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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2016)
OF STANFIELD NATION/7A PLAYOFFS/1B SUSAN WHELAN GIANTS, CUBS GO EXTRAS WALDEN ON TRUMP Enjoy a free large mocha at Bloomz Coffee Bar in Hermiston 56/30 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2016 140th Year, No. 257 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD A life of suffrage Pendleton woman made sure to cast final ballot before death at age 102 By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Alice Fossatti died Sunday at age 102, but not before casting an absentee ballot from her hospital bed. Born before women had the right to vote, the artist and retired teacher voted in every election since coming of age. In 2013, she attached a campaign sign to her walker and lobbied her fellow residents at the Juniper House to support the Pendleton School District bond measure. Recently, when anyone came bedside at St. Anthony Hospital, she reminded them to vote. She wore a “Hillary” button on her hospital gown. “She wasn’t a fond supporter of the Donald,” said Fossatti’s daughter, Donna Collins, with a smile. Party affi liation, though, wasn’t as important as simply exercising the hard-won right to vote. “She believed everyone has to vote — it’s their responsibility,” Collins See FOSSATTI/10A EO fi le photo Contributed photo LEFT: Alice Fossatti, at age 20, attended Pacifi c University. RIGHT: Fossatti hugs one of her signature ceramic an- gels two years ago on her 100th birthday. The retired teacher enjoyed creating art until she died on Sunday. HERMISTON PENDLETON Boutique clear for takeoff DOT awards airline with $2.2 million EAS subsidy By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston City Councilor Doug Primmer, center, points to conceptual map of festival street during a rollout party Monday in Hermiston. Primmer was discussing options for a bus stop near city hall. Festival by design City reveals plans, options for downtown festival street By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Design work is now underway for a project that will transform a section of down- town Hermiston. The city revealed its $1.25 million festival street project on Monday with a public open house. “We’re really excited to see what this is going to do for downtown,” City Manager Byron Smith said. The project’s fi rst phase will cover NE Second Street between Gladys Avenue and Main Street, creating a pedestrian-friendly, curbless street in front of city hall that can be blocked off during events such as an art show or beer festival. Possible design elements include trees, fountains, hanging fl ower baskets, brick work, ornamental lamp posts, decorative benches and other functional art. The second phase will extend that project north to the planned senior center on Ridgeway Avenue, and the third phase would center around an arch on Second Street in front of the Hermiston Conference Center welcoming traffi c into downtown. City planner Clint Spencer said construction on the fi rst phase will start sometime during the summer of 2017, and if all goes well with funding and design the other two phases could also be built next year. Funding for the project comes from property tax revenue gath- ered by the Hermiston Urban Renewal Area. During Monday’s open house, visitors were asked to study a series of photos depicting festival streets in other cities and place a sticker on elements they particularly liked. See FESTIVAL/8A When commercial air service will restart in Pendleton remains unknown. But when it does, Boutique Air has exclusive rights. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order Sept. 27 awarding Boutique a $2,273,823 Essential Air Service subsidy from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018, pending Pendleton’s waiver petition. Although Boutique had the green light to begin operation more than a week ago, a Boutique employee who declined to give her name said the airline hasn’t determined when “This will provide it will start fl ying Boutique with the into Pendleton’s ability to begin Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. replacement Pendleton Airport Manager service as soon Steve Chrisman as possible.” said the goal is to have Boutique — U.S. Department of start service Transportation, in an somewhere order issued Sept. 27 between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1. For its part, the DOT isn’t putting an imper- ative on Boutique to start immediately. “The Department recognizes that it is highly unlikely that Boutique will begin service as soon as October 1, however, this will provide Boutique with the ability to begin replacement service as soon as possible, before December 31, 2016,” the order states. Boutique’s early entry into Pendleton was made possible by the demise of previous EAS provider SeaPort Airlines, which abruptly ceased operation Sept. 21. By that time, the city had already recom- mended Boutique to take over as a provider, See AIRLINE/8A Prisons cast wide net to fi ll growing staff needs Hundreds attend job fair at BMCC By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian The Oregon Department of Corrections has a work- force problem, and Saturday in Pendleton was an effort to address that. Hundreds of people attended a corrections job fair at Blue Mountain Community College. They are looking for work at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, Pendleton, and Two Rivers Correctional Institution, Umatilla. The fi rst group of 35 applicants went through the doors at 7:30 a.m. The event ended at 9 p.m. The stream of would-be corrections employees remained a constant. Steve Cox is the work- force planning manager for state corrections. He said public safety nationwide has a critical need for new blood. “Just in the state of Oregon, we have a need of over 500 police offi cers,” he said. And the DOC is in that same boat. Half of the department’s employees can retire in the next fi ve years, he said, and 32 percent can retire right now. Corrections offi cers in Oregon, like police offi cers and fi re- fi ghters, can retire at age 50 with full benefi ts. Replacing those retirees is a challenge, Cox said. Oregon’s unemployment rate is hovering around 5 percent, and applicants can shop around for the public safety job they want. Some When is it time to consider assisted living? 1550 NW 11th Street • Hermiston 541-564-2595 • 800-550-3449 regencysunterracehermiston.com See the choices available - schedule your tour today! agencies, including the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce, offer hiring bonuses of several thousand dollars, Cox said, while others are willing to start new employees at the third or fourth step on the pay scale. The corrections depart- ment doesn’t have those options, he said, so the job fairs are a way to compete. See CORRECTION/10A
