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.