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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2018)
WOLF OR-7 SIRES 5TH LITTER OF PUPS MARINERS WIN, PAXTON GOES ON DL NORTHWEST/2B SPORTS/1B THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018 142nd Year, No. 204 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD ATHENA Flagger killed on Highway 11 Fatal crashes and crash fatalities trending up statewide since 2013 By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian gon Community College,” he said. While that program was unsuccess- ful, Hernberg said it left him with some ideas. In November 2014, Hernberg said BMCC was approached by a local employer, whom he said he couldn’t name due to a non-disclosure agree- ment with the company. “They indicated to the college that they were expecting a lot of growth in the coming years, and they needed Road construction zone flagger Tyresa Monaghan of Kennewick died Tuesday night after a vehicle struck her on Highway 11 near Athena. Oregon State Police arrested Leman Louis Bledsoe, 76, of Milton-Freewater, for the crime. He now faces manslaughter and other charges. The fatality occurred around 8:30 p.m. near milepost 16, where a crew was paving, accord- ing to Tom Strandberg, the regional spokesper- son with the Oregon Department of Transpor- Bledsoe tation. He said Monaghan, as not an ODOT employee but worked for a Shamrock Paving Co., a subcontractor out of Washington. Multiple agencies responded, and Oregon State Police Sgt. Lisa Slater from the Pend- leton command is leading the investigation. State police reported Monaghan stopped a vehicle when Bledsoe came into the work zone driving a silver 2005 Chrysler minivan. The Chrysler side-swiped the stopped vehicle, then struck Monaghan. Umatilla County sheriff’s Sgt. John Sha- fer said he received an initial report from the scene. After hitting Monaghan, the minivan continued north and hit a second vehicle at the intersection with Wildhorse Road. Bledsoe tried to get away, Shafer said, but a road construction worker pulled a water truck around to block the escape. Shafer also said a doctor and his wife were in the first vehicle the minivan hit. That doc- tor rushed to aid Monaghan, but she died at the scene. Monaghan was 49. An ambulance took Bledsoe to St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton. Following medical treat- ment, state police hauled Bledsoe to the Uma- tilla County Jail, Pendleton. The Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office charged Bledsoe just before 11 a.m. Wednesday with the following: first-degree manslaughter; failure to perform the duties of a driver (one count for property damage, one for the death); driving under the influence of intoxicants (alcohol); recklessly endanger- ment of highway workers; two counts of reck- lessly endangering another person (for the doctor and his wife), and reckless driving. State court records show Circuit Judge Jon Lieuallen set Bledsoe’s bail at $750,000. The next proceeding in the case is a probable cause hearing Wednesday, Aug. 22. Court records show Bledsoe has convic- tions in 2015 in Umatilla County for menacing See TECH/8A See FLAGGER/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Joan Cardenas, left, and Christian Weyland, right, work on setting up a wired computer network with their lab partner Mandy Tobin, back, on Wednesday at BMCC Early Learning Center in Boardman. Getting technical As Amazon grows, so does popularity of data center technician program By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian W hen students complete Blue Mountain Community Col- lege’s nine-month data center technician program, many won’t have to leave their hometown to find a job. “I’d love to stay local,” said Noah Davis, a Hermiston resident currently studying in the program. “They’re expanding so much, there’s not a rea- son to leave.” “They,” as many students and pro- fessors are hesitant to say, are Ama- zon Web Services, which has several data centers at the ports of Morrow and Umatilla, and is constructing more in both counties. As Amazon expands, so does the number of people wanting to get into the data center tech program. For the 2018-19 school year, instruc- tor Pete Hernberg said 54 people applied for the 20 available spots. “The first year I was deathly afraid we wouldn’t have any students at all,” he said adding that they had to look for applicants. “Since then, we’ve had more interested than we’re able to accommodate.” Ready to work The program is tailored toward stu- Staff photo by E.J. Harris Instructor Pete Hernberg, center, talks a group of students through trouble- shooting setting up a wired network on Wednesday during an computer lab Wednesday at the BMCC Workforce Training Center in Boardman. dents who want to go directly into the workforce. Unlike many college pro- grams, where students are required to take humanities courses or other core classes, the three-term program focuses squarely on IT — or informa- tion technology — and equips students to quickly get a technician job. Hernberg said a company approached him about developing the program four years ago. “Prior to my working here, in Prineville I was involved in a some- what similar program at Central Ore- PENDLETON The liberation of rock ’n’ roll Teens learn self-expression and musical skills at week-long camp By BRITTANY NORTON East Oregonian Addison Schulberg has a phrase he likes to use when teaching teenagers how to play their chosen instruments. “Remember, this is rock ’n’ roll.” It’s a reminder of the camp’s pur- pose, but it also serves as an encour- agement of self-expression. For one week out of the year, the Pendleton Center for the Arts is over- run with kids with musical ambition. The building is filled with a cacophony of sounds as the campers, in the bands they formed, practice different tunes all at once during Rock & Roll Camp. The sounds are what one might expect from a rock & roll camp: loud, chaotic, but a whole lot of fun. Children ages 13-18 attend for eight hours a day Monday through Fri- day and then finish out the week with a concert on Main Street. This year is its 13th in town. “The camp is finally old enough to attend itself,” joked Schulberg, the camp’s director. For many campers, this is an oppor- tunity to hone in on existing musical talent, learn a new instrument or pick See ROCK/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Counselor Sam Pinkerton, left, discusses song lyrics with Marie Odum, 16, center, and Stephen Reitz, 17, as the duo writes a song Wednesday at the Rock & Roll Camp in Pendleton.