REGION
Saturday, June 11, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Council to consider electric rate increase, budget
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Citizens who want to give input
on a proposed electric rate increase
and the 2016-2017 budget for the
city of Hermiston will have their
opportunity Monday.
The council will hold a public
budget hearing at 7 p.m. at city hall,
180 N.E. Second St., on Monday
before considering the budget for
adoption.
The proposed budget includes
construction of the Harkenrider
Center downtown to replace the
current senior center and $130,000
for the West Highland Trail project,
which will create a paved pedes-
trian/bicycle trail from Riverfront
Park to 11th Street parallel to
Highland Avenue. It also includes
money to repaint the water tower
with the city’s new “Where Life
is Sweet” brand and $70,000 to
purchase a bus and begin a Dial-
a-Ride program sponsored by the
city.
Under the proposed budget, staff
would gain a 2.25 percent cost of
living raise.
After the public hearing the
council will consider a series of
resolutions that must be passed in
connection to the budget, including
adoption of a compensation plan
and establishment of the reserve
accounts.
On Monday the council will also
consider approval of a rate increase
for Hermiston Energy Services,
which is facing increased costs
for capital improvement and for
wholesale power from Bonneville
Power Administration.
The changes to the various
customer classes, which average
to a 2.59 percent increase overall,
would result in an additional $3.50
for the average residential customer.
The increase would stop Hermiston
Energy Services from continuing
to deplete its reserves to subsidize
signiicant increases in the cost of
wholesale power from BPA.
The resolution before the
BOARDMAN
Love’s adds third location in Oregon
East Oregonian
Road warriors crossing
Eastern Oregon on Interstate
84 have a new place to stop
and ill up their tanks.
Love’s Travel Stops
oficially opened its newest
location Thursday morning
on Tower Road west of
Boardman. The center
includes a 24-hour conve-
nience store, fuel pumps,
tire repair shop and Carl’s
Jr. restaurant.
“We are very excited
to expand our presence
in Oregon and especially
thrilled to become a
member of the Boardman
community,” said company
founder and executive
chairman
Tom
Love.
“This location gives us a
great opportunity to serve
members of the community,
travelers and professional
drivers.”
Based in Oklahoma,
Love’s Travel Stops has
more than 380 stores in 40
states nationwide. The chain
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton Fire Department
will be conducting a practice
burn in the launch area for
the annual Fourth of July
irework show west of
Wal-Mart Monday, according
to a department press release.
The department is using
the burn as both a training
opportunity and a chance to
clear lammable vegetation
from the launch area.
For questions, please call
Capt. Dave Baty at 541-276-
1442.
BMCC renews
Preus’ contract
PENDLETON — The
Blue Mountain Community
College Board of Education
renewed President Cam
Preus’ contract for three
more years at a board
meeting Wednesday.
According to a press
release, the members of
the board praised Preus
for her professionalism
and her ability to develop
relationships.
Preus attributed her
success to the people who
work under her.
“We could not have
passed a bond, or have
been so successful with our
student success initiatives, or
have improved relationships
across campus without those
who work with me and
throughout the College,” she
said in a statement. “I’m also
fortunate to have a Board
that trusts and supports me.”
Originally hired in 2013,
Preus is now under contract
through June 30, 2019.
Outing features
historic Maxville
WALLOWA —
Participants will have an
opportunity to learn about
the historic community of
Maxville through Wallowa
Land Trust’s Into The
Wallowa Outings & Lectures
program.
Maxville, an old railroad
logging town near Wallowa,
was home to the only
segregated school in Oregon.
Gwen Trice of the Maxville
Heritage Interpretive Center
and local forester Bruce
Dunn will share about
the multicultural logging
community that operated
until the early 1930s.
Maxville: A Natural
History of Place is Saturday,
MILTON-FREEWATER
Death of 5-month-old
under investigation
By STEPHANIE TSHAPPAT
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
The Umatilla County
Major Crime Team is
investigating the Wednesday
death of a Milton-Freewater
baby, oficials said in a news
release Friday.
Walla Walla County
Coroner Richard Green-
wood said the 5-month-old
boy died at Providence
St. Mary Medical Center,
Walla Walla, at 6:23 p.m. An
autopsy is scheduled for 1
p.m. Saturday.
Milton-Freewater police
Staff photo by Gary West
Love’s Travel Stops oficially opened its Boardman location on Thursday.
has two other locations
along I-84 in Oregon, in
Ontario and Troutdale.
The 11,000-square-foot
Boardman center has 16 fuel
pumps, 95 truck parking
spaces and seven showers
available for professional
drivers.
Spokeswoman
Kealey Dorian said the
facility cost roughly $11
million, and has hired a
staff of approximately 40
employees.
A ribbon cutting cere-
mony will be held at 10
a.m. Wednesday, June 15.
Love’s will also donate
$2,000 to the Boardman
Community Development
Association.
BRIEFLY
Fire Department
to hold practice
burn Monday
city council would also approve
restructure of the bond that paid
for creation of Hermiston Energy
Services, saving money on interest
but also adding $4.5 million in prin-
cipal. The additional money will be
used to improve Hermiston’s power
grid and reduce outages, starting
with a new substation to cover
territory east of Highway 395.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or
541-564-4536.
June 18 from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. Transportation will
be provided from Wallowa
(register to obtain speciic
details). The event is free, but
donations are appreciated.
For more information
about upcoming
programs or to register for
Maxville, contact info@
wallowalandtrust.org,
541-426-2042 or visit www.
wallowalandtrust.org.
Historical society
plans road trip
WALLA WALLA — A
tour bus will take a group
of people to the Saint-Jean
Baptiste Day Celebration in
Walla Walla.
The Morrow County
Historical Society is
coordinating the trip
Saturday, June 25, departing
from Boardman at 8 a.m.
and returning about 3 p.m.
Transportation is provided
and there is no charge.
Participants are encouraged
to bring some money, as
the Frenchtown Historic
Foundation will offer a
potato bar lunch.
In its fourth year,
the event is held at the
Frenchtown Historic Site at
8364 Old Highway 12, Walla
Walla. It includes tours, a
presentation about further
restoration projects, music
and entertainment.
For more information
or to reserve a spot of the
bus, call Dave DeMayo at
541-676-8017.
Beep Baseball goes
to bat for vision
center
PASCO — Instead of
asking if the umpire is blind,
the baseball players will be.
The Seattle South King
Sluggers, a visually impaired
and blind team, will take on
the Tri-Cities Dust Devils.
An afiliate of the San Diego
Padres, the Class A team will
be blindfolded as they play
Beep Baseball against the
visually impaired team.
A modiied game, an
oversized softball beeps and
the base posts buzz. Players
will have spotters to help
direct where the ball is. The
purpose of the event is to
educate the community about
adaptive sports for the blind
and visually impaired.
A fundraiser for the Edith
Bishel Center, the event is
Saturday, July 2 at 6:15 p.m.
at GESA Stadium, Pasco.
Tickets are $25 for adults
and $20 for kids. The ticket
includes the Beep Baseball
game, dinner and upper box
seating for the regular Dust
Devils game against the
Everett AquaSox that follows
at 7:15 p.m.
Located at 628 N. Arthur
St., Kennewick, the Edith
Bishel Center serves the blind
and visually impaired in
southeastern Washington and
northeastern Oregon. It offers
training, education, products
and resources for the visually
impaired community.
For more information or
to purchase tickets, contact
509-735 0699, daniel@
edithbishelcenter.org or visit
www.edithbishelcenter.org.
Park rounds up
yard sale
PENDLETON —
One-stop shopping for
people looking for treasures
in planned in Pendleton.
A Community Yard Sale
is set for Saturday, July 2
from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at
Roy Raley Park, 1205 S.W.
Court Ave., Pendleton. Booth
registration, which is $20, is
due by noon Thursday, June
30.
To register, visit www.
pendletonparksandrec.com
or stop by the parks ofice,
865 Tutuilla Road. For more
information, call 541-276-
8100.
———
Submit information to
community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the
attention of Tammy
Malgesini at 333 E. Main
St., Hermiston or Renee
Struthers at 211 S.E. Byers
Ave., Pendleton. Call
541-564-4539 or 541-966-
0818 with questions.
oficials said the Umatilla
County Major Crime Team
was activated to inves-
tigate the death. Neither
Milton-Freewater
City
Manager Linda Hall nor
Umatilla County District
Attorney Dan Primus, the
designated spokesman for
the team, returned a request
for comment as of press
time.
According to Green-
wood, the baby was
taken to St. Mary from an
Elizabeth Street address by
Milton-Freewater Rural Fire
Department at 5:30 p.m.
PENDLETON
BMCC to break ground
on new agriculture facility
East Oregonian
Blue
Mountain
Community College will
break ground Monday on
the third of three major
construction
projects
approved by voters in its
May 2015 bond measure.
The groundbreaking for
the Facility for Agricul-
tural Resource Manage-
ment (FARM) is scheduled
for 2 p.m., Monday, at the
facility’s future site next
to the current agriculture
center on the north side
of the Pendleton campus.
The public is invited to
attend.
The FARM will house
BMCC’s
agriculture
programs, including agri-
culture production, crops
and livestock, agriculture
business, pest manage-
ment, beef production,
meat science, greenhouse
production and veterinary
assisting programs. The
project is expected to
be completed late next
spring
BMCC broke ground
on its two other major
bond construction projects
earlier this spring — the
Precision
Irrigated
Agriculture Center in
Hermiston in April and the
Workforce Training Center
in Boardman in May.
The Hermiston project
has a projected spring
2017 completion, while
the Boardman project is
expected to be complete
by winter 2017. BMCC
will also begin work on
upgrades to electrical and
HVAC systems, as well
as natural gas line repairs,
this summer.
BMCC’s $23 million
capital
construction
bond approved by voters
included all of these
projects, as well as addi-
tional safety, security and
technology improvements,
and improvements to the
Milton-Freewater center.
Join us for a 90th
Birthday
CELEBRATION
~ honoring ~
MARY ANN RYDER
Saturday June 18, 2016 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Roger’s Fellowship Room
First Presbyterian Church
201 SW Dorian Ave • Pendleton Oregon
NO GIFTS PLEASE
Thanking Our Sponsors
4th Annual
Our annual Old Iron Show is a vital regional and com-
munity event, free to all. The Umatilla County Historical
Society thanks our 2016 sponsors, whose support
carries on the tradition.
Golf Classic
Lead Sponsor
Les Schwab Tire Center
Major Sponsors
Olsen’s Auto Parts LLC
RDO Equipment Co.
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
Supporting Sponsors
David and Shari Dallas
Doherty Recycling LLC
Doherty Welding LLC
Hodgen Distributing
Inland Auto Electric, Inc.
J & B Automotive
P J Rohde Ranch
Patrick & Kim Straughan
Premium Tire and Lube
Wayne and Corinne Swearingen
Western Antique Iron Trader
Winn Farming LLC
Matt and Cindy Wood
We also thank the hard-working volunteers,
who make this show possible.
A HUGE thank you to everyone that gave their
time, energy and dollars to the Kick’n Cancer New
Beginnings (KCNB) Fourth Annual Golf Classic.
All proceeds stay here in the Pendleton area and
will beneit the KCNB Spirit Program. Because of
your generous support and participation, we are
able to offer a program where survivors of cancer
can heal both physically and mentally and begin
to resume their normal lives. Thank you to all the
generous sponsors, donors, the Pendleton Country
Club, golf participants, volunteers and media.
WE GIVE A SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Gold Sponsor:
Tom Denchel ‘s
FORDCOUNTRY.COM
ISU - The Stratton Agency
Honoring Elise Cooke & Gwen Lewis
Silver Sponsors:
92.1 Party FM • Terry Atchison
DA Davidson • Justin & Tamara Voelker
Walla Walla Country Club • East Oregonian
And our 43 Hole Sponsors:
The Golf Tournament was a huge
success and we thank you all!
If you know someone recently surviving cancer please refer them to our “Spirit Program”.
Please contact Deb Shampine at 541-276-0880 at the Roundup Athletic Club for more information.