REGION
Thursday, August 26, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
Jeepers honor Umatilla County deputy
By NICK ROSENBERGER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Begin-
ning around noon on Satur-
day, Aug 21, a long procession
of Jeeps rolled out of the
Hermiston Circuit Court on
their way to the Pendleton
Convention Center to honor
Jason Post, a senior deputy
with Umatilla County Parole
and Probation, who drowned
while rafting in June in
Wallowa County.
Arranged by Josh Paul-
lus and the Delaware-based
Jeepers Back the Blue orga-
nization, dozens of Jeeps
ranging from a 1955 M38A1
to modern Wranglers and
Grand Cherokees adorned
in fl ags drove the 27 miles
from Hermiston to Pend-
leton and presented Post’s
wife, Rosanna, and newborn
daughter, Dalilah, with a
check.
“Someone had heard about
the accident with Jason Post
from one of the Jeep orga-
nizations here and sent an
email starting things here,”
said Paullus, a parole and
probation offi cer for Umatilla
County. “From there it took
off like wildfi re.”
Jeepers Back the Blue,
which raises and donates
money to families of fallen
officers, reached out and
wrote a check, which
Rosanna Post said would
be going toward Dalilah’s
college fund and planning
for her future.
Umatilla County Commu-
nity Corrections, spoke and
presented Rosanna Post with
the check.
According to Post, the
couple met in 2011 while
working at Homestead
Youth & Family Services,
a juvenile treatment center
Nick Rosenberger/East Oregonian in Pendleton, and married
Family and friends gather Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, for the Jeepers Back the Blue event in in July 2018. Rosanna and
Hermiston to honor Jason Post, a senior deputy with Umatilla County Parole and Probation, Jason were probation offi cers
who drowned while rafting in June in Wallowa County. The procession of Jeeps drove to for Umatilla County.
Pendleton with an escort from the Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce to present Post’s wife and
“I really just want to thank
daughter with a check.
the community because it
really is overwhelming,”
“I was shocked,” she said, annual rally in Delaware in sion took off with a sheriff ’s she said. “It’s just crazy
“I couldn’t believe that some- 2020. The money went to 20 office escort and arrived how much law enforcement
body all the way from Dela- families in 20 states, and the at a podium and f lags at really is a family in a small-
ware had heard about Jason.” organization donated $20,000 the Pendleton Convention town community. They just
According to Paullus, the toward scholarships.
Center, where Undersher- rally together and support
organization raised $115,000
With more than 15 Jeeps iff Jim Littlefi eld and Dale everyone, and it’s just really
and had 500 Jeeps at its in attendance, the proces- Primmer, the director of humbling.”
Hermiston Herald hires editor
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Erick
Peterson, a Hermiston resident
with years of journalism expe-
rience, has joined the Hermis-
ton Herald as its new editor and
senior reporter.
Peterson, 45, started his
new role with EO Media Group
Monday, Aug. 24. In addition
to Hermiston, he will cover
neighboring communities in
both Umatilla and Morrow
counties, including Boardman,
Stanfi eld and Umatilla.
“We are excited to have
Erick on board,” said Andrew
Cutler, publisher of the Herm-
iston Herald. “He brings a
fresh set of eyes to the Herald
and we are excited to see what
ideas he has moving forward.”
Peterson was born in
Southern California and was
raised in West Richland,
Washington. Growing up
reading the Tri-City Herald,
Peterson came to love news-
papers while delivering them
to his community’s door-
steps during his fi rst job. He
believes newspapers are inte-
gral institutions for keeping
the public informed and hold-
ing power to account.
“The uglier side of the
world needs to be brought to
light so it can be repaired,”
Peterson said. “And reporters
have a very important job in
exposing that.”
Peterson graduated from
Central Washington Univer-
sity in Ellensburg, Washing-
ton, with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in philosophy. But it
wasn’t until he went to China
that he decided to pursue a
career in journalism. For 10
years, he traveled through
the country and wrote for
magazines and newspapers,
cover ing
commu-
nity news,
business
and travel
stories.
Peterson
Peterson
returned to
the United
States and found a job as an
editor at the Review Inde-
pendent in Toppenish. After
working for the Yakima Valley
Publishing newspaper for a
few years, he left to obtain a
certifi cate in instrumentation
and industrial automation, but
quickly decided that career
wasn’t for him. Meanwhile,
he reported freelance stories
for the agricultural newspa-
per the Capital Press, which,
like the Hermiston Herald, is
a member of the EO Media
Group.
After meeting his wife,
Peterson moved to Hermis-
ton four years ago and began
working as a cashier at the
local Safeway. He left the job
shortly after the pandemic
started to take care of his
family and help his stepson
through online school.
Amplifying the voices
of people in his community
is what inspired Peterson to
apply for the position with the
Herald. He said he’s thrilled
to be joining a paper that has
a history of strong local jour-
nalism, particularly under the
leadership of former editor
Jade McDowell.
“The paper’s got a terrifi c
tradition,” he said. “It’s been
worked by some fantastic
people. Jade is in that tradition.
And I want to continue that
tradition. I want to contribute
to a proud newspaper.”
Peterson is married to
Nancy Peterson, a longtime
Hermiston resident, disability
services employee at Columbia
Basin College and Hermiston
city councilor. Peterson will
not cover city council because
of his wife’s role.
“We had long talks during
the interview process about the
potential confl icts of interest
that could come from that,”
Cutler said. “It’s important
that readers know we take that
seriously — whether perceived
or real. So Erick will not cover
anything to do with the city
council.”
Peterson added: “There’s
going to be a lot of questions as
to how objective I can be, and I
can start off by saying I can’t be
trusted to be objective” cover-
ing city council, he said. “I love
my wife more than anything. I
love her more than any job I’ll
ever have. I’m excited about
the possibilities of this job, but
I love my wife way more than I
love anything else.”
There are many topics
Peterson hopes to bring to
the table as the paper’s new
editor, including the pandemic,
climate change, agriculture
and religion. In particular, he
looks to report on Hermiston’s
diversity, telling stories about
the town’s underrepresented
and marginalized communi-
ties.
“Erick’s experience as a
journalist, both in the inland
Northwest and overseas,
gives him a broad perspec-
tive that will serve him well
as our editor in Hermiston,”
said Kathryn B. Brown, vice
president of EO Media Group
and publisher of The Other
Oregon.
Peterson emphasized he
wants to get to know commu-
nities in and around Hermis-
ton. He hopes people will reach
out with story ideas or just to
introduce themselves.
Boardman Coal Plant, B2H project on agenda
East Oregonian
SALEM — Two large
energy projects in Eastern
Oregon are on the agenda
Friday, Aug. 27, for the public
virtual meeting of the Oregon
Energy Facility Siting Coun-
cil.
The council will receive
an update on the decommis-
sioning of the Boardman Coal
Plant and discuss two items
concerning the contested
Boardman to Hemingway
Transmission Line Project,
or B2H.
Lenna Cope, a senior envi-
ronmental specialist for Port-
land General Electric, which
recently retired the coal plant
at Boardman, will give an an
overview of the company’s
plan to continue decommis-
sioning the plant and request
termination of the site certif-
icate.
The council also will
review the motion of Irene
Gilbert of La Grande, who
filed to remove Alison
Greene Webster as hear-
ing offi cer for Idaho Power
Company’s application for a
site certifi cate for the B2H
Project. Gilbert is a member
of the Stop B2H Coalition,
which opposes construction
of the massive 500 kilovolt
power line from a substation
in Idaho to Boardman.
Gilbert alleges Webster,
a senior administrative law
judge with the Oregon Offi ce
of Administrative Hearings,
has shown bias in the case.
Idaho Power fi led a response
stating Webster has not
demonstrated bias and her
actions “are consistent with
the Energy Facility Siting
Council’s statutes and rules.”
The siting council also
will consider an appeal
by Michael McAllister on
whether the proposed Morgan
Lake Alternative route for
the power line complies with
fi sh and wildlife habitat stan-
dards, soil protection stan-
dards and whether the visual
impacts of the project “are
inconsistent with the objec-
tives of the Morgan Lake Park
Recreation.”
The meeting starts at
8:30 a.m. and is expected
to finish around 3:15 p.m.
To view the full schedule,
agenda and materials, along
with instructions on how to
attend the meeting, got to
www.oregon.gov/energy/
Pages/index.aspx, click the
link for Energy Facility Siting
Council and click the Council
Meetings link.
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IN BRIEF
Convicted poacher
lands in jail for
drunken driving
PEN DLETON —
Convicted poacher Joseph
Reid St. Pierre of Pend-
leton is in the Umatilla
County Jail following an
arrest for drunken driving.
And he could face another
round of game violations.
Oregon State Police
reported a trooper on Tues-
day, Aug. 24, a few minutes
after 11 p.m. responded
to the Interstate 84 west-
bound off ramp at milepost
202 for a black Dodge R15
pickup with a male laying
across the seat. Accord-
ing to state police, found
the 21-year-old St. Pierre
wearing clothes covered
in blood and the scene
smelled of wild game.
St. Pierre awoke and
subsequently failed a sobri-
ety test, OSP reported, and
the trooper arrested him
for driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants (alco-
hol).
The trooper also took
the game — either a deer
or elk, OSP did not iden-
tify which — as evidence,
along with a knife and
a rif le. A tow company
hauled off the pickup, and
a family member took the
dogs that were in the bed of
the vehicle.
St. Pierre as of the
morning of Aug. 25 was in
the county jail. He pleaded
guilty in 2018 to numer-
ous counts of poaching and
violating game laws. Court
records show he is serving
probation until April 2023,
which includes a ban on
fi rearms. The court also
sentenced him to a life-
time revocation of a hunt-
ing license.
Cour t records also
show he has previous
probation violations and
he owes $52,045 in fi nes
and late payment penalties
stemming from the 2018
convictions.
City Council
approves bridge
analysis funding
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston City Council
approved a plan to jointly
fund a look at putting a
bridge across the Umatilla
River.
City Manager Byron
Smith told the coun-
cil during its meeting
Monday, Aug. 23, that
since 2001 the city’s trans-
portation systems plan has
considered a bridge over
the Umatilla River, and
now the city’s needs for
that bridge have multiplied
over the past 20 years, and
those needs are going to
increase.
Hermiston continues
to be the fastest growing
community in Eastern
Oregon, with a population
now exceeding 19,000.
According to Smith’s
memo to council on the
bridge project, the city is
tracking to reach nearly
23,000 residents by 2030.
T he project would
analyze putting in a bridge
to align with either Elm
Avenue or Punkin Center
Road. Smith said the anal-
ysis would cost $130,000,
and Umatilla Cou nt y
and the city of Umatilla
already are on board with
sharing the cost. Umatilla
has agreed to put in
$30,000, Umatilla County
has agreed to shoulder
$50,000, Smith said, leav-
ing Hermiston to put in the
remaining $50,000.
The city has chased
federal grants to pay for
this examination, Smith
said, but continuing to go
that route would “really
slow things down a lot.”
A nd the $50,000, he
added, is about the same
amount the city would pay
if it obtained a grant.
Cou ncilor Jack ie
Meyers said this idea has
been on the city’s burner
for 20-plus years, and now
it’s time to fl esh out the
technical work of deter-
mining which spot is going
to work the best.
The council voted 8-0
in favor of a memorandum
of understanding outlin-
ing the joint funding of
the engineering analysis,
which the fi rm Anderson
Perry & Associates will
do.
The council also met in
a closed-door session to
discuss the contract with
the city manager. Smith
has served in the role for
seven years. After the
session, the council voted
unanimously to extend
Smith’s contract through
Aug. 24, 2023, adding
one year to his contract.
Mayor Dave Drotzmann
expressed his appreciation
for Smith and his leader-
ship during the COVID-19
pandemic.
—EO Media Group
Save the Date
September 9, 2021, 1:00 pm
Celebration of Life
Pamela Collins Forrester
May 27, 1942 – July 6, 2021
541-567-7534
TN20
Wood Stove
Salem Convention Center
1,499
Willamette Room
200 Commercial St SE, Salem, OR 97301
$
• 18” max logs
• 55,000 BTU
Pellet Stoves
1,599
$
8/27-9/2
Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
Shang-Chi and the
Legend of Ten Rings (PG13)
Starts 9/2 • 6:00p
Candyman (2021) (R)
12:50p 4:10p 7:30p 8:30p
PAW Patrol: The Movie (G)
1:10p 3:30p 5:50p
The Protege (R)
1:40p 4:30p 7:50p
Free Guy (PG13)
2:00 5:10p 8:20p
Jungle Cruise (PG13)
1:30p 4:50p 8:10p
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Heats 1800 sf
Other Stoves &
Sizes In Stock
Breckwell
P22 freestanding
Presto Logs
4.50 6 Log Pack
$
Pellets per ton
White $
Bags
215
Brown $
Bags
235
Wood Stove Pipe
Pellet Stove Pipe
Gas Stove Pipe
Blaze King
Wood Stoves
Quadra-Fire
Wood & Pellet
Stoves
Door Gasket
Rope
Gasket Cement
HERMISTON, OREGON
Sale ends August 31st
Salem Grand Hotel (adjacent to center) is offering special overnight
rates, of $159 for king room, for Sept 8, 9, 10. When calling mention
you are there for the Forrester Celebration of Life.
Call (503) 540-7800 for reservations.