REGION
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
East Oregonian
OSEA fosters help
for kids in transition
A snow day in the Blues
By TAMMY
MALGESINI
For the East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Fresh snow blankets the Blue Mountains on Monday, March 22, 2021.
Walla Walla woman injured in Highway 11 crash
By JEDIDIAH MAYNES
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER
— A second three-car crash
within one week on Highway
11, north of Milton-Freewa-
ter, sent another person to the
hospital on Friday, March 19.
Deloris J. Woerner, 85,
of Walla Walla, Wash., was
transported to Providence
St. Mary Medical Center
with minor injuries, accord-
ing to Oregon State Police.
The hospital is not releasing
conditions of patients during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
citing staffi ng issues.
The three cars involved
in the crash were damaged
and had to be towed from the
scene, troopers noted.
Ac c o r d i n g t o t h e
report, the incident began
with Woerner exiting the
Sinclair gas station north of
Milton-Freewater around
10:27 a.m., turning south
across the four lanes of traf-
fi c.
Wo e r n e r ’s S u b a r u
Forester was struck by a
Buick Envoy driven by Fred
fi c, according to the report.
OSP Sgt. Jeremy Gunter
said the stretch of Highway
11 north from Milton-Free-
water to Stateline Road —
and Washington state Route
125 from Stateline Road to
Walla Walla — is a hazard-
“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
DRIVERS CAN DO IS BE PATIENT.”
— Jeremy Gunter, Oregon State Police Sgt.
E. Moore, 80, of Walla Walla,
who was driving north on the
highway.
Moore’s vehicle veered
toward the center turning
lane and ran into a BMW 325,
operated by Brian K. Butler,
59, of Dayton.
Woerner was cited for fail-
ing to yield to oncoming traf-
ous road full of lots of traffi c
and high speeds.
“The most important thing
drivers can do is be patient,”
Gunter said. “Take your time
and wait for safe openings
in traffi c before entering the
highway. Make sure there
is not another vehicle in the
blind spot behind the vehicle
LOCAL BRIEFING
Vaccine clinic for
farm and food
processing workers
BOARDMAN — The
Boardman Chamber of
Commerce announced that
a COVID-19 vaccine clinic
specifically geared toward
farm and food processing
workers will be held from
Wednesday, March 24,
through Saturday, March 27,
at the Sage Center on North-
east 101 Olson Road in Board-
man, according to a press
release.
The clinics will be held
on March 24 from 1 p.m. to
8 p.m., March 25 from noon to
7 p.m., March 26 from 7 a.m.
to 2 p.m., and March 27 from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Those who wish to be
vaccinated do not need health
insurance, but are encouraged
to bring a health insurance
card if they have one.
The chamber is asking that
residents make an appoint-
ment, but said “vaccinations
without appointment will
depend on availability.”
Residents can call 541-481-
4200 to make an appointment
for their vaccine.
Second doses of the
vaccine will be provided in
April.
Hermiston School
District shuffl es
administrators
HERMISTON — Hermis-
ton School District is moving
some of its administrators
around to new jobs next year
to fill open positions from
within the district.
The district announced
that Director of Student
Services Neely McKay will
serve as director of special
programs. McKay had been
serving in the position on an
interim position during the
current school year in addition
to her job in student services,
but will permanently fi ll the
director of special programs
position on July 1.
Desert View Elementary
School Principal Daniel Gree-
nough will become the new
director of student services,
according to the news release,
drawing on his experience
working as a principal of both
elementary and high school
students over his career.
Sandstone Middle School
Assistant Principal David
Melville will move to Desert
View to replace Greenough as
principal. His past experience
includes teaching and a posi-
tion as a high school dean of
students.
Joshua Browning, an
instructional coach who has
been training teachers in the
district and working with data
to help meet student needs,
has been named the new prin-
cipal of Loma Vista Elemen-
tary School. The new school is
scheduled to open its doors in
the fall of 2022, and Browning
will help hire staff and plan for
its opening over the course of
the next year while the build-
ing is under construction.
— EO Media Group
Sun Terrace - Presents
Easter
Car Parade
Decorate your car!
Limited Entries!
A3
2PM
April 2nd
Receive a goodie
bag at end of
parade route!
Call 541-564-2595
To reserve your spot!
Entry Deadline:
Thursday
April 1st
Call Pam 541-564-2595 for assistance!
Check out our virtual tour on Youtube: Search for
Sun Terrace Hermiston
coming toward you. Don’t
allow yourself to become
distracted while preparing to
enter the highway.”
Gunter said people should
be aware of how to use the
center turning lane as well.
“It is not an acceleration
lane,” Gunter said. He said
it’s designed for cars to stop
and wait for traffi c to clear
while entering or exiting
the highway, but it’s often
misused by drivers wanting
to get in and out of traffi c
quickly.
Gunter said the three
main factors leading to the
majority of crashes on this
particular stretch of road are
distracted drivers, speeding
and improper lane usage.
On Sunday, March 14,
another three-car pileup on
Highway 11 sent two people
to the hospital.
HERMISTON — Area
foster children will benefi t
from the recent generosity
of members of Hermiston
Chapter 10 of the Oregon
School Employees Associ-
ation (OSEA).
Association member
Cathy Keeney said they
learned that kids are often
removed from their homes
with only a few belong-
ings that can fi t in a small
bag. To help ease the tran-
sition of local children into
foster care, Keeney said
the association decided to
donate tote bags and stuff ed
animals to the Hermis-
ton office of the Oregon
Department of Human
Services-Child Welfare.
Each year, members of
the school district’s clas-
sifi ed staff participate in a
community service proj-
ect. Keeney said Karen
Harris, another association
member, became aware of
the needs of local foster
kids and reached out to
Jaime Meakins of the local
DHS offi ce.
Many of the kids that
end up in a local foster
home are already a part of
the community and attend
school in the district,
Keeney said. Chapter 10
association members, she
said, were quickly on board
to provide support to the
children.
“It’s the whole concept
of supporting each other,”
Keeney said. “They are our
kids.”
In addition, the group
voted to make the donation
in honor of the Hermiston
School District Board of
Education as part of Janu-
ary’s School Board Appre-
ciation Month. Keeney
said they wanted to recog-
nize the school board for
its ongoing support of the
association’s community
service projects.
GETTING HELP
As resources are avail-
able, Cathy Keeney said
the local OSEA chapter
will consider helping
other groups and
organizations who are
in need of support. For
more information, con-
tact Keeney at cathy.
keeney@hermistonsd.
org or 541-667-6025.
The association was
able to provide 48 tote bags
along with stuff ed animals
to be given to foster kids.
On Feb. 8, Keeney and
Harris presented the items
to the Hermiston DHS
offi ce.
Expressing appreciation
for the generous donation,
Meakins said the contribu-
tion makes it possible for
the agency to provide chil-
dren entering foster care
with an overnight bag,
which can be filled with
necessities or used to put
their personal belongings
inside the bag.
“We try to provide every
child who enters foster care
a new backpack/bag, a new
pair of pajamas, new blan-
ket, new socks, underwear,
hygiene items, a stuffed
animal, and a book/journal
to help with the traumatic
transition into foster care,”
Meakins said.
I n r e c e n t ye a r s ,
members of the associa-
tion have helped make a
difference at the Herm-
iston Warming Station.
They placed boxes in
each of the schools to
accept donations, includ-
ing everything from socks
and gloves to snacks and
cleaning/personal hygiene
supplies. However, Keeney
said because of COVID-19
restrictions, the association
decided against a donation
drive and sought to find
another way to actively
support the community.