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East Oregonian
DETECTIVE: Will oversee sex offender registration
Continued from 1A
said there was no program on the
opposite end to round up offenders
that lee, and often they ended up
back in custody after creating new
problems.
Rowan said having a detective
working on those absconders should
reduce their time at large and thus
lead to a reduction in new crimes.
“Through this process we can
have another set of eyes and ears out
here every day those people are out,”
said Rowan.
The county also will use the new
position to oversee registration of
sex offenders. Primmer said current
policy is that offenders leaving the
county jail must go to the nearby
ofice of Oregon State Police on
Airport Hill, Pendleton, to register.
Some offenders, though, do
not follow through. Primmer said
keeping the registration in-house will
reduce that.
And Rowan said hiring a new
detective gives the sheriff’s ofice an
extra hand during a major crime team
event or staff shortages.
The sheriff’s ofice has four
deputies joining its patrol staff this
summer — two new graduates from
the 16-week basic police course at
the Oregon Public Safety Academy,
Salem, and two veteran oficers from
other police agencies. Rowan said
that brings the patrol units to a total
of 14. And this hire in Community
Justice would increase the detective
ranks to four.
The county is advertising the
detective job on its website with a
starting salary of $3,792 a month.
Rowan said applicants from outside
Umatilla County law enforcement
could also qualify for a signing bonus
up to $8,000. The county has been
using the bonuses since October,
and Rowan said it is drawing veteran
oficers to his agency.
Primmer said the state’s Justice
Reinvestment funds and the depar-
ture of some senior staff gave his
department’s budget the inancial
boost needed to pay for the new
position. And the sheriff’s ofice will
reimburse the Community Justice
Department whenever it uses the
detective.
Primmer and Rowan said a
memorandum of understanding will
shape the agreement, and the new
position needs policy and procedures
to outline the scope of the work with
the separate law enforcement agen-
cies. The two law agency heads also
said the Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners will have to approve
the deal.
Primmer said he knocked this
idea around with other county parole
and probation heads in the state,
but no one else is trying it. The
experiment has the practical effect
of targeting known offenders on the
street, Primmer said, and work as an
accountability measure.
If you are on parole and probation
and take off, he said, you know
someone will be looking for you.
SUPPLIES: Hermiston Wal-Mart donated roughly
$10,000 worth of supplies to area schools last year
Continued from 1A
said Pendleton Superin-
tendent Andy Kovach. “At
the elementary schools
this is usually through
the principal while at the
middle and high schools it’s
normally handled through
the counseling ofice.
Every effort is made to
ensure every student has the
supplies they need.”
The
Hermiston
Wal-Mart donated an
estimated $10,000 worth of
supplies to area schools last
year, according to co-man-
ager Abby Harris. In
addition, large boxes are set
out for the public to donate
supplies they purchase
in-store, or customers can
purchase a backpack with
basic supplies to give to a
child in need.
Ofice Max in Herm-
iston offers customers the
opportunity to donate ive
percent of their purchase
to the local school of their
choice.
“We also purchase
class sets of shared items
to ensure students without
the entire list are still able
to succeed in school,” said
Heidi Sipe, the Umatilla
School District superinten-
dent. “A few years ago, we
reined our lists after asking
teachers to price out a class
list and take a look at the
cost. This allowed staff to
really narrow down the lists
to what’s necessary and
eliminated a lot of optional
type items.”
Altrusa sets school supply drive
PENDLETON — Some area students and their
families have a dificult time coming up with extra
money for school supplies.
Altrusa International of Pendleton and Paciic
Power are trying to help ill the gap. A School
Supply Drive is planned to help raise money and
collect basic supplies to provide to local students
in kindergarten through 12th grade. Volunteers will
accept donations Saturday Aug. 6 from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. at a pair of Pendleton stores: Wal-Mart,
2203 S.W. Court Ave., and Bi-Mart, 901 S.W.
Emigrant Ave.
Supplies needed include pens, pencils, crayons,
loose-leaf paper, notebooks, colored pencils, glue
sticks, scissors, pencil boxes and backpacks. In
addition, clothing items can be donated, including
sweats, leggings, T-shirts, underwear and socks in
sizes 6-10.
For those unable to donate items, cash is
appreciated to assist in purchasing supplies. For more
information, call Buffy Farber at 541-969-2390.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
HOUSING: More workers
needed to keep up with a
rise in organic farming
Continued from 1A
wanted to add housing for 200 to
800 seasonal farmworkers under
the federal government’s H-2A
visa program.
Myers said the workers would
have come from Mexico and
Central America, staying for a
period of six to eight months
before returning home. Farms
are required to provide H-2A
workers with free housing and
a minimum wage of $12.69 per
hour in Oregon and Washington.
Threemile Canyon already
has 300 year-round employees,
but Myers said more workers
are needed to keep up with a rise
in organic farming. The number
of organic acres on the farm has
increased from 200 to 7,500 since
2002, and organic practices tend
to be much more labor intensive
— especially when it comes to
controlling weeds.
“We can’t use herbicides,”
Myers said. “We are challenged
with inding the labor to make
that organic farming successful.”
Housing would have been
built on land purchased from
the city of Boardman, across
from the Boardman Airport.
The Morrow County Planning
Commission voted 5-1 to
recommend rezoning the land
from Space Age Industrial to
Exclusive Farm Use, and allow
for an exception on extending
wastewater to the site.
Still, the proposal rankled
nearby property owners who
objected to the location and
argued the application left too
many unanswered questions.
Raymond Akers, who lives on
Paul Smith Road, said he belongs
to a labor union and believes the
jobs at Threemile Canyon could
be illed by the local and regional
workforce.
Akers said he was also
concerned about the potential
increase in trafic on Tower Road,
and the ability for police to handle
another 800 people just outside
city limits. Boardman’s total
population is 3,379, according to
the most recent census.
Kelly Doherty, wife of
Morrow County Commis-
sioner-elect Jim Doherty, was
prepared to ask for the applica-
tion to be remanded back to the
planning commission, arguing
that key points about the devel-
opment were not considered in
the original recommendation.
After the meeting, Doherty
said she was shocked by
Threemile Canyon’s decision to
pull the proposal.
“We were prepared to appeal
it,” she said. “You get emotional
but in the end, it’s a process.”
Other objections were iled
by Laurie Hoefer, farmworker
program director for Legal Aid
Services of Oregon; Leslie Ann
Hauer, a planning consultant
based in the Tri-Cities; and even
the U.S. Navy, which cautioned
against the development possibly
being incompatible with the
nearby Boardman Bombing
Range.
Ultimately, Myers said the
farm would withdraw its plan
and take a different approach.
“We’ll get the smartest people
on it to help us work through (the
issues),” he said.
Jim Doherty said there is still
a need for additional housing
—
including
farmworker
housing — in Boardman, and he
looks forward to working with
Threemile Canyon on inding
solutions once he takes ofice.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0825.
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