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E O
AST
143rd year, No. 156
County gets
mixed bill of
health from
researchers
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
In some ways, Umatilla County
is getting healthier.
According to the recently com-
pleted 2018 Umatilla County
Community Health Assessment,
the uninsured rate has shrunk to
7%, annual medical checkups are
rising, and the smoking rate is
falling.
But not every health statistic is
on the right trajectory and there’s
a significant health disparity
between the county’s Latino com-
munity and its general population.
As a follow-up to health
assessments in 2011 and 2015,
St. Anthony Hospital in Pendle-
ton and Good Shepherd Health
Care System in Hermiston com-
missioned the Hospital Council
of Northwest Ohio and the Uni-
versity of Toledo to survey the
county again in 2018.
Tessa Elliott, a community
health improvement coordina-
tor for the Hospital Council, pre-
sented the findings at St. Anthony
Tuesday.
REGONIAN
Thursday, May 23, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HINKLE LAYOFFS
Oregon senators respond to Hinkle closure
By PHIL WRIGHT AND
JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Oregon’s two senators in
Congress are pushing Union
Pacific Railroad for more
answers in the wake of cutting
almost 200 jobs from the Hinkle
rail yard in hermiston.
Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley, both Democrats,
expressed their concerns about
the job cuts in a page-and-half
letter Wednesday to Lance M.
Fritz, chairman, president and
CEO of Union Pacific Corpora-
tion. The decisions to reduce jobs
at Hinkle Yard, close the supply
warehouse and the mechanical
locomotive shop, the senators
stated, “will devastate this rural
community by hamstringing the
economic opportunities and sta-
bility of the entire region.”
While the railroad’s employ-
ees can relocate to other yards,
they worried “the potential out-
migration of much needed fam-
ily-wage jobs in rural Eastern
Oregon will do serious long-
term damage to the local econ-
omy and tax base.”
Paul Chalmers, director of
assessment and taxation for
Umatilla County, said the total
assessed value of Union Pacif-
ic’s property in the county is
about $169 million, and the Hin-
kle Yard accounts for about 32
percent of that, or roughly $52
million.
The yard’s real market value,
he said, is closer to $140 million.
What Union Pacific decides
to do with the yard could affect
the value and thus the taxes on
that property. The railroad could
cut jobs, for example, in a move
to make Hinkle more auto-
mated. That could increase the
property value.
But even major improve-
ments seem unlikely to replace
the economic loss from the jobs.
Union
Pacific
offered
$25,000 signing bonuses for
electricians to work at Hinkle
in 2018, according to reporting
from The Wall Street Journal,
and the jobs averaged $40,000
in pay the first year and $60,000
the next. That pay, not including
the bonus, works out to an aver-
age of $24 an hour. using that
estimate, the total payroll for the
See Layoffs, Page A6
‘Every bone in his body is happy’
Weight and vice
The people of Umatilla County
have long struggled with their
weight and 2018 was no different.
While the number of people
classified as overweight dropped
from 34% in 2015 to 28% in 2018,
the obesity rate rose from 37% to
42%.
This rise came despite 53% of
respondents reporting that they
participated in vigorous physical
activity within the last week and
40% eating three to four servings
of fruits and vegetables per day.
Umatilla County’s obesity rate
is significantly higher than both
the U.S. and Oregon’s rates.
Conversely, tobacco use was a
bright spot for the county.
The 8% of respondents who
said they were current smokers
was a significant decrease from
the previous two health assess-
ments and much lower than the
statewide and national rates.
While smoking is down, mar-
ijuana use continues to rise, hop-
scotching from 7% in 2011 to 11%
in 2015 to 12% in 2018.
With marijuana now legal in
Oregon and sold in Pendleton,
audience members expected that
number to continue to rise.
The survey also revealed that
1 in 5 county adult could be clas-
sified as binge drinkers, having
consumed four or five drinks in
one sitting over the past month.
That rate is higher than the aver-
ages for Oregon and u.s.
Mental health
More than one-fifth of Umatilla
County adults reported that they
or a family member were diag-
See Health, Page A6
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Custodian Eric Virgil sweeps the floor in a classroom at Sunridge Middle School on Tuesday in Pendleton.
Sunridge thinks outside the
box to employ man with
intellectual disability, wins
award
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Sometimes all a guy needs is a chance
to prove himself.
Consider the case of Eric Virgil.
Virgil, 42, was born with an intellec-
tual disability that makes learning, prob-
lem solving and reasoning a challenge. He
has his own apartment but needs 24-hour
support. The Pendleton man worked in a
sheltered workshop for many years, but
dreamed of having a regular job in the
community. A little more than a year ago,
he applied for a part-time custodian posi-
tion at Sunridge Middle School.
District Facility Manager Ken Leb-
sock, on the hiring panel, listened to the
pitch with interest. The plan was that Vir-
gil would work with the help of his job
coach at Horizon Project to keep him
on track. Virgil had previous janitorial
experience with Horizon Project.
“The job fit his abilities,” Lebsock
said. “We knew there would be a few
challenges, but with the job coach, we felt
comfortable with him.”
Virgil got to work. For the past year,
he has cleaned one of the building’s
wings with the zeal of gold miner who
has discovered the motherlode.
Virgil is a cheerful soul, a black belt in
karate who loves the Portland Trail Blaz-
ers. On a recent day, he arrived at school
shortly before the final bell. He and job
coach Chris Humphrey weaved their
way around students as they headed to
the janitor’s closet. Virgil wore an emer-
ald green sunridge shirt, a Portland Trail
Blazer hat, boots and a walkie talkie
clipped to cargo pants.
Virgil inspected his cart, a rolling
cache of cleaning chemicals, stainless
steel polish, a pumice stick, rags, broom,
mop, feather duster, garbage bags, gloves,
paper towels and a spray can containing
gum remover. Humphrey stood nearby
watching closely.
“There’s only one roll of toilet paper,”
he nudged Virgil. “Better grab more.”
The custodian nodded and fetched a
couple more rolls from a shelf.
Humphrey, as an aide assigned to Vir-
gil by his employer, Horizon Project,
accompanies Virgil everywhere, not just
to work. When Virgil heads to school,
Humphrey goes too.
The pair got going down the long cor-
ridor. First stop was Mr. Jacob’s wood
shop. In the expansive room filled with
woodworking equipment, Virgil con-
sulted a flip chart hooked to his cart.
The card said “garbage” and “mop” with
drawings of a garbage can and a dust
mop and “time — 15 minutes.” Virgil set
the timer on his cart for 15 minutes and
got to work. He finished just as the tim-
er’s alarm sounded.
And so it went with Humphrey giv-
ing an occasional direction or compli-
ment. Virgil cleaned the weight room and
then beelined for Mrs. Sickels’ art room
where he again dust mopped and emptied
the trash. Eight classrooms, two locker
rooms, two bathrooms and a long cor-
ridor later, Virgil clocked out after four
hours on the job.
Before the hiring of Virgil, Lebsock
visited with Sunridge Principal Dave
Williams to confer.
See Happy, Page A6
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Custodian Eric Virgil sets a timer on his cart before cleaning a room that helps keep him
on schedule while working his job at Sunridge Middle School on Tuesday in Pendleton.