REGION
Friday, April 21, 2017
East Oregonian
UMATILLA
Page 3A
BOARDMAN
Students spend Earth Day at McNary Dam Police leaders
vie for posts to
decide emergency
communications
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
You can learn about the
Earth right in your own
backyard.
That’s the point McNary
Heights teachers tried to
drive home for their students
on a schoolwide Earth Day
field trip to McNary Lock
and Dam. The facility, which
is only a short drive from the
elementary school, is also
home to a fish hatchery,
some nature trails and small
parks.
Groups
of
students
roamed the grounds, learning
about various aspects of the
dam from employees, park
rangers and high school
students who hosted infor-
mational booths.
On a small perch above
the rushing water, Denise
Griffith stood and talked
to a group of children and
parents about the fish collec-
tion process.
“We collect salmon for
24 hours, and put them in
tanks,” she said. “At 7 a.m.
we examine them and make
sure they’re healthy.”
She pointed to a fish
separator, a metal chute with
bars that divide it by size,
to separate bigger fish from
smaller ones.
“So they don’t eat each
other,” she said.
She added that someone
works at the station around
the clock, making sure
certain types of fish are
released.
“Steelhead kelt,” she said.
“They’re endangered, so we
let them go right away.”
A kelt is a salmonid that
is returning from the sea to
spawn.
Students got a chance
to see all aspects of the
dam: the powerhouse and
water turbines, the fish
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Fifth graders from McNary Heights Elementary School pose for a photo in front of
the McNary Damn during an Earth Day field trip Thursday in Umatilla.
“You’d be amazed
at how many kids
have never been
down here.”
— Ann Johnson, first
grade teacher at McNary
Heights Elementary School
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Second graders from McNary Heights Elementary
School walk across a foot bridge during an Earth Day
field trip Thursday at McNary Dam Wildlife Area in
Umatilla.
hatchery and viewing area,
as well as the natural areas
surrounding the facility. It
offered students the chance
to learn not just about the
dam, but about animals and
plants in the area.
A park ranger demon-
strated to a group of kinder-
garteners, using deer hide,
how to tell the difference
between a white-tailed deer
and a mule deer.
“They’re
herbivores,”
he tells the rapt students.
“So they won’t eat you, just
plants. But you don’t want to
touch them, either, because
they can carry lots and lots
of ticks.”
Ann Johnson, a first
grade teacher whose class
was learning about fish habi-
tats, said the school comes
to McNary Dam every year.
“We’re going to learn
about birds of prey, and
about the habitats in our own
back yard,” Johnson said.
“You’d be amazed at how
many kids have never been
down here.”
———
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan at 541-564-
4534 or jramakrishnan@
eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON
Principal candidates interview at Sunset
Decision will be made as early as next week after public forum
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Sunset Elementary School
staff members met the final
four candidates for the
school’s soon-to-be-vacant
principal position Thursday,
after the candidates went
through a round of inter-
views and school visits that
morning.
The final candidates are
Lisa Arriaga, Eric Fuchs,
Christine Petersen and
Stephanne Seals.
Each candidate had
about five minutes to speak
about their background
and qualifications to the
audience, followed by a brief
question-and answer period.
Petersen spoke about
her 27 years in education.
She currently works as an
assistant professor at Corban
University, a school improve-
ment coach for Education
Northwest Network, an
adjunct professor at George
Fox University for Educa-
tional Leadership and an
administrative consultant.
She said while she enjoys
her current roles, she’s ready
to be back in a school.
“As a leader, I’m very
relational,” she said. “I’m
looking forward to building
a community where I can
spend the rest of my career,
12 to 15 years.”
A native of San Diego,
Petersen said she developed
a passion for teaching
reading when she taught
fourth grade in Virginia.
“I had fourth graders who
were non-readers, and a lot
of their parents were incar-
cerated,” she said. “People
had given up on them.”
She said her childhood,
in which she grew up with a
single parent, inspired her to
get into education.
“It was the teachers in my
life who saw my potential,”
she said. “To me, fair isn’t
equal. Fair is kids getting
what they need to be college
and career-ready.”
Fuchs, a native Orego-
nian, has worked at Edwards
Elementary
School
in
Newberg for 19 years.
“I’m an elementary
person through and through,”
he said.
He
emphasized
the
importance of supporting
students and teachers not
only in the classroom, but in
other interests such as clubs
and school activities.
He said his policy as an
educator is to build strong
relationships
with
the
students and staff, as well as
the community.
“To be an effective
educational leader, you need
character and competence,”
he said.
Stephanne Seals, an
assistant middle school prin-
cipal at the Wichita Public
Schools in Wichita, Kansas,
has taught and served as an
administrator and coach in
middle schools.
“I’m very passionate
about public education,” she
said. “It’s our social contract
with our students, and with
our nation. They’re our
future.”
Seals said while the
bulk of her experience is in
middle schools, she thinks
her skills would translate.
“I believe a leader is a
leader,” she said. “I know
how to lead staff and
students. I think I can have
an impact in the lower grades
as well as the middle.
Seals is in the process of
getting her ESOL (English
for Speakers of Other
Languages) endorsement.
Arriaga has served as the
assistant principal of Sand-
stone Middle School for the
past two years, and as a back-
ground teaching elementary
school and English as
Second Language. She has
worked as an instructional
coach, an AVID teacher and
an ELL teacher, including at
one of the lowest-performing
schools in the state of Wash-
ington.
Arriaga said she learned
a lot from working at that
school, and working in an
elementary school was one
of her strengths.
She also discussed her
experience working in
low-income schools.
“Every
school
I’ve
worked in has been Title I,”
she said.
Arriaga said she has
enjoyed being in Hermiston,
and thought the school
would be a good fit.
Assistant
superinten-
dent Tricia Mooney said
a decision will be made
after superintendent Dr.
Fred Maiocco reviews the
candidates and does refer-
ence checks. He will then
provide a recommendation
to the board. Mooney said
the soonest a decision will
be made is at the end of next
week, but did not have an
exact date.
Devin Grigg resigned
the principal job to start a
business in Arizona after 12
years as an administrator
in the district. Desert View
Elementary School will also
seek a new principal for next
school year with the resigna-
tion of Michael Roberts.
Debt collector takes Morrow County DA to court
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Morrow County District
Attorney Justin Nelson is on
track for a courtroom show-
down with a debt collector.
Evergreen
Financial
Services Inc., of Yakima,
Washington, filed a claim on
March 2 in Morrow County
Circuit Court asserting the
prosecutor owed $495.91
plus $27.64 in interest
stemming from a April
1, 2016, bill from Kadlec
Regional Medical Center,
Richland, Washington. The
collection outfit seeks a
total of $664.08, including a
$53 filing fee and a $87.53
service charge.
A representative for
Evergreen said she could
not discuss the case without
permission from Kadlec.
Nelson declined to speak
about the case but said he
had a problem with how
Evergreen operated.
“I wasn’t given any notice
of it,” he said.
Court documents show
Nelson filed a motion
on March 14 to dismiss,
asserting Evergreen failed
to comply with Oregon
laws for filing small claims.
Evergreen did not make a
good faith effort to collect
the bill before filing the
claim, according to Nelson’s
request, nor did the company
provide “any affidavit of any
sort” to back up its reason
for the collection effort.
Two days later, Circuit
Judge Dan Hill of Hermiston
denied Nelson’s move but
noted the need for a hearing
to consider the matter.
Evergreen
responded
with a motion of its own
on March 31 — to have
someone call the court for all
hearings rather than appear
in person. The request
claimed the company’s
“schedule and availability
for the number of hearings
scheduled before the court
does not permit him to travel
one entire day round trip
from Yakima to the court’s
location.”
Hill denied Evergreen’s
request.
He also disqualified his
four fellow judges of the
Sixth Judicial District from
the case, rescued himself
and ordered another judge to
preside over the claim.
Pro Tem Judge Michael
J. Gillespie of Oregon’s 15th
Judicial District will hear
arguments for and against
dismissal starting at 9 a.m. on
May 19 in Morrow County
Circuit Court, Heppner.
Live Music
9:00
PM
Friday, April 21
QUINELL
8 S . E . CO U RT, P E N D L E TO N • 5 4 1 . 278 .1 1 0 0
The
7-year-old
Umatilla Morrow Radio
& Data District, tasked
with keeping emergency
services in touch with one
another, could be in for a
major shake-up in the May
special election.
Rick Stokoe, Boardman
police chief, is challenging
Position 2 incumbent
Kathy Lieuallen, Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office
communications manager.
And Loren Dieter, lieu-
tenant with the Boardman
Police Department, is
looking to oust Mike
Roxbury from the Posi-
tion 1 seat. Roxbury is a
Umatilla city councilor
and the former chief of
the Umatilla Rural Fire
Protection District,
Wins by the challengers
would boost the board’s
Morrow County members
to four, with Mark Pratt,
Boardman police sergeant
and Ken Matlack, the
Morrow County sheriff
already on the board.
Keith Kennedy, Umatilla
police lieutenant, would
be the lone member from
Umatilla County.
Voters approved the
district in 2010 to make
sure police, fire and
ambulance services in the
two counties — excluding
Milton-Freewater — can
communicate with each
other. The district main-
tains relays and antennas,
for example, and provides
agencies with emergency
radios. Stokoe said while
he has heard some people
are concerned with a
“Morrow County take-
over,” the district directors
stand for the whole and not
for either county. He said it
is akin to his service as one
of the five commissioners
for the Port of Morrow,
who are representatives of
the entire county and not
any one city or community.
The real issue in the
election, he said, is about
having a board that makes
wise financial choices
with limited funds to
ensure reliable emergency
communications, which he
stressed is vital to public
safety.
The district budget is a
little over $2 million and
employs a director, an
administrative/technical
assistant and a commu-
nications
technician,
all for about $329,000.
District resources include
$181,000 in state grants
and about $100,000 in
various payments and user
fees. The biggest chunk
of the budget — about $1
million — comes from
property taxes with a rate
of 17 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value.
“That’s not a lot of
money for a system of that
kind,” Stokoe said, so the
district directors must be
frugal.
He questioned that
frugality at the board’s
meeting on March 17,
when members and director
Shawn Halsey discussed
options to replace the
aging Motorola radios the
district uses. The company
no longer makes them and
is ending its support for the
system.
Stokoe, who attends
most of the board’s
meetings, according to the
minutes, asked the board
about the costs of replacing
the radio system. Stokoe
said no one could provide
an answer.
Halsey, the minutes
state, said the cost would
depend on the vendor,
and Stokoe told the board
“to spend the tax payer’s
money correctly and to
know the amount the
system will cost before
making a decision.”
Stokoe said that was
frustrating for him, and
he also wants to bring his
27 years of public safety
work to bear on the issue
of emergency communica-
tion, as well as his military
experience in that area. He
added he also has experi-
ence working with public
budgets.
Dieter, too, said he has
a fiscally conservative
attitude and replacing the
radios is the major question
the board must answer.
“It’s time to upgrade our
system and look into the
future,” he said, and doing
that means considering all
options.
Stokoe said he has the
support of several law
enforcement
agencies
in the two counties, and
Dieter said he might take to
Facebook to help generate
votes. Both also said
they are relying on word-
of-mouth and have not
decided if they are going to
go door-to-door to ask for
votes.
Lieuallen nor Roxbury
returned
messages
Thursday.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
PENDLETON
City to hold annual tree
giveaway at science fair
East Oregonian
In honor of Earth Day,
the city of Pendleton
will hold its annual tree
giveaway at the Earth
Day Community Science
Fair at Roy Raley Park on
Saturday.
According to a Pend-
leton Parks and Recreation
Department,
volunteers
will be stationed toward
the back of the park from
11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where
they will hand out tree
seedlings that include sugar
pine, ponderosa pine, water
birch, and pacific ninebark,
along with balloons and
handouts on trees.
“The trees will be given
away first come, first serve,
and any remaining trees
will be given to those who
leave their contact infor-
mation,” the press release
states.
The giveaway is spon-
sored by the parks and
recreation
department,
the Pendleton Parks and
Recreation Commission,
the U.S. Forest Service
and the Pendleton Tree
Commission.