REGION
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Local
circuit
Phish, ‘phans’ donate $10K to rock camp
courts go
(mostly) digital
Arts Center awarded
grants for music ed
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Pendleton Center
for the Arts has reeled in
two major grants for this
year’s 11th annual Rock &
Roll Camp, courtesy of the
renowned jam band Phish.
The Mockingbird Foun-
dation, an all-volunteer
nonproit
organization
founded by Phish fans,
recently awarded $5,000 to
the arts center in support of
music education for kids.
The grant was then doubled
by the band’s own Water-
wheel Foundation for a total
of $10,000.
J.D. Smith, development
director for the arts center,
wrote the initial grant appli-
cation and said they plan
to use most of the money
on Rock & Roll Camp,
which brought in 80 teens
to learn about creating and
performing music — for free.
“It was cool to have
something as big as Phish
liking our project,” Smith
said.
Phish has been around
since the 1980s after forming
at the University of Vermont
and continues to tour.
“Phans” of the band created
the Mockingbird Foundation
in 1996, and have contrib-
uted more than $918,000 to
music programs at schools,
centers and nonproits across
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
EO ile photo
The band Sabotage practices a new song in a small dressing room during the 2014
Rock & Roll Camp at the Pendleton Center for the Arts.
the country.
The organization awarded
just 11 grants out of 877
applications this spring,
including the Pendleton
Center for the Arts. Of those,
only ive were doubled by
the Waterwheel Foundation,
which oversees the band’s
own charitable activities.
Roberta Lavadour, execu-
tive director of the arts center
in Pendleton, said it costs
$22,500 to put on Rock &
Roll Camp, which includes
snacks, renting instruments
and paying about 20 camp
counselors. As far as they
know, she said it’s the only
completely free rock camp
anywhere in the Northwest.
“We’ve always had very
strong support from the
community, but it doesn’t get
any cheaper as the years go
by,” Lavadour said.
Peter Walters, who has
led the camp since it started
more than a decade ago,
said they continue to bring
in quality musicians from
places like Portland, Seattle
and Boise to help teens tap
into their inner rock star. The
week culminates with a free
concert for the community,
illed with original perfor-
mances. Campers also put
out a zine, podcast and learn
about studio recording and
post-production.
Walters said they are
grateful to Phish and their
fans for these grants.
“It’s a testament to the
good work the arts center has
done in helping to shape the
landscape of music education
in this community,” he said.
This year’s Rock & Roll
Camp will be held Aug.
8-14 and spots are still
open to sign up. For more
information, or to donate or
volunteer, call the arts center
at 541-278-9201.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
BRIEFLY
BMCC pool
deep in the hole
PENDLETON — Faced
with $2.3 million in
swimming pool repairs,
Blue Mountain Community
College is getting the word
out that it is in hot water.
Tammie Parker, BMCC
vice president of administra-
tive services, discussed the
pool at a Pendleton School
Board meeting Tuesday.
Parker said BMCC
has had to defer pool
maintenance while directing
budget money toward
academic programs. While
pool repair was a part of the
unsuccessful bond campaign
in 2013, it was not a part of
the bond passed in 2015.
Additionally, Parker said
the pool has seen declining
use from BMCC students.
Tony Nelson, a coach
with the Pendleton
Swimming Association
and the Pendleton High
School swim team, said
the pool was important to
youth swimming and the
Pendleton and Hermiston
high school programs.
“Without a pool, we will
not have a program,” he
said.
Nelson said alternatives
like the Roundup Athletic
Club and Pendleton Aquatic
Center pools can’t meet the
needs and requirements of
the high school team.
Although in serious need
of repair, Parker said in an
interview after the meeting
that BMCC does not have
deinitive plans to close the
pool.
The Pendleton School
Board did not have a
quorum and took no action
at the meeting.
Death investigation
continues for body
at rest area
BOARDMAN — A
Bremerton, Washington,
man died at the eastbound
Interstate 84 rest area near
Boardman.
Oregon State Police Sgt.
Seth Cooney said passersby
at about 10:45 a.m. Monday
found Andrew Wallace,
49, in a black 1993 Toyota
4Runner. There was no
indication of foul play,
Cooney said, and police
notiied Wallace’s relatives,
but the investigation is not
over.
Wallace had a number of
medical issues, Cooney said,
and Morrow County medical
examiner Brian Snyder, who
also is a detective with the
sheriff’s ofice, is waiting to
hear from Wallace’s doctor
to determine if an autopsy is
necessary.
In addition to the sheriff’s
ofice, Boardman police also
assisted at the scene.
Band sells Krispy
Kreme donuts
HERMISTON — A
sweet deal for Krispy
Kreme fans will help
support the Stanield High
School band.
The group is selling the
donuts to help raise money
for a 2017 spring break trip
to the Paciic Rim Band
Festival in Hawaii.
The cost is $12 per
dozen and can be purchased
Friday from 11 a.m. to 3
p.m. at Wal-Mart, 1350 N.
First St., Hermiston. For
more information, call band
director Deborah Wryn at
541-240-1513.
BMCC graduation
changes venue
PENDLETON — Blue
Mountain Community
College will graduate
so many students this
year that the school has
moved commencement
exercises from campus to
the Pendleton Convention
Center. The school’s 54th
commencement ceremony,
taking place at 7 p.m. Friday
at the convention center,
will honor 348 graduates
and is open to the public.
The graduates range in
age from 17 to 63. They hail
from Oregon, California,
Idaho, Montana and
Washington. Thirteen are
military veterans and 125
will graduate with honors or
high honors.
Hermiston insurance
agent and realtor Tim Mabry
will give the commence-
ment address. Mabry, who
served as student body
president, graduated from
BMCC in 1972. BMCC
President Cam Preus and
two students — Associated
Student Government
President Emily Sexton and
graduate/BMCC employee
Jennie Wolfe — will also
speak during graduation.
In addition to Friday’s
ceremony, BMCC’s inmate
education program will
host a commencement for
graduates at Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institution at
9:30, Friday. The program
leads the state in GED
completers. BMCC’s
nursing program will host
its pinning ceremony for
graduates of the Associate
of Applied Sciences degree
in nursing at 2 p.m. in the
Bob Clapp Theatre.
ODFW to release
spring chinook in
Powder River
BAKER CITY —
Anglers will have the
opportunity to ish for spring
chinook in the Powder River
starting Wednesday.
The Oregon Department
of Fish & Wildlife plans to
release approximately 150
salmon into the river just
below Mason Dam, and
establish a season that will
run through Sept. 1. The
open area will extend from
the dam to Hughes Lane
Bridge near Baker City.
ODFW is anticipating a
fair return of spring chinook
to Hells Canyon Dam on
the Snake River, which
allows ishery managers to
trap some of those ish and
move them into tributaries.
The actual number of ish
released into the Powder
River will depend on
trapping conditions at the
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also reminded to ask irst
before entering private land.
HSD bringing
computer science
to classrooms
HERMISTON —
Hermiston School District is
bringing computer science
to elementary school
classrooms next year.
The district is partnering
with the nonproit Code.
org to offer free one-day
workshops to elementary
school teachers interested in
taking their students through
a 20-hour computer course.
Code.org’s mission
is to bring computer
science to every school
in the country, helping to
bring more women and
underrepresented minorities
into the industry.
According to a news
release by Hermiston School
District, incorporating
computer science into
classrooms starting in
kindergarten helps students
adapt to modern technology
and use higher-order
thinking such as logic,
problem-solving and
creativity. Lessons offered
by Code.org are adapted to
age, align with Common
Core State Standards and
include hands-on and
“unplugged” lessons.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Eastern Oregon circuit
courts
disconnected
Monday from the state’s old
electronic court manage-
ment system and signed on
to the new eCourt.
The Oregon eCourt Case
Information System — aka
OECIS, aka Odyssey
— went live for circuit
courts in Baker, Grant,
Harney, Malheur, Morrow,
Umatilla, Union, and
Wallowa counties. The state
rolled out eCourt in phases,
starting with Jackson
County in March 2013, and
the eastern counties were
the last in the state to plug
in. The state aims to use the
new system to cut down
on paper documents, rely
on digital copies as oficial
court documents and speed
up handling information.
David Factor, the staff
council for the state court’s
department of education,
training and outreach, said
the main component is the
Odyssey case management
system, effectively the
case registry for the court
system.
Odyssey replaces the
36-year-old Oregon Judicial
Information Network — or
OJIN — which required
users to master function
keys and type in speciic
codes to ind criminal and
civil court information,
including case history and
offender convictions. But
OJIN did not include copies
of court documents, which
the new system does, at
least in part.
Accessing
those,
however, requires paying
for a subscription to the
Oregon Judicial Case Infor-
mation Network. That costs
$100 to establish an account
and another $35 a month,
according to information
from state courts, and new
users will have to ill out an
application as well.
Factor
said
most
subscribers are government
users and court ilers, such
as attorneys. News organi-
zations also often subscribe
to get access to court infor-
mation.
The East Oregonian is a
subscriber.
The public also can go to
state court ofices and use a
computer terminal to access
court information, but they
probably will not see digital
documents.
Roy Blaine has been on
the front row of the local
transition to eCourt. He is
the trial court administrator
for the 6th District Circuit
Courts of Umatilla and
Morrow counties. He said
for the time being, the
public will have to ask court
staff to see documents.
He also said Eastern
Oregon counties still do
not have electronic iling of
court paperwork, but that is
coming in July when it will
be “permissive,” meaning
an attorney, for example,
will have the choice of
handing staff a paper docu-
ment or emailing a digital
one.
“But by the end of
August it will be manda-
tory,” he said.
Until the permissive
period begins, hard copies
are a must in local courts.
Blaine said staff makes
digital scans of those and
keeps the paper copies in
a box until other workers
compare the paper and
digital copies to make sure
they are identical. At that
point, he said, staff destroys
the hard copy.
Electronic court has
been in the works more
than a decade, and the
state estimates the whole
project will cost around
$93 million. And while
the state promises the new
system will work better
than clunky OJIN, some
public information is an
early casualty.
State courts used to
provide online copies
of courtroom schedules,
which included names
of defendants, attorneys,
a summary of criminal
charges in criminal matters.
Now an online search
engine replaces those
digital copies, but the
search results — when
they appear — lack lists of
charges.
Blaine said the public
end of providing informa-
tion remains in process,
but he would check into
the issue. He said it makes
sense someone can look
at a court calender and tell
what charges defendants
are facing.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
National Flag Week
Exchange your old flag for a new American Flag!
Honoring Veterans
McKay Creek Estates
In honor of National Flag Week, we
will be handing out free
American lags.
Flags may be exchanged
Sunday, June 12 thru
Saturday, June 18 between
9:00am and 5:00pm.
Limited supply,
reserve yours today!
There will be a ceremonial
disposal of the retired lags
that are collected.
You're a grand old flag,
you're a high flying flag,
and forever in peace
may you wave.
~George M. Cohan
McKay Creek Estates
1601 Southgate Pl
Pendleton, OR 97801
(541) 276-1987
www.PrestigeCare.com