Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2016)
REGION Wednesday, August 24, 2016 East Oregonian Page 3A BOARDMAN HERMISTON A labor of love Building permit fees, manager’s salary go up Group completes memorial quilt started by late Marge Shankle By TAMMY MALGESINI East Oregonian A number of Eastern Oregon women recently created a labor of love through the completion of a quilt started by the late Marge Shankle. A charter member of the Boardman Quilt Group, Shankle died unexpectedly this past spring. In addition to quilting, the longtime Eastern Oregon resident was active at the Boardman Senior Center and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren. “Her passing left a big hole in this group of quil- ters, many of whom had been inspired by Marge to improve quilting skills,” said Carol Michael of the quilt group. Each year, the group of quilters work collaboratively to create raffle quilts to help fund the Boardman Quilt Show, which is held each year in the fall. In addition to working on a pair of quilts for the 2016 show, the quil- ters pitched in to complete a Hunter’s Star Quilt, which Shankle had started working on. Quilters gathered mate- rials for the partially finished quilt and many completed a block or two. As the Hunter’s Star Quilt neared completion, friends shared memories about Shankle and the skills she had taught them. City begins pumping recycled water for ag use By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Contributed photo Millie Baker, Cheryl Tallman, Kathy Hyder, Lila Killingbeck, Nancy Pace, Sandy Mo- roney, Marsha Condie and Carol Michael of the Boardman Quilt Group pitched in to complete a Hunter’s Star Quilt begun by the late Marge Shankle. “Her passing left a big hole in this group of quilters, many of whom had been inspired by Marge ...” — Carol Michael, of the Boardman Quilt Group The dark blue and cream quilt will be on display during the Boardman Quilt Show, which is Oct. 7-8 at the Boardman Senior Center. After the show, it will remain hanging at the Boardman Senior Center as a permanent memorial to Shankle. Shankle was the featured quilter during the 2015 Boardman Quilt Show. She was honored that people admired her work enough to want to showcase it. The seamstress was particularly proud of ribbons and special awards she won at the Morrow County Fair. She received a host of blue ribbons as well as superin- tendent’s choice, people’s choice and judge’s choice awards. “That was about the best thing that could ever happen,” Shankle said during an Oct. 2015 inter- view. “Getting recognition for your work is nice.” More about the Boardman Quilt Show, including how to enter a quilt, will appear in an upcoming article in the East Oregonian. For more information, contact 541-481-9426 or tlkranch@ centurytel.net. ——— Contact Community Editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4539 The Hermiston city council approved an increase in building permit fees Monday. Fees are based on the value of the project, and the base fee for a $500 upgrade was raised from $13 to $42.25. City Manager Byron Smith said that the city’s former electronic building permit tracking system was no longer sufficient for the city’s needs. In researching new systems that would work, city staff discovered the state had a system that cities could use for free and has started using it. The catch is that in order to continue using the state’s system, the city must update its fee schedule, resulting in more revenue for the state, which reaps 12 percent of the fee. However, Smith said the city’s fee schedule “hasn’t been touched in 15 years” and since other systems cost upwards of $35,000 fees would likely need to be raised anyway to cover that cost. On Monday the city council also approved a 2.8 percent raise for Smith, totaling $3,500 annually, after going into executive session for Smith’s annual job review. He will make just over $125,000 a year. Smith just completed his second year as Hermiston city manager. While other department heads have a set pay scale that they can move up during their first few years of the job, the city manager’s salary is at the discretion of the city council. Smith’s new contract, which runs through Aug. 2018, also increases his vacation time from three weeks per year to four but keeps the same cap on accruing more than 6 weeks. Also on Monday, Smith announced that after putting a request for proposals to make sure the city is getting the best services possible for banking, U.S. Bank was the low bidder. The city has already been using the bank for years, and Smith said the bid included a few new ideas that should help the city increase security and save money. Smith also announced that as of Aug. 16 the city has officially begun pumping recycled water from its Recycled Water Treatment Plant into the West Irrigation District’s main canal for agricultural use. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. MoCo mosquitoes test Police ask citizens to be their ‘eyes and ears’ positive for West Nile HERMISTON Sgt. Bill Osborne speaks during chamber luncheon By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Local business owners learned about ways they can help the police — and the police can help them — during a Hermiston Chamber of Commerce Business to Business luncheon Tuesday. Sgt. Bill Osborne of Herm- iston Police Department told the group that the biggest way people can help out the police department is by helping be their eyes and ears. “The best thing you can do to help keep your community safe is just to tell us,” he said. “If you see something, report it.” Osborne said a lot of times people will notice something out of place or have a gut feeling something is wrong, but then end up telling themselves they’re being silly and they should just ignore it. But he gave an example of someone who let an officer know they had seen a suspicious person behind a business, and when the officer went to look he discovered several pounds of meth stashed in a garbage can. “We have solved all sorts of crimes from those little tips,” he said. If there seems to be any immediate danger, he said, call 9-1-1 and report it to a dispatcher. But if the problem is a chronic one or someone is just looking for informa- tion, call the front lobby at 541-567-5519, email one of the staff listed on the website or stop by the office. Osborne said the department does a lot of “preventative maintenance” in the community by just talking to people. Letting someone know what they are legally allowed to do in certain circumstances, or helping angry neighbors “The best thing you can do to help keep your community safe is just to tell us. If you see something, report it.” — Sgt. Bill Osborne, Hermiston Police Department come to a compromise about a nuisance, can prevent the situation from escalating into a crime. Osborne also shared infor- mation about a free training the department offers, called Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (or CRASE), which helps people learn to stay calm and move away from danger in an emergency, especially an active shooter situation. “This is simply a tool that saves lives,” he said. Osborne said the average police response time in the United States is three minutes. The CRASE training teaches people to act in ways that can help buy them three minutes of safety until police arrive. He gave the example of a criminal entering a building and opening fire on those inside. Peoples’ instinct when they hear gunshots is to run, but often they automatically run to where they entered the building — straight toward the shooter, in many cases. Training yourself to note where all of the exits are in a building or room can help you move away from danger instead of toward it, Osborne said. He said the department holds classes for groups of individual citizens who have expressed an interest. Employers can also contact the department about sched- uling a CRASE training at their workplace, or people can request it for their church or other group. BRIEFLY Man stabbed Saturday night in Irrigon IRRIGON — An Irrigon man suffered multiple stab wounds to his back during a large party Saturday night. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office reported a 9-1-1 call at 11:16 p.m. that night reported the stabbing at the event on Depot Lane, Irrigon. The caller also claimed three people were shot, according to the sheriff’s bulletin from that night, and babies were bleeding and needed help. The sheriff’s office, Boardman police, Oregon State Police and ambulances from Boardman and Irrigon responded. Law enforcement arrived 13 minutes after the call and found Ivan Salas Salas, 26, of Irrigon, was the stabbing victim, according to the statement from the sheriff’s office, and someone used their vehicle to take him to Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston. There have been no arrests in the case. Special deputy Melissa Ross said the investigation is ongoing and there is a person the sheriff’s office wants to talk to about the stabbing. The sheriff’s office and the Irrigon ambulance service that night also responded to Southwest Wyoming Avenue, Irrigon, after a 9:40 p.m. emergency call reported a 15-year-old male suffered a cut to his back, possibly from glass. An ambulance took that teen to Good Shepherd, which Ross said treated and released him. Fire outside of Hat Rock burns 80 acres HERMISTON — A fire just outside of Hat Rock State Park burned about 80 acres over the weekend. Umatilla Fire Chief Steve Potts said that cause was still undetermined and was being investigated by the Bureau of Land Management. No structures were threatened. Potts said the area — between Hat Rock Road, Warehouse Beach, Highway 730 and the old railroad — seemed to mostly be a mix of BLM and state lands. Fire crews from eight agencies responded after the fire was reported shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday. The fire flared up again on Saturday. Potts said the fire danger in that area right now is “extreme” and people need to be very, very careful. He said fortunately the wind was not as bad this weekend as it has been recently, allowing firefighters to get control of it fairly quickly. “Things went pretty well, all things considered,” he said. To make a donation, visit www.gofundme. com/2eqcpndw or stop by any branch of Banner Bank. The account is in the name of Emma Marie Baker. ——— Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports, and press releases. Email press releases to news@eastorego- nian.com Recent heat wave partly responsible for rise in samples East Oregonian Three pools of mosqui- toes recently tested positive for West Nile virus from one site near Boardman, according to the North Morrow Vector Control District. A total of five samples have tested positive for the virus so far this summer, said District Manager Greg Barron. Two others were collected near Irrigon. Overall, Barron said he feels good about the season so far, considering they had 13 positive samples at this time last year. “West Nile is endemic here,” Barron said. “(The number of positive tests is) going to go up. It’s just how much, and how often.” Barron said a string of days with triple-digit temperatures is partly to blame for the recent spike in positive tests. The heat really gets mosquitoes active, he said, which means the district needs to keep up with spraying to control the population. “It could be a lot worse, if we weren’t doing what we’re doing,” he said. Thirteen samples of mosquitoes have also tested positive for West Nile in neighboring Umatilla County, along with three positive samples in Baker County. Health officials encourage residents to take precautions to avoid infection by eliminating standing water where mosquitoes can breed, using insect repellent and wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants while working in mosquito-infested areas. The majority of people infected with West Nile will not experience any symp- toms, though 20 percent may develop fever, head- ache and nausea. In rare cases, the disease can cause encephalitis, or inflamma- tion of the brain. Anyone experiencing symptoms such as severe headache, stiff neck, confusion, muscle weakness, shaking or paralysis should contact their doctor immediately. For more information on local sources of West Nile, contact the Umatilla County Public Health Department at 541-278-5432, or the Morrow County Health District at 541-676-5421. Route work pays for my children’s activities. Donations support mother, daughter with leukemia PENDLETON — A GoFundMe campaign and an account at Banner Bank are collecting money to support a mother and daughter featured in a recent East Oregonian story (“Fighting leukemia together,” Aug. 3). Tyna Baker and her 3-year-old daughter, Emma, are both fighting leukemia. Along with Baker’s fiancé and Emma’s father, Bruce Winkler, they spend many of their nights at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland as they are being treated in two separate hospitals. The family has suffered a major financial setback because of medical costs. Become an East Oregonian Carrier. 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton or call: 541-276-2211 1-800-522-0255
