New police station in Milton-Freewater up for vote this month | REGION A3
E O
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145th year, No. 86
REGONIAN
Thursday, May 6, 2021
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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
aspen springs reopens as a secure residential treatment facility
Lifeways accepting
patients for ‘safe,
supervised,
short-term’ care
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
hErMIsTON — The former
aspen springs Psychiatric hospi-
tal in hermiston has reopened as a
secure residential treatment facility.
The 16-bed hospital closed in
early april, about seven months
after it opened. The board of Life-
ways, the community mental
health provider that built the facil-
ity, stated they could not find the
psychiatrists and psychiatric
nurses needed to staff the building
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Lifeways closed its Aspen Springs Psychiatric Hospital in Hermiston after
just over six months in operation, but has now reopened the building as a
secure residential treatment facility.
around the clock.
Lifeways announced on Tues-
day, May 4, that aspen springs is
now accepting patients as a Class
II secured residential Treatment
Facility.
“The Lifeways Team appreciates
all the support we have received
from partners at all levels of care
and community in umatilla County
and throughout the state,” the news
release stated. “Lifeways remains
dedicated to those needing a care
team to walk by their side on their
journey back to health and well-
ness. Thank you for your contin-
ued support during this transition.”
a psychiatric hospital provides
the highest level of psychiatric care
in the state, caring for individuals
in the midst of an acute mental
health crisis. a secure residen-
tial treatment facility also treats
patients on an inpatient basis, but
is a step down on the level of sever-
ity. Lifeways describes it as a place
for community members ages 18
and up “seeking safe, supervised,
short-term psychiatric recovery and
stabilization.”
services provided will include
medication management, individ-
ual and group therapy, skills train-
ing and “wraparound” support for
patients reintegrating back into
the community. There are 16 beds
available.
For former aspen springs
Psychiatric hospital patients, their
patient records can be accessed by
contacting Julie hyslop, medical
records supervisor, at jhyslop@
lifeways.org or 702 sunset drive
in Ontario.
PENDLETON
Budget
gets shot
in arm
City’s proposed
increase in general
fund linked to $3.4M
federal stimulus
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENdLETON — Thanks to
the most recent round of federal
stimulus, the city of Pendleton’s
budget is likely to rise again
this year despite the COVId-19
pandemic.
The city has proposed that the
2021-22 general fund, the city’s
only discretionary fund that pays
for services like police, firefight-
ers and parks, be set at $20.3
million, a 14% increase from the
previous fiscal year. The city’s
total budget — proposed at $105.2
million — also represents a slight
increase from the prior year.
City Manager robb Corbett
attributed much of the growth to
the $3.4 million Pendleton expects
to receive from the american
rescue Plan act, the $1.9 trillion
federal government stimulus bill
meant to provide economic relief
to people and entities affected by
COVId-19.
While the city is still figuring
out what parameters there are on
how to spend the money, a prelim-
inary plan would spend some
money covering financial losses
from the coronavirus and on a
tourism initiative. But the lion’s
share of the money is being allo-
cated toward facility maintenance.
Corbett and other city staff
have long spoken about the need
to address the million of dollars
of deferred maintenance associ-
See Budget, Page A7
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
David Shasteen sprints into first base during a Dream Team softball game at Hermiston’s Field of Dreams on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
‘DREAM TEAM’
Hermiston Little
League teams pair
up with special
needs athletes to
create a night of fun
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
H
ErMIsTON — On Tuesday
nights at hermiston’s Field of
dreams, a very unusual softball
game takes shape.
Both teams wear the same green T-shirts,
emblazoned with the words “dream Team.”
There are half a dozen shortstops, but zero
outs. The game is only two innings long.
The weekly games are part of an annual
tradition that takes place each spring when
special needs athletes ages 6 and to young
adult play together, helped along by members
of local Little League teams. On Tuesday,
May 4, the devin Oil Marlins softball team
and the hermiston Generating Cardinals
baseball team were taking their turn.
“My favorite part is at the end of each
game, when they ask, ‘When do we get to
play again?’” Coach Tasha Bleyenberg said.
she and Coach Kristi smalley gather their
18 players each week at 6 p.m. They start
out by pairing up dream Team athletes with
Little League athletes for a game of catch
to warm up, then lead everyone in some
stretches before the athletes divide into two
teams and the game begins.
“are we gonna have some fun tonight?”
smalley asked everyone during the May
4 game, while everyone enthusiastically
chimes back that fun is the focus.
david shasteen, age 9, said he has been
on the dream Team for several years now.
his favorite part is getting to swing the bat
at the plate.
There are no strikes — players get to hit
the ball as many times as they need, either
from a ball pitched by a coach or a T-ball
tee — and david said he usually hits the ball
right away.
“But sometimes I miss the ball on the
fourth time or the second time,” he said.
The players’ skill varies widely. during
the first inning, one player wandered toward
third base after hitting the ball before her
Little League buddies got her going in the
See Dream, Page A7
Pool ready to reopen
Pendleton aquatic
Center to reopen
under new rules
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENdLETON — The Pendleton
aquatic Center is opening for the
first since 2019, but what its reopen-
ing looks like is highly dependent
on umatilla County’s COVId-19
risk level.
In an interview, Parks and recre-
ation director Liam hughes said the
pool will reopen on June 12 after
spending 2020 dormant.
hughes said the “game changer”
for the aquatic center was the state’s
new standards for outdoor gather-
ings. While the state used to cap
gatherings at a flat number, the state
now factors in people per square
feet and county risk level.
With the Pendleton aquatic
Center offering 128,000 square feet
of space, the aquatic center offers
some flexibility for city staff.
“We’re really fortunate that the
aquatic center is such a large facil-
ity,” he said.
With umatilla County currently
at a high COVId-19 risk level, the
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
aquatic center can welcome in up to The lap pool at the Pendleton Aquatic Center sits full of water on Wednes-
670 guests simultaneously. But the day, May 5, 2021.
aquatic center’s capacity rises and
only allowing pool classes to oper- capacity would grow to 1,100.
falls with the county’s risk level.
should the county fall into the ate at the facility. On the other
If umatilla County manages to
extreme level, the city would cut hand, should the county graduate to
off general admission to the pools, moderate risk, the aquatic center’s
See Pool, Page A7