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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2019)
LA GRANDE’S LIBERTY THEATRE RESTORATION MOVING FORWARD RICKY SIMON’S MMA STAR ON THE RISE NORTHWEST, A2 SPORTS, A7 HERMISTON WATERMELONS READY FOR SUMMER EATING REGION, A3 FRIDAY, JuLY 12, 2019 143rd Year, No. 191 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend PENDLETON STEM camp embraces at-risk children By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian sonnel and the community. “It’s gonna be a night-and-day difference,” Hull said. Additionally, the new sta- tion has a room for the Pendleton Police Department should it need a space on the east side of town. Hull said he has worked on other fire stations as a member of large construction firms in Portland and Seattle, but Pend- leton’s fire station is the best one he’s seen. Pendleton facilities manager HERMISTON — In the middle of summer, Sandstone Middle School is the last place many kids would want to be. The exception stands for the 48 kids participating in Sky- hawks STEM Sports Camp this week, who had just learned they were getting free ice cream on Wednesday. “In our program, sports is the hook. But there is confi- dence building and character building, those are components that we really drive by,” said Tim Sullivan, who owns Sky- hawks in the Tri-Cities, a sports academy for children ages 4-12 of all skill levels. Sullivan said the camp incorporates components of science, technology, engineer- ing and math. Kids dissected soccer balls to learn more about how they’re made before shooting goals. Most recently, they tested bas- ketballs to see how high they bounce on different surfaces. “No matter what grade they’re in, when they return back to school, if they’re doing anything with STEM, they’re going to have an automatic con- nection,” Sullivan said. The weeklong camp is open for children ages 6 to 12 who receive services from Made to Thrive, a nonprofit organization that provides funding, transpor- tation, equipment and mentor- ing for at-risk and foster youth to participate in extracurricular activities. The camp was brought to Oregon with the help of Com- munity and Shelter Assistance of Oregon, which received a NeighborWorks grant. The grant was able to fund about half of the spots for the camp, and Skyhawks took care of the rest. “We thought children with the most need were already located by Made to Thrive,” said Monica Cervantes of the Oregon Child Development Coalition, who is part of CASA of Oregon. See Fire Station, Page A6 See Skyhawks, Page A6 • Athena Caledonian Games, Athena City Park • Fork in the Road concert, Milton-Freewater • Farmers Markets in Irrigon and Heppner FOR DATES, TIMES AND VENUES, VISIT WWW.EASTERNOREGONEVENTS.COM Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Pendleton’s new Fire Station One nears completion as work crews finish interior fixtures and landscape work. Weekend Weather FRI SAT SUN 90/62 88/61 86/59 Oregon Senate leaders sending $3,500 invoices to Republicans for walkout By DIRK VANDERHART Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — Oregon’s legis- lative session is over, but Sen- ate Republicans are about to get their hands on a whole new crop of bills. Senate leaders said this week they are preparing to invoice 11 Republican senators for fines associated with a June walkout, after determining a plan to dock their pay wasn’t legal. According to Senate President Peter Courtney’s office, invoices for $3,500 — $500 per day for seven of the eight days Repub- licans refused to show up for a floor session — had not been sent as of Wednesday. “Individual bills will be sent to each senator who missed work,” said Carol McAlice Currie, a See Invoice, Page A6 By ANTONIO SIERRA AND PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian ENDLETON — More than two years after voters gave the city of Pendleton the go-ahead to build a $9 million fire station, the new facil- ity is nearly move-in ready and under budget. Leading a tour through the building on Tuesday, Joseph Hull, the director of business develop- ment/operations for McCormack Construction Co., said the fire station remains on track to finish by its targeted end date, which is the end of the month. Fire Chief Paul Berardi said the furniture for the station arrives Tuesday with installa- tion Wednesday. The city pur- chased most of that — desks, file cabinets, bed frames and more — through a deal with Oregon Corrections Enterprises. But fire department staff will not be working there quite yet. “We’re still going through trying to make sure the radios are operating,” Berardi said, and similar concerns. He said the plan calls for staff to be in there by Aug. 1, though it looks to happen sooner. P Staff photo by Kathy Aney A vintage bell made in 1885 by Henry McShane & Co. sits on a pallet ready for installation in Pendleton’s new firehouse. Hull said the remaining con- struction crews are mostly work- ing on landscaping and a “punch list” of finishing touches to com- plete before the fire department can move in to the station. The 1455 S.E. Court Ave. sta- tion now features many of the amenities that are either non-ex- istent or diminished at the current facility at 911 S.W. Court Ave.: individual lodging quarters for each firefighter, a full kitchen, a gym, a communal area, work- space, offices for administrators, and meeting rooms for both per- EOU writing program is reborn — with Fishtrap’s help School has reestablished its writing track, after a one-year hiatus By APRIL BAER Oregon Public Broadcasting LA GRANDE — Oregon’s rural university and a storied Wallowa County writers’ retreat are teaming up to revive a degree program and cross-pollinate each other’s programs. Eastern Oregon university, based in La Grande, has reestablished its writing track, after a one-year hiatus. It signed a memorandum of under- standing Wednesday at the Summer Fishtrap gathering, so that its Mas- ter of Fine Arts students can bene- fit from the wealth of talent that con- venes at Wallowa Lake each summer and winter. Fishtrap executive director Shan- non McNerney says her organization had wanted to reboot an academic pro- gram that provided college credit for high schoolers attending its gathering. She got to talking to an EOu English professor, Nancy Knowles, over beers at Enterprise’s popular brewery Ter- minal Gravity — as McNerney calls it, “the official meeting spot for all partnership initiations in Wallowa County.” Their conversation ulti- mately resulted in the Memorandum of understanding. Like several Oregon writing pro- grams, EOu’s MFA is a low-residency course. It only requires students to be on campus in Eastern Oregon for a few weeks per year, as they work See Writing, Page A6 CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family Clinic is recognized as a Patient -Centered Primary Care Home. What does that mean for you? • Better-coordinated care. • Healthcare providers who will help connect you • Listening to your concerns and answering with the care you need in a safe and timely way. questions. • Healthcare providers who play an active role in your health. • After-hours nurse consultation. 844.724.8632 3001 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG Mon through Thurs, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. • Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat and Sun, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are preferred.