Wednesday, November 9, 2016
REGION
HERMISTON
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Student voters pick Salvation Army rings in Red Kettle season
Clinton, Brown
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
If it was up to students
at Hermiston High School,
Hillary Clinton would
become the 45th president
of the United States and
Kate Brown would keep
her place in the Oregon
governor’s mansion.
But not by much.
Released
the
day
ballots are due in the 2016
election, results from the
high school mock election,
which polled 368 students,
show Clinton with about
37 percent of the vote and
Donald Trump receiving 33
percent in the presidential
race. Gary Johnson, the
Libertarian candidate, got
nearly 15 percent of the
vote and Jill Stein (Green)
and McMullin (write-in)
each had about 7.5 percent.
Oregon
governor’s
race was even tighter,
and Libertarian candidate
James Foster drew nearly
even with the major party
candidates. Brown, the
incumbent Democrat, took
37 percent — 136 votes
and the exact same slice of
the electorate as Clinton.
Bud
Pierce,
a
Republican and political
newcomer, fell five votes
short and took about 35.5
percent of the vote, while
Foster’s 101 votes gave
him a 27.5 percent slice of
the pie.
The high school voters
also re-elected Sheriff
Terry Rowan in a landslide
with 71 percent of the vote.
Rowan lives in Hermiston
and lost by a similar margin
in Pendleton High School’s
mock election results last
week to challenger Ryan
Lehnert, who is from Pend-
leton.
The student voters in
Hermiston also firmly
failed Measure 97, a corpo-
rate sales tax that would
fund education. About
55 percent of voters were
against the measure.
BRIEFLY
Fingerprints
confirm ID of
body found near
Columbia River
Umatilla County
undersheriff Jim
Littlefield reported
the sheriff’s office has
identified the body found
Friday at the Sand Station
Recreation Area on the
Columbia River.
Littlefield said the
body was male and the
identity was confirmed via
fingerprints. The sheriff’s
office now is trying to
find and notify relatives,
he said, before releasing
more information.
Someone stopped
Friday afternoon to use
the facilities at Sand
Station on Highway 730
about 10 miles northeast
of Hermiston, according
to police sources, but the
restrooms were closed
or unavailable due to
cleaning. While seeking a
place for relief, the person
happened upon the body.
Four members of the
police department of
Richland, Washington,
searched the area Saturday
to find if the body was
connected to one of
their cases. They gave
no indication of finding
anything. Littlefield said
he was checking with
Richland police to find out
more.
Confluence
gatherings to
share stories
MISSION — Story-
driven discussions,
framed by excerpts from
interviews of native elders
and leaders, are featured
during Confluence Story
Gatherings.
The series of public
forums are intended to
elevate indigenous voices
in the understanding and
as a way to explore the
interconnectedness of
people and places of the
Columbia River system.
The first gathering is
Saturday at 2 p.m. at
Tamastslikt Cultural
Institute, located near
Wildhorse Resort &
Casino off Interstate 84
at Exit 216, Mission. The
event is free and open to
the public.
First-person story
telling has a unique power
to deepen understanding
of the histories, cultures
and environment that
surrounds us. The events
will feature video or audio
selections narratives,
produced by partners
at NW Documentary,
followed by a discussion
led by a panel of native
elders, leaders and writers.
So far, Confluence
Story Gathering
interviewees include:
Greg Archuleta (Grand
Ronde), Virginia Beavert
(Yakama), Roberta and
Leah Conner (Umatilla),
Johnny Jackson
(Yakama), Louie Pitt
(Warm Springs), Aurelia
Staccona (Warm Springs),
Wilfred and Bessie Scott
(Nez Perce) and Wilbur
Slockish (Yakama).
For more information,
call 541-429-7700 or visit
www.tamastslikt.org.
Agape House
gobbles up
murder mystery
HERMISTON — The
public is invited to bring
an appetite for murder as
Agape House presents
“Gobble, Gobble Death
and Trouble.”
The murder mystery
dinner presentation
features smoked turkey,
mashed potatoes,
vegetables, rolls and
dessert. The event is
Saturday at 6 p.m. in the
Altrusa Room at Agape
House, 500 Harper Road,
Hermiston. The cost is
$25 per person.
The participatory event
includes an opportunity
for amateur sleuths to play
Sherlock Holmes. Dinner
guests will investigate the
murder of chef Ramsey
Gordon, whose turkey
recipe is famous around
the world.
Money raised from
the event will be used by
Agape House to serve
those in need in the
community. For more
information or to purchase
a ticket, call Dave Hughes
at 541-567-8774.
IMAC meeting
features authors’
sharing
IRRIGON — The
annual meeting of the
Irrigon Multicultural Arts
Center features a spaghetti
meal and a program with
local authors.
Everyone is invited
to the event, which is
Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at
Stokes Landing Senior
Center, 195 Opal Place,
Irrigon. The cost of the
meal is $6.
Local authors can still
join the program to share
about their books and
discuss their inspiration in
writing them.
Money raised benefits
the Irrigon Multicultural
Arts Center project. The
nonprofit group hopes
to develop a regional
arts center and preserve
Irrigon’s 1921 school
building.
For more information,
call Jeff Wenholz at
541-571-6944, Peggy
Price at 541-567-3806 or
Don/Donna Eppenbach at
541-922-3197.
The Salvation Army
Pendleton Corps is ringing
in the holiday season with a
fundraising gala dinner and
auction.
The traditional Red Kettle
Campaign — which helps
ensure that children get a toy
for Christmas, families have
food on the table and people
receive assistance to keep
a roof over their head — is
familiar during the holiday
season. Bell ringers stationed
next to a Red Kettle accept
donations that help raise
money for The Salvation
Army.
The gala event is kicking
off the 2016 Red Kettle
campaign. The evening
features a tri-tip beef
barbecue dinner sponsored
by St. Anthony Hospital,
live entertainment by the
Peace Lutheran Bell Choir
and an auction. The event
is Saturday, Nov. 19 from
5:30-8 p.m. at The Salvation
Army Community Center,
150 S.E. Emigrant Ave.,
Pendleton.
Tickets
are
$25 per person and can be
purchased at The Salvation
Army or the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce.
Items up for bid include
tickets to the Civil War game
between the University of
Oregon and Oregon State
University, 16 tickets to
see the Tri-City Americans,
sterling
silver
jewelry,
collectibles, artwork and even
a truckload of gravel.
“Supporters of our Red
Kettle campaign can help
File photo
Maria Tovar rings a bell for The Salvation Army’s 2015 Red Kettle campaign outside
the Hermiston Safeway. The Salvation Army is kicking off the 2016 season with a
Nov. 19 gala fundraising dinner and auction at its community center in Pendleton.
give us a head start on ringing
our bells to help the needy,”
said Mary Corp, The Salva-
tion Army advisory board
chairwoman. “We are hoping
to make this a record-setting
year for donations and the
kick-off dinner will be a great
way to start.”
The Red Kettle Campaign
began in 1891 in San Fran-
cisco, and has since become
a
Christmas
tradition.
According to the organi-
zation’s website, Salvation
Army captain Joseph McFee
was determined to provide
a free Christmas meal to the
area’s most destitute.
He got the idea of setting
programs to help those in
need. The Salvation Army
offers programs for children
and youths, feeding the
hungry and providing food
boxes and other family
services.
For more information
about the event or how to
volunteer as a bell ringer,
contact Susan Lamb at
541-276-3369, susan.lamb@
usw.salvationarmy.org
or
visit
www.facebook.com/
salarmypendleton.
———
Contact
Community
Editor Tammy Malgesini at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539
PENDLETON
Schools to Careers program kicks off next week
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Less than halfway into the
school year, the Pendleton
School District is ready to
send some of its high school
students to work.
At a Pendleton School
board meeting Tuesday,
representatives from Eastern
Oregon Business Source
told the board that they
would start sending students
to career placements at local
businesses next week as a
part of the district’s Schools
to Careers program.
As a part of a $390,745
career technical education
grant from the state, the
district contracted with
Eastern Oregon Business
Source to help establish the
program and hire Schools to
Careers coordinator Chris-
tina van der Kamp, a former
Washington
Elementary
School teacher.
Susan Bower, the pres-
ident of Eastern Oregon
Business Source, said she
and van der Kamp have
about 200 students and 100
businesses interested in
participating in the program.
Although a majority of
those students will start
work experience placements
during the second semester,
van der Kamp said a small
group will start working
at Roosters, St. Anthony
Hospital and Pendleton
Coffee Bean and Bistro next
week.
“We want to help them
see that they have stronger
options when it comes to
careers. We want to go out
and make some connections,
build some skills, motivate
them to graduate,” she said.
“We also want to help local
business and industry,”
In addition to Pendleton
High School, van der
Kamp said placements will
be available to students
at Nixyaawii Community
School and the district’s
alternative and special
education programs.
As preparation for the
placement, Bower and van
der Kamp will lead a training
that will focus on the basics
of professionalism like cell
phone usage and proper
interaction with colleagues.
Van der Kamp said most
placements will happen after
school and on weekends, but
teachers do have the ability
to schedule them into the
school day and arrange for
transportation.
CTE coordinator Curt
Thompson described trans-
portation to and from job
sites as a “sticky” situation
for some students. Van der
Kamp said she is already
trying to address it with a
grant from the Education
Foundation of Pendleton to
buy vouchers for Pendle-
ton’s dial-a-ride program,
although a solution is still
needed for students coming
to and from the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Heath insurance 101 breaks down barriers to coverage
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Young adults remain the
largest uninsured group in
the country. Yet not one of
them attended Tuesday’s
informational
seminar
about health insurance at
Blue Mountain Community
College, Pendleton.
Amy Coven, outreach
and education coordinator
with the Oregon Health
Insurance
Marketplace,
and Marina Cassandra, the
regional outreach coor-
dinator with the Oregon
Health Authority, presented
“Health Insurance 101” on
the ins-and-outs of health
insurance and coverage in
Oregon. Coven said she
gave the presentation eight
times before, including in
Hermiston,
Milton-Free-
water and La Grande, and as
many as 28 people attended.
Tuesday they had only a
couple, including Michelle
Dowd, the Oregon Health
Plan advisor for Umatilla
County, one of the state’s
partners in getting people
coverage.
Still, the pair covered
a lot of ground in about an
hour, from basic vocabulary
— “premium,” “deduct-
ible,” “network” — to
how the federal Affordable
Care Act determines those
premiums and what kinds of
insurance plans qualify for
financial assistance and tax
credits.
While the workshops are
open to the public, Coven
said that plugging young
people into the insurance
equation is a priority.
Younger people, particularly
young Millennials, are
healthy and might think
they don’t need insurance
or consider it a luxury they
can’t afford, she said, and
their lack of participation
skews the rates higher for
the rest.
A chunk of the presen-
tation took on the myths
Tremendous Trio Book Signing!
November 19th from 5-7pm
John Groupe
Becky Waggoner
Rick Steber
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
up a kettle for donations from
his days as a sailor in England.
Passersby tossed coins into
a large, iron kettle called
“Simpson’s Pot” located at
Stage Landing. Money was
used to help the poor.
McFee placed a pot at the
Oakland Ferry Landing with
a sign that read “Keep the Pot
Boiling.” Within a few years,
the kettle idea spread across
the United States. Upwards
of 4.5 million now receive
assistance from The Salvation
Army between Thanksgiving
and Christmas.
The Red Kettle campaign
assists the organization
in providing year-around
of insurance complexities
and costs to convince more
people to obtain coverage
rather than go without and
pay a tax penalty. For 2017,
that comes to at least $695
for every adult in a family,
plus $347.50 for every child.
The
annual
health
insurance enrollment period
opened last week and runs
through Jan. 31, 2017.
Coven said people need
to sign up by Dec. 15 to
get coverage by the first of
January.
And they can do that
Wednesday, 9 a.m. to noon,
at BMCC, Pendleton, where
outside the cafeteria at
Pioneer Hall will be the site
of a insurance resource fair
and room 205 in the Science
& Technology Building will
have an enrollment fair.
Cassandra and Coven said
there will be staff on hand
to answer question and walk
people through the process
of getting insurance.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
S T U D EN T
O F TH E
W EEK
K YLE C LO S E
Nixyaawii Community School
Nixyaawii Community School would like
to recognize Kyle Close as our student
of the week. Kyle is a 10 th  grader, he
was nominated by the principal for this
honor. Kyle has maintained great
attendance and earned a 4.0 for the
first quarter. Kyle is well liked by his
peers, shows great character, and a
pleasure to have in class.  Outside of
school Kyle enjoys lacrosse and video
games. Congratulations Kyle!
Proudly Sponsored by
125 S. Main St., Pendleton, OR 97801
(541) 276-9292 • penbkco@eonet.net
2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR • 541-276-5121