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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2018)
REGION Saturday, June 23, 2018 East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Naturopathic physician steps into mentor’s shoes Hermiston native returns home to practice natural medicine By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian As a Hermiston High School student interested in medicine, Anton Alder once dreamed of becoming a neurosurgeon. Then he got an after- school job as a filing clerk at the Peterson Clinic in Herm- iston. The teenager came into the orb of naturopathic physician Kenneth Peterson — Dr. Ken — who eventu- ally introduced him to a dif- ferent approach to healing. Peterson, who started the clinic in 1953, coupled tradi- tional medicine with alterna- tive practices such as nutri- tion, herbs and chiropractic manipulation. Alder, now 32, recently returned to Hermiston as a licensed naturopathic physi- cian to step into his mentor’s big shoes. Peterson, who retired in 2017, was honored in 2010 as the longest contin- uously practicing naturo- pathic physician in Oregon. He received the Living Leg- end award, given by the National University of Nat- ural Medicine and the Oregon Asso- ciation of Naturo- pathic Medicine. In the early days, he also provided primary care and Alder delivered a number of babies. After Alder earned a biology degree at Brigham Young University-Idaho, he returned to Hermiston to work as Peterson’s assistant and help with the clinic’s neurofeedback program, led by Peterson’s son, Kris Peter- son. He grew more intrigued as he assisted Dr. Ken. “I saw people get better with really simple treatments and thought that is really cool,” he said. “The more I followed him around, the more I realized that I really have to figure out what he’s doing.” He attended the Univer- sity of Bridgeport’s College of Naturopathic Medicine. The first two years, he said, were comparable to conven- tional medical school with classes on microbiology, anatomy, physiology and other subjects. The next two years were largely clinical. His dreams of becom- ing a neurosurgeon faded into the rear- view mirror. “The more I got into neurology, the more I realized you do not want to cut into that intri- cate system unless it’s absolutely nec- essary,” he said. “There are times when it’s an absolute necessity, but if there’s any other way, it’s worth exploring.” Alder prefers to concen- trate on prevention and heal- ing with less invasive meth- ods. He said patients should expect long visits at least ini- tially as he learns about phys- ical condition, environment, eating habits and other rel- evant factors. He may order lab tests to provide additional information. “We have very distinct therapeutic order that we fol- low,” Alder said. “We con- sider the least invasive tech- niques first and work our way up.” That could mean nutri- tional changes, supplements, spinal manipulation, biofeed- back, counseling, homeopa- thy or another technique. “In school, we are given a very large array of ideas,” he said. Alder said naturopathic physicians look for trends in the data as a way to pre- vent health problems from occurring. “Say someone’s blood sugar is going up and up. It’s not in the danger zone yet, but the trend is worrisome,” he said. “Let’s not wait until you are pre-diabetic or dia- betic to treat it if it can be prevented in the first place.” Alder knows his profes- sion has its critics. Much of the criticism comes, he said, because of unlicensed natu- ropaths who haven’t attended four-year naturopathic schools or passed licensing exams, but practice anyway. Oregon requires licensure. Peterson expects his pro- tege to flourish as he launches his career. “I’m very proud of him,” Peterson said. “I’m very con- fident in him. He’s going to be a great doctor.” Alder who lives in Herm- iston with his wife, Patri- cia, and three children, will start seeing patients on July 16. He joins clinic owner Kris Peterson, a chiroprac- tic internist, and Trent Tee- garden, who specializes in sports medicine. ____________ Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0810. Hermiston to discuss $4.5 million North First project By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Hermiston city coun- cil will consider an intergov- ernmental agreement Mon- day for a $4.5 million project to upgrade North First Place. The legislature’s 2017 transportation package spec- ifies the city won’t get the money until 2022, however, so assistant city manager Mark Morgan said it’s a case of “hurry up and wait.” The agreement with the Oregon Department of Trans- portation will pave the way for the city to receive the funding to widen North First Place, add a sidewalk to the west side, add a parallel bike- ped path along the east side, install curbs, gutters, street lights and other improve- ments. The city hopes to also add a turn lane at the intersec- tion of North First Place and Elm Avenue. All of the improvements will be designed to encourage more vehicles and pedestrians to use North First Place as an alternative north-south route through Hermiston instead of Highway 395, where traffic congestion has increased as the community grows. Morgan said in a news release that he knows once the project is publicized people will likely ask why the city didn’t focus on other projects instead, like a traffic signal by the high school. He said the city presented $39 million in street projects to the legisla- ture’s transportation package committee when they were crafting the bill, and this is simply the project they chose to fund. “The good news is that receiving these funds which are dedicated to this specific area will help the City keep other funding options open to tackle those other areas in the future,” he wrote. Many Oregon cities — including Pendleton — did not receive any earmarks for their projects at all, and Morgan said the city was extremely grateful to Rep. Greg Smith and the rest of the legislature for the funding it did receive. Hermiston’s appropria- tion was only one line long in the legislation, so Mor- gan said the intergovernmen- tal agreement the council will be asked to approve Monday is just helping ODOT and the city get “on the same page” about the scope of the project and how payment will work. The city will be responsible for any cost overruns beyond the $4.5 million. Monday’s regular city council meeting starts at 7 p.m. at city hall, 180 NE Second St., with a work ses- sion listed at 6 p.m. to get an update from Hermiston Energy Services. Confederated Umatilla Journal sweeps up national awards MISSION — The Confed- erated Umatilla Journal won 20 awards for work it pub- lished in 2017. The Native American Journalists Association on June 12 announced its 2018 National Native Media Award winners. The CUJ was second in general excel- lence and second in best lay- out and design, and its staff won 18 individual awards, including seven first-place awards. The journal is the monthly newspaper for the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Chuck Sams, CTUIR communi- cations director, said in a written statement about the awards he was proud of the CUJ and communications staff as a whole. “We work together to pro- duce a 50-plus page paper monthly,” he said. “This takes a strong team effort.” The journal competes in a category for newspapers with a circulation between 5,000 and 10,000. The CUJ prints about 8,000 copies a month, which it distributes to tribal households, a subscriber list and are distributed free around the community. Eric Quaempts, interim executive director for the tribes, said the individual awards speak well of “staff’s journalistic skills and work ethic to produce good stories and reporting.” Accepting New Patients Staff photo by Jade McDowell A truck enters the newly-opened festival street in Hermiston. Hermiston’s festival street officially open, ribbon cutting July 14 Hermiston’s festival street is officially open. The updated section of Northeast Second Street street is located between Main Street and Gladys Avenue in front of city hall. The street has been raised to the same level as the side- walk and the city added low walls, bollards, trees, decorative lamp posts and brickwork. The roughly $1.5 mil- lion project, paid for by the Hermiston Urban Renewal Milton-Freewater reassigns transportation duties East Oregonian Following the impend- ing retirement of Teresa Dutcher, human resource officer and public trans- portation coordinator, the city of Milton-Freewater is reassigning administra- tive duties for the trans- portation program to City Planner Laurel Sweeney and planning assistant Lisa Wasson. The city runs a door-to- door taxi ticket program for seniors and disabled residents and a fixed-route program that provides three daily trips to College Place and Walla Walla. 6/22 - 24 6/25 - 26 Cineplex Show Times $5 Classic Movie • 6/27 • 12:00 PM $5 Classic Movie • 6/27 • 12:00 PM Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie and Clyde $5 Children’s Classic Movie • 6/27 • 10 AM Shrek 2 Free Small Popcorn & Small Soda $5 Children’s Classic Movie • 6/27 • 10 AM Shrek 2 Free Small Popcorn & Small Soda INCREDIBLES 2 (PG) 12:50* 1:20* 6:50 3D 4:10 9:40 TAG (R) 12:40* 2:50* 5:00 7:10 9:20 McEntire Dental OCEANS 8 (PG13) 2:20* 4:50 7:20 9:50 1100 Southgate, Suite 3 Pendleton OR 97801 541.276.5272 Authors! Meet other local authors and sell your books at the Blue Mountain Book Fair Sponsored by the Juniper Arts Council August 18 12:00-4:00pm Canyon City Community Center Canyon City Oregon Contact Dave Driscoll phone:248-719-2122 email:driscolldg@gmail.com http://grantcountygazette-oregon.com Funded by a grant from the Grant County Transient Room Room Tax fund 64135 Sweeney and Wasson will take over for Dutcher on June 29. The pair won’t be the only Milton-Freewater employees that will soon see a shift in duties. Mike Watkins will be promoted to electric super- intendent on July 1, suc- ceeding the retiring Rick Rambo. Over his 23 years with the city, Watkins has worked as a lineman and a community development supervisor. Watkins will now lead City Light and Power, the oldest municipal electric utility in Oregon. Cineplex Show Times JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (PG13) 1:00* 3:30* 6:30 7:00 9:30 4:00 10:00 We are open from 7:30am - 4:30pm M-Th Agency, was to help revi- talize downtown by draw- ing foot traffic there during events hosted by the city or other groups. The street will be open to traffic and park- ing most of the time but can be blocked off during events and during the Christmas season, when the city places a giant tree by city hall. While the street opened to traffic Friday, an offi- cial ribbon-cutting will take place at 1 p.m. on July 14 during Funfest. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (PG13) 3:30* 6:30 7:00 9:30 3D 4:00 10:00 INCREDIBLES 2 (PG) 6:50 3D 4:10 9:40 TAG (R) 5:00 7:10 9:20 OCEANS 8 (PG13) 4:50 7:20 9:50 * Matinee Pricing * Matinee Pricing wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
