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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