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REGION, A3
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
146th year, No. 49
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
BMCC
More
layoffs
likely
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PeNdLeTON — blue Moun-
tain Community College is antic-
ipating employee layoffs for the
third year in a row.
In a Thursday, Feb. 10 inter-
view, bMCC President Mark
browning said the college is early
in its budgeting process, but lead-
ers are anticipating eliminating
positions as enrollment continues
to fall.
browning said blue Mountain’s
$44.2 million budget was based on
the college enrolling the equivalent
of 1,000 students.
but bMCC’s
actual enroll-
ment during the
fall and winter
terms has been
below t hat
number and the
Browning
college’s admin-
istration now is
projecting a 3% enrollment decline
for next year.
browning said it’s too soon
to know how many positions the
college needs to cut or where they
will come from. But for BMCC, it
portends another year of pink slips
and tough budget conversations.
Under former President Dennis
bailey-Fougnier, blue Mountain
eliminated 23 positions, includ-
ing 11 layoffs in 2019. His succes-
sor, interim President Connie
Green, recommended laying off
another 11 employees as a part of
a 16-job contraction. When the
Oregon Department of Correc-
tions restructured its prison educa-
tion program, the college also was
forced to make cuts.
browning attributed the
impending reductions to outside
factors: a strong job market that
was leading many prospective
students to the job market instead
of community college and linger-
ing uncertainty from the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
“I can go to Wendy’s and make
$18 bucks (per hour),” he said. “In
some ways, we’re overperform-
ing.”
While the college will outline
its cost-cutting strategy in the
coming months, browning said he
would like to make future “adjust-
ments” to the college’s collective
bargaining agreement with the
BMCC faculty union.
“We’ve got to jump ahead of it
to where we can be a little more
flexible and be able to adjust in a
better fashion and honestly, it’s
going to take an adjustment in the
collective bargaining agreement,”
See BMCC, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Veronica Flores, right, and her wife Chacha Flores prepare food Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, during a fundraiser at their restaurant,
Vero’s Kravingz in Hermiston. The fundraiser was for the funeral expenses of Chacha’s mother, who died last week.
Owners of new restaurant
honor late mother-in-law
Vero’s Kravings in
Hermiston holds
fundraiser to help
pay for funeral
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
H
erMIsTON — Veronica Flores
opened her new restaurant Vero’s
Kravingz, and soon after closed it
for about a week when tragedy hit
her family.
Her mother-in-law, Irene Flores Jr.,
died.
Veronica Flores reopened saturday,
Feb. 12, and immediately hosted a fund-
raiser to bring in cash for funeral expenses
and a burial in Toppenish, Washington.
There was a jar for donations and raffle
items for a drawing.
See Restaurant, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A poster board with photos of Irene Flores sits on the counter Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022,
at Vero’s Kravingz in Hermiston as the restaurant, which her daughter and daughter-
in-law own, holds a fundraiser for Flores’ funeral expenses.
Highland Manor residents host yard sale ahead of vacating
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — February is not
typically yard sale weather, but a few
Hermiston residents may not be able
to wait until warmer months to host
sales at their home.
The tenants of Highland Manor,
a 46-unit complex are on notice
to vacate their apartments. Clover
Housing Group LLC, the new owner
of Highland Manor, has offered
tenants $2,000 if they leave by the
end of the month. Clover Housing
reported it plans to start renovations
as soon as the complex is empty.
So, a few residents Saturday,
Feb. 12, braved temperatures in the
low 30s, set up tables in the apart-
ment’s parking lot and put out items
for sale. Saying they were clearing
out their homes and trying to make
a few bucks before moving, they
expressed disappointment about
their situation.
Parting with a
well-loved home
Jennifer Baros, Highland Manor
resident, said she has lived in her
apartment for five years and she was
happy with her home.
“I’ve loved it,” she said.
she said that she appreciated her
manager, the apartment amenities
and the maintenance. Whenever she
had problems with her apartment, it
always was fixed quickly.
“I couldn’t have asked better
from a first apartment,” she said.
The 24-year-old baros said she
moved into Highland Manor after
leaving her parents’ home and
getting married. she is raising two
boys and reported having good
memories.
Her neighbors, she said, are like
family. A couple of them, she added,
are literal family. Throughout their
years together, she and neighbors
See Sale, Page A9
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Jennifer Baros, Highland Manor resident, stands behind a table of yard
sale items Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. She is among the tenants moving out
of the Hermiston apartment complex. The new owner is encouraging peo-
ple to leave so he can renovate.
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