78/52
NEW BRAND
LAUNCHED
AT FUNFEST
PENDLETON
ADVANCES TO
SEMIFINALS
HERMISTON/3A
LITTLE LEAGUE/1B
TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2016
140th Year, No. 192
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
A problem with a bite
County works to handle loose, stray dogs
By ALEXA LOUGEE
East Oregonian
On a clear, blue Tuesday morning in
June, Cheri Cook, a Hermiston health
coach, was running along the Diagonal
Road trail when she was attacked by
two lab-mix dogs.
“I screamed and screamed and
screamed. Nobody came to help me,”
Cook recounted.
Eventually help came and Cook was
transported to Good Shepherd Medical
Center where she received more than 20
stitches on her left hand and shoulder.
Cook, who uses the trail at least twice a
week, said it was the third run-in she’s
had with the same dogs since she began
running there last September. She said
she won’t be running along that trail
anymore, but is speaking up to help
raise awareness and to encourage dog
owners to take responsibility for their
animals.
The incident took place near
Sandstone Middle School and she is
concerned that next time it will be a
child on the other end of a dog attack.
In Cook’s case, the attack occurred
outside of city limits and in the juris-
diction of the Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Offi ce. Undersheriff Jim Littlefi eld
indicated the dogs’ owner had been
located, cited and ordered to quarantine
See DOGS/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Cheri Cook had to get 20 stitches on her arm and hand
after being attacked by two dogs while running near
Diagonal Road last month just outside of Hermiston.
UMATILLA
HERMISTON
Grant aids
RoeMarks
renovation
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A grant from the Hermiston Urban
Renewal Agency will help put the top fl oor of
the former RoeMarks building to use again.
The agency, which is comprised of the
members of the Hermiston city council,
voted to award Simmons Insurance Group
a $10,000 facade grant to put windows into
the second story on the eastern portion of
the property and make other small exterior
enhancements.
City planner Clint Spencer said the
window project will cost about $21,000
in total because the boards in the exterior
window holes are covering a load-bearing
cement wall, meaning the company can’t just
replace them with glass.
The RoeMarks building is actually
See ROEMARKS/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Preschooler Eric Rosales listens as third-grader Oscar Martinez reads from the book “Rumble in the Jungle” during a Book
Buddies reading session during summer school at McNary Heights Elementary School in Umatilla.
Summer school creates
bridge instead of slide
TERRY MAYBERRY
OF PENDLETON
Enjoy a $10 coupon to
Pendleton Music Co.
During a brief July morning
recess at McNary Heights
Elementary in Umatilla, several
students came up to give Nicole
Coyle a hug.
Coyle
administers
the
summer school program for
Umatilla School District. The
district offers the longest summer
school session in the Umatilla
County, providing six weeks of
instruction for a daily average of
190 students.
“Summer school really helps
with the summer slide, especially
reading,” Coyle said, detailing
one of the benefi ts of summer
school. “The reading benchmark
for the start of second grade is
actually higher than the (bench-
mark for the) end of fi rst grade,”
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
she explained.
Umatilla’s summer school
program has its roots back as
far as 2002 when the program
was fi rst offered to students of
migrant workers through federal
funding. In 2004, the district
expanded its program to all
school-age kids in the city of
Umatilla.
More rain fell in downtown Pendleton
over a 24-hour period Friday and early
Saturday morning than what’s typically
seen for the entire months of July and
August combined, according to the National
Weather Service.
Meteorologist Dennis Hull said a series
of storms dumped 1.21 inches of rain, which
is highly unusual for this time of year. July
and August have averaged a mere .35 and
.51 inches of precipitation, respectively,
over the past 15 years.
“Usually, we might get some thunder-
storms with a lot more bang than rain,” Hull
said.
See SCHOOL/8A
See RAIN/8A
Students engage with academics to prepare for next grade
By ALEXA LOUGEE
East Oregonian
Storms bring
record-breaking
rain to Pendleton
PENDLETON
Yoga gathering gets bucked from Round-Up Arena
Scheduling conflict at
arena leads to cancellation
By WILL DENNER
East Oregonian
EO fi le photo
Participants perform the airplane pose at the Pendleton
Round-Up Grounds during a past Yoga Round-Up. This
year’s event has been canceled due to a scheduling
confl ict with the Pendleton Wisky Music Fest.
Tania Wildbill thought she had secured
the dates to bring Yoga Round-Up back to
Pendleton for a seventh year.
But in January, Wildbill received word
from the city of Pendleton and Pendleton
Convention Center of another event: the
inaugural Pendleton Whisky Music Fest.
The event was slated for July 16 at the
Round-Up Stadium, which coincided with
the Yoga Round-Up’s July 14-17 use of the
arena and nearby convention center. Event
organizers hoped to fi nd middle ground
with Wildbill, but she contends the events
can’t coexist in the same space because
extra people would’ve made too much
noise during yoga sessions. Wildbill also
didn’t want to change dates because she had
already made promises to people interested
in attending the event.
“With events, the most important thing
is to have a consistent date,” Wildbill said.
“For six years, I’ve built up the third week
in July. ... I didn’t want to do another date
because so many people had set that week.”
She ultimately canceled the event,
which had drawn as many as 300 people
in previous years, notifying people on the
event’s Facebook page in April.
According to Pendleton Round-Up
publicity director Randy Thomas, the
Round-Up allocates 16 days of arena use
to the city of Pendleton through the Pend-
See YOGA/8A