council and staff will
be back together at city hall
Wednesday at 6 p.m. to go
over the proposed 2016-2017
budget with the city’s budget
committee.
Searching for greener pastures
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A pronghorn stands next to an irrigation line near alfalfa ields above Butter Creek on Friday southwest of
Hermiston.
BOARDMAN
IRRIGON
Idaho teen pleads not
guilty to stabbing woman
Kid mayors headed to state competition
East Oregonian
A 17-year-old Idaho boy
pleaded not guilty Thursday
to charges related to stabbing
a woman May 14 at a rest
stop near Boardman.
A Morrow County grand
jury on Wednesday indicted
Talon James Davis, of the
area of Lewiston, Idaho, on
charges of second-degree
assault and unlawful use of
a weapon. Davis appeared
in circuit court Thursday via
video from jail in The Dalles
and pleaded not guilty.
District Attorney Justin
Nelson said he charged
Davis as an adult because
second-degree assault falls
under Measure 11, Oregon’s
mandatory
minimum
sentencing law. Nelson
initially charged Davis with
irst-degree assault, but he
said the evidence did not
support the harsher charge
because the victim did not
suffer serious physical injury.
Nelson said the 51-year-old
woman from Hood River
noticed Davis outside when
she entered the restroom
at the state rest stop off the
westbound side of Interstate
84 near Boardman. When she
exited a stall, Nelson said,
Davis was in the restroom and
attacked, stabbing her once in
the area of the lower back.
She required medical help
and stayed until Monday
at Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston.
Oregon State Police
arrested Nelson and booked
him into the juvenile facility
at the Northern Oregon
Regional Correctional Facili-
ties, The Dalles. Circuit Judge
Ron Pahl during Thursday’s
arraignment kept Davis’s
bail at $100,000. Nelson said
Davis has his next hearing
Thursday, May 26.
MILTON-FREEWATER
Two students irst
ever to participate
from Irrigon
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
A pair of Irrigon Elemen-
tary School students have
some big ideas for ways to
improve their community.
Fifth-grader
Caren
Cardenas and sixth-grader
Rosita Orozco recently
participated in the Oregon
Mayors Association’s “If I
Were Mayor, I Would ...”
contest, and were chosen
by Irrigon City Council to
advance to the statewide
competition in July.
For the contest, Cardenas
prepared a poster that high-
lighted projects and programs
she said would make the
town a better place to live —
things like a bowling alley
and splash pad, along with
regular town halls and a tutor
program at the library.
Staff photo by George Plaven
Fifth-grader Caren Cardenas, left, and sixth-grader
Rosita Orozco, of Irrigon Elementary School, were
selected as winners of the “If I Were Mayor, I Would
...” contest, and will go on to compete against others
across the state.
“It could help all kinds
of students get better at any
subject they like,” Cardenas
said.
Orozco, meanwhile, wrote
an essay detailing her plans to
start a recycling committee,
build a mall and, most impor-
tantly, open a hospital with
local urgent care.
“A lot of people get hurt
around here, and I want them
to be safe and helped as soon
as possible,” Orozco said.
Irrigon City Manager
Aaron Palmquist said this is
the irst year local students
participated in the compe-
tition, which encourages
the next generation of civic
leaders.
Cardenas
and
Orozco were presented with
$25 gift cards to Wal-Mart
from Mayor Sam Heath, and
will have the chance to win
an Apple iPad Air 2 if they
win irst place at state.
Statewide winners will
be notiied by mid-June,
and recognized at an awards
luncheon during the OMA
annual conference July 21-23
in Lincoln City.
Heath said the council
was especially impressed
with Cardenas and Orozco
for their sense of caring about
the community.
“It’s been our honor to
meet you and have you here,”
Heath said during a brief
ceremony on Thursday at
city hall. “It’s great to know
what is on your minds for the
future.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
Grand jury clears oficers Boards, chiefs from six ire districts plan meeting
The day after the
a cheerleader, she’s a
in recent shooting
“Fire is an she’s
support system, she’s every- six-district summit, on June
Thursday morning in Pend-
leton.
A grand jury indicted
Three Milton-Freewater
oficers can return to duty Sregzinski, Primus said, on
after a grand jury determined charges of attempted aggra-
they were justiied in using vated murder for shooting at
police; possession
deadly force against
of a prohibited
Robert Gage Sregz-
irearm (a sawed-off
inski, 19, of College
shotgun);
four
Place.
counts of unlawful
Sregzinski
is
use of a weapon;
now in the Umatilla
misdemeanor and
County Jail, Pend-
felony attempt to
leton, on multiple
lee police; three
charges including
counts of menacing
attempted aggra-
and one of reckless
vated murder.
Sregzinski
driving, also misde-
Milton-Free-
water oficers Scott Clayton meanors.
The district attorney’s
and Jesse Myer and detective
Morgan Dunlap confronted ofice arraigned him that after-
Sregzinski after a police chase noon. Primus said Sregzinski’s
April 28. Umatilla County bail is more than $1 million.
Milton-Freewater placed
District Attorney Dan Primus
reported Sregzinski shot at the oficers on paid leave in the
oficers and they returned ire, wake of the shooting. Primus
said the grand jury found the
striking Sregzinski.
He ended up in a Walla police were within their rights
Walla hospital, and then the to use deadly force.
He also said Sregzinski’s
county jail there held him.
Umatilla County Jail records next court appearance is June
show Sregzinski arrived 23.
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
Fire districts from the
west end of Umatilla County
and
northern
Morrow
County are looking to
strengthen their relationships
at a gathering June 7.
The meeting will include
boards and ire chiefs
from six districts, and will
feature remarks from Genoa
Ingram, a lobbyist for the
Oregon Fire District Direc-
tors Association and Oregon
Volunteer Fireighters Asso-
ciation.
Hermiston ire board
chair Ric Sherman said
the districts — Hermiston,
Stanield, Umatilla, Echo,
Boardman and Irrigon —
have a “very good network
of
intergovernmental
agreements” that plays
out on the ground when
ire crews provide mutual
aid. But on the other hand,
board members don’t get
much of an opportunity to
talk and share ideas with
other districts.
“Fire is an equal-op-
equal-opportunity
killer. We’re all in
this together.”
— Ric Sherman,
Hermiston ire board chair
portunity killer,” he said.
“We’re all in this together.”
At the dinner, which will
be held at the Westland Road
station at 6:30 p.m., Ingram
will share with ire chiefs
and boards new legislative
actions in Salem that affect
ire districts and also listen
to feedback about how she
can help rural ire districts as
a lobbyist.
“She’s an advocate,
thing,” Sherman said.
He said she also will
share details from a new
state program to help
districts
retain
volun-
teers, which is especially
important for all-volunteer
districts. Sherman said in the
old days when there was a
ire, volunteers from all over
the area would immediately
drop what they were doing
and rush to the irehouse.
Today, the district often puts
in the time and money to
train volunteers, only to ind
that their employers won’t
let them leave their jobs to
respond to a ire.
“Times and attitudes have
changed,” Sherman said.
8, Hermiston Fire & Emer-
gency Services will hold its
last board meeting before it
combines with Stanield Fire
District on July 1 to become
the new Umatilla County
Fire District 1. Sherman said
members of both the current
boards are excited about
the change and feel it will
result in the services “people
expect, and quite frankly
they deserve.”
“There is a lot of work
to do, but we will really
be able to upgrade ire and
ambulance service,” he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
PUBLIC
GRAND
OPENING!
Refreshments
New Life Flight
Network Hangar!
Sat. May 21 • 9am-1pm
5250 NW Doolittle Lane
Pendleton, OR
National Waiter &
Waitresses Day
May 21st 2016
KID FRIENDLY UNTIL 9PM
A big thank you to
all our staff!
541-567-3022
cials
HAPPY HOUR: 3pm-6pm Daily Beer specials
KID FRIENDLY UNTIL 9PM
LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS DAILY
RIB SPECIAL TUESDAY
BEER BATTERED HALIBUT
CRAFT BEER • FIRESTONE PIZZA’S
½ LB GROUND CHUCK BURGERS
CALL AHEAD FOR TO GO ORDERS
541-289-7415
149 E Main St Hermiston
A special thank you to our
waiters & waitresses
Restaurant Hours:
Mon-Wed 5:30am-9pm,
Th-Sat 5:30am-10pm, Sun 7am-6pm
Bar Hours: 7am, 7 days a week
www.facebook.com/
ThePheasantCafeLounge
Thank you to
all our hard
working staff!
1619 N.
First St.
Hermiston
OR
541-289-7838
Goodbye to Buildings
Full of Memories
Join us for cake and an open mic session to share
stories of your time at Sherwood or Washington
Elementary Schools. Bring any pictures or
memorabilia to share.
Tuesday, May 24th, 5:00-7:00pm
Sherwood Heights Elementary School
3111 SW Marshall Ave
Tuesday, May 24th, 5:00-7:00pm
Washington Elementary School
1205 SE Byers Ave