Tuesday, October 10, 2017
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PARKS: Says her worst deployment since
PRISON: Number of women inmates
projected to drop by 8 percent in decade joining the team was Hurricane Katrina
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East Oregonian
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Filled as House Bill 3078,
the act made three changes to
curtail the number of women
prisoners. The law expands
the eligibility criteria for the
Family Sentencing Alterna-
tive Pilot Program so more
parents can participate.
The legislation also
increases the limit for a
supportive
early-release
program, known as short-
term transitional leave, from
90 to 120 days.
Finally, it decreases
sentences for first-degree
theft and identity theft,
from 18 months down to 13
months, while adding more
community
supervision.
Lawmakers targeted those
two crimes to reduce the
number of women inmates.
Women are statistically
more likely to commit
property crimes than violent
crimes and are often driven
by drug addiction.
“We know that addiction
and mental illness are the
primary contributors to many
drug and property crimes,”
said Andy Ko, executive
director of Partnership for
Safety and Justice.
Investing in drug abuse
treatment, mental health
care and other supportive
services that address the
underlying drivers of crime
is the best way to improve
public safety, Ko said. “It
has never made sense to
warehouse this population
in expensive prison cells
that cause more harm by
separating them from their
children and communities,”
he said.
Tim Colahan, executive
director of the Oregon
District Attorneys Associ-
ation, said the law changes
need “to be judged by the
impact on the rates of crime
and recidivism.”
“Safety should not be
compromised for savings,”
he said.
Colahan,
a
former
Harney County district
attorney, said the state has
long prioritized prison for
the most violent criminals,
and a small percentage of
EO file photo
Two members of an inmate work crew from the Two
Rivers Correctional Institution, work Sept. 19, 2016,
outside the secure perimeter of the Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institution in Pendleton. While the wom-
en’s prison population is forecast to decline, the men’s
prison population is expected to grow slightly.
inmates are repeat property
offenders.
“As a result, the popu-
lation affected by the
legislative changes in 2017
are virtually all high-risk
individuals,’ he said.
The Oregon Corrections
Population Forecast, proj-
ects the number of women
inmates will drop by 8
percent between this year
and September 2027.
Just a year ago, DOC
requested money to open
the
second
women’s
prison in Salem, because
of chronic overcrowding
at the state’s only existing
women’s prison, Coffee
Creek Correctional Facility
in Wilsonville. The Oct.
1 report puts plans for the
second facility on indefinite
hold.
The semi-annual Oregon
Corrections
Population
Forecast gives state econ-
omists’ projections for the
population supervised by the
state Department of Correc-
tions. The information helps
that agency and the Criminal
Justice Commission to plan
budgets and prison beds.
The semi-annual report,
released Oct. 1, projects an
overall 1 percent decrease
in the existing prison popu-
lation over the next decade,
even as the state’s overall
population is projected
to grow by 12 percent. In
contrast to women prisoners,
the male prison population
is still projected to grow
slightly, by .7 percent in the
next decade.
1,000 people evacuated
ahead of time from Hurri-
cane Irma. Those evacuees
were all classified as medi-
cally fragile, meaning they
were in a wheelchair, on
oxygen or had other special
medical needs.
“They were isolated with
no news as to whether their
home was still there, or their
family was OK,” Parks said.
She said she was grateful
the team includes a mental
health professional, because
it was a difficult time for
many of the evacuees
beyond just the physical
discomfort of sleeping on
a cot inside a school for
weeks.
Irrigon nurse Kelly
Sullivan and retired Pend-
leton paramedic James
Thomas also deployed
to Florida from Oregon.
Usually National Disaster
Medical System deploy-
ments are scheduled for
two weeks at a time, but
sometimes are extended to
three or more, as was the
case this time.
In some disasters Parks
has been directly in the
impact zone.
“During Sandy, the
hospital was damaged so
badly we were setting up
tents in the parking lots
and people were coming
through there instead,” she
said.
Parks said the worst
of all her deployments
since she joined the team
in 2000 was Hurricane
Katrina, which killed more
than 1,800 people in total.
After the initial devastation
injuries continued to pile
up as people had accidents
wading through deep,
debris-filled water or using
chainsaws to try and clear
through the wreckage.
“Hurricane Katrina was
the most awful thing I’ve
ever seen,” she said.
The National Disaster
Medical System is a federal
program under the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services. Personnel
are trained to support
communities with medical
care and mortuary assistance
as requested by state govern-
ments and are considered
federal employees when
in the field. The system is
made up of more than 5,000
professionals organized into
more than 70 teams around
the country.
“Hurricane Irma put
people’s health and lives
in jeopardy, and NDMS
members are answering the
call of duty to help residents
affected by this disaster,”
NDMS Acting Director Ron
Miller said in a statement.
“When a state requests
our assistance, we will be
there to serve until NDMS
services are no longer
needed.”
To provide effective
assistance, teams from each
state participate in rigorous
training each year designed
to help them work together
quickly in a variety of
circumstances. Parks said
one recent training involved
practices setting up medical
tents in the snow on Mt.
Bachelor.
She said she signed up
to work on an NDMS team
because she likes helping
people — the same reason
she became a pharmacist.
She may be getting recog-
nition for responding to
high-profile disasters, but
she said just as important
are the “unsung heroes”
who cover her shifts at St.
Anthony and take care of
other things that allow her
to leave home for weeks at
a time on very short notice.
Other NDMS personnel
continue to provide support
for Hurricane Irma.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
EO file photo
This 2016 file photo shows the pool inside of BMCC’s McCrae Activity Center
after the college made repairs and refilled the pool last October.
HERMISTON: Expected to open in March 2018
POOL: Pendleton Athletic Club considered too small
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won’t affect the timeline.
The Harkenrider Center,
located near the Hermiston
Public Library and visible
from Highway 395, is
expected to open in March
2018. It is 7,000 square
feet with a 4,000 square
foot unfinished basement.
The main floor includes a
reception area, great room,
fireplace, breakout rooms,
offices, restrooms, commer-
cial kitchen and elevator. The
outdoors will feature a bus
drop-off, parking, covered
deck, landscaping and a path
leading to Highway 395.
The former senior center
was 5,000 square feet but
was demolished recently
when Hermiston School
District took ownership of the
former fairgrounds. Willard
Fordice, the senior center’s
bus driver, said Our Lady of
Angels Catholic Church was
gracious in offering up its
parish hall for senior meals
in the interim, but the seniors
are looking forward to having
their own space again.
“Some of them can’t
believe it’s that big,” he said
of a recent tour the seniors
took. He said Hermiston
Senior Center president Irene
Miller, 96, was “tickled to
death about it.”
City councilors said they
have had people asking about
the project and asked that
some sort of sign be added
along Highway 395 across
from the Holiday Inn Express
so that people would know
that was what was being built.
“I’m excited,” Mayor
David Drotzmann said. “It
looks nice.”
On Monday during their
regular meeting the council
also approved a contract
with the police union. The
contract was supposed to be
completed before July, but
City Manager Byron Smith
said a mediator was finally
brought in on Sept. 26 to help
finish negotiations.
The contract approved
Monday provides for a
2.75 percent salary increase
retroactively dated to July 1,
2017, another 2.75 percent
In what may be the last
year of this collaboration,
BMCC gave Pendleton
High School a discount,
charging them a lesser rate
than the $5,850 a nonprofit
or community organization
would have been charged
to use the pool for the same
amount of time.
The board unanimously
approved the agreement
with little discussion.
For their part, neither
high school wants 2017-
2018 to be the last swim
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
City councilors, staff and citizens take a tour of the
Harkenrider Center on Monday in Hermiston.
increase on Jan. 1, 2018
and a 1 percent increase on
July 1, 2018. It also gives a
$200 allowance for boots,
increases bilingual pay from
2 percent to 3 percent, gives
5 percent assignment pay
to officers promoted to a
new corporal position and
expands the definition of sick
leave and bereavement leave
to fit the one used by the
city’s non-union employees.
Association members agreed
to pay 2.5 percent of current
health insurance premiums
starting July 2018.
Smith said the contract
was a little above what
the city had budgeted for,
including 2.5 percent salary
increases, but didn’t have a
total dollar amount off the top
of his head.
Smith also reported to the
city council that he had met
with the owners of Ranch &
Home, and they reported that
problems getting electrical
contractors had delayed
progress on their new store
on South Highway 395, and
they would likely not open
until February or March.
The city had offered the
company financial incentives
for gaining their occupancy
permit by Jan. 1.
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season at the McCrae
Activity Center
PHS Athletic Director
Troy Jerome said he hoped
BMCC would continue to
approach renting out the
pool on a year-by-year
basis.
Aware that a new major
maintenance issue to the
pool could put it out of
commission permanently,
Jerome said options like
the pool at the Roundup
Athletic Club, which is
considered too small, or
the Pendleton Aquatic
Center pool, which would
require some sort of cover
to allow swimmers to use
it during the fall and winter.
But using the BMCC pool
remains the swim team’s
top priority.
Hermiston’s options are
also limited.
Hermiston High School
Athletic Director Larry
Usher said the swim team
has no Plan B if the college
pool is closed after the
season ends.
“Their indoor pool is
way nicer than our indoor
pool,” he said. “Because we
don’t even have one.”
A Special
Thank You
to the Friends and Supporters
of the Hermiston Lion’s
Ag-Ed Dinner & Auction!
PLATINUM SPONSORS:
GOLD SPONSORS:
AgriNorthwest • Wilbur Ellis • IRZ Consulting, LLC • Photography Plus
Hansell Farms • Purswell Pump Co. • Umatilla Electric Cooperative
Riverview Seed Co.
SILVER SPONSORS:
Sunheaven Farms, LLC • AgSource Laboratories • Simplot Grower Solutions
Pioneer Seed Company • United Grain Growers • Morrow County Grain Growers
The Simmons Agency • G-2 Farming, LLC
BRONZE SPONSORS:
Mr. Insulation Co. • Banner Bank
We would also like to give a shout out and a thank you:
Swire Coca-Cola/Dave Caldwell • Jan & Bob’s Signs • Sundown Metal Fab
Columbia Crest Winery • Art Prior • Ordnance Brewing Company
Starbucks Coff ee • Hermiston Chamber of Commerce • Miller Realty
Representative Greg Smith • The Sandy Bottom Boys • Ford Bonney
Proceeds go to the BMCC Precision Agriculture Center
and local community activities in memory of Don Horneck.