A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
LOCAL WEATHER
Driver charged with
manslaughter in wreck
that killed Hermiston man
baum, 26, of Eagle Point.
Gray was arrested with-
A Klamath County out incident and is lodged
grand jury Monday indict- in the Klamath County Jail.
ed the driver in the Dec. 28
Zimmer
and
crash that killed 22-year- Young-Wellbaum died in
old Hermiston man Garrett the early morning wreck
Zimmer and another pas- on Highway 140 near
senger.
Klamath Falls. They were
Gauge Lee Gray, 22, of traveling west when the
Klamath Falls was charged Ford Ranger pickup driven
ZLWK WZR FRXQWV RI ¿UVW by Gray left the roadway.
and second-degree man- The vehicle collided with
slaughter and driving under a lamp post and highway
WKHLQÀXHQFHRILQWR[LFDQWV sign before rolling several
for the single-vehicle roll- times and coming to rest in
over that killed Zimmer a pasture.
and Marri D. Young-Well-
The two passengers
EO MEDIA GROUP
died at the scene after
being ejected from the
vehicle and emergen-
cy workers took Gray to
Sky Lakes Hospital with
non-life-threatening inju-
ries. None were wearing
seat belts, according to Or-
egon State Police.
Zimmer had recently
stepped into the shoes of
longtime insurance agent
and his grandfather, Dell
Ray Zimmer, who was set
WR RI¿FLDOO\ UHWLUH -DQ
He was also the youngest
member of Hermiston Ro-
tary.
Today's Weather
Local 5-Day Forecast
Wed
Thu
1/28
Fri
1/29
54/37
Sat
1/30
48/37
49/35
Sun
1/31
2/1
47/35
48/39
Partly to mostly
cloudy. High 54F.
Winds NW at 5 to 10
mph.
Times of sun and
clouds. Highs in the
upper 40s and lows
in the upper 30s.
Mix of sun and
clouds. Highs in the
upper 40s and lows
in the mid 30s.
Mostly cloudy. Highs Chance of showers.
in the upper 40s and Highs in the upper
lows in the mid 30s. 40s and lows in the
upper 30s.
Sunrise Sunset
7:23 AM 4:56 PM
Sunrise Sunset
7:22 AM 4:58 PM
Sunrise Sunset
7:21 AM 4:59 PM
Sunrise Sunset
7:20 AM 5:01 PM
Sunrise Sunset
7:19 AM 5:02 PM
Oregon At A Glance
Portland
57/42
Salem
58/41
Realtors present donation to Agape House
Eugene
59/40
Medford
58/36
Pendleton
51/36
Hermiston
54/37
La Grande
49/34
Bend
48/27
Ontario
48/31
Burns
50/30
Klamath Falls
51/28
Area Cities
City
Albany
Ashland
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Eugene
Hi
58
58
54
45
48
58
50
60
57
59
Lo
42
37
42
30
27
44
30
43
43
40
Cond.
cloudy
pt sunny
rain
pt sunny
cloudy
cloudy
pt sunny
cloudy
cloudy
pt sunny
City
Florence
Grants Pass
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Lakeview
Lincoln City
Mcminnville
Medford
Hi
59
56
54
51
51
49
52
59
57
58
Lo
45
37
37
32
28
34
28
45
42
36
Cond.
cloudy
pt sunny
pt sunny
pt sunny
pt sunny
cloudy
pt sunny
rain
rain
pt sunny
City
Newport
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Springfield
The Dalles
Tillamook
Vale
Hi
59
51
57
55
59
58
57
56
59
48
Lo
46
36
42
32
42
41
38
41
42
31
Cond.
cloudy
pt sunny
rain
pt sunny
pt sunny
cloudy
pt sunny
cloudy
rain
pt sunny
Cond.
sunny
pt sunny
pt sunny
sunny
pt sunny
City
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
Minneapolis
New York
Hi
74
75
69
40
30
Lo
55
58
56
31
12
Cond.
sunny
cloudy
sunny
cloudy
sunny
City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Seattle
St. Louis
Washington, DC
Hi
74
65
53
52
37
Lo
54
49
42
44
24
Cond.
pt sunny
mst sunny
pt sunny
mst sunny
sunny
National Cities
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Columbia Basin Board of Realtors presented a $1,500 check to Dave Hughes of Agape House
in December. Funds were raised at an auction at the Columbia Basin Board of Realtor’s annual
Christmas party. This yearly donation helps to restock the Agape House shelves in the spring
when supplies get low following the holidays.
Pictured are, from left: Shirley Parsons, Nancy Walchli, Dave Hughes, Heidi Carver, Lezlee
Gunsolley, Melinda Newman and Patsy Keimig.
Hi
52
25
36
77
60
Lo
30
2
31
54
33
Moon Phases
UV Index
Wed
First
Full
Last
New
Jan 27
Feb 3
Feb 12
Feb 18
©2010 American Profile Hometown Content Service
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
1/28
1/29
1/30
1/31
2/1
1
Low
2
Low
1
Low
1
Low
1
Low
The UV Index is measured on a 0 -
11 number scale, with a higher UV
Index showing the need for greater
skin protection.
0
11
Parks director describes possible future improvements
Eastern
Hermiston
under-served by
current system
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
Although Hermiston
has fewer park acres than
the national standard, and
far fewer on the eastern
side of the city, Parks and
Recreation Director Lar-
ry Fetter said he hopes to
add more.
At a City Council
work session Monday
about parks and trails,
Fetter described the cur-
rent park system and his
priorities for future im-
provements.
He said the national
standard for park land
is 10 acres per thousand
residents, so, with a pop-
ulation of about 18,000,
Hermiston should have
DSSUR[LPDWHO\ DFUHV
of recreational land. Cur-
rently, he said, Hermiston
has 101 acres: 65 acres
in five larger community
parks with more ameni-
ties and 36 acres in sev-
en smaller neighborhood
parks.
Fetter said the distri-
bution between the com-
munity and neighborhood
parks is well balanced, but
the distribution of park
land between the eastern
and western parts of the
city is not. Currently, 94
acres of park land is sit-
uated on the west side of
Highway 395, with only
seven acres for city parks
on the east. He said, while
the city is “under-served”
for parks in general, the
eastern side of the Herm-
iston is “off the chart” in
terms of inadequate park
land.
Fetter said the primary
reason for the park dis-
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
The majority of the parks in Hermiston are on the west side of Highway 395, such as the Funland Playground at Butte Park. Of
the 101 acres of park land in the city, only seven are on the east side of Highway 395.
tribution is that the parks
were built on land that
had been donated to the
city. He said, however,
there are opportunities for
future growth to remedy
the lack of eastern park
land.
He said seven acres
of property near Theater
Lane and Eighth Avenue
in the Cimmaron Terrace
development has been
promised to the city as
park land.
Fetter said city offi-
cials could also look into
creating a Northeast Park
on more than 10 acres of
land near Fourth and Elm
avenues, north of an irri-
gation ditch. The land, he
said, is flat and could ac-
commodate three soccer
fields.
One east-side park
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planned, Fetter said, after
the city purchased a par-
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
The Hermiston Parks and Recreation Department has a plan in
place to expand Sunset Park in Hermiston.
cel of land adjacent to the
current Sunset Park on
Northeast Fourth Street.
Fetter said another
potential large improve-
ment, the Northwest
Park, could be built on
the western side of the
city on Elm Avenue near
the river.
Fetter said the city’s
park system is also lack-
ing several amenities for
residents to enjoy, includ-
ing a dog park, a skate
park and more picnic
shelters.
He said a dog park
where people could let
their dogs run without
being on a leash could al-
leviate current problems
where people break the
city’s leash requirement
because no dog parks are
available. He said peo-
ple prefer grass areas for
these parks, and dogs
generally get along in
similar parks.
Fetter said the city’s
skate park could be vastly
improved and be a source
of pride for people who
use the parks. He said it
could be designed for bi-
cycles and skateboards,
and he recommended a
location near the railroad
tracks across the street
from the Hermiston Po-
lice Department.
The city’s current pic-
nic shelters are often
booked, Fetter said, and
he recommended build-
ing a larger shelter to
accommodate more peo-
ple. He said a concrete
base could be poured and
a temporary tent shelter
could be used at River-
front Park until a perma-
nent structure could be
built.
Fetter said improve-
ments are still being
PDGHRQWKH2[ERZ7UDLO
site, and the city has the
opportunity to improve
its entire trail system into
what he described as the
Hermiston Loop through
future
upgrades.
He
said the loop could pass
through both the western
and eastern parts of the
city.
Fetter said his prior-
ities are to develop the
trail system and east-side
parks, to acquire the land
for the Northwest Park,
to provide more soccer
fields and picnic shel-
ters, to add dog and skate
parks and to update the
Park Plan, which was cre-
ated in 2007.
Mayor Dave Drotz-
mann thanked Fetter for
his work and said the
FLW\KDVH[SHULHQFHG³ELJ
gains” in park develop-
ment under Fetter. Drotz-
mann said the city’s park
system is a “critical com-
ponent” for Hermiston’s
current and future suc-
cess.
“We’ve always got
to keep that on the fore-
front of our minds as far
as prioritizing budgets
because it’s important,”
he said. “It’s important
to the members we repre-
sent and those people that
want to come to a com-
munity.”