WEEKEND EDITION BMCC president orders ‘full institutional review’
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REGION, A3
MARCH 19 – 20, 2022
146th Year, No. 54
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
‘We knew we had to do something’
Job fair helps
unemployed
workers after
Shearer’s fi re
ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Meet-
ing employers at the entrance
of a recent job fair, Val Hoxie
said she felt overwhelmed by
the people’s expressions of
community and warmth.
“People were looking for
ways to help,” she said.
There were 47 compa-
nies represented at 52 tables
at the job fair Wednesday,
March 16, at the Hermiston
Community Center.
Hoxie, Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce executive
director, helped organize
the event in response to a
massive layoff following the
Shearer’s Foods Hermiston
plant fi re. The company laid
off all 231 of its employees at
the facility.
Companies look to put
workers to work
Employers at tables met
with an estimated 200 to
300 job seekers. By the end
of the fair, which took place
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
the employers said they
had met with many people,
including individuals laid off
from Shearer’s. They said it
was a successful event, and
they hope to begin hiring
from the pool of these job
seekers soon.
At least one of the
company representatives
had worked for Shearer’s.
Candice Chavez, a rack
decommission manager for
Amazon, said she worked
for Shearer’s in Hermiston
for around 10 years, ending
in November 2020.
She called her leaving
“bittersweet.” She said she
enjoyed working for Shear-
er’s. She grew a lot during
that time, she said, and she
left only because Amazon
gave her even more opportu-
nities to grow.
She said she has seen the
Shearer’s site since the fi re,
and it fi lled her with “a lot of
emotions.” She put in a lot
of hard work there, she said,
and it felt miserable seeing
everything go up in fl ames,
literally.
Still, she said, there is life
REVELERS GATHER FOR
‘WORLD’S SHORTEST PARADE’
after Shearer’s. She was able
to move on after she ended
her job with the company,
and she felt confi dent other
people can do likewise.
“There are opportuni-
ties for people out there,”
she said. “You can see it all
over in here. There are places
people can go for jobs, and
they need to have hope.”
Erik Estrada, protection
technician with Corteva
See Fair, Page A9
ELECTIONS
Funds
coming for
equipment
upgrades
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
Photos by Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
The “world’s shortest parade” saunters Thursday, March 17, 2022, across South Main Street, Pendleton, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
Musicians in the “world’s shortest parade” enter the Rainbow Cafe at
dawn Thursday, March 17, 2022, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in
downtown Pendleton.
Peter Walters plays the saxophone Thursday, March 17, 2022, during
the “world’s shortest parade” at the Rainbow Cafe, Pendleton, in cel-
ebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
SALEM — County election
offices soon will get additional
money to replace old election equip-
ment and buy postal barcode scan-
ners to comply with a recent law
requiring that ballots dropped in the
mail on Election Day be counted.
In 2021, Oregon legislators allo-
cated $2 million for Secretary of
State Shemia Fagan to distribute
to counties for election equipment,
such as ballot tabulators and post-
mark scanners, or to add ballot drop
boxes and upgrade video surveil-
lance. That money went unspent,
and this year election offi cials asked
the Legislature to change what the
money could be used for.
When the money was allocated
last year, state election offi cials were
under the impression that many
counties needed new tabulation
machines, said Molly Woon, senior
adviser and strategic projects direc-
tor in the secretary of state’s offi ce.
They found that only one county
needed such equipment, and started
talking to the Oregon Association of
County Clerks about better uses for
the money.
A little more than half of the
available money will be used for
postal barcode scanners and other
equipment, and Woon expects to
announce grants to counties next
week.
Dan Lonai, Umatilla County’s
director of administrative services
and president of the Oregon Associ-
ation of County Clerks, said the law
went into eff ect Jan. 1, and counting
ballots with Election Day postmarks
presents some challenges and drags
out counting ballots.
Oregon, he said, with a few
exceptions such as challenged
ballots, wraps up its ballot totals on
election nights.
See Funds, Page A1
National park boss Sams discusses tribal co-management of lands
By APRIL EHRLICH
Oregon Public Broadcasting
This week was National Park Service
Director Chuck Sams’ fi rst trip back
home to the Pacifi c Northwest since he
was sworn in as the fi rst Native Ameri-
can to lead the public lands agency.
Sams’ weeklong tour included a visit
to Bend, where he attended the annual
Governor’s Conference on Tourism,
then weaved through Crater Lake,
where he met with park leaders. His trip
wrapped up Thursday, March 17, with
a tour of the Fort Vancouver National
Historic Site in Washington state. The
former military base and fur-trading site
is undergoing a $15 million renovation
funded by the Great American Outdoors
Act of 2020.
See Sams, Page A9
National
Park Service
Director Chuck
Sams speaks
Thursday, March
17, 2022, at the
Fort Vancouver
Historic Site.
This was
Sams’ fi rst trip
back home
to the Pacifi c
Northwest since
he was sworn
in as the fi rst
Native American
to lead the
public lands
agency.
April Ehrlich/
Oregon Public
Broadcasting