REGION
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
M-F experiences an infl ux of new businesses
ing a new location of Taqueria
Mi Pueblito and Taco Bell on
this street also are underway.
By ABBY MALZEWSKI
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
M I LT ON - F R E E WA-
TER — For the fi rst time in
many years, Milton-Free-
water is seeing an infl ux of
businesses applying for land
approval in the town. The city
of Milton-Freewater reported
a total of 212 businesses in the
town in 2020.
Columbia Street is home
to many of Milton-Freewa-
ter’s big businesses, including
Dutch Bros Coff ee, Safeway
and Papa Murphy’s. Recently
joining this stretch is Dollar
General, and plans for open-
Dollar General
Construction for a new
Dollar General store at 45 S.
Columbia St. began in Janu-
ary. The business employed
as many as 10 new hires at its
opening in mid-May. Dollar
General sells food, health
and beauty products, basic
apparel and more.
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, File
The Gathering Place in Milton-Freewater, Feb. 10, 2021. Mil-
ton-Freewater is seeing an infl ux of businesses applying for
land-approval in the town.
BMCC fi nalizes budget cuts
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Blue Mountain Community
College Board of Education
fi nalized a series of budget
cuts at a Wednesday, June 16,
meeting, affi rming an antici-
pated round of layoff s. But the
college’s faculty union contin-
ues pushing to restore some of
the positions.
Board Chair Jane Hill
called the meeting a “momen-
tous occasion” because it was
the fi rst time the majority of
the board was able to meet in
person for more than a year
following the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
One of their fi rst orders of
business was passing a $44.2
million budget that codifi ed a
nearly 3% cut to the general
fund, including seven layoff s.
More than 50 people
were watching the meeting
online, some of them sport-
ing pro-faculty messages as
their profi le picture, but no
one in the audience spoke for
or against the new budget.
But Pete Hernberg, a math
instructor and the president
of the Blue Mountain Faculty
Association, reminded the
board that further action still
was possible.
He recounted how when
faculty organized a letter-writ-
ing campaign to save some of
the aff ected jobs, the board
directed them to expand their
campaign to include the state
government and Legislature
to secure more funding for
community colleges.
Hernberg told the board
that staff followed through
and the latest word from
Salem was that lawmakers
were preparing to raise the
state’s community college
fund from $640 million to
$702 million. Should legisla-
tors approve that budget and
Blue Mountain gets millions
of more dollars in state fund-
ing than it anticipated, Hern-
berg said he expected the
board to restore the business
instructor position and several
other part-time faculty posi-
tions.
After the meeting, BMCC
interim President Connie
Green said she understood
the union’s position, but she
would want to see the college
hit another threshold before
committing to restoring the
laid-off positions.
Stymied by years of
enrollment decline exac-
erbated by the pandemic,
the budget anticipates a 1%
drop of enrollment even as
Blue Mountain begins off er-
ing in-person classes again.
Green said she would want
to make sure the enrollment
doesn’t drop below the projec-
tion before making staffi ng
decisions.
“All of us need to be
recruiters,” she said.
Blue Mountain did get $2.8
million for resources and $3.7
million via federal COVID-19
recovery stimulus, but Green
said the college decided to
house that money outside the
general fund because college
administrators didn’t want to
skew budget data for 2021-22.
BMCC plans to use the stimu-
lus to hire temporary workers
to work on initiatives like its
new unmanned aerial systems
program and outreach to
lapsed students.
Chlorine shortage worries cities
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The city
of Hermiston has reduced all
watering of its parks by 10%
in response to a chlorine
shortage across four states.
O r egon Eme rge nc y
Management released a state-
ment addressing the shortage,
noting an equipment failure
at a plant in Longview, Wash-
ington, that supplies most of
the Northwest’s chlorine had
an equipment failure that will
“temporarily limit the avail-
ability of chlorine for cities
on the West Coast.”
Many cities use chlorine
to disinfect their supply of
tap water and treat wastewa-
ter.
The malfunctioning plant,
Westlake Chemical, does not
anticipate being back online
until the end of June, OME
stated, and so the depart-
ment is reaching out to all
municipal water suppliers
to assess the status of their
chlorine supply and see
where supplies need shared.
According to Oregon Public
Broadcasting, some cities,
including Medford and
Forest Grove, only have a
two-week supply on hand.
On its Facebook page,
the city of Hermiston said
it planned to save about
150,000 gallons of water by
watering its properties 10%
less, and encouraged resi-
dents to take their own steps
to reduce water use.
“We’re asking residents to
be similarly mindful of their
own water use as we monitor
the situation,” the city wrote.
“Every gallon saved helps us
conserve our current chlorine
supply.”
The city did note it still
is operating the Hermiston
Family Aquatic Center.
Bob Patterson, public
works director for the city
of Pendleton, said Pendleton
uses sodium hypochlorite
— essentially concentrated
bleach — at its water treat-
ment facility. That comes
from a diff erent supplier than
Westlake Chemical, he said.
The Pendleton Family
Aquatic Center has enough
chlorine gas to get through
the current season, he said.
According to Oregon
Emergency Management,
cities with a surplus of
chlorine for their drinking
water will provide mutual
aid to cities with a short-
age. The department stated
that members of the public
can continue safely drinking
their city’s water, but encour-
aged people to do their part
to conserve water to help
stretch the chlorine supply.
Residents across the west-
ern United States already
were being encouraged to
reduce water consumption to
address the severe drought.
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Taqueria Mi Pueblito
The local chain Taqueria
Mi Pueblito has applied for
a business license to expand
to a new location at 105 N.
Columbia St. The chain has
two other locations, both in
Walla Walla.
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is undergo-
ing a conditional-use permit
process for a brand new
building at 124 S. Columbia
St. This lot has sat vacant and
has served as a parking lot
for at least the past 30 years.
At the June 7 Milton-Free-
water Planning Commis-
sion, Taco Bell sought a
conditional-use permit for a
drive-thru that was approved
during the hearing.
Looking ahead
If this trend continues,
more businesses could be
locating to Milton-Free-
water in the near future.
According to the Popula-
tion Research Center at Port-
land State University, within
the urban growth bound-
ary, the forecasted popula-
tion of Milton-Freewater is
expected to grow to about
7,441 in 2025 to 7,633 in
2030 and eventually 8,032 in
2040. With a predicted infl ux
in population, Milton-Free-
water could be growing and
experience an advent of
new businesses.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Hole in Highway 207 causes
traffi c delays
HERMISTON — Traffi c on Highway 207
northeast of Hermiston is undergoing some
disruption due to a hole in the road.
According to Oregon Department of
Transportation Region 5 spokesperson Tom
Strandberg, a section of asphalt caved in
where a culvert under the road rotted away.
The stretch of road shortly before High-
way 207 joins Highway 730 was closed
Sunday morning, June 20. As of June 21,
commercial truck traffi c has been directed
to take an alternate route, while local traffi c
is being routed through a single lane of traffi c
using an automatic fl agging system to signal
which direction traffi c is fl owing.
Strandberg said he didn’t know yet exactly
when the road will reopen fully, but the lane
closure was “hopefully just for this week.”
Umatilla County sheriff ’s
deputy kills chimpanzee to
help save woman
PENDLETON — A Umatilla County
sheriff ’s deputy on Sunday, June 20, killed
an adult male chimpanzee at the site of the
former nonprofi t named after the primate.
Sheriff ’s deputies, along with Pendleton
police and fi re, responded at about 8 a.m.
to 42251 Reith Road, the home of Tamara
Brogoitti and her chimpanzee, Buck, which
has resided there for approximately 17 years,
according to a news release from the sher-
iff ’s offi ce. Brogoitti called for help because
Buck was out of his cage and had bit her
adult daughter, who is 50, multiple times.
Brogoitti reported her daughter was
Buck Brogoitti Animal Rescue/Contributed Photo
This photo from 2015 shows Buck, the adult
male chimpanzee Tamara Brogoitti cared
for at her ranch near Pendleton. A Umatil-
la County sheriff ’s deputy on Sunday, June
20, 2021, shot and killed the primate after it
attacked Brogoitti’s adult daughter.
trapped in the basement bedroom and
needed immediate medical assistance,
according to the sheriff ’s offi ce.
But to render aid to her, a sheriff ’s deputy
put down the chimp at Brogoitti’s request.
“The chimp was dispatched by one shot
to the head,” the sheriff ’s offi ce reported.
The daughter suff ered several bites to
her torso, arms and legs, the sheriff ’s offi ce
reported, and medics rendered aid and
rushed her and her mother to St. Anthony
Hospital, Pendleton.
Brogoitti from 2010 to early 2019 oper-
ated the Buck Brogoitti Animal Rescue at
her ranch. The nonprofi t primarily housed
and cared for horses the sheriff ’s offi ce
seized in abuse and neglect cases.
— EO Media Group
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