REGION
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
BRIEFLY
Buses switch to new route on Monday
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Photo contributed by Oregon State Police
OSP is seeking help identifying two individuals
caught on private property in Morrow County, who
may be involved in poaching at least three elk.
OSP seeks help in
Morrow County
poaching case
The Oregon State
Police Fish and Wildlife
Division is asking for help
identifying two individuals
who may have been
involved in poaching elk
between Sept. 16-23 in
Morrow County.
The suspects were
initially caught on camera
on private property. After
the photo was taken,
at least three elk were
illegally killed and much
of the meat left to waste.
Troopers believe the two
subjects were involved in
the crime.
A third person may
also have been with the
subjects, who were camped
near Martin Prairie off
Forest Service Road 21 in
the Heppner Unit.
Anyone with
information is asked
to contact OSP Senior
Trooper Michael Mayer
at 541-561-7581, or to
call the Turn-In-Poachers
hotline at 1-800-452-
7888. Rewards may be
offered through TIP for
information leading to an
arrest and conviction.
Rural fire agencies
quench blaze
near Helix
HELIX — Sparks
from a burn barrel ignited
a brush fire Sunday near
Helix. The Helix Rural
Fire Protection District in
a written statement also
reported the fire consumed
25 acres.
The district sent a brush
truck, water tender and two
firefighters at 1:32 p.m. to
the blaze near milepost 5
on Holdman Road. The
Umatilla County Rural
Fire Protection District
assisted with another water
tender, its chief and three
firefighters. Helix reported
crews extinguished the
burn after about two hours.
The fire did not threaten
structures, no one was
injured and the fire remains
under investigation,
according to the release.
BMCC
to celebrate
FARM grand
opening Thursday
PENDLETON — Blue
Mountain Community
College will celebrate
the grand opening of its
new agricultural complex
— named the Facility for
Agricultural Resource
Management, or FARM
— during a ceremony
Thursday from 4:30-6:30
p.m. at the school’s
Pendleton campus.
FARM is the last
of three projects to be
completed after voters
approved a $23 million
capital construction bond
in 2015.
The bond also paid for
BMCC’s new Workforce
Training Center in
Boardman, which opened
in April, and the Precision
Irrigated Agriculture
Center in Hermiston,
which opened in July.
BMCC operates its own
working farm on campus
in Pendleton, and the new
FARM building will house
classrooms, offices, shops
and lab space all in one
location. Thursday’s grand
opening will include a
ribbon cutting ceremony,
along with public tours
and speeches by BMCC
President Cam Preus,
Board of Education
Chairman Chris Brown and
other school faculty.
The ceremony also
coincides with the opening
reception for Oregon State
University’s Art About
Ag: “Places to Thrive”
exhibit at the Betty Feves
Memorial Art Gallery,
featuring artwork inspired
by agriculture. Attendees
are encouraged to stop by
the gallery following the
FARM grand opening.
The BMCC Pendleton
campus is located at 411
N.W. Carden Ave.
Members needed
for Ag Heritage
Commission
The Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board is
accepting applications to
serve on the newly formed
Oregon Agricultural
Heritage Commission,
established by the
Legislature to provide
incentives for farmers to
voluntarily adopt practices
that preserve both natural
resources and agriculture.
The 12-member board
will oversee the program
and make funding and
policy recommendations to
OWEB. Applications are
due Oct. 25.
Members are needed
to represent a range of
interests, including:
• Four members
recommended by the state
Board of Agriculture who
are actively engaged in
farming or ranching.
• One member recom-
mended by the director of
the Oregon State Univer-
sity Extension Service.
• Two members
recommended by the state
Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sion with expertise on fish
and wildlife habitat.
• One member recom-
mended by the Board of
Agriculture with expertise
in agricultural water
quality.
• One member
recommended by the
Land Conservation and
Development Commission
with expertise in conser-
vation easements and land
transfers.
• One member selected
by OWEB representing
natural resource interests.
• One member selected
by OWEB representing
tribal interests.
• One non-voting
member, who is also a
member of OWEB.
Terms will initially vary
in length in order to stagger
membership, after which
commissioners will serve
four-year terms. Commis-
sioners cannot serve more
than two consecutive
terms.
For more information
or to obtain an application,
contact Nellie McAdams
at 503-986-0061 or email
nellie.mcadams@oregon.
gov.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
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Social media helped return an elk
hunter’s stolen trophy animal.
Pendleton Police Chief Stuart
Roberts said a hunter from Sweet
Home bagged a large bull elk and spent
Sunday night at the Pendleton Super 8,
601 S.E. Nye Ave., with the head and
antlers of the elk outside in his trailer.
The last time he saw the kill was at
about 10 p.m., Roberts said. He called
police Monday at 6:40 a.m. to report
the head was gone.
Pendleton police took to Facebook
and posted basic information about the
case along with the hunter’s photos of
the elk. Since then, Facebook users
shared the images and story 3,929
times, reaching more than 355,000
people.
Roberts said Pendleton police on
Tuesday received a telephone call
and an image from a citizen in Elgin
in response to the Facebook post.
Based on that, Roberts said, Pendleton
coordinated with Oregon State Police
fish and game troopers in La Grande,
who went to Elgin and seized the
head, which was in a shed on vacant
property.
Roberts said police were working
Photo contributed by Pendleton Police Department
Oregon State Police worked with Pendleton police to retrieve this elk head
Monday in Elgin after someone stole it from a hunter in Pendleton.
out the logistics of getting the head
back to the hunter, who plans to secure
it this weekend.
Roberts also said the investigation
is ongoing and there have been no
arrests. He said theft is the most appli-
cable charge, but wildlife violations
could come into play. He also said
this is a case of social media coming
through and showing its value.
HERMISTON
High school looks at grad venue survey results
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The Hermiston School
Board heard this week from
the people whom the gradua-
tion venue change will affect
most — senior class students
and parents.
Interim Superintendent
Tricia Mooney read board
members the results of a
survey conducted in the last
few weeks, asking people
whether they would rather
see graduation remain in
the Hermiston High School
gymnasium or be moved to
the Toyota Center in Kenne-
wick.
Of the 834 people that
responded to the survey, nine
percent were senior students,
21 percent were senior
parents, eight percent were
Hermiston School District
staff members and 62 percent
were other community
members.
The level of support
varied among each subgroup,
but overall, 24.8 percent of
participants felt strongly that
graduation should continue
to be held at HHS, and 49.3
percent very strongly agreed
that it should be moved to the
Toyota Center.
Among high school
seniors, continuing gradua-
tion at HHS garnered little
support. Only 21 percent of
participating seniors voting
for keep graduation as is,
while 69 percent agreed
strongly
with
moving
graduation to the Toyota
Center. Senior parents voted
similarly, with 57 percent
supporting a move to the
Toyota Center. Eight percent
of the staff members that
voted agreed with keeping
graduation at the high school,
and 65 percent said it should
be moved to the Toyota
Center. Among community
members, 28 percent agreed
with keeping the ceremony
in town, and 42 percent said
it should be moved to the
Toyota Center.
Hermiston High School
leadership teacher Dave
Rohrman also collected
answers from 242 high school
seniors, about 60 percent of
this year’s graduating class.
Board members were able
to see their votes, as well as
anonymous comments.
In that survey, 9.5 percent
of students strongly agreed
with keeping graduation at
Hermiston High School, and
71 percent said they’d like
to see it move to the Toyota
Center.
Most of the comments
centered
on
students’
concerns with being able to
accommodate all their family
members.
“I have five other people
in my family, and I can’t just
say that one of them can’t go,”
said one of the commenters.
But some said they
couldn’t agree with gradu-
ating anywhere other than the
community where they grew
up.
And some said even
though they liked the idea of
a cheaper venue with more
space, the date would be a
concern.
“It will be hard for
working family members to
travel over here and get back
in time for work, especially if
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they can’t get work off,” said
another commenter.
Still others said they didn’t
understand why the event
couldn’t be held at Kennison
Field or the EOTEC rodeo
grounds.
Rohrman also spoke at the
meeting, saying while he is a
Hermiston native, the Toyota
Center made the most sense
this year.
He said he has students
every year that come to him
asking how they can get more
tickets, even offering to work
for them.
“I was born and raised
in Hermiston. I get that, but
there are times when money
has to go out of the district,”
he said.
“EOTEC says they want
to do it. They’ve got a year
and a half to figure it out,” he
said.
The board will make
a decision at its meeting
October 2.
———
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan
at
jramakrishnan@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4534
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Submit community news information to: community@
eastoregonian.com or drop off to the attention of Tam-
my 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.
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“Alexa, go to HGTV.”
The new route can be
found on the city of Herm-
iston’s website, and the
schedule will be updated
on Kayak Public Transit’s
website at http://ctuir.org/
tribal-services/planning/
kayak-public-transit when it
begins on Monday.
“Hopefully people will
hear about it and give us
another try, if they already
gave us a try,” Morgan said.
He said the city also
purchased 12 Plexiglas
bus shelters from a surplus
auction for $1,500 and will
look at which stops along the
route could accommodate
one.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
East Oregonian
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riders will have their ride
interrupted by the bus driver
stopping for their regularly
scheduled breaks as well.
The bus will also change
directions during the day,
providing longer and shorter
options for riders to choose
from. One rider might stop
by city hall to pay their bill
at 8:48 a.m. and get back on
the bus headed back toward
their home at 9:01 a.m.,
while another rider may get
off at the city hall stop to use
the library across the street at
11:03 a.m. and then take the
next ride home at 12:24 p.m.
“It’s
definitely
an
improvement,”
driver
Ron Myers told the transit
committee. “It may not be
perfect, but it’s better than it
has been.”
Social media helps crack elk head theft
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Hermiston’s free public
bus system will change its
route Monday.
The system, known as
HART, will now make six
circuits through town each
day instead of four, and the
route has been rearranged
with the goal of riders
spending less time on the bus
during a round trip.
During a Public Transit
Advisory
Committee
meeting Monday, assistant
city manager Mark Morgan
said ridership has not
increased as was expected,
and Kayak Public Transit
and the city have received
feedback that the system
isn’t well suited for round-
trip travel. The new route
designed by Kayak reduces
the number of stops the bus
makes and creates a system
that rotates directions each
trip instead of making a
continuous loop in one
direction around town. It
also runs from 8 a.m. to 3:30
p.m. instead of 9 a.m. to 4
p.m.
Starting Monday the
number of stops will go from
30 to 20, eliminating several
stops with low ridership,
including Riverfront Park,
the Aspens, Sunland Avenue
and Moore Avenue. The
trade-off is that the bus will
now run six loops through
town during the day, and
loops will be under an hour
instead of the previous hour
and fifteen minutes. Fewer
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