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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2017)
REGION Thursday, March 23, 2017 East Oregonian HERMISTON Page 3A HERMISTON City wins online competition for new playground at Sunset Park East Oregonian Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan Jose Juarez helps his sons Jairo, 4, and Junior, 8, paint a tic-tac-toe board at Head Start’s A Day for Dudes event Tuesday. ‘A Day for Dudes’ Head Start hosts night for male role models and it looks like Portland slacked off a bit,” Fetter said. Portland’s Jason Lee Elementary gave Herm- iston a run for its money multiple times during the month-long contest, but ended at a little over 15,000 votes to Hermiston’s more than 19,000. The city plans to use the money to build a new playground at Sunset Park on Northeast Fourth Street in Hermiston. The city purchased a parcel of land next to Sunset Park and last fall removed the public works entrance to effec- tively double the parks size. During the renovation process the old slide and swing set were removed for safety reasons. HERMISTON Community meal to support Ball-Kiser vegetables, rolls, coffee, tea loving woman who loves Volunteers pitch in and dessert. helping people,” she said. to help manage Marks said food and “It’s a ministry for her.” It’s the community’s woman’s medical bills use of the senior center By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian It was “A Day for Dudes,” as fathers, uncles, grand- fathers and older brothers joined the kids in their family for dinner and activities at Rocky Heights Elementary on Tuesday evening. The event, planned by Umatilla-Morrow Head Start, encourages males to take a more active role in their children’s upbringing. “It’s giving male role models an opportunity to be part of a child’s life and spend time with them,” said Jonny Badillo, a family advocate for Head Start. The event was a kickoff to a parenting series Badillo is organizing, called “Nurturing Fathers.” “We hope to do more events like this,” Badillo said. “We invite all male role models to come back. It’s not just for fathers. Males play a strong, positive role in a child’s life.” The event started with dinner and free time, and then families worked together on a couple of projects — building a small wooden house out of Popsicle sticks, and painting a tic-tac-toe board on wood. Books were also available for families to take home, all in a specific theme: fathers as nurturers. Hermiston’s community pride beat out Rip City itself over the last month as residents rallied together to win a new playground for Sunset Park. The Moda Assist Program pledged $10 per assist by the Portland Trail Blazers during regular-season games to one of three cities with the most votes in an online competition. The money comes from Moda and the Portland Trail Blazers, and is expected to equal about $20,000 — double what the city would otherwise have for purchase of equipment. The results have not made official yet, but the vote tally when the compe- tition closed Monday night showed Hermiston ahead by more than 4,000 votes. Larry Fetter, Hermiston’s parks and recreation director, announced the win on the city’s social media account. To help Hermiston beat out Tillamook and the much-more-populous Portland, local businesses offered up raffle prizes to people who shared posts on Facebook about the contest or commented that they had voted. Fetter said Tuesday that dedication, along with peoples’ willingness to spend the time to vote multiple times on the last day, helped clinch the win. “That’s why we got so big, is we were voting until right before midnight, By TAMMY MALGESINI East Oregonian Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan A dad works with his two daughters on an art project at the “Day for Dudes” Tuesday evening at Rocky Heights Elementary School. “It’s not just for fathers. Males play a strong, positive role in a child’s life.” — Jonny Badillo, family advocate for Head Start “Usually, dads tend to be disciplinarians,” Badillo said. “It’s OK for dads to be nurturing. Our goal is for every child to take a book home.” Some children brought several family members to the event — one boy brought his father, uncles and grand- father. “It’s great to see that,” Badillo said. Dan Daltoso, the associate director of Head Start, was helping out at the event. “We’ve never had an event like this before, bringing the dads together,” he said. He looked around the room at families playing together, and fathers chatting with each other. “Even if it does nothing else, even if they’re just here to eat dinner, they’re with their kids and friends,” he said. Although the program is organized by Head Start, Badillo said the workshops are open to anyone. Badillo will facilitate several “Nurturing Fathers” workshops over the next couple of months. The first one will take place Tuesday, April 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Rocky Heights. –—— Contact Jayati Ramakrishnan at 541-564- 4534 or jramakrishnan@ eastoregonian.com Friends and volunteers with the Community Fellowship Dinner are cooking up support for Laurie Ball-Kiser, the longtime coordinator of the twice-yearly meals. Tom Marks, who first met the Hermiston woman at the First Christian Church and has volunteered with the holiday meals for two decades, said Ball-Kiser was transferred to Regency Hermiston a couple of weeks ago. While she is closer to home, her medical bills continue to pile up, Marks said. “She’s drowning in debt and we’re trying to help her out,” he said. A benefit dinner is Sunday from 4-7 p.m. at the Hermiston Senior Center, 435 W. Orchard Ave. A suggested donation of $10 is appreciated for the meal, which includes ham, turkey, cheesy mashed potatoes, have been donated, so all money raised will go to help Ball-Kiser. Volunteers are still needed, as they are expecting a large turnout, he added. While being treated for a kidney stone and urinary tract infection diagnosed in September, Ball-Kiser suffered at least one stroke. In addition to time spent in a recovery home, she has had extensive hospital stays, including the intensive care unit at Kadlec Regional Medical Center. Although she has medical insurance, when a GoFundMe campaign was set up in late January, it was reported Ball-Kiser and her husband, Joe, were facing more than $20,000 in medical debt. That campaign recently indicates nearly $5,000 has been raised. Cathy Stolz, owner of the Chuckwagon Cafe, said Ball-Kiser often reaches out to others, aware of their needs and struggles. “She’s just a warm and turn, Stolz said, to reach out and minister to Ball-Kiser. Karen Snyder, who helped set up a benefit account, agreed. She said people who aren’t able to help financially are asked to provide prayer support for the Kisers. People can also make donations via: •A GoFundMe link at www.gofundme.com/ laurie-ballkiser-benefit-fund •By check or cash via the Laurie Ball-Kiser Benefit Fund at Columbia River Bank, 1033 S. Highway 395, Hermiston. •Drop off cash or checks for the Laurie Ball-Kiser Benefit Fund at Chuck- wagon Cafe, 81027 N. Highway 395, Hermiston. For more information on how to help, call Jan Cassens at 541-720-8262 or Cathy Stolz at 541-567- 6329. ——— Contact Community Editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4539 PENDLETON Council: Backyard car collection a nuisance HERMISTON New substation expected to keep power on By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Construction of a new Umatilla Electric Coopera- tive substation should mean fewer power failures for Hermiston in the future. The Hermiston East substation, located near the intersection of Northeast 10th Street and East Elm Avenue, started construction at the end of February and is expected to be completed in July. Steve Meyers of Umatilla Electric Coopera- tive said UEC will use three of the station’s feeders, while Hermiston Energy Services will use the other three. A second transformer can be added on later as Hermiston grows. The estimated project cost is $4,750,000 and it is being completed by Potelco, Inc. of Sumner, Washington. Meyers said in an email the project will “help reduce the number of customers affected by an outage and allow for quicker restoration times” by relieving the load on UEC’s other three Hermiston substations. The substation will also have the ability to be served from two different points of delivery from Bonneville Power Administration, creating more flexibility. The substation will be UEC’s 31st overall. Hermiston Energy Services, which serves a portion of the city of Herm- iston, contracts with UEC to maintain, build and operate its infrastructure. Nate Rivera, superinten- dent of HES, said that HES pays for power from UEC’s Feedville and Butte substa- tions. Adding Hermiston East to the mix will mean HES pays for less power from the other two substations, but the power from the new substation will be “a bit more expensive.” The difference will be made up using the rate increase the city council approved last June. “When we did a cost anal- ysis, we made assumptions based on the new substation,” Rivera said. He said the small increase in cost will be worth the increased reliability. BRIEFLY Forests seek members for Resource Advisory Committee For more information, contact Jeff Tomac at 541-523-1301 or email jtomac@fs.fed.us. PENDLETON — The Northeast Oregon Forests Resource Advisory Committee is seeking nominations for new members including elected officials, industry professionals and environmental groups. The committee’s job is to recommend projects that improve forest health, watersheds, roads and facilities on the Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman and Malheur national forests. Projects range from building new trails to improving fish habitat in streams. Committee members are officially appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture for two-year terms, and are expected to hold up to two full-day meetings each year. Members are not paid, but may be reimbursed for travel expenses. Nominations will be accepted through April 30. Residents of Morrow, Union, Wallowa, Wheeler, Baker, Crook, Grant, Harney and Malheur counties are particularly encouraged to apply, though others may also submit applications. Ione man arrested for sex abuse, rape of child IONE — The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office arrested 40-year-old Corey Scott Baker of Ione for first-degree rape and sexual abuse of a girl younger than 12. Sheriff Ken Matlack in a written statement said the arrest happened Wednesday and the investigation is ongoing. Morrow County Circuit Court records show a grand jury on March 13 indicted Baker on two counts of felony sex crimes. Judge Eva Temple signed the warrant for Baker’s arrest the same day. Matlack reported the arrest was due to the warrant. According to the indictment, the district attorney’s office alleged Baker raped and molested the girl sometime between July and December 2016. The sheriff’s office also released Baker on his own recognizance. The release agreement shows he has an arraignment April 20 to face the charges. He called the nuisance — whether to declare the Owner given 45 days ordinance “ludicrous” and property a nuisance and to clear property argued that it needed to be how much time he should East Oregonian The Pendleton City Council told John Sullivan that he must remove his backyard collection of vehicles or the city would remove it for him. On March 8, the city notified Sullivan that his 1521 S.E. Alexander Place property, visible from the Pendleton River Parkway, was in violation of the nuisance ordinance because of a surfeit of unlicensed and inoperable vehicles on the premises, in addition to other materials the city considered solid waste like auto body parts, fencing sections and old siding. Sullivan protested the notification, which gave him a chance to make his case in front of the city council at a meeting Tuesday. changed, Sullivan admitted that many of the vehicles on his property are inoperable and unlicensed, but added that they were investments he sells to collectors. “Solid waste — there really isn’t anything other than 10 minutes worth of (cleaning) stuff that I should probably throw away anyway,” he said. Sullivan suggested the city council drive around his neighborhood and they would see properties that had worse nuisance prob- lems than his own. Pendleton code enforce- ment officer Jennifer Etcha- mendy said all vehicles on residential properties must be located in a garage or driveway. City attorney Nancy Kerns said the council had two decisions to make get to abate it. The council voted 7-0 to declare his property a nuisance, with councilor Neil Brown recusing himself from deliberations and the vote for “personal reasons.” Although the ordinance gives an offender five days to abate the nuisance, the council voted 6-1 to give Sullivan 45 days to clear his property of the vehicles and solid waste, councilor John Brenne voting against. Kerns said the city would follow up with Sullivan after he cleaned the prop- erty to determine whether the nuisance had been abated. If it isn’t cleaned to the city’s satisfaction after the 45-day period, Kerns said the city would have the authority to abate the nuisance itself at Sullivan’s expense. 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