REGION
Friday, October 7, 2016
HERMISTON
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
12-year-old charged Endowment created to honor Houk
over threat to school
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
coming to the attention of
the school resource oficer
at approximately 9 a.m.
Thursday morning.
Edmiston said the
department began inter-
viewing students and
the low of information
between the department’s
school resource oficer
and Hermiston School
District administrators was
“phenomenal.”
“Our oficer was able
to piece this entire incident
together and identify the
12-year-old as the person
behind the message,”
Edmiston said. “We have
no information of any past
problems with this student
and we believe this unfor-
tunate decision to be an
isolated incident spurred by
the national phenomenon
taking place.”
East Oregonian
A 12-year-old Herm-
iston boy ended up in jail on
Thursday after police were
made aware of a social
media post threatening gun
violence that was sent to
Sandstone Middle School
students.
The boy was taken into
custody around 1:15 p.m.
and charged with irst
degree disorderly conduct.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said in
a news release that the
message, made through a
ictitious Instagram proile
using the name James_4.0
and a proile picture of
a clown, was sent to
multiple students starting
about 11 p.m. Wednesday.
The message was shared
numerous times before
There are still about three
months left on Pendleton
Mayor Phillip Houk’s
term, but he may
already be lining
up his next civic
responsibility:
fundraising.
On the last day
of the League of
Oregon
Cities
annual conference
Oct. 1 in Salem,
a few of Houk’s
peers announced Houk
that the league’s
foundation was establishing
an endowment under his
name.
Having already received
honors earlier in the week
from the Oregon Mayors
Association, Houk was
emotionally overwhelmed.
“It was a shocker,” he
said.
The endowment will
provide scholarships to
small towns to help them
cover the cost of attending
the league’s annual confer-
ence and other
events sponsored
by the municipal
lobbying
group
and its afiliates.
Houk said it
was
important
for
Oregon’s
smaller
cities
to get a chance
at attending the
conferences,
which offers work-
shops and breakout sessions
to city oficials.
“If you’re not at the table,
you don’t have a voice,” he
said.
The endowment was
the brainchild of Redmond
Mayor George Endicott and
Independence Mayor John
McArdle, who wanted to do
something itting for a man
who has been the president
of both the league and its
foundation.
With commemorative
plaques bearing his name
all over Pendleton and a
wall of awards, Endicott
said they wanted their
tribute to be more than
honoriics.
“It’s not a bauble,” he
said. “It’s a real thing.”
Endicott said they’ve
raised $15,000 toward their
$20,000 goal, with the
intent of using the endow-
ment’s interest to fund the
scholarships and keep it
self-sustaining.
Although it’s close to
its initial goal, Houk said
he intends to continue
fundraising and growing the
endowment so that it can
award more scholarships
each year, giving an activity
BOARDMAN
BRIEFLY
Students get lesson in local agriculture
to grind wheat using a
bicycle wheat grinder, and
pressed apples into cider.
Presenters
included
Oregon State University
Extension Service, Echo
FFA members and other
local farmers. The event
was sponsored by Madison
Ranches,
Umatilla
Electric
Cooperative,
Bank of Eastern Oregon,
Boardman Foods, Jill and
Tim Parker, Sunrise Café
and Milky Way.
More
information
about Oregon Agricul-
ture in the Classroom
Foundation is available at
oregonaitc.org.
East Oregonian
A total of 245 fourth-
graders from ive Morrow
County
elementary
schools learned about local
agriculture
Wednesday
during an event presented
by the nonproit Oregon
Agriculture in the Class-
room Foundation, and
hosted by the SAGE
Center in Boardman.
Dozens of community
members volunteered to
lead students around each
of 13 stations, featuring
everything from fruits and
vegetables to equipment
safety. Students were able
Contributed photo
Local farmer Karl Smith shares a beehive with students
as presenter and local beekeeper Jan Lohman looks on
Wednesday at the Sage Center in Boardman.
MINAM: Project to ix hill in 1991 did not have enough funding
Continued from 1A
Engineers and the Division
of State Lands will take
nine months to a year, and
Patterson said he anticipates
the project going out to bid in
late 2017, with construction to
start the following summer.
Included in the project are
repairs for two areas where the
shoulder on the cliff side of the
road is washed out, Patterson
said — one before the 25-mph
curve and another near the
bottom of the hill. Some of the
rock removed from the uphill
side of the highway will be
used to buttress the crumbling
shoulder.
Patterson said that in 1991,
ODOT planned a project he
called the “granddaddy of
them all.”
“It was supposed to ix
everything from the top to
the bottom of the hill, but we
couldn’t accomplish every-
thing because there wasn’t
enough funding,” Patterson
said.
Patterson said money for
the 2018 work is coming
from two sources — one
for highway safety projects
and another earmarked for
enhancing and modernizing
highways.
A Sept. 19 crash near the
25-mph curve, 200 yards
above the bottom of the
canyon, is a reminder of
how important this project is,
Patterson said.
Photo contributed by Oregon Department of Transportation
A $4.5 million project to improve Highway 82’s noto-
riously dangerous Minam Curve is part of the Oregon
Department of Transportation’s 2018 construction plan.
Gary Leonard Alford,
70, of Joseph, was driving
a Dodge pickup truck down
the Minam Grade toward
Wallowa County when the
truck veered off the road and
rolled approximately 120
yards down the embank-
ment. Alford was ejected
from the truck and was alive
when emergency responders
and members of the Union
County search and rescue
ropes team reached him. He
died on his way to a waiting
Life
Flight
helicopter,
Oregon State Police Sgt.
Kyle Hove said.
Hove said equipment
failure may have been a
contributing factor in the
crash. An investigation is
ongoing.
Before that crash, the last
fatal wreck on Minam Grade
occurred not far from where
Alford’s truck left the road.
In 2011, a loaded cattle
truck driving downhill toward
the Wallowa County line
crashed into ive cars. The
driver was killed, as were
several cattle. Brake failure
was suspected at the time.
Nick Pallis of the Union
County Sheriff’s Ofice was
called to both wrecks.
“When you are coming
off the top of the hill, it’s a
steep grade and then there is
a 90-degree corner where a lot
of our problems occur,” Pallis
said.
He said if a heavy vehicle
or one towing a trailer
doesn’t have good brakes, is
going too fast or the driver
isn’t in the correct gear, the
Celebrate Your
Loved Ones in Our
9:00
Route work
pays for my
children’s
activities.
PM
8 S . E . CO U RT, P E N D L E TO N • 5 4 1 . 278 .1 1 0 0
Example
Bring us a picture of your servicemen or servicewomen or veteran by
November 3 rd along with the form below and we will include them in our
“Veterans Day Salute” on November 9 th in the Hermiston Herald and
November 11 th in the East Oregonian at no charge .
For more information call 1-800-962-2819 in Pendleton or 541-564-4530 in Hermiston.
Service Person’s Name
Your Phone Number
UMATILLA — Umatilla
Electric Cooperative has
received a $250,134 grant
from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Rural Energy
for America Program to
help offset the cost of the
Moyer-Tolles Solar Station
east of Umatilla.
The system, which
came online in February,
includes 3,952 solar panels
generating 1.3 megawatts
of electricity. It cost $2.5
million to build, inanced
mainly with New Clean
Renewable Energy Bonds.
“We are pleased that this
grant will further reduce
the cost and increase the
Veterans can receive free
lu shots at clinics sponsored
by the Jonathan M.
Wainwright Memorial VA
Medical Center. The local
clinics are in Boardman and
at the VA Medical Center,
located at 77 Wainwright
Drive, Walla Walla :
•Tuesday/Wednesdays in
October from 8:30 a.m. to
4 p.m., Building 143 lobby,
Walla Walla (walk-in).
•Friday, Oct. 14 from
8:30-11:30 a.m. and 1-3
p.m. at the Port of Morrow,
2 Marine Drive, Boardman
(walk-in).
•Wednesday, Oct. 26
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Building 74 Circle, Walla
Walla (drive-thru).
In addition, for
veterans unable to attend
these clinics, the VA has
partnered with Walgreens
for lu shots — some
restrictions may apply.
For more info, contact
your VA provider team or
visit www.wallawalla.va.gov.
Staff Sergeant
Joel Davis
US Marines
Veteran
Honoring those who have served and those
that are currently serving our country!
Your Address
UEC receives
federal grant for
solar array
VA clinics offer
free lu shots
Cale Moon
SALUTE
Your Name
MILTON-FREEWATER
— The Oregon Health
Authority issued a boil
order reminder for a
Milton-Freewater trailer
park Thursday.
According to the
authority, E. coli was found
in the water supply for
Locust Mobile Village on
May 10 and are advising
residents to boil their tap
water for one minute or use
bottled water for drinking,
making ice, brushing teeth,
washing dishes and food
preparation until further
notice.
The boil order was
originally issued May 12
and the latest one is acting
as a reminder to residents
that the boil order remains
in effect.
E. coli can cause
diarrhea, cramps nausea
and headaches and is
a special health risk
for young children and
people with compromised
immune systems.
The boil order states
that the well Locust uses
for water has a failing
chlorination system and
repairs have not been
completed.
Residents can contact
Nancy Shaw at 509-540-
7245 for more information.
value of this project to our
members,” said Robert
Echenrode, UEC general
manager and CEO. “Such
a signiicant investment
on the part of the USDA
shows UEC is on the right
track with our renewable
energy program.”
USDA Secretary Tom
Vilsack said the Rural
Energy for America
Program helps businesses
create jobs, helps farmers
and rural businesses reduce
their carbon footprint
and helps the country
move closer to energy
independence.
“These investments in
clean energy are good for
the environment, are good
for each business’s bottom
line and they support the
broader rural economy
by encouraging the
production of renewable
energy sources,” Vilsack
said in a statement.
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 7
Veterans Day
Military Rank
grade can be dangerous.
“You come off that thing
heavy loaded — if you aren’t
in the right gear — and once
the brakes heat up and fade,
they are not going to stop
you,” Pallis said.
Both Alford’s crash and
the 2011 accident happened
during the summer, in
daylight when the highway
was dry. But Pallis said snow
and ice can make the corner
even more treacherous.
He said after responding to
the crash that killed Alford, he
and another trooper consid-
ered ways the road could be
improved.
“We were putting our heads
together,” Pallis said. “How
can it be safer? I honestly
think they need to have higher
poles or a double guardrail so
vehicles can’t just hit it and
jump right over it, but I’m not
sure if it’s possible.”
Instead of a double guard-
rail Patterson said the outside
of the corner will have earthen
ill and the highway will be
moved farther from the cliff.
The 2018 project will reduce
the severity of the 25-mph
curve and allow for more
sunlight to hit the road to melt
snow and ice.
While both vehicles
involved in the fatalities were
traveling downhill, Patterson
said people driving uphill
have crashed as well.
Boil order
continues for
trailer park
Live Music
DON’T MISS OUT!
Military Branch
to do after he leaves the
mayor’s ofice in December.
Houk is honored that the
endowment will not only
bear his name, but also his
title.
“Pendleton will have its
mark,” he said.
After serving on the
Pendleton City Council
for 11 years, Houk was
elected mayor in 2004. He
declined to run for a fourth
term in February, citing the
increasing demands of his
job as a risk management
manager for Union Paciic
Railroad Co.
Former Blue Mountain
Community
College
President John Turner
was elected to ill Houk’s
seat and will take ofice in
January.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
Currently Serving Veteran (Check One)
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