NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, December 18, 2021
Grant County domestic trauma center opens
professional counselors.
However, they can coordi-
nate with agencies around the
county to meet clients’ needs
for mental health, medical
care, financial help and hous-
ing assistance.
“Some of this stuff is new
territory for whoever we’re
serving,” Simonsen said.
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The
community got an opportu-
nity to see Grant County’s
newly built domestic trauma
center last week during a
weeklong open house.
Heart of Grant County, a
nonprofit that provides confi-
dential advocacy and protec-
tion to victims of domestic
violence and sexual assault,
celebrated the completion of
requirements for the federal
grant that funded the new
facility.
After Heart of Grant
County provided a $15,000
match, the county sponsored
the nonprofit agency’s appli-
cation and received a $1.5
million federal Community
Development Block Grant.
Construction on the facil-
ity broke ground in 2020, and
the organization has been in
the building since June.
The new center features
improved privacy to talk to
victims, a conference room
for more group activities in
private settings and the abil-
ity to house between two and
three families. The agency
could only accommodate
one person at its previous
location.
Beth Simonsen, Heart of
Grant County’s director, said
staff members at the domes-
tic trauma center are not
Department. She said people
owe Public Health Adminis-
trator Kimberly Lindsay and
Health Department clinic
manager Jessica Winegar an
apology for the verbal tirades
they and their staff have had
to endure when making
contact tracing calls.
Emergency housing
Communication
programs
Rayme Lacey, an advo-
cate at Heart of Grant
County, said she is trying to
find stable housing for people
living in the shelter, but the
county’s housing shortage
has made it difficult.
She said she is working
with roughly 10 people in
abusive situations. While
those situations are not
necessarily violent, they still
are unhealthy living condi-
tions.
“I’m extremely worried
for their safety,” Lacey said.
“We don’t have the room to
house everybody, and they
have no place to go, and
we’re juggling a lot to try and
keep them safe.”
As someone who experi-
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Heart of Grant County Director Beth Simonsen on Dec, 8, enced domestic violence for
2021, addresses the Grant County Court. She said the do- a large part of her life, Lacey
mestic trauma center will begin offering communication and said she can empathize with
what her clients are going
conflict resolution classes in January.
through.
for more than 25 years, she compelled to say something
Lacey came to Heart of
told the court she had never after hearing about the verbal Grant County as a client and
seen such a heightened level abuse toward public health lived in the shelter while
officials and contact tracers getting back on her feet.
of hostility and anger.
Nickel said she felt at the Grant County Health
“When you’re living
In January, Heart of Grant
County will begin offering
classes to build communica-
tion and conflict resolution
skills, taught by the group’s
board chair, Nancy Nickel.
Nickel, who recently
received training as a medi-
ator to teach the classes,
said during a county court
session on Dec. 8., that the
escalation of angry rheto-
ric in the public sector has
been alarming, and Heart of
Grant County staffers worry
it might contribute to domes-
tic abuse.
She said the group wants
to help people learn how to
talk to each other and resolve
conflicts peacefully.
“People get frustrated,
and they lash out,” she said,
“and they love each other a
lot of the time.”
She said the last couple of
years of the pandemic had
been a strain on everyone.
But, having worked at the
Grant County Courthouse
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in abuse, you just get torn
down,” Lacey said, “and you
don’t think much of yourself,
and you don’t think that you
can do anything.”
Lacey said the staff at
Heart of Grant County
helped her believe in herself
and change her mindset. She
said it is important to her to
make sense of her trauma and
use that experience to help
someone out of theirs.
“It’s hard to see a way out
when you’re in it,” Lacey
said, “and I’m passionate
about letting people know
that their life can change.”
Lacey said her faith and a
support network within the
community helped keep her
going.
Before that, Lacey said,
she had given up all hope
of having a happy life.
However, she said her life
turned around when she got
to Heart of Grant County.
She said the organization
gave her time to heal and the
resources to go to Commu-
nity Counseling Solutions.
Coming back from addic-
tion, she could get into drug
and alcohol programs and
work with mental health
counselors, she said.
It took a whole commu-
nity, she said: “All of the
people that I have now to
use as partners to help other
people get out of it.”
Driver dies in crash on I-84
By DICK MASON AND
DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
Cloudy
Occasional rain
54° 39°
41° 31°
A bit of ice in the
a.m.; cloudy
Mostly cloudy and
chilly
A snow shower
possible
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
34° 28°
43° 33°
34° 29°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
50° 41°
44° 34°
39° 31°
41° 28°
39° 25°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
50/37
36/32
39/31
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
48/37
Lewiston
48/37
51/39
Astoria
50/36
Pullman
Yakima 38/30
47/34
42/36
Portland
Hermiston
51/38
Salem
The Dalles 50/41
45/39
51/38
Pendleton 39/31
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
36/33
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Bend
52/42
50/40
42/35
Ontario
34/26
Caldwell
Burns
41°
31°
42°
28°
61° (1937) -13° (2016)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
Eugene
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
41/40
0.00"
0.18"
0.56"
5.25"
4.05"
8.08"
WINDS (in mph)
37/30
33/21
0.01"
0.42"
0.79"
7.80"
12.42"
12.52"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
54/39
51/38
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
53/40
Corvallis
41°
31°
40°
28°
62° (1917) -12° (1964)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
48/34
Aberdeen
37/29
30/24
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
48/37
Today
Sun.
SSW 3-6
SSE 7-14
NNE 4-8
N 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
37/27
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:31 a.m.
4:13 p.m.
3:46 p.m.
7:18 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Dec 18
Dec 26
Jan 2
Jan 9
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 87° in Key West, Fla. Low -17° in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
NORTH POWDER —
The driver of a full-sized
Dodge 3500 pickup pulling a
camper died in a single-vehi-
cle crash on the south edge of
North Powder early Wednes-
day, Dec. 15.
The driver died when the
pickup went off the left west-
bound lane of Interstate 84
and down an embankment.
The pickup and the camper
came to rest on Union Pacific
railroad tracks. The crash
was reported at 6:29 a.m.
to the Baker County 911
dispatch center.
An update from Oregon
State Police later that day
identified the driver as
Robert Miller, 54, of Shelton,
Washington.
According to Oregon State
Police Sgt. Dave Aydelotte,
Miller was dead by the time
first responders arrived. He
was not ejected from his
pickup, senior trooper Greg
Retherford said.
The pickup was an Enter-
prise rental and there were no
passengers.
A Life Flight helicopter
was dispatched to the scene
but turned around immedi-
ately after reaching North
Powder because Miller did
not survive the crash.
“It flew in and circled the
area but it did not set down,”
Retherford said.
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer
A rental pickup bearing Washington plates sits on the rail-
road tracks near North Powder on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021.
The pickup crashed off Interstate 84 and the driver died at
the scene. Oregon State Police reported the cause of the
crash is unclear.
In addition to OSP, those
responding to the crash site
included the La Grande
Fire Department, the Union
County Sheriff’s Office and
Union Pacific Railroad.
Retherford said a La
Grande Fire Department
vehicle got stuck on the rail-
road tracks while a train
was coming toward it about
a quarter mile west of the
crash scene. Fortunately, the
railroad was contacted and
the train, which was moving
slowly, was able to stop with
plenty of distance to spare —
but not before causing some
concern.
“It was a lit tle
nerve-racking for a while,”
Retherford said.
The cause of the crash
remains under investigation.
According to Aydelotte,
Oregon requires a local
medical examiner to investi-
gate the cause and manner of
death when the death is unat-
tended.
“At this point in time we
just don’t know,” he said.
Aydelotte said no esti-
mate of the vehicle’s speed
has been determined.
T he w reck blocked
both active rail lines until
approximately 8:45 a.m.,
when one of the lines was
cleared. The after noon
update from OSP detailed
that the rail lines have been
fully cleared. The crash did
not close I-84 and no other
vehicles were involved.
IN BRIEF
Police arrest M-F man for
damaging gravestones, more
COLLEGE PLACE — A suspected
drunken driver was arrested after driving
off road and hitting multiple gravestones
at Mt. Hope Cemetery on Tuesday, Dec.
14, according to the College Place Police
Department.
Police responded to reports of a suspi-
cious person staggering around the ceme-
tery property Tuesday around 3 p.m.
The man was identified as 67-year-old
Milton-Freewater resident Mark Medina.
Based on observations of the vehicle and
other evidence on scene, police said Medina
may have struck additional objects.
Medina was booked into the Walla Walla
County Jail for investigation of driving under
the influence, reckless driving and hit-and-
run.
Mt. Hope Cemetery management is assess-
ing the damage and making the proper noti-
fications to family members of the damaged
headstones, according to the release.
— Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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