OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Refuge:
he said, while hoping for a
better future.
Waiting for rescue
Continued from Page A1
realized the pain she was
causing other people, includ-
ing her parents, she said.
“It was the gift of despera-
tion,” she said.
She began wanting
passionately to live, she said,
and she knew that her life, as
it was, would lead to a quick
death.
With the help of others, she
was able to give up her addic-
tions, and she now reports
“feeling amazing.” Also, she
has a job, as she works for
Amazon, and she is studying
business management online
at Brigham Young Universi-
ty-Idaho.
Volunteering to the warm-
ing station is part of her effort
to give back to the commu-
nity, she said. In addition, as
she rebuilds her own life, she
has sought to make amends
for the damage she has done
to other people. One exam-
ple of this restitution, she
said, came when she recently
visited Walgreens in Kenne-
wick. There, she spoke with
the store’s manager and apol-
ogized for stealing, she said.
The experience of asking
forgiveness and having her
apologies accepted is “free-
ing,” she said. Now unbur-
dened by the guilt of past
wrongdoing, she said she
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston Warming Station volunteer Sierra Gilman answers the door to the warming sta-
tion Saturday, Jan. 8, 2021, during check-in.
feels better able to continue
forward with a better life in
which she communicates her
past struggles with others.
Speaking with others
in person, as well as on her
Facebook page, she tells
people about the joy she feels
in sobriety.
“I have not had a bad day
since getting sober,” she said.
Becoming homeless
As Seth Hall, 51 of Herm-
iston, discussed his expe-
riences he mentioned the
causes for his homeless-
ness. He was at the warming
station on Jan. 8. A part-time
janitor, he works 20 hours a
week, but he said he does not
have enough money to pay
rent and child support.
He was able to afford his
own home, when he was
employed as a forklift driver.
He said he lost recent jobs,
however, when one company
closed. He was released from
another job, he said, after too
many missed days of being
ill.
Hall said he is trying to
get a better job to pay for a
home, but this process is not
as easy as many people think.
He applies for jobs, he said,
but he does not receive inter-
views; he does not even get
calls back from prospective
employers.
Life is not like one sees on
the news, he said. Often, he
sees reports of labor short-
ages and employers who are
desperate to hire new work-
ers. Still, he remains under-
employed, and he expressed
disappointment that he
cannot find better work.
These days, he bounces
back and forth between this
warming station and a second
station, in the old Sears build-
ing in Hermiston, which
is open during the day. He
continues to apply for work,
Marie Gonzalez, 57 of
Hermiston, is in a similar
situation as Hall. She, too,
travels from the two Hermis-
ton stations each day.
Family troubles forced her
out of her Hermiston home
originally, and she moved to
Lexington with her daugh-
ter. She said she had to leave
Lexington, though, to be
closer to medical services.
The problem now, she said, is
she does not have a home in
Hermiston, which is why she
stays at one station at night
and another one during the
day.
“It’s a blessing,” she said
of the services that have kept
her from having to sleep on
the street. She expressed
gratitude to the community
for the space to live while she
waits “for rescue.” Soon, she
said, she will reach out to her
daughters to help her, and
she believes one will end her
homelessness.
She said she is worried,
though, about her medi-
cal condition. According to
Gonzalez, she has diabetes,
which can make her faint. She
needs insulin, and she is stav-
ing off her disease with fruit
and granola bars.
Helping at the station
Brodie Messenger, Herm-
Omicron:
Continued from Page A1
Jim Roberts/Contributed Photo
A mudslide at about 4:20 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, slammed into two houses on the 200 block of Southeast Goodwin
Avenue, Pendleton. Firefighters responded to the emergency right after taking on a house fire several blocks up the hill.
Damage:
Continued from Page A1
leton Fire Department for
more information.
Winter ton said she
has the support of a large
extended family in addition
to other organizations that
have come to their aid to
help them get back on their
feet. She still wants to rally
support for her neighbor —
Gena Naegeli — who lived
in the next door unit with her
mother and two children.
Winterton said Naegeli’s
family needs a permanent
place to live and has started
a GoFundMe to raise money
for that effort. There also is a
GoFundMe to help Winter-
ton and her family.
About the time fire
crews were leaving, the call
came in at 4:19 p.m. about a
mudslide on the 200 block of
Southeast Goodwin Avenue,
at the bottom of South Hill.
Critchley said firefight-
ers were en route from the
fire two minutes later and
arrived at the mudslide at
4:25 p.m. He said Pendleton
and Tribal fire departments
both responded.
Jim Roberts lives in the
neighborhood and said he
was working in his home
when he heard a big vehi-
cle and went out because
he was expecting a deliv-
ery. The big vehicle, he
said, turned out to be a fire
engine. Roberts said he then
saw the mudslide that hit
two houses he lives only a
few doors from.
The mass of soggy earth
hit the back 204 ½ S.E.
Goodwin Ave., he said, and
pushed the adjacent house
at 208 S.E. Goodwin Ave.
about 2 or 3 feet off its foun-
dation.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A firefighter cuts a vent into the roof of a house Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, while working to
extinguish a fire at the home at 809 S.W. Sixth St., Pendleton.
“I could see the house
was no longer aligned, and
there was debris protrud-
ing between the houses,” he
said.
Roberts said a man who
lives in one house just
happened to be outside
smoking when the hillside
gave way.
“He saw the hill coming
and ran,” Roberts said.
But the mudslide trapped
his dog in the home’s base-
ment, he said. Firefighters,
however, were able to rescue
the dog.
Ivy Ocacio said her
father, brother, sister-in-
law and their three children
lived at 208. While no one
was in the house at the time
of the landslide, she said the
unit now resembles “a mud
swamp.”
“My dad’s apartment is
unlivable,” Ocacio said.
The uninhabitable condi-
tion of the apartment puts
Ocacio’s family in a tough
position. Ocacio said her
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton firefighters unload a ladder from a firetruck Sat-
urday, Jan. 8, 2022, while responding to a home burning at
809 S.W. Sixth St., Pendleton.
brother and his family had
moved into her father’s
apartment because they
were taking care of him
while he was undergoing
radiation therapy. With-
out savings to fall back
on, Ocacio said the family
will have to raise money
for a deposit and rent on a
new place to live while also
trying to replace clothing
and other goods lost in the
landslide.
Ocacio said people look-
ing to help out the family
can send cash donations. A
GoFundMe page has been
set up to raise $5,000 for the
family and can be found at
bit.ly/3JVqe1H. Ocacio said
could also arrange donations
by contacting her at 541-310-
0435.
Committee meetings will
be livestreamed on the Legis-
lature’s information site,
and public testimony will be
accepted in written format
and via video or phone.
According to press release,
all Capitol visitors will be
required to comply with
public health and safety guid-
ance, which includes wearing
masks inside to reduce risk of
COVID-19 transmission.
Capitol employees who
can work remotely have been
asked to do so during the
session to help curb the spread
of the virus which continues
with the new omicron variant.
According to Dr. Peter
Graven, director of OHSU’s
Office of Advanced Analyt-
ics, Oregon could see as many
1,650 hospitalizations due to
the virus by the end of Janu-
ary.
On Jan. 7, 625 patients were
hospitalized with COVID-19
across the state, according to
the Oregon Health Authority.
The state’s COVID-19 burden
peaked in September with
around 1,200 hospitalizations.
The statehouse was closed
to the public beginning in
March 2020 and remained
closed throughout the entire
2021 legislative session, with
most staff working remotely
in support of lawmakers who
were still in the building.
The concept of remote
work and wearing masks has
been controversial topic in
Salem.
Republicans have repeat-
edly argued the public has a
constitutionally protected
right to attend legislative
proceedings in person.
Lawmakers also have framed
it as an equity issue for Orego-
nians who don’t have internet
access.
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Ath-
ena, said in the morning of
Jan. 10 he hoped the Capitol
would remain open.
“I think it’s important
for our process that we have
accessibility. It can be done,
the building has been opened
before, but at the end of the
day I won’t have anything to
say about it legislatively, it’ll
be made by other people,” he
said. “My preference would
certainly be that we keep the
building open if we possibly
can.”
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep-
pner, said legislative leaders
have a lot to weigh in this situ-
ation.
“There’s got to be a balance
between protection of the First
Amendment and the right to
peaceably assemble and to
be open and transparent with
public safety,” Smith said. “I
would just ask our elected
leaders to bring balance to that
conversation and do every-
thing they can do to allow for
open, transparent government
while protecting public safety.
A9
iston Warming Station board
chair, supervised the arrival
of guests the night of Jan.
8. He offered water and
help, where he could, and
he engaged people in light
conversation.
He said he has seen many
people during his tenure. He
started volunteering in 2015.
He feels happy about the
part he has played in helping
people, he said, and he has
had very few negative expe-
riences.
He told of one day when
a guest stole a phone. The
guest, according to Messen-
ger, became angry when
he was confronted with the
theft, and he threatened
Messenger. Other guests,
however, stood up for
Messenger and prevented a
possible attack, he said.
Mostly, he said, his expe-
rience at the station has been
happy. He spoke of the many
friends he has made there
and the positive memories
he has had.
Only three guests arrived
that night, which left much of
the warming station empty.
He said he usually welcomes
more people than that, and he
expressed hope that the ones
who did not arrive were well.
As it is only mid-January,
there are many more nights
in which people could use
the Hermiston Warming
Station to fight off the cold,
he said.
You know, that’s a tall order,
but that’s the balance that
needs to be achieved.”
Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo,
said in an email that she
expects the 2022 session to
mirror the last year’s legisla-
tive process.
“The information we’ve
been given so far leads us
to believe that this session
will look a lot like the 2021
session — except that the
public will be able to enter
the building,” Levy said. “I
am a firm believer that the
People’s Building is supposed
to be open to the people, and I
support opening those doors
to the hardworking Orego-
nians we are honored to be
representing.”
She also urged anyone who
feels sick to stay home.
“I’m eagerly looking
forward to the days where we
can trust and rely on Orego-
nian’s common-sense in rela-
tion to their personal health,”
she said.
Mike Nearman, a former
state representative from
Independence, was expelled
from the House and pleaded
guilty to illegally allowing
armed protestors into the
building during a special
session in December 2020.
Some Republicans — such
as Sen. Dallas Heard — have
openly defied Capitol health
and safety protocols by not
wearing a mask.
Heard also consistently
voted against bills he might’ve
otherwise supported as a
means of protesting the Capi-
tol’s closure.
The Capitol reopened to
the public in July 2021 shortly
after last year’s legislative
session ended, but construc-
tion kept most of the building
closed through the end of the
year.
The two special sessions
held in 2021 to redraw the
state’s political maps and
to address emergency rent
assistance were open to the
public, but participation was
historically low with new
restrictions on which parts
of the building members of
the public and media could
access.
Construction finished up
last month, so lawmakers will
regain access to their offices
for the February session.
It remains unclear whether
legislative leaders will impose
any further restrictions due to
the latest wave of infections.
Lawmakers approved a
bill last year that will ensure
remote access to legislative
proceedings made neces-
sary by the pandemic remain
permanent moving forward. It
took effect Jan. 1.
Kotek announced her
resignation effective Jan. 21
to focus on her 2022 guberna-
torial bid, meaning the House
will need to vote on new lead-
ership before any rules are
imposed.
— EO Media Group
reporter Alex Wittwer
contributed to this article.