REGION
Thursday, February 24, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
AARP volunteers off er tax help
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
East Oregonian, File
McNary Lock and Dam on the Columbia River near Umatilla is in line for upgrades totaling
$22.7 million thanks to the federal Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act.
$22.7 million in upgrades
coming to McNary Dam
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — McNary
Lock and Dam on the Colum-
bia River near Umatilla is in
line for almost $23 million in
improvements.
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, Walla Walla
District, in a press release
announced it has allocated
approximately $55 million for
area dams. The federal Infra-
structure Investments and
Jobs Act, which was signed
into law in November 2021,
provides funding for the proj-
ects.
The act allocated approx-
imately $17 billion in
funding for Corps’ infra-
structure projects for fi scal
years 2022-24.
Among the 2022 projects
in the plan is $22.7 million
for work on McNary Lock
and Dam, including replacing
downstream gate gudgeon
anchors, spillway hoists
and gates, the acquisition
and installation of a second
derrick crane, dredging and
surveys, rehabilitating levee
drainage pump stations,
upgrades to Hood Park’s
septic system and reconstruc-
tion of Third Street’s road at
the lock and dam.
Other projects are planned
for Dworshak Dam, Lower
Monumental Lock and Dam,
Lower Granite Lock and
Dam, Little Goose Lock and
Dam and Lucky Peak Dam
and Lake. There also are addi-
tional projects at waterways
in the region. The McNary
project, however, is the larg-
est of all the listed projects.
“This funding will allow
us to complete critical proj-
ects the District has been
striving to fund for several
years,” said Alan Feistner,
Walla Walla District’s deputy
district engineer. “When
completed, these funds will
have helped us lower the risk
of infrastructure failure and
flooding, protect the envi-
ronment, and improve effi -
ciencies to serve the public.
This is a great benefi t for our
communities and the Nation.”
Additional funding from
the infrastructure invest-
ments act be made available
to the Walla Walla District in
fi scal years 2023 and 2024.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Umatilla County
COVID-19
fatalities top 200
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Umatilla Cou nt y’s
COVID-19 death toll has
reached 201.
Umatilla County Public
Health on Wednesday,
Feb. 23, reported the 201st
death is a 79-year-old man
who tested positive for the
disease Feb. 4 and died Feb.
17 at Kadlec Regional Medi-
cal Center, Richland, Wash-
ington.
The county the day before
reported the 200th death is
a 71-year-old man who died
Jan. 30 at Horizon Project
Group Home, Pendleton.
And last week, the county
reported the 199 death with
COVID-19 is a 65-year-old
man who tested positive
Feb. 6 and died Feb. 11 at St.
Mary Medical Center, Walla
Walla.
The county health depart-
ment also reported as of
Feb. 23 the total number of
COVID-19 cases in Umatilla
County was 22,153.
M-F woman
injured in crash
PASCO — A Milton-Free-
water woman was injured in
a crash Sunday afternoon in
Walla Walla County, Wash-
ington.
Washington State Patrol
in a press release reported
Celina Meza-Ibarra, 42, of
Milton-Freewater, was driv-
ing a 2019 Nissan Altima
west on Highway 12 about 10
miles east of Pasco when she
lost control of her car. The
Nissan then struck a 2007
Toyota Corolla.
Meza-Ibarra was injured,
according to WPS, and
an ambulance took her to
Lourdes Medical Center,
Pasco.
The driver of the Toyota,
Christopher Olsen, 34, of
Walla Walla, was not injured.
He and Meza-Ibarra were
wearing seat belts.
Washington State Patrol
also reported charges are
pending against Meza-Ibarra.
2 Umatilla residents
on hook for
negligent homicide
PENDLETON — Two
Umatilla County residents
face drug delivery and crim-
inally negligent homicide
charges in the death of a
Pendleton man.
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Offi ce has
charged Jed Wayne Ball, 35,
of Umatilla, and Misty Dawn
Pollard, 44, of Pendleton for
delivering fentanyl and caus-
ing the death of Dane Schell.
According to state court
records, the district attor-
ney’s offi ce has accused Ball
and Pollard of providing the
narcotic and killing Schell
on Aug. 24. A grand jury
indicted the pair on Feb. 10.
Pendleton police on Feb. 14
arrested the pair.
Circuit Judge Jon Lieual-
len on Feb. 15 set Pollard’s
bail at $50,000 and Ball’s bail
at $250,000. Ball remains in
the Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, while Pollard no
longer is in jail.
Pollard has a pretrial
conference on March 1 and
Ball has one on March 7,
both at the Umatilla County
Courthouse, Pendleton.
— EO Media Group
HERMISTON — Tax
season is here, and once
again the AARP Foundation
Tax-Aide program is help-
ing locals with their 2021
tax forms.
“People are a little bit
scared of the IRS,” said
Steve Frazier, who is help-
ing with the program. “They
want to do the right thing,
but they get nervous. We’re
here to help them do the
right thing.”
In a regular day, he said,
he and other volunteers will
help around a dozen people.
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, he
met with a couple of people
who expressed gratitude
for the help. He received
their information, imputed
data into his computer and
asked them to return after
for discussion. Frazier let
the clients know their taxes
would be sent to the IRS
once they approved.
Their taxes would be
completed within the same
day as their appointment,
he said.
Frazier said this is how
most of his appointments
occur — clients enter
and their needs are met
quickly. That is, however,
if their taxes are simple. If
a person’s taxes are compli-
cated, as when they involve
a person’s business, volun-
teers advise clients seek
out tax services from paid
professionals.
Volunteering to help
A former fi reman, Frazier
said he does not have a deep
background in accounting.
But he has, he said, received
training for the work he is
doing on behalf of AARP.
Frazier, a Hermiston
resident, said he started this
work 12 years ago, after he
retired. Helping people with
their taxes, he said, was
something he could do, and
it was enjoyable.
According to Frazier,
many volunteers come to
this service the same way
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
From left, Don Hefner, Joan Heihn, Uli Slankard and Steve
Frazier review visitation records Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022.
They are volunteers in Hermiston with the AARP Founda-
tion Tax-Aide program.
APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
To receive help, people must make appointments from
8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Local sites are in Hermiston and Board-
man. Volunteers are at New Hope Community Church, 1350 S.
Highway 395, Hermiston (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays
through April 13). The Boardman volunteers are at the Port of
Morrow, 2 Marine Drive, Boardman (Mondays through April 11).
Volunteers said people do not need to be AARP members or
even seniors to receive help. Services are provided in English
and Spanish. To register, call 541-612-1307. For more informa-
tion, visit www.aarp.org/money/taxes.
he did. They stumble upon
it, discover it is something
they are capable of doing and
off er to lend a hand, he said.
He added there are volun-
teers who have worked in
banks, but none are profes-
sional accountants.
To get potential volun-
teers up to speed, AARP
provides study materials to
them in October. Then, there
are training classes to under-
stand the tax program being
used. Also, there are tests
volunteers need to pass to
be certifi ed by the IRS and
AARP.
Still, Frazier said, it is not
hard.
“If you learn where to
put the information, the
program does a lot of the
work,” Frazier said.
He added that deep
knowledge of tax law is not
required of volunteers.
Currently, there are nine
local volunteers, serving
Hermiston and Boardman.
“We used to have quite a
bit more,” he said.
In recent years, AARP
even had a volunteer site
in Pendleton. That site was
closed, because of a reduced
number of volunteers.
The volunteers who
were in Hermiston, brav-
ing contact with others,
expressed their happiness
with the job. Don Hefner said
he likes his work because
the people are nice. Fellow
volunteers Joan Heihn and
Uli Slankard expressed the
same sentiment.
Volunteers said COVID-
19 likely is responsible
for the reduced number of
volunteers. People are trying
to reduce their contact with
the public, he said, so they
are not volunteering when
they might have otherwise.
“The folks who were
doing it were just uncom-
fortable meeting with other
folks,” Frazier said of some
volunteers.
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