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