REGION
Thursday, December 21, 2017
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
Gifts from firefighters wrap up community spirit
They didn’t arrive in
a sleigh with a team of
reindeer, but members of
the Irrigon Fire Protection
District assumed the role of
Santa Claus to help provide
a brighter Christmas for a
5-year-old Irrigon boy.
Volunteer firefighter Joey
Munkers and volunteer Lt.
Thad Marti said Irrigon is
a small community, which
often results in people
becoming aware of hardships
others are going through.
While his name and the
specific circumstances aren’t
being made public, the first
responders sprung to action
to “adopt” the boy during the
holiday season.
“It’s important because
that little kid wouldn’t have
anything at all for Christmas,”
Marti said.
Since they don’t have a
formal program to access
funds for such needs,
Munkers said the volunteer
firefighters dug into their own
pockets to purchase presents
for the young boy. With a wad
of cash, Munkers, Marti and
several others headed to the
Hermiston Walmart Saturday
afternoon to buy presents.
Browsing
the
aisles
without a shopping list, they
looked for things they thought
a young boy might like. And
then they found the perfect
gift — a toy fire engine. In
addition to lights and sound
effects, it’s equipped with a
water tanker.
“You can actually spray
water out of the hose,” Marti
said.
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Thad Marti and Joey Munkers, Irrigon Fire Protection District volunteers, load gifts
that were wrapped for free during an “I Love My City” event Saturday at Walmart in
Hermiston. The firefighter group pitched in to buy Christmas presents for a 5-year-
old Irrigon boy.
It seems there is truth in
the idiom “one good turn
deserves another.” After
purchasing 15-20 gifts,
Munkers and Marti headed
outside the store to discover
members of the Hermiston
Assembly of God Church
offering free gift wrapping —
no strings attached, but lots of
bows.
As part of the ongoing “I
Love My City” campaign,
about 50 volunteers were
stationed at tables stretching
between both sets of main
doors to the store.
“That was a bonus,”
Munkers said. “We were
going to recruit my mom to
wrap them.”
Munkers
and
Marti
said the firefighters, which
includes 12-15 volunteers,
are involved with a couple of
projects that give back to the
community. In addition to the
Christmas Basket program,
which helps families in need,
they conduct public education
about fire safety in the schools
and community. A year-round
project, the firefighters also
collect and refurbish bicycles,
giving them to kids for their
birthday or at Christmas.
“People know that if they
have an issue they can reach
out to us and we’ll do the best
we can to help them out,”
Munkers said.
———
Contact Tammy Malgesini
at
tmalgesini@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4539.
Pendleton sourcing prison work crews from TRCI
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Instead
of
locally
sourcing its prison labor,
the city of Pendleton is
importing from Umatilla.
At a meeting Tuesday,
an Eastern Oregon Correc-
tional Institution admin-
istrator explained to the
Pendleton City Council why
inmate work crews were
being manned by Umatilla’s
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution inmates rather
than Pendleton’s EOCI.
In May 2016, the council
reversed its 1987 ban on
EOCI inmates working
within city limits as public
opposition to the stance
dissipated. Lifting the ban
was conditional on a report
from EOCI updating the
council on the program after
a year.
Tom Lemens, the EOCI
assistant superintendent of
correctional rehabilitation,
told the council that EOCI
work crews were never
introduced to Pendleton
because of a shift in Oregon
Department of Corrections
policy.
Lemens
said
Level
1 inmates — prisoners
deemed safe by the DOC to
work in the community —
were shifted from EOCI’s
Sams named CTUIR
interim executive director
East Oregonian
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
medium-security
prisons
to light-security facilities
like TRCI. The Pendleton
prison was no longer able to
keep Level 1 inmates long
enough to integrate them
into a work crew before they
were relocated to another
institution.
Although circumstances
could change, Lemens said
he didn’t anticipate EOCI
using work crews in Pend-
leton for the “foreseeable
future.”
According to a report
from both Umatilla County
prisons,
TRCI
work
crews spent just four days
working for the city and
four days working for St.
Anthony Hospital in 2017.
Duties included cleaning
up around buildings and
offices, general facility
maintenance, rock moving
and placement and basic
construction.
City Manager Robb
Corbett said the DOC work
crews had been a “signifi-
cant benefit” to Pendleton
“without any issues.”
Dale Primmer, a city
councilor and the director of
Umatilla County Commu-
nity Justice, said the council
should “spare these folks a
once-a-year dog-and-pony
show” and pass a permanent
reversal of the ban, which
was approved unanimously.
Despite no longer needing
approval from the council,
Lemens said he can return
with annual reports on the
work crew program.
———
As the Pendleton Devel-
opment Commission, the
council also approved a
$33,433 façade restoration
to the family that owns old
city hall.
That sum is equal to 25
percent of the project’s cost,
which includes installing
new windows at the 34
S.E. Dorion Ave. building.
Unlike other façade grants,
the money won’t be
dispersed in thirds as the
project goes along.
This is due to the city’s
insistence that the building
be insured before it provides
any funding, said Charles
Denight, the associate
director of the development
commission.
Diana Quezada, repre-
senting the family that
owns old city hall, said the
building can’t be insured
until all the windows are
installed.
The Quezadas are under
a tight timeline to restore
old city hall — the windows
facing Southeast Dorion
Avenue and Southeast First
Street must be installed by
mid-January, the rest of
the windows replaced by
mid-April and a certificate
of occupancy obtained
by Sept. 1. If any of the
benchmarks are missed, the
city can fine the owners or
foreclose on the property.
Quezada said she was
confident the project would
get done on time.
An explosion at old city
hall in July 2015 killed
one of the Quezada’s
family members, Eduardo
Quezada,
and
badly
damaged the building.
The Quezadas were
previously on the brink of
paying thousands of dollars
in fines after missing a
previous deadline to put a
roof on the building by the
beginning of 2017. Right
before the case was set to
go to trial in Pendleton
Municipal Court, the city
and the Quezadas reached a
settlement that created their
current arrangement.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Page 3A
The
Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation will get
its third executive director
of 2017.
The CTUIR’s Board
of Trustees announced
Wednesday that
Chuck Sams will
take over the posi-
tion in an interim
capacity on Dec.
28,
replacing
Deb
Croswell.
Croswell
has
held the interim
director position
since Dave Tovey
resigned from the Sams
post in February.
Croswell
announced
earlier this month that
she will move on to trib-
al-owned Cayuse Technol-
ogies, where she will work
as chief of staff for chief
compliance officer Dawn
Hagen.
Sams has held a number
of executive positions in
both the nonprofit and
for-profit sectors regionally
and nationally in the past
25 years. He has worked
for the CTUIR the past five
years as the environmental
health
officer/planner,
communications director
and interim deputy execu-
tive director.
He will serve in the
interim director capacity
until the Board
of
Trustees
hires an exec-
utive
director.
According to a
press release, the
Board of Trustees
made the appoint-
ment to ensure
continuity
of
government and
administrative
leadership.
That search for a new
executive
director
is
underway and following
the policies for recruitment
and review, according to
the release.
The
Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation is made
up of the Cayuse, Umatilla,
and Walla Walla Tribes,
formed under the Treaty of
1855.
BRIEFLY
City offers training
for new permitting
program
PENDLETON — The
city of Pendleton is joining
the state’s ePermitting
program and is holding a
workshop to familiarize
local contractors with the
new technology, according
to a city press release.
Oregon’s ePermitting
services include online
access to apply, pay for and
receive building permits,
automated inspection
scheduling through phones
or computers, comprehen-
sive permit tracking and
data collection, electronic
plan review, and a mobile
app for inspectors and
contractors.
The city of Hermiston,
Umatilla County and
Union County have already
adopted ePermitting
in their own building
departments.
Pendleton and the
Oregon Building Codes
Division will be co-hosting
a training for local contrac-
tors at Pendleton City Hall
on Jan. 22 from 8:30 a.m.
to 10 a.m.
For more information,
contact Jerod Broadfoot,
outreach and training
coordinator at the Oregon
Building Codes Division
by email at jerod.a.broad-
foot@oregon.gov or cell
phone at 541-240-1256.
Luminaries light
up the night
PENDLETON — Are
those dark winter nights
getting you down? The
Pendleton Public Library
invites adults 18 and over
to make festive luminaries
to lighten the mood and
light up your home.
DIY @ the Library will
show participants how
to make luminaries out
of household items and
craft supplies, which are
provided. The instruction
begins at 6 p.m. at the
library meeting room, 502
S.W. Dorion Ave.
DIY @ the Library is a
craft group for adults only
that meets every fourth
Tuesday. The class is free,
but class size is limited
to 10 and registration
is required by calling
541-966-0380.
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.
The Museum Store at
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute
Holiday Sale
Continues
30% to 70%
PLASTIC IS NO LONGER RECYCLABLE
WHAT:
Mixed plastics #1-#7 is no longer recyclable. Our depot collection containers
for this material near Fallen Field and at the Transfer Station will be removed
on or before January 1, 2018.
WHY:
The only market for these materials was China. Eff ective January 1,
2018 China is implementing its “National Sword” policy to increase the
environmental quality in its own country, which will stop all mixed paper
and mixed plastics from being imported. This is a national and international
issue, but the eff ects are very local. There are no markets to absorb what
China has refused to accept.
off everything!
thru New Year’s Eve!
FREE gift wrapping too!
* Offers not good in conjunction
with other offers, discounts.
WHEN: By January 1, 2018 the plastics collection containers will be removed and
these plastics must be placed in the trash. Plastic water bottles and many
other drink containers may still be taken for the $0.10 redemption at grocery
stores or redemption centers.
WHO:
All Pendleton residents and surrounding areas who use Pendleton Sanitary
Service recycling collection containers.
OTHER COMMUNITIES: Other communities that have “co-mingled” recycling (all
recyclables in one roll cart at their home) will be very severely impacted by
these market changes. Pendleton’s impact is small in comparison.
WHAT CAN I DO?: Continue to recycle whenever and whatever is possible. Recycling
is still the right thing to do – it saves energy, natural resources, and creates
a sustainable future, but be very careful about contamination. If an item
is questionable for recycling - “When in doubt, throw it out” is the best
policy. For complete recycling information, please visit our website at
pendletonsanitaryservice.com or call our offi ce at (541) 276-1271.
FIRST FRIDAYS ARE FREE!
Exhibits, Museum Store
Open Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm
Kinship Café
Open Mon-Sat, 11am-2pm
541.429.7700
www.tamastslikt.org
Pendleton Sanitary Service, Inc. is committed to off ering a recycling
collection program supported by our customers and turning this diffi cult
situation into an opportunity to strengthen the future of recycling. If
markets for recycled plastics become available in the future, we are
committed to reinstate our collection of plastics and adapt to
current market conditions.
LOCATION: 5500 NW Rieth Road • Pendleton, OR 97801
PHONE: (541) 276-1271 • OFFICE HOURS: Mon - Fri: 8 AM - 4 PM
5.175 x 6