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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2022)
REGION Tuesday, February 1, 2022 LOCAL BRIEFING Fire burns shop in Hermiston HERMISTON — A fire early Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, burned a metal shop and lean-to in Hermiston. Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 responded to the fi re on Hornsby Lane at 4:37 a.m., according to the district’s post on its Facebook page. Engine 22 arrived fi rst, and found fi re burning a 30-foot by 30-foot metal shop and fl ames totally engulfi ng a 12-foot by 30-foot lean-to. Crews knocked down the fi re in the lean-to and made entry into the shop to extinguish the fi re there. The Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District and Echo Fire Department provided an engine and a water tender. There were no injuries, Fire District 1 reported, and the cause of the fi re is under investigation. Umatilla County considers $24K in wolf compensation UMATILLA COUNTY — The Umatilla County Board Of Commissioners this week considers approving more than $24,000 in grants for wolf depre- dation. The county’s Wolf Depre- dation Advisory Committee has made the recommenda- tion to grant the awards, which come from the distribution of the state’s wolf predation loss compensation program. The largest grant is for $11,140.13 and would go to the Cunningham Sheep Co., Pend- leton, to cover the costs of a range rider and dog mainte- nance. The other grants are: • $8,820 to Thomas Ranch of Milton-Freewater for a range rider. • $2,193.83 to Krebs Live- stock of Ione for a herder, dog maintenance and night pen equipment. • $1,870 to Eric Smith of Imnaha for a range rider and veterinary expense. The total comes to $24,023.96 The county board meeting Wednesday, Feb. 2, at 9 a.m., in room 130 at the Umatilla County Courthouse, 216 S.E. Fourth St. You can join the meeting via Google Meets at bit.ly/3r9AMmG or by phone at Join by phone at 574-316-0147, PIN: 815 819 420#. County commissioners also will consider approving the purchase of weed control prod- ucts. The county sought bids for the products, and Wilbur-Ellis came in with the lowest amount, $5,937.38. To see the county board’s full meeting agenda, visit www. co.umatilla.or.us and under “Departments,” follow the link to the board of commissioners’ agenda. COVID-19 claims more local lives UMATILLA COUNTY — Umatilla County since Wednesday, Jan. 26, added four more fatalities to its COVID-19 death count, bringing the total to 194. Umatilla County Public Health on Jan. 31 reported the latest death is a 56-year-old- man who tested positive on Jan. 13 and died Jan. 27 at River- bend Medical Center, Eugene. Last week, the county health department reported three deaths: a 69-year-old woman who tested positive on Dec. 6 and died Dec. 13 at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland; a 66-year-old man who tested positive on Nov. 3 and died Dec. 13 at Good Shep- herd Medical Center, Hermis- ton; and a 92-year-old man who tested positive on Jan. 21 and died the same day at Providence St. Mary Medical Center, Walla Walla. The county on Jan. 31 also reported 267 new cases, increasing the total number of cases for the county to 20,054 since the start of the pandemic. Morrow County added 30 cases to its total Jan. 31, according to the Oregon Health Authority, bringing its total to 2,826, including 26 deaths. Statewide, the total number of cases as of Jan. 28 was 650,652 according to the Oregon Health Authority, and the total number of lives lost to the disease in Oregon was 6,086. — EO Media Group East Oregonian A3 Downtown Pendleton road project begins soon East Oregonian PENDLETON — The city of Pendleton reported upgrades to an intersection in downtown Pendleton are beginning the week of Feb. 7. The Oregon Department of Transportation announced last week the project involves improving traffi c signals and curb ramps to comply with the Americans with Disabil- ities Act at the intersection of Highway 30/Southeast Court Avenue and Southeast First Street. ODOT also reported the work would begin the week of Jan. 31. But the city on its Facebook page announced the project now starts the week of Feb. 7 and contin- ues through April. Crews are scheduled to work Monday through Friday, from approx- Phil Wright/East Oregonian The city of Pendleton reports work begins the week of Feb. 7, 2022, to improve signals and curbs on Southeast First Street and Court Avenue in downtown. imately 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Later this week the contractor will move in construction equipment and set up traffi c control. Starting next week, traffi c on South- east Court will be reduced to one lane. Crews also will start the removal of existing signals and sidewalks. The project will result in intermittent single lane closures of Southeast Court and First and delays up to 20 minutes, and closures of Southeast First. ODOT encouraged drivers to use alternate routes rather than go through the work zone. There also will be sidewalk closures and detours leading up to the intersection. Access for pedestrians, including those with disabilities, will be available through or around the work zone. Bicyclists will be able to follow vehicle or pedestrian routes. Businesses will remain open during construction. The transportation depart- ment also reported it will share more detailed construc- tion information as the project moves forward. You can visit the project webpage at bit.ly/3u9H87u and visit TripCheck.com for up-to-date traffic impacts during construction. Two join growing fi eld of commissioner candidates By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian UMATILLA COUNTY — Two conservative activ- ists have further expanded the fi eld for the two seats on the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners up for elec- tion in May. HollyJo Beers is making another run at county offi ce by challenging incumbent Position 2 Commissioner John Shafer, who is running for a second term. Beers lists “not employed” under her occupation, but has been associated with the Oregon Three Percenters, a right-wing group. She’s also been involved in anti- COVID-19 lockdown and vaccine mandate protests among other demonstrations. A former Pilot Rock city councilor who also lived in Milton-Freewater, Beers now resides in Pendleton, accord- ing to her fi ling paperwork. The other new candidate is Jesse Bonifer, an Athena busi- ness owner and city councilor running for the open Posi- tion 1 seat on the Board of Commissioners. Like Beers, Bonifer has been involved in the Three Percenters and helped organize a campaign to pass the Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance in 2020. Commissioner George Murdock holds the Position 1 seat. He is retiring from the board, leaving the seat open. Bonifer joins Susan Bower, the owner of Eastern Oregon Business Source in Pendleton, Cindy Timmons, the co-owner of Marv’s Glass Shop in Milton-Freewater, and Alvin Young, the manager of Elmer’s Irrigation in Hermiston, as a part of the fi eld vying for the seat. If the Position 2 race stays at just two candidates, Shafer and Beers won’t be on the ballot until the Nov. 8 general election. With the candidate pool for Position 1 now at four, all candidates will be listed on the ballot for the May 17 primary election. Regardless of the results, the top two-vote getters advance to a run-off during the general election. Echo School District denies discrimination claims By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian ECHO — The Echo School district has denied it discrimi- nated against the former coach of the Echo High School boys basketball team when he didn’t get the job to coach the girls basketball team. Aaron Noisey in early December filed a lawsuit in Umatilla County Circuit Court alleging the district did not hire him as the girl’s coach because of his gender. He is seeking $203,391 — $2,391 in economic damages and noneconomic damages of at least $200,000. The dist r ict denied Noisey’s allegations in a response Jan. 11. “Except as specifically admitted herein, defen- dant denies each and every other allegation, matter and thing set forth in plaintiff ’s complaint, and the whole thereof,” according to the court fi ling. The district admitted it interviewed candidates in 2020 for the position of head coach of the girls’ basketball team and Noisey did not get the job. Noisey in his lawsuit claimed the district wanted a female coach for the girl’s team. The district in its response reported it received a complaint from Noisey regarding the hiring process, conducted an investigation and found no gender discrim- ination in that process. Following the 2020-21 school year, Noisey resigned and took a job as the head coach of the boys basket- ball team for the Nixyaawii Community High School. State court records show the case next has a conference call Feb. 10 for the attorneys. 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