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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2017)
REGION Saturday, March 18, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Former Umatilla City to discuss EOTEC, senior center bid chamber director “The city is committed to making pleads guilty to theft sure the project is completed in By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Hermiston City Council will be asked to award G2 Construction the contract for construction of the Harkenrider Center during Monday’s city council meeting at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. The facility will primarily serve as Hermiston’s senior center but after five years will also be able to host programs for all ages after 3 p.m. Groundbreaking will begin mid-April and the building will be on Ridgeway Avenue north of the Hermiston Public Library. The Kennewick-based G2 Construction beat out Griffin Construction and Wellens Farwell as the low bidder at $2,189,000 plus $80,000 for an elevator. The city has also set aside $250,000 for parking improvements around the center. The first $2 million for the project came from a a professional manner.” — Mark Morgan, assistant city manager, speaking about the Harkenrider Center federal Community Devel- opment Block Grant, which has been in the news recently as one of the programs that President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate. The city council later voted to add $550,000 for an unfinished basement, and funds as needed for parking improvements and other elements that end up not being covered by the $2 million. “The city is committed to making sure the project is completed in a professional manner,” assistant city manager Mark Morgan said. The council’s regular meeting will be preceded by a joint work session at 6 p.m. between the council and the Umatilla County commissioners to discuss the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. Recently both partners in the project have discussed possible adjustments to management of the project, including having the city council take over management from the EOTEC authority board or having the county withdraw its authority over the project completely. After the work session, during the regular city council meeting, the council will be asked to approve leases between EOTEC and the Umatilla County Fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo. The council will also be asked to approve an ordi- nance amending the Tran- sient Room Tax language to acknowledge that federal employees are exempt from paying such local and state taxes while acting on official federal business. A resolution also on the agenda would update the employee handbook to a consistent policy across departments allowing employees required to use a cell phone for work to choose between a city-issued phone to only be used for work purposes or a $40 per month reimbursement in return for using their personal cell phone for work. The policy is expected to cost the city an extra $500 per month but brings them in line with guidelines issued by the State of Oregon Ethics Commission. The meeting will be held at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, 1705 E Airport Road, instead of city hall. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. Majority of seats draw only one candidate East Oregonian In line with years past, candidates in Umatilla County won’t face much competition in the upcoming May elections. After the Thursday filing deadline, a list of candidates published by the Umatilla County Elections Division revealed that 70 percent of the 124 seats up for election had only one candidate running while 18 percent had no candidate at all. Held in May during odd numbered years, the “special election” is used to vote on candidates for school boards, fire protection districts and other service districts. Despite the low number of participants, there are still a handful of contested elections local residents will see on their ballots. The Umatilla Morrow Data & Radio District, a taxing district that provides communications system support for almost every law enforcement and emergency services agency in Umatilla and Morrow counties, has two contested races that could significantly change the composition of its board. Position 1 incumbent Mike Roxbury, the former chief of the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District, is being challenged by Loren Dieter, a lieutenant with the Boardman Police Depart- ment. Dieter’s chief at the Boardman PD, Rick Stokoe, is also mounting a challenge against Position 2 incumbent Kathy Lieuallen, Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office communications manager. If both Dieter and Stokoe are elected, four out of the five seats on the board would belong to people from Morrow County. Position 4 incumbent Ken Matlack, the Morrow County sheriff, is running unopposed. The Pendleton School Board also has a contested race, its first since 2005. Chris Roop will try to unseat board chairwoman Debbie McBee, who is seeking her third term. Although board member Gary George was one of 10 people who sought appoint- ment to the Position 4 seat when it was vacated, he will face no challengers as he runs for his first full term. Neither will Position 1 board member Steve Umbarger, who is running for a third term. Other boards that feature contested races include the Athena-Weston School District, the Stanfield School District, the Pilot Rock School District, the Riverside Fire District, the Rieth Water Supply District, the Echo Cemetery District and the Umatilla County Library District. Some seats drew no filed candidates, including the Blue Mountain Community College Board of Educa- tion Zone 5 seat, which is currently vacant, and Herm- iston School Board Position 3 seat, which will be vacated by Don Rankin. Umatilla County elections manager Kim Lindell said the elections division will accept write-in votes for all the seats without a declared candidates. Once the write-in votes have been counted, the winner will be asked to accept the position. If they decline, then the local board is given the authority to declare the seat vacant and appoint someone to fill the seat for the next two years. The election will be held May 16. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. FLOODING: Umatilla’s baseball field is flooded Continued from 1A we’ll go out and restore it — it washes out the chip mate- rial we use for playground, and leaves a lot of mud,” he said. “It’s really messy and there’s a lot of cleanup.” Fetter said floods like this aren’t all that common in Hermiston, but seem to occur once every four or five years, and has more to do with the temperature in the mountains. “People love that park, so they’re impacted,” he said. Most other areas surrounding Hermiston appeared to be largely unaffected by the flooding, with some minor overflows, but some have had issues in the past. City staff in Stanfield said a levee was built 15 years ago to prevent flooding. Staff at the city of Umatilla said they weren’t aware of any flooding Friday, Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Umatilla River floods Riverfront Park on Friday in Hermiston. but Umatilla High School had one area affected. “Our baseball field got flooded out, we played in Irrigon yesterday,” said office manager Debbie Tesch. But after flooding several years ago on some March 4-5-6, 2016 | Spokane Fair & Expo Center | Spokane, WA of their other athletic fields, Tesch said a dike was built to alleviate flooding problems on school fields. lost the job and her teaching license after stealing around $9,000 from the district. She avoided jail that Karen Diane Hutchin- son-Talaski of Hermiston time as well, and served two must pay back more than years of probation. Hutchinson-Talaski in $8,000 she stole from the Umatilla Chamber of 2008 worked as a reporter for the Hermiston Herald. Commerce. Ribich, a recent addition Umatilla city councilor Mark Ribich is the cham- to the chamber board, said as far has he knew ber’s interim the board was not president. He said aware of Hutchin- the amount is s o n - Ta l a s k i ’s what the chamber previous theft could prove with before hiring her. receipts while The theft the actual total marred the cham- remains unknown. ber’s reputation, Hutchin- he said, and the son-Talaski, 60, lack of funds stole from the chamber in 2014 Hutchinson-Talaski affected chamber activities, and 2015 while working as its director, including the movies in according to court docu- the park program and the ments. She pleaded guilty annual Landing Days. “We learned some Monday to two counts of first-degree theft, felonies, lessons though,” he said, and one of second-degree and the chamber has tighten theft, a misdemeanor. up its financial reporting Umatilla County Circuit and now conducts “100 Court documents show percent background checks” Judge Eva Temple sentenced on employees. Ribich said Jennifer Hutchinson-Talaski to three years of probation, Wylie resigned as the including completing a theft board president, and he is counseling program and 80 filling in until the board hours of community service can hold a proper election. work. Hutchinson-Talaski The chamber is focused on also must pay restitution of rebuilding, he said, and last $8,057.91 and fines and fees week hired Lori Kimbel of Elgin as the chamber’s new of $720. This is Hutchinson-Ta- director. She owns and operates laski’s second conviction for embezzlement. She taught the bi-monthly Northeast for the Morrow County Oregon Business News and School District from August was active in the restoration 1992 until October 1998. of the Elgin Opera House, Records from the Oregon Ribich said, and is the Teacher Standards and Prac- “ball of fire” the Umatilla tices Commission show she chamber needs. By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Sentence of child rapist shorter than original By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Edward Joseph Pergande, 39, was sentenced Thursday in Heppner to nearly 23 years in prison, the mandatory minimum sentence under Measure 11, after pleading guilty to two counts each of first degree sex abuse and sodomy. The new sentence, 275 months, is nearly one-third the length of his original sentence. The sentencing concludes a long and complicated case that began in 2008 in which Pergande initially pleaded not guilty to all charges. A Morrow County jury in 2011 convicted Pergande, who lived in Irrigon, of sexually abusing two girls between December 2005 and September 2007. The victims were his then-girlfriend’s children and at the time were between the ages of 4 and 7. He was convicted of first-de- gree rape, unlawful sexual penetration, first-degree sexual abuse and coercion. Pergande was sentenced to 62 years, but he appealed the case and won. The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in April 2015 that a judge made an error in allowing a certain testimony. MULTI-MEDIA SALES Press Position March 17-18-19, 2017 Great work environment. Super awesome team. Good pay. Retirement plan. Weekends off. Interested? Press person need- ed at East Oregonian newspaper. Our operation prints an array of weekly, bi-weekly and monthly publications. To join our team, you’ll need web press operation skills, an eye for color, mechanical ability, be a good com- municator and work well with others. Must be able to lift 50# and go up/down stairs on a regular basis. East Oregonian has an opening for multi-media sales. No multi-media experience? That’s fine, as long as you understand the importance of customer service, working hard and a desire to enjoy your job. Could this be you? OVER 150 NORTHWEST ARTISANS FINE ART | HAND CRAFT | SPECIALTY FOODS TRAC Center Pasco, WA FREE PARKING CusterShows.com Friday 10 AM —8 PM Saturday 10 AM —6 PM Sunday 10 AM —4 PM In addition to the victims, a clinical social worker who treated them testified at the trial and denied the children showed any indications of someone coaching them for their testimony. The Court of Appeals ruled Circuit Judge Eva Temple should not have allowed the statement, as it was “plain error for a trial court not to strike testimony of a witness that is an explicit comment on the credibility of another witness.” The appeals court found the judge’s allowing of that testimony to be a “grave error,” because the case had no physical evidence of abuse, and the social worker “was presented as an expert in treating sexual abuse victims with signifi- cant experience in spotting indications of suggestion or coaching.” Since July 2015, Pergande has been in the Umatilla County Jail, and has had several proceedings. Pergande’s team and the state finally negotiated a plea, which he entered Thursday. Pergande’s attorney, Dean Gushwa, said he will be taken to Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Wilsonville, for processing, and then begin serving his term at another state prison. Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group PO Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com Base wage plus commissions, benefits and mileage reimbursement. Benefits include Paid Time Off (PTO), insurances and a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. Send resume and cover letter stating salary requirements to: EO Media Group PO Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 or fax: (503) 371-2935 or email: hr@eomediagroup.com. Benefi ts include Paid Time Off (PTO), insur- ances and a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group., PO Box 2048, Salem, OR 97308-2048, by fax to 503-371-2935 or email hr@eomediagroup.com
