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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2022)
REGION Thursday, July 21, 2022 East Oregonian A3 NWS on watch for high temperatures next week By JOHN TILLMAN East Oregonian PENDLETON — Swelter- ing weather is liable to return to the Columbia Basin area next week, according to the National Weather Service’s long-range forecast. And the city of Pendleton is having construction work start earlier in the day to avoid the heat of summer. “It’s a little too early to estimate the probability of temperatures over 105 degrees,” Pendleton NWS meteorologist Rob Brooks said, “but we’re watching and might issue an alert.” The NWS forecasts highs in the 90s in Pendleton for the rest of this week and Sunday, July 24, then getting hotter from July 25. Its prediction for July 26 is 102 degrees and probably higher on July 27. For Hermiston, the NWS forecasts sunny and hot, with a high near 105 for July 26, 102 at Boardman and 103 at Pasco and Milton-Freewater. July 27 is likely to be hotter in these areas as well. The NWS predicted over- night lows in the 60s, but also higher on Wednesday. Yasser Marte/East Oregonian A construction crew Wednesday, July 20, 2022, works on curbs and gutters on Southeast Third Street and Goodwin Avenue in Pendleton. The city announced it will have some crews start work earlier in the day to avoid hot summer days. The Weather Service’s July 20 forecast discussion described the meteorologi- cal conditions for multi-day triple-digit temperatures. On July 25 the upper level ridge baking the southwest states will squeeze northward into the area between a trough over the northern Rockies and an upper low off the coast, the discussion said. This would begin the excessive heat expected to start July 26. There is a slight chance for cooler temperatures, but the most likely outcome is for more than 105 degrees in lower elevations July 26 and 27. “Depending on how the models evolve in the coming days, temperatures may need to be adjusted upward for Tuesday and Wednesday,” the guidance concluded. “Heat health impacts may become an issue by Tuesday given the current temperature fore- casts.” The city of Pendle- ton announced some of its construction crews will begin working at 6 a.m. because of high temperatures in the summer months. These work weeks will be based on weather forecasts for tempera- tures at or above 90 degrees. Otherwise work crews will start at 7 a.m., their normal summer hour time. “We are doing this to try to keep our employees out of the heat in the hottest part of the day,” according to Public Works Superintendent Jeff Brown. “By starting earlier, we can get most of our work done between 6 a.m. and 1 in the afternoon and try to keep our projects moving forward during high heat.” Earlier this year, Oregon OSHA adopted new rules to protect workers from high heat and wildfire smoke. The Mandatory Information for Heat Illness Prevention rules went into effect June 15. The rules stipulate specific rest break durations and inter- vals based on the day’s heat index. During temperatures of 90 degrees or greater, the rule requires 10 minutes of a cool-down rest break every two hours. When the tempera- ture is 105 degrees or greater, that number jumps up to 40 minutes of rest break every hour. Because the change would require some heavy equip- ment work in the 6 a.m. hour, the city is exploring adjusting its noise ordinance to allow for the seasonal change. The ordinance limits construc- tion to between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., and the adjustment would allow city departments to use heavy equipment for an extra hour, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., during the summer months. The city reported it chose the 6 a.m. time start as a compromise between efficiency for work crews and respect for Pendle- ton residents. “In order to be more effi- cient with our crews, we’re looking to start earlier in the day while still trying to be respectful of noise,” accord- ing to Pendleton Public Works Director Bob Patterson. With the new schedule, public works crews will join employees of parks and recreation in the early work hours. Parks and recreation operates on a seasonal sched- ule where employees work 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. during the late spring and summer. Communications specialist’s duties to expand By JOHN TILLMAN East Oregonian PENDLETON — Jennifer Colton has been Pendleton’s communications specialist since April. The position is a new one for the city, but it helps fulfill the city council’s goal to improve communica- tions. “In order to address inter- nal and external communi- cations, they wanted a new person,” she said. City Manager Robb Corbett said Colton won’t handle communications for all departments. The police department, for instance, sends out its own briefs and press releases. “But we’re geared up to communicate better internally and with the public,” he said. “We want to focus on a few areas and be more proactive.” Improving communication about construction projects is an area growing for Colton. Public works projects disrupt people’s lives, Corbett said, so the city wants to do a better job of keeping residents informed. “That’s a big part of what our communications person will do,” he said. Colton concurred. “I’ve worked with them a lot to get the word out about their projects,” she said. Colton has worked for multiple newspapers, includ- ing the East Oregonian, and for two Hermiston radio stations, where she was news Yasser Marte/East Oregonian Jennifer Colton, the city of Pendleton new communications specialist, works Tuesday, July 19, 2022, out of Pendleton City Hall. Her work duties are expanding, and she also teach- es public speaking at Blue Mountain Community College. director for six years. She was also an adjunct profes- sor of communications at Blue Mountain Community College. “We moved to Pendleton eight years ago,” she said. “I commuted to Hermiston, so that was one reason why I applied for this job. Another is that, as a reporter, I had been on the receiving end of press releases. I read a lot that were bad, so I know what works. I wanted something a little different, being on the other side for a change, with a differ- ent skill set.” While driving to Herm- iston one winter day, Colton got stuck on Interstate 84 by a crash ahead of her. “I recorded the news sitting on the freeway,” she recalled. “We called remote recording our ‘mobile newsroom,” so that time it was an ‘immobile newsroom.’” Another focus for Colton is getting out in front of hot button issues, Corbett said. “For example, there was confusion in the public over why Uber was important,” he recalled. “People wondered, ‘Am I going to lose my dial a ride or taxi tickets?’ We can do a better job of telling our story.” The city launched a 20-question survey to evalu- ate how well it communicates with residents and visitors on July 1. The survey is open through Aug. 15. Participants who complete it on or before July 31 and choose to provide contact information will be entered into a drawing for one of four $25 gift cards. Internal communications is a third area of focus for the new communications special- ist, Corbett stated. “The city has about 100 employees in 10 depart- ments,” he noted. “They don’t know everything. Some people think parks department workers should know about the airport. We’d like internal memos so employees in differ- ent departments can find out what’s going on, or know how to find out, so they can act as ambassadors of the city.” Corbett recalled when, as a meter reader, he would get questions about other depart- ments he couldn’t answer. A state of the city Zoom call has been set up, with regu- lar quarterly updates, Corbett reported. “If all employees are unable to attend, they can review it later,” he said. “The 10 department heads are invited to attend and give an overview of their operations. At the end, employees are encouraged to ask questions.” Lastly, the city aims to tout its successes better, Corbett concluded. “We want to talk about the accomplishments of which we’re proud,” he said. “We want to brag a little. I hope she has time to promote what we’re doing right.” Colton said her expanding responsibilities don’t daunt her. “I’ve been here three months and haven’t been fired yet,” she said. PENDLETON ROUND-UP & HAPPY CANYON HALL OF FAME Kendra Santos named Inductee Banquet MC East Oregonian PEN DLETON — Acclaimed Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association journal- ist and author Kendra Santos is the master of ceremonies for the Pendleton Round-Up & Happy Canyon Hall of Fame’s annual Inductee Banquet. The banquet is Sept. 11, 2022, according to a press release from the Pendleton Round-Up & Happy Canyon Hall of Fame, and honors the inductee class of 2022 into the Hall of Fame. Born in 1961 in Davis, California, Santos grew up in a rodeo family and began her journalistic career as a teenager with Roper’s Sports News. She roped her way through college with the Cal Poly-San Luis books, including “Rough- Obispo Mustangs rodeo team, stock: The Mud, the Blood receiving a journalism degree and the Beer” and “Ring of and thereafter earn- Fire,” and served as ing a master’s degree managing editor of in business adminis- the PRCA’s “The tration. Finals: A Complete Santos began her History of the Wran- gler National Finals career as features editor for the Profes- Rodeo.” sional Rodeo She won the Santos WPRA Media Award Cowboys Associ- ation’s ProRodeo in 1997 and the PRCA Sports News and ultimately Media Award in 2004. She worked her way up to Editor has covered the Pendleton and PRCA director of commu- Round-Up for decades and nications. She was instrumen- has fond memories of coming tal in developing Spin to Win to Pendleton. magazine and contributed to “The Hall of Fame is the foundation of American honored to have someone of Cowboy magazine and Pro Kendra’s caliber and noto- Bull Rider magazine. Santos riety serve as the master of also has authored several ceremonies for our banquet,” said Mary French-West, a Hall of Fame board member who coordinates the banquet. “Since many of whom we honor in the Hall of Fame have such close ties to the PRCA, it’s a natural fit to have Kendra join us and share her experiences and knowledge of the sport. We’re excited to show her around.” The Hall of Fame banquet will honor four people this year: Rusty Black (Early Years Category); Bob Forth (Happy Canyon Volunteer Category); Jerome Robinson (Contract Personnel Cate- gory); and Randy Severe (Hall of Fame Board of Direc- tors Special Nominee). Tick- ets for the banquet go on sale later this month. Erick Peterson/East Oregonian A sign Tuesday, July 19, 2022, warns people away from Highway 395 north of Hermiston due to a natural gas line break near Umatilla. Affected area reopens after gas line break East Oregonian south of Wildwood Lane and north of Power City Road also had to evacuate. Commercial Tire, 81991 N. Highway 395, was placed on standby. Oregon Department of Transportation closed High- way 395 north of Hermis- ton between the junction of Highway 730 at mile point 0.4 and the junction of Bensel Road near mile point 1.75. The sheriff’s office also reported drivers still should avoid the north end of 395 and use alternate routes. Cascade Natural Gas crews working to repair the large line at about 8 p.m. July 19 reported they stopped the flow at the northern end of the gas line and then worked to stop and repair the south end near the location of the break. The work required care- fully adjusting pressure in the gas lines to avoid over- pressure in other lines. Additionally, the sheriff’s office reported, the break was in somewhat swampy terrain, causing Cascade Natural Gas crews to take extra precautions not to get water into the gas line once pressure was stopped. Windwave Communica- tions out of Boardman also responded after the repair crew made a request for specific equipment. U M AT I L L A — Umatilla County Sher- iff’s Office the morning of Wednesday, July 20, reported the area north of Hermiston and near Umatilla again is open to traffic and residents follow- ing a natural gas line break the day before. Cascade Natural Gas notified the emergency’s incident command that it completed the repair of the pipeline and pressure test- ing. The crisis July 19 left 16 residences without power and prompted the evacua- tion of those homes, accord- ing to the sheriff’s office. That changed at about 7 a.m. July 20, when the sheriff’s office reported the evacu- ation was over and roads were reopening as workers removed barricades. “Highway 395 will remain a single lane going northbound as repair work continues on the excava- tion site,” according to the update. The sheriff’s office dispatch center on July 19 at 11:43 a.m. received a 911 call from a construc- tion crew reporting it had struck a 4-inch natural gas line in the area of Margaret Avenue and North Highway 395 near Umatilla. 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