REGION
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
HERMISTON
Semi loses load
of potatoes near
La Grande
LA GRANDE — The
eastbound lanes of Interstate
84 shut down near La
Grande for a couple hours
Monday after a semitrailer
hauling potatoes crashed
and rolled.
Oregon State Police
reported the semi rolled
onto its side near milepost
253, about six miles west
of La Grande. State police
received the first report of
the wreck around 4:25 p.m.
The driver was unin-
jured, according to state
police, and the load of spuds
covered much of the road
near the crash.
The state shut down the
eastbound lanes between
mileposts 255 and 216 at
Pendleton. The Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation reported the lanes
reopened before 7:30 p.m.
To check about possible
delays and weather condi-
tions on Oregon state roads,
visit www.tripcheck.com.
have on taxes. The bond
would have added 90 cents
per $1,000 of assessed
value
to
Hermiston
homeowners.
Residents
currently pay $4.09 in
education taxes per $1,000
of value.
Participants also said
they were concerned about
the lack of voter awareness
about the issues, as well
as district communication
with
the
community.
According to Wayland’s
presentation, participants
suggested explaining more
of the “why” behind the
proposals, and discussing
the reasons that alternatives
were not selected.
Interim Superintendent
Tricia Mooney said the
district would continue to
review these results.
“We’re looking at
potential projects we can
take off the bond proposal,”
she said.
Mooney
said
the
number of “no” votes in
this last election and the
one in 2008 that passed
were almost identical.
“It was the yes votes
that were different,” she
said.
“Despite the efforts
we put forward, there’s
a lot of misinformation,”
said board member Ginny
Holthus. “How do we fix
that?”
Wayland
said
the
facilities committee would
be working with district
administrators to figure out
the next steps.
———
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan
at
jramakrishnan@eastore-
gonian.com or 541-564-
4534
State dismisses mail
theft case against
Hermiston man
HERMISTON — Ryan
Jeffrey Tremblay of
Hermiston no longer faces
prosecution for mail theft.
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Office
in February charged
Tremblay with 14 counts
of mail theft or receipt of
stolen mail, a class C felony
in Oregon. The charges
stemmed from a grand jury
indictment, which asserted
he committed the crimes in
2015 and 2016 against 14
people.
Tremblay, 38, pleaded
not guilty and was out of jail
on his own recognizance.
Court records show
deputy district attorney
Matthew Dyal on Monday
asked the court to dismiss
the case against Tremblay
because the state cannot
prove the crimes beyond a
reasonable doubt.
The motion to dismiss
came a week before the case
was to go before a jury for
trial.
PENDLETON
Council members try new
public outreach methods
Pendleton City Councilor
Scott Fairley said he has an
uncle who lives in Concord,
Massachusetts, where city
budget meetings can attract
more than 2,000 people.
Despite being roughly
the same size as Concord,
Pendleton’s public meetings
frequently feature audiences
mostly comprised of staff
members and the media.
Fairley said he’d like
Pendleton’s civic partici-
pation to hew closer to the
Concord experience and is
involved in two separate
efforts to boost it.
The first is a joint
meeting with City Coun-
cilor McKennon McDonald
at Hamley Cafe on Nov. 4.
Both Fairley and McDonald
represent Ward 2, which
covers North Hill, Westgate
and the airport, but all resi-
dents are welcome to attend.
Fairley said the coun-
cilors will deliver updates
on important issues like the
fire bond and city council
goals, but will otherwise
keep the meeting “super
informal.”
The main goals of the
meeting, Fairley said, was
to answer questions and
hear citizen’s concerns that
they can take back to city
staff and the rest of the
council.
This isn’t the only public
outreach effort the city has
made: City Manager Robb
Corbett has held monthly
“Coffee with the City”
meetings with the public
since 2015. Becky Marks,
a Ward 1 councilor who
represents the downtown
area, South Hill and River-
side, has held a series of
constituent meetings called
“Straight Talk with Becky
Marks.”
Fairley said he and
McDonald plan to hold
their joint meetings twice
a year, with more meetings
possible if there’s enough
interest.
Operating under a
similar premise, Fairley is
also involved in a council
effort to meet regularly with
civic groups.
Fairley said Mayor John
Turner recently tasked
Fairley and Councilor Jake
Cambier with developing
a “speakers bureau” that
would visit with the city’s
various committees and
commissions in addition
to civic groups like the
Rotary Club, the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce and
the Kiwanis Club.
Fairley and Cambier
are currently compiling a
list of groups to speak to.
With the goal of launching
the initiative by January,
Fairley said they’ll look at
council member availability
to see who will participate
in the program.
Fairley and McDonald
will meet with the public
at Hamley Cafe, 8 S.E.
Court Ave., on Nov. 4 from
9 a.m.-11 a.m. For more
information, call Fairley at
541-240-1825 or McDonald
at 541-969-3345.
first-degree rape and nine of
first-degree sexual abuse for
harming two girls younger
than 12 between April 1,
2016, and May 28, 2017.
Salas has been out of
jail since posting $10,000
bail on July 27, according
to court records. Per the
conditions of his release,
he is residing with an adult
who can monitor him and
supervise any contact he has
with any minor.
EO newspaper to be
delivered by mail
PENDLETON — Begin-
ning Wednesday, Nov. 1, all
East Oregonian subscribers
who are currently getting
their newspaper delivered by
a carrier will start receiving
the EO by postal mail. The
EO will continue to publish
five days a week, Tuesday
through Saturday.
In Umatilla and Morrow
counties, newspapers will
be delivered on the same
day they are published and
will be delivered to the
current mailing address
on record, which in some
cases is a post office box. If
subscribers would like their
newspaper delivered to a
different address, or expe-
rience any missed newspa-
pers, please notify the EO
circulation department at
1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 or
circulation@eastoregonian.
com.
Going forward, the EO
will not publish a newspaper
on postal holidays. This
year, those postal holidays
fall on Friday, Nov. 10
(Veterans Day observed)
and Thursday, Nov. 23
(Thanksgiving). Look
for bonus editions of the
newspaper the day prior to
these holidays — Thursday,
Nov. 9 and Wednesday, Nov.
22 — which will contain
special holiday sections
as well as double comics,
puzzles and TV listings.
In 2018, there are two
postal holidays that don’t fall
on a Monday: Wednesday,
July 4 (Independence Day),
and Thursday, Nov. 22
(Thanksgiving). Look for
bonus editions on July 3 and
Nov. 21 next year.
The EO traditionally does
not publish a newspaper on
Christmas Day.
Inland Musicians
present weekend
concerts
A pair of free
performances will feature
“Symphonie Nr. 101 ‘Die
Uhr,’” which is the ninth of
the 12 London Symphonies
written by Joseph Haydn.
The piece is known as
“The Clock” because of the
“ticking” rhythm throughout
the second movement.
Presented by the Inland
Northwest Orchestra under
the direction of R. Lee
Friese, the performances
are Saturday at 4 p.m. at the
Enterprise Christian Church,
85035 Joseph Highway, and
Sunday at 4 p.m. at Ukiah
School, 201 Hill St.
Also on the program is
“Concerto in Sol Minore” by
Antonio Vivaldi. It features
cello players Jane Bane of
Enterprise and Tim Brown of
Walla Walla. The orchestra
features musicians from
across Eastern Oregon.
Each of the concerts will
be followed by receptions,
offering audience members
a chance to visit with the
musicians, learn more about
Inland Northwest Musicians
and enjoy refreshments.
A nonprofit music
organization, Inland
Northwest Musicians
was formed in 1999. Its
mission is to offer free live
performances throughout
the region and to provide
an atmosphere to support
musicians in developing their
talent. People are invited to
join without auditioning.
For more information,
contact 541-289-4696,
inwm@machmedia.
net or visit www.
inlandnorthwestmusicians.
com.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Morrow County
rape case nearing
trial date
IRRIGON — Rape
defendant Eduardo Salas,
60, of Irrigon, has a pretrial
conference Thursday in
Morrow County Circuit
Court.
Circuit Judge Daniel
Hill is presiding over the
case. Court records show
the conference is the last
before Salas has a readiness
hearing on Dec. 12, about
four weeks before he is
scheduled to go to trial.
Those dates could
change, depending on
Thursday’s conference.
Salas has pleaded not
guilty to one count of
attempted first-degree
sexual abuse, two counts of
good
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East Oregonian
Contributed photo by Oregon State Police
A semitrailer hauling potatoes rolled onto its side Monday on Interstate 84 near
milepost 253.
© 2017 Pacific Power
After a summer hiatus,
the Hermiston School
District has resumed its
discussion of a bond —
what went wrong with
the last one, and what to
change when the district
decides to pursue another.
The largest concerns
people had were with
funding and the budget,
and with gaps in communi-
cation from the district.
Hermiston Director of
Operations Brad Wayland
presented the results of a
survey the district solicited
after the $104 million bond
failed in May, which put a
pause on several planned
expansion and improve-
ment projects for the
district. The bond would
have funded a replacement
of Rocky Heights and
Highland Hills elementary
schools, a new elementary
school, as well as an expan-
sion and renovation of parts
of Hermiston High School.
More than 100 people
participated in the survey,
and those who completed
it made 235 “thoughts,” or
comments. Additionally,
participants could assign
“stars” to other comments
that they agreed with.
The five main areas
participants
identified
as important, in order,
were: funding and budget,
stakeholder engagement,
project planning, facilities
planning, and academics
and staff.
Funding and budget
concerns included the
affordability of the bond,
and the impact it would
Page 3A
BRIEFLY
School district begins
to re-examine post-
bond survey results
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
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