REGION
Thursday, July 13, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Crash ends chase within seconds
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Where’s it coming from?
Water flows from a storm drain at the corner of West Division Avenue and
Southwest Seventh Street in Hermiston. The water, which has been flowing
steadily out of the drain for about five days, has been traveling two blocks down
Seventh Street to another drain on Highland Avenue. The city of Hermiston’s
water department has determined it is not coming from a problem with the city’s
water system and has referred the problem to the street department to continue
investigating its source.
Phone scams pose as power company
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Phone
scammers
pretending to be from
Pacific Power tried to bilk
$1,500 from the Stanfield
Moose Lodge.
But Leland Winebarger,
junior governor of Lodge
920, said he double-checked
with the power company
and did not pay a dime. He
said he wants to make sure
others also know about the
scam.
The lodge got a call
from a man who claimed to
be with Pacific Power and
threatened to shut down
electricity to the lodge for
failing to pay metering fees,
Winebarger said, and that
was the first he ever heard
of the fee.
The caller said crews
were in the area and ready
to kill the juice at the flip
of a switch, Winebarger
said, unless the lodge paid
$1,500. Winebarger said he
talked that down to $500,
and the caller said to pay the
fees through money cards
from a local retailer.
“‘Doesn’t this seem like
scam to you,’ that’s what I
kept telling them,” Wine-
barger said.
He was right, of course.
But the fake company man
sounded convincing, Wine-
barger said, and insisted
this was on the up-and-up.
Winebarger said he decided
to call Pacific Power first.
He said the company
representative told him it
was a scam and there was
no metering fee.
The scammers called
back, Winebarger said, and
the number on the caller
identification was the same
as Pacific Power’s. The
swindler even gave the
same first name as the real
company representative.
The
circumstances
prompted Winebarger to
again call Pacific Power,
where a representative
confirmed con artists are
able to “mirror” the compa-
ny’s phone number.
Pacific Power spokesman
Tom Gauntt said these
scams often go after busi-
nesses and tend to come in
small clusters in an area.
Pacific Power does not
charge a metering fee, nor
would it try to collect past
due amounts over the phone
with a threat, Gauntt said.
Winebarger tried to
call Stanfield police and
reached out to his friend
Jason Edmiston, chief of
Hermiston police. Edmiston
said he knew about the
scam — the very same fraud
last year cheated a Herm-
iston business out of about
$1,200.
Edmiston said the con
artists are savvy, and they
may have even called
Pacific Power just to talk
to a company rep and
get their name. And with
summer in full swing and
electricity in high need for
air conditioning, Edmiston
said he also worried about
fraudsters going after the
elderly in the community.
Gauntt said anyone who
has a call from the company
and
thinks
something
doesn’t sound right should
hang up and call Pacific
Power’s customer service
number at 1-888-221-7070.
He said no Pacific Power
employee would argue with
a customer for doing that,
and company reps would be
able to work out any actual
account problems.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
PENDLETON
City staff may hire fire station
contractor before finalizing design
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The Pendleton City
Council is nearing some
important decisions as it
hones in on building the fire
station central to the $10
million bond voters passed
in May.
At a workshop Tuesday,
Pendleton Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo said he would
have two requests at the
next council meeting —
approving a contract for
architectural design work
with the Mackenzie group
and an alternative method
of bidding out construction
services.
Ciraulo said staff told
him this alternative method
could deliver a cheaper
project.
After
design
services are completed, the
city would typically award
the project to the lowest
bidder.
City staff is instead
suggesting the city undertake
a method called construction
manager/general contractor
project delivery.
In an interview after the
meeting, Ciraulo said the
city would still send out a
request for proposal to find a
contractor, but the contractor
would get involved in the
project during the design
process rather than after it.
The selected contractor
would provide input to
Mackenzie
during
the
design phase and identify
areas where there could be
cost savings.
The contractor would
submit
a
“guaranteed
maximum price” of the
construction costs toward
the end of the design phase
and begin hiring subcontrac-
tors for things like electrical
work and heating, ventila-
tion and air conditioning.
Ciraulo said this method
could save the city money in
the long run by preventing
high bids and change orders.
During the construction
process, “change orders kill
you,” Ciraulo said.
Regardless of how its
done, the city will have to
make the construction and
design costs fit into the $9.4
million budget for the fire
station.
Early in the process, the
city has already been able to
save a little money.
Ciraulo told the council
that
the
independent
appraisal to acquire the
future fire station’s South-
east Court Avenue property
from St. Anthony Hospital
was $360,000 — $25,000
lower than the city projected.
According to Mackenzie,
fire station construction will
begin in August 2018 and
finish in September 2019.
Public Works Director
Bob Patterson will also
approach the city council
with a request to hire an
engineering firm.
The council will consider
hiring Anderson Perry &
Associates for $503,000 to
gather data for its streets
and stormwater systems
and help craft a street utility
master plan, among other
services.
Adding data about the
city’s street and drainage
infrastructure
to
its
geographic
information
system will help the city
determine how it will pay to
maintain those utilities.
After Anderson Perry
conducts evaluation on
the city’s impervious and
non-impervious surfaces on
commercial and industrial
territory, the city could
implement a stormwater
utility fee to pay for the
drainage system’s needs.
City Manager Robb
Corbett explained the need
to raise more revenue for the
stormwater system.
“I don’t know how many
100-year storms we’ve had
in the five years that I’ve
been here, but it’s been
several,” he said. “Every
time that happens, we get
phone calls from people at
key locations around the
city where there’s recurring
flooding issues because
this stormwater system was
designed for an environment
that is different today. We
don’t have the resources to
be able to repair that and we
don’t have resources identi-
fied to maintain it.”
The street utility master
plan would be an update to
a 2013 study that showed
Pendleton had a $16 million
road maintenance backlog.
Corbett said the city
could take out a loan to wipe
away the backlog.
Patterson
said
the
prospect of using a loan to
address deferred mainte-
nance while putting a hold
on ongoing maintenance
“scares the crap out of me.”
“I don’t know if we would
have any money to address
the road maintenance if we
were to bond the work,”
Corbett responded. “But I
do know that we are losing
roads faster than we’re
fixing them. Both of (those
prospects) scare the crap out
of me, but it’s just a matter if
you want to deal with it now
or deal with it over time.”
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Maurice Videll Bronson,
32, of Pendleton, faces
several
charges
after
crashing into another car.
Pendleton police Lt.
Chuck Byram said an
officer at about 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday was monitoring
the four-way stop at South-
east Eighth Street and Byers
Avenue when a car drove
right through the stop sign
on Byers and headed for
downtown.
The officer turned on
his car’s police lights and
started to pursue when the
vehicle turned left onto
Southeast Sixth Street.
Seconds later, Byram
said, the car crashed into
a westbound vehicle on
Southeast Court Avenue.
Bronson got out of the
wreck and tried to walk
away from police “so she
had to be handcuffed,”
Byram said.
The victim in the colli-
sion was not injured, he
said, but Bronson suffered
a minor injury to her arm.
An ambulance took her to
Staff photo by Tim Trainor
Pendleton police were pursuing a vehicle about
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the driver crashed into
another vehicle at the intersection of Southeast
Sixth and Southeast Court in Pendleton.
St. Anthony Hospital, Pend-
leton, where staff treated
and released her.
From there, the lieu-
tenant said police took
Bronson to the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton, on
charges of felony attempt
to flee police and misde-
meanors of property hit
and run, reckless driving,
reckless endangering and
interfering with a peace
officer.
Byram
estimated
Bronson was going about
30 mph and blew through
stop signs before the crash.
Her reckless driving started
before an officer saw her, he
said, and the “pursuit” was
barely underway before the
crash.
Umatilla
County
Circuit Court records show
Bronson has a criminal
history, and her last convic-
tion was in 2013 in Umatilla
County for possession of
methamphetamine.
Lifetime senior passes to national
parks set to jump 800 percent
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
U.S. National Parks
will soon charge increase
the price of a lifetime
senior pass, but a few local
facilities will offer passes
at the original price of $10
until August 25, three days
before the fee increases.
Congress decided in
December 2016 to raise the
price of the America the
Beautiful — National Parks
and Federal Recreational
Lands Senior Pass from
$10 to $80, which will take
effect August 28 of this year.
The pass, available to
people aged 62 and older,
allows seniors to enter
national parks and sites
managed by other federal
agencies including the U.S.
Forest Service, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment.
In addition to the change,
seniors will now be able to
purchase an annual pass for
$20, and turn in four expired
annual passes for a lifetime
pass.
Many national park sites
remain free, but for those
that charge for entry, the
pass will continue to admit
the senior holding the pass,
as well as any traveling
companions.
Although new passes
will increase in cost from
$10 to $80, current lifetime
passes will remain valid.
Passes are available
at any federal recreation
site. Denise McInturff of
McNary National Wildlife
Refuge said their facility
has been trying to get more
passes in case people want
to purchase them before the
price changes.
“We’ve definitely seen a
spike,” she said. McInturff
said.
While the McNary
refuge is free to the public,
McInturff said there are
several facilities within the
area that charge, at which
the senior passes would be
valid.
She said she didn’t think
the price increase would be
a deterrent for visitors.
“Seniors
can
still
purchase yearly passes for
$20,” she said. “Free entry,
tours, discounts. I don’t see
the price increase as having
a major impact.”
BRIEFLY
Landowner blows whistle
on plumeless thistle
HEPPNER — A new invasive weed has
been spotted for the first time growing in
southern Morrow County.
Plumeless thistle, which has previously
been identified in neighboring Grant County
and a few locations in Wallowa County, was
recently found by a landowner while out
spraying for other types of thistle in the area.
While it may look similar to Scotch
thistle or musk thistle — with their distinc-
tive rose-colored flowers — plumeless thistle
is distinct from its fellow invasive brethren.
The weed can grow more than 4 feet tall,
with spiny leaves measuring 4-8 inches long.
Blooms usually occur between May and
July, and each plant can produce up to 1,000
seeds.
Once established, plumeless thistle
can degrade pasture land by crowding out
more desirable forage, making it all but
impossible to graze cattle.
Landowners who suspect they may have
plumeless thistle on their property should
call the Morrow County weed control office
at 541-989-9500. Early detection and rapid
response is key to controlling the weed
before it can become widespread.
Gresham woman dies
in Eastern Oregon crash
PHILIPPI CANYON — A 22-year-old
Gresham woman died Tuesday in a
highway crash in Gilliam County.
Oregon State Police reported troopers
from The Dalles Area Command at about
3:30 p.m. responded to the single-vehicle
crash on I-84 near milepost 118, about five
miles west of the exit for Philippi Canyon.
Effie P. Burns was driving a 1996 Honda
Photo contributed by Dave Pranger
Plumeless thistle, a state-listed noxious
weed, was recently found in southern
Morrow County.
Civic four-door westbound in the fast lane,
according to state police, and lost control
of the car. The Honda crossed the slow lane
and left the road, coming to rest against a
dirt and rock embankment.
The crash ejected Burns, state police
reported. Emergency personnel tried to save
her life, but she succumbed to her injuries.
Police also reported an infant in a
properly secured child safety seat was in
the car. An ambulance took the child to
Mid-Columbia Medical Center, The Dalles,
for evaluations of minor injuries.
The Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office,
Gilliam County Emergency Services and
others assisted at the scene.
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