REGION
Thursday, March 2, 2017
PENDLETON
Eighth Street Bridge
project delayed by state
East Oregonian
The project to replace the
aging Eighth Street Bridge in
Pendleton has been delayed
as the fate of the historic
structure is determined.
Pendleton public works
director Bob Patterson said
that because the bridge is
eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places,
the city must preserve the
bridge and make it available
to potential buyers looking to
repurpose it.
Patterson said Project
Exploration, a group of
local government agencies
and nonprofits dedicated to
sparking new civic projects,
expressed interest in using
the bridge as a decorative
feature of a downtown plaza.
Patterson said the Oregon
State Historic Preservation
Office wants a more concrete
proposal from Project Explo-
ration on how they’ll use
the bridge. The state office
doesn’t want to proceed until
that a proposal is submitted
or the project decides against
using the bridge.
While Patterson works
with the state and Project
Discovery to find a reso-
lution, the timeline on the
Eighth Street project has
been extended.
With the city previously
expecting to receive a
memorandum of agreement
from the Federal Highway
Administration by the end
of January, Patterson now
expects approval by April.
Paired with approval from
the Army Corps of Engi-
neers, Patterson estimates
the bid will be awarded by
the late summer.
Patterson said these
changes will add 2.5 percent
to 5 percent to the total cost
of the bridge and move the
start of construction to 2018.
Besides replacing the
108-year-old bridge, city
officials have undertaken
the $7.42 million project
with hopes that it will spur
development and expansion
to the north.
Much of the project is
funded through a federal
grant and is expected to be
completed in 2019.
BRIEFLY
Sheriff’s deputies
working to feed
skinny horses
HERMISTON — The
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office is helping provide
food and water to five
reportedly neglected horses
on a pasture in Hermiston.
Undersheriff Jim
Littlefield said they are
working with the horses’
owner, Jaime Haines of
Irrigon, after fielding reports
about the animals in early
January.
Littlefield said two of the
older horses are “very thin,”
and it may take some time
before they are able to regain
their weight. In the meantime,
deputies will continue to
work with Haines before they
consider any further action.
The horses have not been
confiscated, and remain in
their pasture at 80361 Banks
Lane. Littlefield said it is
possible Haines, 37, will be
cited with animal neglect,
though that decision has not
been made yet.
Right now, Littlefield
said the case is ongoing and
they are simply working on
getting the animals back to a
healthy weight.
School district seeks
public input
on strategic plan
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton School District is
putting together a strategic
plan that will help determine
the future direction of the
school system, and they want
the public to give its input.
The district is holding a
community input session
for the strategic plan at the
Pendleton Early Learning
Center on Tuesday, March 21
at 7 p.m.
The district will provide
an online opportunity for
people who can’t make the
meeting but still wish to
comment on the plan.
community members
interested in nominating
someone for these awards
have until April 1 to submit
their nominations.
Nomination forms for
the Crystal Apple and Doug
Flatt awards are available on
the IMESD website at www.
imesd.k12.or.us/crystalapple/
home. For questions, call
IMESD spokeswoman
Michele Madril at 541-966-
3115.
Ask our reporter
anything about
Cascadia on Friday
East Oregonian reporter
Jade McDowell will be
taking questions Friday
afternoon in a Reddit
AMA — short for “Ask
Me Anything” — about her
recent Cascadia Aftermath
series in the East Oregonian.
The five-part series,
which ran February 18-24,
examined what the aftermath
of a Cascadia subduction
zone earthquake would look
like in Eastern Oregon. It
was accompanied by an
Eastern Oregon Forum on
Cascadia at Blue Mountain
Community College.
The AMA can be accessed
by visiting www.reddit.
com and searching for the /r/
IAMA subreddit. A link will
also be available on the /r/
CascadianPreppers subreddit,
dedicated to discussing
emergency preparedness in
the Pacific Northwest. It will
be hosted under the username
jmcdowellEO, and anyone
with a Reddit account can
submit questions starting
about noon on Friday.
McDowell covers
government, economic
development and features
for the East Oregonian and
Hermiston Herald.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
IMESD opens
nominations for
Crystal Apple
awards
The InterMountain
Education Service District is
now accepting applications
for the 2017 “Excellence in
Education” Crystal Apple
Awards.
Each year, the Crystal
Apples recognize dozens
principals, assistant
principals, teachers,
paraeducators, office staff,
maintenance staff and other
district staff across the
IMESD’s 18 component
districts for their dedication
and success.
Nominations are also
being accepted for the
2017 Doug Flatt Memorial
Award, an honor sponsored
by Mid Columbia Bus
Co. that spotlights an
administrator that exemplifies
leadership, attention to
detail, community service,
interpersonal skills and
customer service.
Staff, parents or
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN
SAGE center hosts annual
agriculture, energy job fair
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Local farms, factories
and utilities met face-to-face
with prospective employees
Wednesday during the
fourth annual Agriculture
and Energy Job Fair, hosted
by the SAGE Center.
This
year’s
event
featured 38 booths and a
full lineup of presentations
in the museum auditorium,
covering a range of topics
from résumé writing to
college financial planning.
Kalie Davis, SAGE
Center manager, said the job
fair is one way for people to
learn about the diversity of
positions available within
the agriculture and energy
industries, while high-
lighting many of the compa-
nies located in Umatilla and
Morrow counties.
“They have high-paying
jobs in this area,” Davis
said.
A number of the busi-
nesses that were on hand
operate facilities just down
the road at the Port of
Morrow’s East Beach Indus-
trial Park. Lamb Weston has
two potato processing plants
at the port, one of which will
soon be adding a new line
for making french fries.
More production means
hiring more employees,
said Jeffrey Otte, human
resources manager for Lamb
Weston. The job fair is one
way they are able to get
those jobs filled, he added.
“We’re growing leaps
and bounds every year,”
Otte said.
Threemile
Canyon
Farms, which grows a
variety of conventional and
organic crops and runs the
state’s largest dairy west
of Boardman, also arrived
Staff photo by George Plaven
Shane Clayson, research manager for DuPont Pioneer, speaks with Andrea Islas,
of Hermiston, about job opportunities during the fourth annual Agriculture and
Energy Job Fair at the SAGE Center.
“They have
high-paying jobs
in this area.”
— Kalie Davis, SAGE
Center manager,
Wednesday with about
seven open positions, said
Candice Fertterer, human
resources specialist. The
farm also provides student
internships in its irrigation
department, farm and dairy.
Because
Threemile
Canyon is hidden away in
a rural part of the county,
Fertterer said the job fair
helps them to get their name
out to job hunters.
“Its been a great experi-
ence for us,” she said.
Shane Clayson, research
manager
for
DuPont
Pioneer in Hermiston,
said the company has
expanded its research into
new hybrid corn seed, and
needs contract workers to
help with testing before the
products are ready to hit the
market.
With an array of new
technology in all different
agricultural sectors, Clayson
said people may not be fully
aware of all the different
jobs companies have avail-
able.
“We’ve got everything
from mechanics to auto-
mation to maintenance
and agronomy,” he said.
“There’s just a lot of
different technology and
opportunities out there.”
Trade work is also
part of the equation, said
Jane DeSimone, human
resources specialist with
Portland General Electric.
PGE especially needs
equipment operators, elec-
First section of bike trail open to public
East Oregonian
It’s still a work in progress, but
hikers, bikers and runners can now
access the Pendleton Adventure Trails
Recreation Area.
On Feb. 21, Echo Bike & Board
declared the 4.7-mile trail developed
on 290 acres of sparsely used land west
of the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport
officially open.
Although much of the trail is still
unusable because of weather condi-
tions, the first section is ready for public
use.
The Pendleton City Council
approved the recreation area in March
2016 with an agreement that local
bike organizations would maintain the
course.
Former city councilor Chuck Wood
voted to institute the bike park and is a
member of Pendleton on Wheels, one
of the organizations that sponsors the
area.
Shayne Myers of Echo Bike &
Board, another sponsor of the Pend-
leton trail and the main sponsors of Red
2 Red Cross Country Mountain Bike
Race in Echo, built the course over the
winter when the ground is malleable
enough to create a trail.
Perhaps fitting of an off-road course,
finding the trail requires going slightly
Photo contributed by Seth Myers
In this undated photo, Shayne Myers rides his bike at the Pendleton
Adventure Trails Recreation Area.
off the beaten path.
From Westgate, drivers must go
north on Airport Road before making
a left on an unmarked road between
Western States Caterpillar and Farm
Equipment headquarters. After trav-
eling up a hill, drivers must stay left at
the farm equipment building and park
in the lot.
The entrance to the trail doesn’t
East Oregonian has an
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have proper signs yet, although Wood
expects that to come this summer when
the next phase of the trail is complete.
Wood expects the trail to grow each
year as Echo Bike & Board continues to
work on the area.
Sponsors and city officials have
expressed interest in the recreation area
eventually hosting a bike race similar to
the Red 2 Red in Echo.
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tricians and mechanics to
work in their power plants.
“For a lot of high school
students, they don’t really
consider the trades as on
option,” DeSimone said.
“It’s good for them to get
that information and know
there are other ways of
working.”
The Boardman Coal
Plant has recurrent open-
ings, she said, and now the
Carty gas plant is in full
operation just next door.
Davis said she spoke
with a few people who
visited the job fair, and left
with interviews already
scheduled.
“That to me is the ulti-
mate success story,” she
said.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
PENDLETON
MULTI-MEDIA SALES
Send resume and letter of
interest to
Page 3A
March 3rd from 5 to 7:00 p.m.
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Clam Chowder Bread Bowl - $4.25
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