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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2017)
REGION Friday, July 28, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Bill could shed Super sleuths team up to find medallion light on wireless coverage gaps By TAMMY MALGESINI East Oregonian The early bird catches the worm — and, in the case of two Hermiston families — finds the golden medallion. Members of the Lindley and South families, who are neighbors, have been participating in the Hermiston National Night Out treasure hunt for 10 years. The super sleuths, who also found the medallion in 2015, located the hidden treasure among rocks in a metal sculp- ture of cattails, which is across the street from Nookie’s/Hermiston Brewing Co. “We went down to the store every morning and took turns buying the paper,” said Allison Lindley. “We all sat around with our newspapers and read the clues and talked about it.” The group included Phil and Allison Lindley and their son, Devan, 18, along with the Matt and Rondi South family, with their children Berek, 13, Hailey, 12, and Preston, 11. The first clue, Allison said, didn’t really give them much direction, but they would search public areas in hopes they would stumble on the trea- sure. After reading the bonus clue in Wednesday’s Hermiston Herald — with references to Ted Nugent’s song, “Cat Scratch Fever,” they were confident the medallion wasn’t hidden by the river. Keying in on the word “track” and “Maxwell” in Clue No. 2, the would-be detectives surmised it had to be some- where near the railroad tracks along Highway 395. The Maxwell Siding Railroad Museum and the Maxwell Siding Event Center provided a search perimeter for the group. Nearly a mile-long stretch, things heated up as the group searched for By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini Members of the Lindley and South families gather around a statue of cattails along Highway 395 near Nookie’s in Hermiston. It’s where they found the golden medallion during Hermiston’s National Night Out treasure hunt. nearly five hours on Wednesday. Finally, as the sun stated to dip below the horizon, the group went home. “We were looking in bushes and everything,” said Matt. “It was hot and we got all scratched up.” Knowing they would need to get a jump on other treasure hunters, they crawled out of bed early Thursday morning to go buy a newspaper — finding the medallion before 7 a.m. After reading the third clue, with references about dialing (there’s a Rotary sign nearby) and a bank (Banner Bank), Allison said it donned on them that the bonus clue referring to Typha, the scientific name for cattails, meant the statue — not actual plants. The Hermiston Police Department and city officials are treating the group’s neighborhood to an ice cream social block party for National Night Out. The festivities are Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the 1300 block of Southwest 10th Street. ——— Contact Community Editor Tammy Malgesini at tmalgesini@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4539 HERMISTON Good Shepherd welcomes new pediatrician By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Hermiston-area parents looking to get their child in for a physical and vaccinations before school starts will see more appointment options open up after Good Shepherd Health Care System hired pediatrician Allan Damian. Damian is now accepting patients at Good Shepherd Medical Group Pediatrics office located at 600 N.W. 11th St., Suite E-33. He has been working at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso as a pediatrician and clinical assistant professor in the pediatrics department. He also completed his internship and residency there. In a news release, Damien called pediatrics his calling after he did one of his first rotations in neonatology. “What immediately fascinated me was an experience of a 24-week old baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU),” he wrote. “I was amazed at how a child so small was able to thrive and succeed and eventually make it home. Years later I remember this same child walking into my office for a physical exam. What a great privilege and honor as a doctor to be able to hold these precious lives in our hands and to care for children. In some cases, I was the first human contact many of these children ever had — even before their parents. I feel that I am a child’s first line of defense which is just amazing.” Damian said he is an advocate for living an active lifestyle with a healthy diet, and prides himself on being thorough in his visits with patients. Outside of work his hobbies include CrossFit, collecting die-cast model airplanes and participating in outdoor activities like hiking and fishing. To schedule an appointment call 541-667-3740. Contributed photo by Good Shepherd Health Care System Allan Damian BRIEFLY Class takes steps to healthier lifestyle PENDLETON — People who are tipping the scales or who need guidance in managing their weight are invited to participate in a program at St. Anthony Hospital. An orientation session for LifeSteps® Weight Management is Tuesday, Aug. 8 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the hospital, 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton. The 14-week course starts Tuesday, Aug. 22. According to Christine Guenther, a registered dietitian nutritionist and the group leader, the program provides an opportunity for anyone who struggles with weight loss to join others with similar challenges in a safe and supportive environment. LifeSteps, Guenther said, works because it is grounded in science, and it stresses personal choice, responsibility and accountability, she said. “The program recognizes that everyone is unique, with different exercise and eating habits, weight loss goals and daily schedules,” she said. Participants learn various aspects of healthy eating, benefits of physical activity and strategies for challenging situations from dining out to emotional eating. Most importantly, Guenther said, it puts people in charge of their eating and activities. For more information, contact Guenther at christineguenther@chiwest. com or 541-278-3235. both cars with damage to the front end. One person sustained minor injuries in the crash, but declined medical help. The driver of the pickup was cited for disobeying a traffic control device, a stop sign. There are parts of Eastern Oregon where a cell phone is a little more than an overqualified clock. Large swaths of rural Oregon don’t have cell phone service, but exactly how much is subject to interpretation — an fact that has caught congressional attention. On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden announced his support for the Rural Wireless Access Act of 2017, a bill that takes initial steps toward identifying gaps in cell service and wireless internet coverage throughout rural Oregon. “Wireless coverage is essential for law enforce- ment and healthcare providers to respond quickly to life-and-death situations and for precision agriculture as well as small mom-and-pop businesses to communicate with their customers in the global economy,” Wyden said in a statement. “Simply put, the reliability of wireless coverage data maps must be improved for the safety and well-being of rural Oregonians.” The bill, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Ryan Costello, R-Penn., directs the Federal Communications Commis- sion to create a methodology to collect mobile service data around the country. As a local legislator and a economic development professional, Greg Smith is familiar with the coverage gaps affecting rural areas. The Heppner Repub- lican’s House district includes two of the most sparsely populated counties in Oregon — Gilliam and Sherman counties. As the officer of the board for the Wheeler County Development Corp., Smith has also been involved in trying to bring broadband to Oregon’s least populated county. Smith also mentioned the southern portions of Umatilla and Morrow counties as having poor service. He said a lack of wireless service primarily hurts those communities in two areas — public safety and economic development. If someone gets into a car accident on a remote highway, there’s a chance their emergency call might not make it to the dispatcher. “Unfortunately, lives and property are lost in the process,” Smith said. Wireless infrastructure “The reliability of wireless coverage data maps must be improved for the safety and well-being of ru- ral Oregonians.” — Sen. Ron Wyden is also a requirement for employers looking to locate into some of these rural areas. Mike Smith, the marketing director of Condon-based Frontier TeleNet, said improving these services are difficult to do without an accurate coverage map. Frontier TeleNet provides telecommunica- tions services to Wheeler, Gilliam, Sherman and Jefferson counties, a group Smith refers to as “frontier counties” because of their relative sparseness. “If I want to go a day without phone calls, I just go to Wheeler County,” he said. While these counties might be small in popu- lation, Mike Smith said a lack of wireless service also affects the people traveling through these communities, which is sometimes double the local population. Mike Smith said one of the hurdles in improving wireless service in these areas is a lack of accurate maps that depict coverage gaps. While wireless providers create their own maps, he said they are often inaccurate and overly generous. The Frontier TeleNet executive has been tracking the Rural Wireless Access Act and recently spoke with Wyden’s office on how to accurately determine coverage gaps in Oregon’s frontier counties. Mike Smith’s suggestion is to crowdsource that infor- mation, asking local citizens where wireless service worked the best and where it doesn’t work at all. Mike Smith is encour- aged that there is bipartisan support for the bill, which was sent to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee after it was introduced in March. “You don’t really under- stand the problem until you understand what’s wrong,” he said. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. Minor injuries from fender-bender HERMISTON — A two-car motor vehicle accident briefly blocked traffic in Hermiston on West Ridgeway Avenue and Northwest 2nd Street around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The accident, between a white Chevrolet pickup and a black Dodge Charger, left ® The Strength of Advice HONORED You canVCMGEQPVTQNQH[QWTƂPCPcial VCMGEQPVTQNQH[QWTƂPCP future. /LVDDQG0DUNERWKKROGWKH&HUWLƓHG:HDOWK6WUDWHJLVWpGHVLJQDWLRQ PHDQLQJ WKH\ KDYH WKH VNLOOV WR ZRUN HIIHFWLYHO\ ZLWK FRPSOH[ FOLHQW LVVXHVDQGZLOOKHOS\RXEXLOGDSHUVRQDOL]HGƓQDQFLDOSODQ Lisa Newman, CWS® Mark Hales, CWS® Senior Financial Advisor lnewman@dadco.com Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor mhales@dadco.com • Wealth Management • Financial Planning • Investments to be a part of the communities we serve EO Media Group newspapers are proud to have won 18 first-place awards at this year’s Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Summer Convention We would like to thank the readers and businesses in each of the communities that we serve for their loyalty and support eo o eomediagroup.com (541) 966-6400 | 111 S. Main St. | Pendleton, OR | dadavidson.com | D.A. Davidson & Co. member SIPC • The East Oregonian won General Excellence for the sixth time in the past seven years • The Daily Astorian won Best Overall Website and placed second in General Excellence • Capital Press won the Sweepstakes award as best associate member publication group 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 33 3 3 33 3 33 3 33 3 3 33 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 33 3 3 3 33 3 3 3 3
