SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015
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COMMUNITY
Stanfield FIRST Lego robotics team qualifies for state in first year, places 48th
BY MAEGAN MURRAY
HERMISTON HERALD
7KH 6WDQ¿HOG ),567
Lego League robotics team
may have just formed this
year, but the students didn’t
let that hold them back in
competition.
This year, the team,
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sixth-grade students, qual-
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tition after placing in the
top three at its qualifying
tournament at Eastern Or-
egon University early last
month. Last weekend, the
team placed 48th out of 60
teams at the state competi-
tion at Liberty High School
in Hillsboro. Students
competing included Amree
Braithwaite, Jasmyn Hy-
sell, Kendyll Cooper, Si-
say Hurty, Kaisa Tynkila,
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During the state competi-
tion, the teams were scored
on how they performed in a
robot game, a project where
they had to research a prob-
lem and come up with a
solution, and their ability
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core values — working as a
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guidance from coaches and
mentors and honoring the
spirit of friendly competi-
tion, to name a few.
“Considering this is the
top teams of the state, I
am very pleased,” robotics
FRDFK DQG 6WDQ¿HOG WHDFK-
er Don Walker said. “Our
project, core values judging
and robot design judging,
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we do not get a ranking for,
but I’d imagine we were
ranked in the middle of the
pack.”
:DONHU VDLG 6WDQ¿HOG
was one of only two teams
from east of The Dalles to
compete. He said the ma-
jority of the teams were
from the Portland area.
To prepare for the state
competition, Walker said
the team focused on four
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signing the robot, which
students had to program so
it would complete a number
of obstacles autonomously.
The second, he said, was
preparing for their core val-
ues judging, where the stu-
dents had to create a poster
and explain the gains they
made this year.
Walker said the students
also practiced explaining
why they chose their design
and their most complex
programming they wrote
through coding. The fourth
goal, he said, was increas-
ing people’s knowledge
about recycling, a main
component of the chal-
lenge.
Walker said the compe-
tition season may now be
over for the students, but
they are already thinking
about next season. Some of
the students on the team
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Lego League team while
others will move on to the
next level of competition,
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lenge, as seventh-grad-
ers. At that level, students
work together to build a
robot that has to complete
specific challenges.
Walker said Lucas Tyn-
kila deserves credit for
helping the Stanfield pro-
gram expand to include
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League teams. He said,
while he worked with
the already established
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team, Tynkila mentored
the students on the Lego
League teams.
“Considering this
is the top teams
of the state, I am
very pleased.
Our project, core
values judging
and robot design
judging, we
do not get a
ranking for, but
I’d imagine we
were ranked in
the middle of the
pack.”
— Don Walker
Robotics coach
:DONHUVDLGWKH),567
program not only teach-
es students how to build
robots. He said the pro-
gram’s goals are to inspire
students to be science and
technology leaders and
expose them to high-de-
mand fields like engi-
neering and programming
while promoting team-
work and leadership.
Umatilla extends temporary ban on new strip clubs
Planning
Commission
continues to work
on commercial
zoning changes
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
No new strip clubs will
be able to open anywhere
in Umatilla city limits for
another six months after the
city extended its moratori-
um Tuesday.
At the regular Umatilla
City Council meeting, af-
ter an initial 120-day mor-
atorium on additional adult
entertainment businesses
expired, council members
voted to approve a 180-day
extension of the temporary
ban to allow the Umatilla
Planning Commission time
to complete regulations.
City Manager Bob Ward
said state law only allows
120 days for an initial mor-
atorium but also provides
for an extension up to six
months.
“The Planning Commis-
sion is still working on a
very broad overview of all
of the commercial zones in-
cluding this (adult business
issue),” he said. “They’ve
run out of time under the
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commission is asking for
the state-allowed 180-day
extension to that original
120-day moratorium in or-
der for them to be able to
conclude their work.”
Ward has previously said
neither the moratorium nor
any new regulations adopt-
ed would affect businesses
already open.
Planning Commission
Chairman Boyd Sharp
spoke in favor of the exten-
sion, stating the commis-
sion is making progress but
needs more time. He said
the city currently has four
different commercial zones
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and the commission is at-
tempting to provide much
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than the current city code,
stating exactly what types
of uses will be allowed in
each zone.
Sharp said the commis-
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of the intentions for each of
the zones and is working
through a long list of uses
based on the North Ameri-
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System to determine where
each will be allowed.
“There are 400 different
kinds of commercial activ-
ities that can go on within
a city, so we’re looking at
all 400 of those or more and
saying, ‘All right, does this
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the downtown commercial
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scription that we have de-
veloped?’ ” he said.
The commission has
worked through the list for
the downtown commercial
zone, Sharp said, and things
should begin to move more
swiftly now that the com-
missioners are more ac-
quainted with the process.
Former Planning Com-
mission member John
Nichols urged the council
to approve the extension to
allow the commission time
“to do a job correctly that
we can be proud to have
behind us.”
“Give the Planning
Commission as much lee-
way and latitude as you
possibly can so that they
can do a good job for us,”
he said.
Councilman David Lo-
ugee, who was required to
give up his Planning Com-
mission seat to join the
council, said the commis-
sion has been doing “good
work.”
“I think these are at least
baby steps towards an im-
proved Umatilla, and that’s
what we’re all after, going
forward, is making a better
community, and I applaud
them.”
The Planning Commis-
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sion will continue working
on the commercial zoning
changes at the next meet-
ing at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at
Umatilla City Hall.
In other City Council
news, Ward said the city
and Port of Umatilla are still
working on the language of
a potential agreement to
settle a zoning dispute.
“The agreement in prin-
ciple has not changed,” he
said. “The agreement on
the actual wording is a lit-
tle bit more elusive than
we thought it was going to
be. ... I think a settlement
is still within reach. We’ll
just have to work a little bit
harder to get there.”