REGION
Friday, September 21, 2018
Hermiston man’s daughter,
grandson trampled by giraffe
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A Hermiston man has
spent most of his time at a
hospital in South Africa this
month after his daughter and
grandson were trampled by
a giraffe on Sept. 3.
Dr. Katy Williams and
her son Finn, 3, were seri-
ously injured but their health
has been improving, Jack
Standish said.
Standish, who moved
to Hermiston with his late
wife in 2005, said Katy and
Finn were going out to meet
Katy’s husband Sam Wil-
liams on Sept. 3 as Sam
returned from a run. Often
Katy and Finn would meet
up with him inside the large,
fenced estate where their
home was located before
walking back together. They
are both scientists (Katy spe-
cializes in hyenas and Sam
in big cats) and have been in
South Africa for research.
Katy and Finn walked
into a clearing to see a
tower of giraffes, and before
they had time to react, one
charged and began kicking
them.
Sam, returning from his
run, saw the attack and was
able to scare the giraffes
away by yelling and wav-
ing his arms. Standish said
the giraffe that attacked was
a mother with a young baby
Photo contributed by Jack Standish
Katy, Sam and Finn Williams are pictured sometime
before Katy and Finn were trampled by a giraffe.
and was likely protecting
her baby from a perceived
threat.
“We hold no malice
toward the giraffe,” Standish
said, calling the incident an
“accident of nature.”
Katy and Finn were
flown to a hospital in Johan-
nesburg, where doctors were
not sure either one would
survive the night. The two
could not have gotten better
care, Standish said. After he
got the call about the attack,
he and his son David, who
is serving in the U.S. Navy,
rushed to Johannesburg.
“We got there and Katy
was under a deep coma and
looking pretty rough with
scrapes and bruises all over
her body,” he said.
She woke up later, how-
ever, and her broken bones
and punctured organs are
healing. Meanwhile Finn
is finally able to open his
eyes and, while not speak-
ing yet, is reacting to his sur-
roundings “as he should be.”
He will be moved soon to a
rehabilitation center for chil-
dren to help him get back
up to where a three-year-old
should be developmentally.
“There’s a lot of hope,”
Standish said. “His family
and doctors know he’s going
to get well.”
Standish said as the inci-
dent has been reported
around the world there has
been some judgment, but
both Katy and Sam have
doctorate degrees in animal
science and they have been
working with animals in
Africa for years. The fenced
estate where they lived
doesn’t have lions, chee-
tahs, rhinoceroses or other
animals considered particu-
larly dangerous and giraffes
— which Katy could not
see until it was too late —
are not known for attacking
humans.
Standish said the fam-
ily, including Katy, asked
that the giraffe not be euth-
anized, and it was moved to
a location away from peo-
ple. Unfortunately, the baby
giraffe did not survive the
move.
“We were so extremely
sorry to hear that,” Standish
said. “It brought tears to my
eyes, because we all love
animals.”
Two
GoFundMe
accounts (one for Brit-
ish pounds, since the Wil-
liamses got their advanced
degrees in England, and one
in American dollars) have
been set up to help the Wil-
liams family cover their
extensive medical bills. The
American one can be found
at
www.gofundme.com/
finn-amp-katy-williams.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Stanfield looks at bond projects
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The Stanfield School
District is looking to make
some changes. In May 2019,
the district plans to place a
bond on the ballot, which
will target safety upgrades
and improve classroom
space for both the elemen-
tary and secondary schools.
If passed, the bond will
appear on Stanfield resi-
dents’ tax statements begin-
ning in July 2019.
While the district needs
about $14 million to com-
plete the proposed projects,
it is not yet clear how much
the bond will ask of voters.
The district found out on
Wednesday that it received
a $4 million Oregon School
Capital
Improvement
Matching grant.
“We could ask vot-
ers for less than $14 mil-
lion, which would actually
lower taxes, and use the $4
million in matching funds
to make up the difference
while accounting for the ris-
ing costs of materials and
labor,” said Stanfield Super-
intendent Beth Burton in an
email to the East Oregonian.
The district has identi-
fied several projects that
bond money will target. At
the elementary school, it
will focus on a more secure
entryway, with better visi-
bility. The parking area will
be remodeled to hold more
vehicles, and separate the
driving area from the drop-
off area. The bond also
allots money to replace the
flooring in the elementary
school.
There are a slew of pro-
posed projects at the sec-
ondary school, including
upgrading the surveillance
system, removing lead
plumbing, replacing all
exterior and some interior
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Food Service Manager Clara Nichols, left, shows a group of citizens around Stan-
field Secondary School’s kitchen — one of the spaces that would be renovated if a
bond is passed next May.
doors, upgrading the kitchen
equipment, remodeling the
administrative office and
entrance, and expanding the
metal and wood shops.
Burton and Stanfield Ele-
mentary School principal
Lacey Sharp led a group of
about 30 Stanfield residents
and staff members around
the facilities, pointing out
the areas that the bond will
target.
Burton noted that while
capital improvements in
many local schools, like
Hermiston, have focused
on capacity, that’s not the
case in Stanfield. She said
enrollment numbers are not
projected to increase, and
have actually dropped a bit
in the past few years. Stan-
field currently has about 470
students between its two
schools.
Instead, she said, prior-
ities for the bond include
improving student and staff
safety, enhancing career and
technical education space,
expanding the space for the
middle school (currently
housed in a single portable),
and improving the overall
learning environment.
Burton noted some of the
design flaws in both build-
ings, such as the lack of
windows in the secondary
school. Earlier that day, the
power had gone out in the
school.
“It was pitch dark and
unsafe,” Burton said.
The group toured the
gym, which has new floor-
ing and bleachers, but
would get a new air condi-
tioning system as a result
of the bond. In the kitchen,
they observed the cracked
floor and old appliances.
“It takes me about 45
minutes to boil water,” said
Clara Nichols, the food ser-
vice manager at Stanfield
Secondary School.
The district last went out
for a bond in 1999, after
which they built Stanfield
Elementary School. That
building has not had any
upgrades since then. The
secondary school was built
in 1979, and was remodeled
in 1995.
Help Celebrate
Cason’s Place
East Oregonian
Page 3A
BRIEFLY
Lawsuit seeks
return of forced
union fees
SALEM (AP) — Seek-
ing the return of millions
of dollars of forced union
fees, 12 Oregon public
employees filed a federal
class-action lawsuit against
the state’s three largest pub-
lic sector unions, a smaller
union, and affiliates.
The U.S. Supreme
Court ruled in June that
government workers can’t
be required to contribute to
labor groups.
The National Right to
Work Legal Defense Foun-
dation, which was involved
in the Supreme Court case,
is handling the Oregon case
and 200 others across the
country.
The group said the suit,
filed Thursday in federal
court in Oregon, seeks fees
collected in recent years
from thousands of pub-
lic sector employees who
left their unions or never
joined.
Defendants include the
Service Employees Inter-
national Union; American
Federation of State, Local,
and Municipal Employees;
and the Oregon Education
Association.
Canada police
chase man
bypassing U.S.
border crossing
BLAINE, Wash. (AP)
— Authorities say a police
chase ensued at the north-
ern U.S. border crossing
after a man in a truck fled
from Washington state to
Vancouver, B.C., without
stopping for international
travel processing.
The Bellingham Her-
ald reports that the
unidentified man in his
20s in a blue Ford pickup
truck with Oregon plates
bypassed the Peace Arch
border crossing Saturday
morning.
Border crossing agents
reported it but he refused
to pull over, evading mul-
tiple police officers for
miles.
He was finally arrested
by Vancouver police nearly
30 miles later, after the
truck crashed into a Mazda
sedan and the Rufus Drum
Shop.
The 32-year-old man
from Vancouver in the
Mazda suffered minor
injuries.
The driver of the truck
faces charges of dangerous
driving and causing a police
pursuit.
Oregon pays $150k
to family of man
crushed by tree
PORTLAND (AP) —
The state of Oregon has
paid $150,000 to the estate
of a man who died when a
tree fell across the Historic
Columbia River Highway
and onto his car.
The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live reports 27-year-old
Jorge Figueroa was vis-
iting the Columbia River
Gorge from the Seattle area
on June 28, 2015, when the
tree crashed down onto
the Saturn sedan he was
driving.
The family faulted the
Oregon Department of
Transportation for failing
to remove the decaying
tree near Corbett.
9/21 - 23
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie
9/26 • 12pm
The Caine Mutiny
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK
IN ITS WALLS (PG)
11:20* 1:50* 4:20 6:50 9:30
LIFE ITSELF (R)
11:40* 2:10* 4:40 7:10 9:50
THE PREDATOR (R)
11:30* 2:00* 4:30 7:00 9:40
A SIMPLE FAVOR (R)
11:10* 1:40* 4:10 6:40 9:20
WHITE BOY RICK (R)
11:50* 2:20* 4:50 7:20 10:00
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
CHI St. Anthony Hospital
Family Clinic
CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family
Clinic is recognized as a Patient
-Centered Primary Care Home.
What does that mean for you?
• Better-coordinated care.
• Listening to your concerns and answering ques-
tions.
• After-hours nurse consultation.
• Healthcare providers who will help connect you
with the
care you need in a safe and timely way.
• Healthcare providers who play an active role in
your health.
First
Birthday
Sunday, September 23, 2018 • 1-3 pm
1416 SE Court Ave, Pendleton
Dedication of Outdoor Activity Area Opening:
Honoring Adrian Stump, a fallen soldier
• Rock Painting for Memorial Garden
• Please join us and learn more about
Cason’s Place work with grieving
children and families.
No Child Should have to Grieve Alone
Grief Support
for Children
and Families
of Eastern
Oregon
www.casonsplace.org
HOURS
Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are preferred.
CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family Clinic
3001 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR 97801
541.966.0535 • 541.278.4597 (fax)