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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