REGION
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Bettineski keeps Round-Up moving behind the scenes
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Rodeo fans are just
starting to mill around the
concourse late Saturday
morning, but Jodi Bettineski
is already thinking about the
Pendleton Round-Up’s end.
In the Round-Up offices,
Jodi, her husband Chris,
and two other volunteers
are furiously stuffing duffel
bags with the kind of swag
that’s typical of a Round-Up
champion — cologne, belt
buckles, hats, boots, a Pend-
leton Woolen Mills blanket,
a bottle of Pendleton Whisky
and more.
Simultaneously, Jodi and
Chris are making last minute
edits to a script announcer
Wayne Brooks will read
listing the sponsors and
presenters when the winners
of each rodeo event come
to claim their prizes. If the
wrong name is read or a
name is mispronounced,
there could be some upset
people on the final day of the
Round-Up.
Besides the unobtru-
sive presence of Brisa, a
seeing-eye dog curled up
near the corner of General
Manager Casey Beard’s
office, the scene wouldn’t
look all that much different
than any of the other 22
years Jodi volunteered for
the Round-Up publicity
office.
But a lot has changed for
the Bettineski family in the
past two years.
A degenerative
eye
disease forced Jodi to resign
from her job as a physical
education teacher at Pend-
leton High School and move
her family to Kennewick to
be closer to her daughter’s
gymnastics academy.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Jodi Bettineski holds a horse during an awards presen-
tation at Saturday’s Pendleton Round-Up.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Jodi Bettineski and her guide dog Brisa stroll along the
walkway of the South Grandstands on Saturday at the
Pendleton Round-Up.
She also got Brisa four
months ago and spent this
week taking the dog to her
first rodeo.
Jodi took Brisa to the
southern grandstand box
seats where she and Chris
would be seated, removed
one of the folding chairs and
put a blanket down in its
place.
Jodi sat near the dog
during the military flyover
and cannon shot at the grand
entry to make sure Brisa
stayed calm. But otherwise,
Brisa slept through most of
the rodeo despite the primo
seats. Jodi’s sight has deter-
oriated to a point that she’s
now legally blind. While she
can still see through periph-
erals, much of her straight-
ahead vision is gone.
Chris calls Jodi a good
“faker,” because she looks
people in the eye when
she talks and moves freely
throughout confined spaces
without needing assistance.
But when she needed to
ask for help from others for
previously basic things like
operating the credit card
machine at the checkout line
at the grocery store, she felt
dumb.
Getting Brisa helped to
ease the transition, giving
Jodi more mobility from
destination to destination
and acting as an implicit
signal to others about her
condition.
“It gave her a new lease
on life,” Chris said.
After
leaving
the
Pendleton School District,
Jodi trained to become a
masseuse and now runs a
massage practice out of a
chiropractor’s office.
Although she misses
connecting with kids, Jodi
can draw from her degree in
athletic training and many
of her clients are enthralled
with Brisa.
Jodi’s job and new home
IRRIGON
BRIEFLY
Residents tap into grants to improve their property
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Driving through Irrigon,
visitors might notice recent
upgrades to houses and busi-
nesses around town. In the last
year, several Irrigon residents
have been beautifying their
properties by using nearly
$70,000 in funds from the
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone program.
The
grant
incentive
program has several elements,
including one that allows
residents to apply for different
types of grants to make
improvements to their prop-
erties. The Columbia River
Enterprise Zone II board
decided in 2015 to focus on
four key areas to improve
Morrow County, including
education, housing, safety and
enhancement. Since 2016,
Irrigon has received funds for
enhancement and housing.
The goal of the program
is to make the community
more livable, said Irrigon City
Manager Aaron Palmquist.
“A home or property
in disrepair really affects
the overall livability of the
community,” Palmquist said.
“This gives people an oppor-
tunity.”
The program’s policy,
available on the city of
Irrigon website, states that in
Feb. 2016, Irrigon received
$140,000 from the enterprise
zone board for enhancements,
and voted to set aside $50,000
specifically for cleaning up
and improving properties.
The program in Irrigon is
two-pronged: outside property
improvements and nuisance
abatement. Residents can
apply for a $2,000 grant to
make an upgrade to their
landscape, roof, or something
on the facade of their home.
Alternatively, they can apply
Photo contributed by Aaron Palmquist
A home in Irrigon receives some upgrades as a result of
an enhancement program available to residents. At this
home, owners put in a concrete walkway and steps.
for a grant to rent up to $1,000
of dumpster space to clean
up their properties. Palmquist
said about three 40 cubic-yard
dumpsters cost around $1,000.
There are rules applicants
have to follow to receive the
money, Palmquist said. They
must present an expense plan
to the committee, receipts
upon completion, and before
and after photos of the area
of the home they for which
they use the money. If they are
contracting out the work, they
must match 25 percent of the
funds. If they are doing the
work themselves, they must
match the funds by 10 percent.
They are given half the money
up front, and reimbursed
the rest after the project is
completed.
Applicants are encouraged
to make long term plans for
their property.
“We’re trying to stretch
people to think about how
they’ll continue,” Palmquist
said. “They may not have the
resources now, but at least
this gets them on the road,
thinking about the next step.”
And he hopes those who
apply will do so with a desire
to improve the entire commu-
nity.
“We want more than just,
‘it’ll increase my property
value,’” he said.
According to the program
policy, grant recipients are
required to complete their
projects within 15 days, but
Palmquist said the city can
work with people if they have
circumstances that get in the
way of completing the project
on time.
The Enterprise Zone
committee also looks at public
projects that will enhance the
community.
“One year we did hanging
baskets and benches,” Palm-
quist said. “This year, the
city approved (funds) to put
up a reader board. That all is
Irrigon enhancement dollars.
The council has the final say
on how the money will be
spent.”
Palmquist said since Sept.
2016, 45 applications have
been approved. The total
amount awarded has been
$69,060.91. Of the properties
receiving grants, 43 are resi-
dential and two are businesses.
Gabriela Villarreal applied
for the grant in August, and
recently made upgrades to her
home.
“We had a bunch of dirt
in our driveway,” she said.
“We have a long driveway
with a bunch of goat heads,
and we don’t have grass, it’s
hard to grow. So we laid sod
and gravel down, and put a
fence up around the property.
We didn’t have steps into the
house, so we did a concrete
walkway.”
Villarreal said she heard
about the program from her
employer, and that she was
eager to take advantage of the
program.
“On my street, most of the
houses have pretty yards. We
needed to do something,” she
said. “The application was
easy to fill out.”
One of only two businesses
to take advantage of the funds
so far, Stokes Landing Bed
and Breakfast received a fresh
coat of paint in July.
“We learned of the grant
and decided that now was a
good time, so we painted the
place,” said owner Phyllis
Danielson, who applied for
the $2,000 enhancement
grant.
Danielson said she learned
of the grant through her
association with the Irrigon
Chamber of Commerce.
“Our neighbors also
accessed the grant and
replaced their fence, and made
the place look better,” she said.
“And another put in sod.”
Danielson said she hopes
more people will take advan-
tage, and that the program will
improve the community.
“Our community as a
whole is on the upswing in
terms of the way it looks,”
she said. “But it’s so hard to
measure.”
Palmquist said people can
apply for the grant every five
years and there is no income
requirement.
“Right
now,
we’re
spreading it over five years so
everybody gets a fair shot,” he
said. “It’ll take a while to see.”
As the Stanfield City
Council prepares to vote on
a new nuisance ordinance
Tuesday, 3D Idapro Solu-
tions has finished the first of
three planned improvements
to reduce odors at its dehy-
dration plant.
The plant, which turns
raw potato waste from
nearby food processors into
material for dog food, has
drawn complaints about a
and plans to have a new
odor-reducing scrubber in
place by Nov. 30. The plant’s
old scrubber was destroyed
by a fire in February.
Kevin Anderson, 3D
Idapro Solutions vice pres-
ident, said in a statement
that efforts the company has
taken so far — including
halting operations during
National Night Out and high
school football games —
have lessened complaints,
and the capital improve-
IRRIGON — Three
Irrigon men were arrested
Monday hours after two
were suspected of burglar-
izing a shop in town.
Jesus Concepcion
Llamas, 35, Brandon Linn
Wilson, 35, and Larry Dale
Bush, 53, were lodged in
the Umatilla County Jail.
At 5:43 a.m. on
Monday, the Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office
received a call about
some suspicious activity
on Wyoming Avenue in
Irrigon. Deputy Todd Siex
arrived on the scene within
a few minutes and found
the three men. Deputy
Colleen Neubert and an
officer from the Boardman
Police Department assisted
Siex.
Llamas was arrested for
second-degree burglary,
first-degree theft and a
Lane County warrant for
the same charges.
Wilson was arrested on
charges of second-degree
burglary, second-degree
theft and for providing
false information to the
police. He also had three
warrants from other
counties. Two were from
Lane County on charges
of failure to appear, and
one from Douglas County
for parole violation on
first-degree burglary and
first-degree aggravated
theft.
Bush was arrested on
warrants from Oregon
Parole and Probations
Board for probation
violation for possession of
methamphetamine, and a
Washington Department
of Corrections warrant
for escape/community
custody.
Inmate dies
Sunday at TRCI
in Umatilla
UMATILLA — An
inmate died Sunday
morning at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in
Umatilla.
Kenneth Allen had
been making complaints
to TRCI staff on Sunday,
when he became
unresponsive. Security
and medical staff began
making life-saving efforts,
and Umatilla emergency
medical technicians also
arrived to help. Allen was
pronounced dead at 11:09
a.m.
Allen entered Oregon
Department of Corrections
custody on Jan. 14, 2016,
on three counts of theft and
one count of possession of
heroin in Jackson County.
He was due to be released
Dec. 22, 2017.
It was the fifth death
at TRCI in 2016 and the
11th in Oregon Department
of Corrections prisons,
according to news releases
from the agency.
Allen’s next of kin have
been notified. The Oregon
State Police Criminal
Investigation Division is
following typical protocol
and investigating the death,
according to a news release
from the prison.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
AUCTION
www.maascompanies.com
Deyhdration plant eliminates potholes to reduce spills
rotten-potato smell hanging
over Stanfield all spring and
summer.
The
company
has
completed site grading that
eliminated potholes and other
uneven areas, according
to a news release from the
company. The improvement
will help cut down on spills
from the trucks and areas for
those spills to collect.
The company is also
working to enclose its
receiving area by Oct. 15,
Three men
arrested after
Irrigon burglary
Building & Equipment
STANFIELD
East Oregonian
mean she doesn’t make it
Pendleton as often as she
used to, but that hasn’t
stopped her from returning
to the Round-Up.
She and Chris spent most
of Saturday’s rodeo carefully
curating the prize packages
and trophies as each compe-
tition got under way, making
sure each individual prize
was placed with the right
presenter for the winner’s
ceremony.
As each winner grinned
for the photo op with the
Round-Up and Happy
Canyon courts, Jodi was
usually outside the photog-
rapher’s shot, sometimes
arranging a horse for the
next photo.
During one of the few
chances Jodi got a chance
to cheer, she cheered for a
late tie in the calf roping
competition to be broken. If
there’s a tie for the top spot,
only one competitor can be
given the prizes in person
while the other is sent their
prizes in the mail.
Jodi started in the media
trailer as a 13-year-old, and
within a few years, she was
writing the scripts for the
prize ceremonies.
Over the time she’s volun-
teered with the Round-Up,
the position has evolved
from typewritten scripts and
rodeo results sent through
fax to the internet age that
allows her to share results
through social media.
Jodi used to occupy
the media trailer from the
Sunday before Round-Up
until the tear down day the
following Sunday, but her
disease means she now read-
justs her schedule.
She now does some of
her script work from home
and arrives to the Round-Up
Grounds on Tuesday, some-
times feeling a sense of
trepidation.
“I kind of feel like a
foreigner ... but when I come
back and get immersed, I
feel like I’m home again,”
she said.
Chris said Jodi has been
a volunteer at the Round-Up
for so long that she’s become
a fixture.
“It’s in her blood,” he
said.
Jodi doesn’t know how
much her eyesight will dete-
riorate in the future, but she
anticipates she will always
try to help at the Round-Up
in some capacity and has a
husband to help her do it.
“That’s what (Chris) is
for,” she said.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
ments should “significantly”
reduce odors.
“This is just the first
step, but it’s a big one,” he
said of the grading project.
“We want the community to
know that we are working
as hard as we can to fix the
problem.”
The
Stanfield
City
Council, which meets at 7
p.m. Tuesday at 150 W. Coe
Ave., will discuss amending
the city’s nuisance ordinance
on Tuesday.
Wednesday, September 20 – 10 AM
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