REGION
Saturday, December 17, 2016
HERMISTON
Meet your local dancing stars
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Six of Hermiston’s “stars”
will be getting their groove on
in January at the fifth annual
Dancing with the Hermiston
Stars.
Bill Elfering, Clara Beas
Fitzgerald, Eva Swain, Greg
Smith, LuAnn Davison and
Spike Piersol will be pairing
up with professional dancers
to compete for the mirror ball
trophy and raise money for
charity.
The event, put on by the
Desert Arts Council and
sponsored by the Hermiston
Breakfast Kiwanis Club, will
take place Jan. 14 at Herm-
iston High School at 7 p.m.
The first half of the
evening’s performance will
feature the stars and their part-
ners from the Utah Ballroom
Dance Troupe competing
before a panel of judges.
Audience members can vote
too, using their ticket stubs and
cash donations to the charity
of performers’ choice. After
intermission the dance troupe
will perform a collection of
ballroom dance routines.
Event coordinators Mary
Corp and Karen Davis said
in a news release that Herm-
iston Dancing with the Stars
Elfering
Beas Fitzgerald
Swain
Smith
Davison
Piersol
has become a favorite event
in the Desert Arts Council’s
lineup that everyone looks
forward to.
Performers for the 2017
season:
• Bill Elfering is a
Umatilla County Commis-
sioner from Hermiston. He
graduated from high school
in Vale and played on three
state champion football teams
there. Money raised by his
performance will go to Preg-
nancy Care Services.
• Clara Beas Fitzgerald
is a Hermiston city coun-
cilor and serves on various
volunteer boards, including
the
Hispanic
Advisory
Committee and Oregon
Commission for Women. Her
performance will raise money
for the Umatilla Morrow
Hispanic Scholarship Foun-
dation.
• Eva Swain is a busi-
ness owner who moved to
Hermiston in 1976 with her
husband Harley Swain to
start a car dealership. Today
Harley Swain Subaru is still
family-owned despite the
death of her husband in 1978.
She is raising money for the
Hermiston Senior Center.
• Greg Smith represents
District 57, including the
greater Hermiston area, in the
Oregon State Legislature. He
has served in the House of
Representatives since 2000.
His performance will raise
money for the Hermiston
Warming Station.
• LuAnn Davis is a Herm-
iston business owner and
community volunteer. She is
the current president of the
Altrusa Club and a State Farm
Insurance agent. She is raising
money for Campus Life.
• Spike Piersol is a
retired Hermiston firefighter
and EMT who stays busy
with volunteer work and
sometimes serves as one of
Santa’s elves. He is raising
money and awareness for the
First Responder Memorial in
McKenzie Park.
Tickets are $20 for adults
and $10 for children under
18. They can be purchased
in advance online at www.
desertartscouncil.com or at
the Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce or Hermiston
Parks and Recreation office.
For more information call
541-667-5018.
East Oregonian
Page 3A
DOJ never investigated
three former Umatilla
County employees
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Three former Umatilla
County human services
employees are looking to
re-claim their reputations.
The county in April
2015 fired Carolyn Mason
and husband and wife
Juan Valdez and Martha
Laura Aviles-Valdez in
the wake of the Greater
Oregon Behavioral Health,
Inc. investigation of the
county’s alcohol and drug
treatment program. Mason
was the head of county
human services, and Valdez
and Aviles-Valdez worked
as supervisors. GOBHI’s
in-house attorney, Henry
O’Keefe, confirmed at the
time that investigators sent
findings to the Oregon
Department of Justice,
which the East Oregonian
reported.
Attorney Shemia Fagan,
representing Valdez and
Aviles-Valdez, last week
sent the EO a copy of an
email “in an effort to help
clear their unjustly tarnished
reputations.”
The Feb. 10, 2016, email
from Rodney Hopkinson,
director of the justice
department’s
Medicaid
Fraud Unit, states the
unit “has no investigation
underway of Juan Valdez or
Laura Aviles-Valdez” and
knows of no other agencies
investigating them.
Mason, Valdez and
Aviles-Valdez also are
suing the county in federal
court for discrimination,
retaliation and more. While
Hopkinson’s email does not
mention Mason, the lawsuit
also asserts there was no
criminal investigation.
The legal case continues
to trudge along. Court
records show the sides
have until May 31, 2017, to
complete discovery — the
gathering of information,
records and documents
pertinent to a case — and
they have until June 30,
2017, to file motions asking
the court to end part or all
of the lawsuit. The first
pre-trial hearing is Oct. 6,
2017.
BRIEFLY
Broken waterline slows traffic
HEPPNER
City manager resigns to run local nonprofit
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Heppner is looking for a
new city manager after Kim
Cutsforth announced her
resignation to go to work for
the Howard and Beth Bryant
Foundation.
Cutsforth said her last day
will tentatively be Feb. 13
but there is some flexibility
depending on how quickly
the city is able to find her
replacement.
The Howard and Beth
Bryant Foundation, based
in Heppner, was established
recently to help community
organizations secure funding
for projects like the outdoor
fitness park that will be paid
for by a mix of grants and
matching funds from the
foundation. The Bryants
were lifelong Heppner resi-
dents; Beth died in 2009 and
Howard died in August.
Cutsforth said she looks
forward to the opportunity to
carry out the Bryants’ vision
of assisting community
groups’ efforts to make the
city a better place.
“All of those organiza-
tions are run by boards that
are volunteer and all of those
people work full time or
have family commitments,”
Cutsforth said. “There is lots
of money out there, but it’s
a struggle to get it. We’re
going to step up and say ‘We
know you’re a volunteer, so
we’ll help with the admin.’”
The new job will keep
Cutsforth in Heppner, and
allow her to continue to
work toward bringing new
development projects to the
community in a different
capacity.
“I really enjoyed working
with the city,” she said.
“We got a lot of projects
completed.”
During her four and a
half years as city manager,
Cutsforth said one of the
projects she was most proud
of helping with was the
new fire hall, which voters
supported through a bond.
She is also proud of the
three major street projects
the city put together, encom-
passing miles of new road
plus two miles of new side-
walks and walking paths.
“It really changed the
structure of the community,”
she said.
Cutsforth said those and
other major projects took
partnerships between many
different people and organi-
zations to make it happen,
but everyone always came
together.
“Those were difficult
projects, but the community
made it fairly easy,” she
said.
She said the city has
already started advertising
for a new city manager and
hopes to fill the position
quickly.
PENDLETON
PGG sells fuel division to Mid Columbia Producers
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Pendleton Grain Growers
announced Friday it has
sold its fuel division to Mid
Columbia Producers, another
neighboring farmer-owned
cooperative based in Moro.
The deal, effective imme-
diately, comes just two weeks
after PGG dealt its propane
assets to Morrow County
Grain Growers. Terms were
not disclosed for either trans-
action.
PGG is in the process of
dissolving after the co-op
experienced massive finan-
cial losses in recent years.
Tim Hawkins, chairman of
the PGG Board of Directors,
said the co-op was looking
for a local buyer to take on
fuel services that would
continue to serve the region.
“As a fellow local co-op,
we feel Mid Columbia
Producers is the right partner
for our customers and
members,” Hawkins said in a
statement.
Jeff Kaser, Mid Columbia
manager, said they look
forward to servicing PGG
fuel accounts. PGG fuel
cards will continue to be
honored by PGG and Mid
Columbia Producers through
March 31. “We are thrilled
to expand the fuel offerings
we currently provide, both
to our existing members
and to potential customers
throughout the communities
we serve,” Kaser said.
Friday’s sale includes
all of PGG’s existing fuel
inventory, trucks and oper-
ating assets. Mid Columbia
is expected to retain all four
PGG employees in the fuel
division. As of Friday, PGG
members can begin signing
up to use Mid Columbia fuel
cards beyond March 31.
Mid Columbia Producers
formed in 1988, and operates
grain elevators in Morrow,
Gilliam, Wasco and Sherman
counties in Oregon, and
Klickitat County in Wash-
ington.
PGG’s grain division,
including upcountry elevators
and the McNary Terminal,
also sold earlier this year to
United Grain Corporation. It
remains unclear how much
equity will be returned to
members after the co-op
dissolution is finished.
Rick Jacobson, PGG
general manager, was not
available for comment
Friday.
ECHO — A fire burned through an attic at a home in
Echo on Friday. Echo Fire Chief Delbert Gehrke said no
one was harmed in the fire.
The Echo Rural Fire Protection District at 10:08
a.m. received an emergency call-out for fire in the
home at 300 S. Dale St. and sent two engines. Nine
minutes later, Echo fire asked other agencies to respond.
Umatilla Fire District 1 out of Hermiston answered the
call with a command vehicle and fire engine.
Gehrke said the blaze was in attic, which was
partitioned and made the attack difficult. Fire crews
fought for about two hours before extinguishing the
flames.
Three people were in the rental home, Gehrke said,
and all escaped uninjured. He also said the home
sustained heavy smoke and water damage, though the
structure is intact.
Rodeo seeks donations to finish arena
HERMISTON — Two anonymous donors have agreed
to match up to $200,000 in donations to make sure the
Farm-City Pro Rodeo has a completed arena this August.
The new arena is part of the Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center, which will house the rodeo and the Umatilla
County Fair beginning in 2017. Bids for the rodeo arena
came in above budget, so the board scaled back the
project by removing arena lighting and some seating.
If donors match the $200,000 to the nonprofit Friends
of the Fair and Rodeo, the $400,000 will cover the seating
and lighting.
Contact Dennis Barnett at 541-567-5215 with
questions or if you are interested in making a contribution.
Thank You
Key Sponsor: Master Printers
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Fire damages Echo home on Friday
In the spirit of the season, the Pendleton Downtown Association,
in cooperation with the City of Pendleton, would like to express a
special THANK YOU to all these individuals and businesses who
donated to the 2016 "Shower of Flowers" hanging fl ower basket
project on Pendleton's Main Street.
NOW
DRIVERS
PENDLETON — Contractors working on a new
access road to the Blue Mountain Community College
softball field severed a waterline Friday, slowing traffic as
Pendleton crews repaired the leak.
Bob Patterson, Pendleton’s public works director, said
contractors from Idaho did not heed the markings for the
underground waterline while boring holes to create the
road, breaking the line around 1 p.m.
Crews isolated the valve and worked to repair the
break by replacing four to five inches of pipe. Repairs to
the waterline were completed Friday by 8 p.m.
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Suite 6
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welcome Linda Harries PA-C to our team.
If you would like to continue seeing Linda,
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Come Join Our Team In Pendleton! 541-276-5621
Accepting
ts
new patien
Altrusa Club of Pendleton
Laurie and Alan Feves
CK South Salon
Main Street Diner
Frazier Offi ce Supply
Pendleton Chamber of Commerce
Great Pacifi c Wine & Coffee Co.
Pendleton Foundation Trust
Jager Development
Pendleton Lions Club
Jan and Pat Loughary
Robert and Sandra Lazinka
Jill Thorne
Susan Bower
Juniper House Assisted Living &
Memory Care
Umatilla County Master
Gardeners Association
Larry O'Rourke
Special consideration to Steven Hart for his dedicated
watering of the fl ower baskets.
The fl ower baskets on Main Street enhance our community with their
beautiful, lively and colorful display. The project is dependent on
donations and would not be possible without the generous
contributions of these donors.
Preparations are underway for the 2017 "Shower of Flowers"
hanging fl ower baskets. Your donation can be made to:
Pendleton Downtown Association, PO Box 1643, Pendleton, OR
97801. Please make a notation on your check "Flower Baskets."
Donations are tax deductible.
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