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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2015)
PREP HOOPS BUSINESS SKILLS GIRL SCOUTS LEARN WITH COOKIE SALES BULLDOG GIRLS PREP TO PLAY BUCKS AT STATE PAGE A4 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015 Council OKs energy rate increase New meeting format to make public comment more ‘user friendly’ Hermiston Energy Ser- vices customers will see an increase in their electricity bills in June. At the Hermiston City Council meeting Monday, council members unani- mously approved higher rates for HES customers, but HES Superintendent Nate Rivera said the city utility will still offer low- er rates than the other two service providers in Herm- iston. The new rates, which take effect on bills cal- culated after May 1, will cost an average residential customer who uses 1,500 kilowatt hours of electric- ity about an additional $11 each month. The monthly fee will increase from $6.50 to $10.50, and the rate per kilowatt hour will increase from $.0633 to $.068. For YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER HERMISTONHERALD.COM my. After several years of work, the Port of Umatilla Board of Commissioners signed an agreement to lease the port’s unused wa- ter rights from the Colum- bia River to the Umatilla BY SEAN HART Basin Water Users Group. HERMISTON HERALD Craig Reeder, a repre- $VLJQL¿FDQWDJUHHPHQW sentative of the water users was reached Tuesday that group, said the agreement could provide more water was an important step to- to the area and millions of ward securing infrastruc- dollars to the local econo- ture funding for the Uma- Up to 100 cfs could be used for agriculture tilla Basin water project included in the governor’s proposed budget that will provide more water to area agriculture. He said, how- ever, the water rights will not be secured until after public comment periods on documents that must be approved have taken place. The next step, he said, will EH ¿OLQJ WKH ZDWHU ULJKW the water management conservation plan and se- cure agreements with Wa- < terWatch, a water protec- tion agency. “What the signing of this document does is ac- tivate a very long, further distinguished to-do list,” he said. “... Our biggest hurdle will be clearing the public comment periods on the water management conservation plan and the water right. ... It’s not over until it’s signed, and the public comment periods are the open wound for any IMPROVING CARDIAC HEALTH prepared for the battle he faced afterwards. Following his proce- dure, Berrey could bare- SEE HEALTH/A7 SEE FUNDING/A7 MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO • THURSDAY Sunny High: 69º Low: 37º • FRIDAY Mostly cloudy High: 70º Low: 46º BY MAEGAN MURRAY HERMISTON HERALD A complete weather forecast is featured on page A2. Less than a year ago, Hermiston resident Gene Berrey said he couldn’t climb a set of stairs with- out having to pause to catch his breath after reaching the top. He and his wife went to the doctor at Walla Walla Veteran’s Medical Center where, at the time, he said he presumed the progno- sis would be lung cancer. The news he received, however, was much more surprising than he origi- nally anticipated. Find the Hermiston Herald on Facebook and Twitter and join the conversation. FOR LOCAL BREAKING NEWS www.HermistonHerald.com Berrey’s doctor checked his blood and lab work and told him those looked great, but after checking his heart rhythm, the doctor’s facial expression immediately changed. “I could see it in his eyes that something was really wrong,” Berrey said. Berrey’s doctor im- mediately sent him to a specialist at the Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Tri-Cities, Washington. Doctors found that Ber- rey’s heart was pumping at a rate of 10 to 15 per- cent, which is much lower than the normal range of 55 to 70 percent. At any point, he could have died. Following his appoint- ment, Berrey’s doctors MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO 7KH*RRG6KHSKHUG0HGLFDO&HQWHU·VFDUGLRSXOPRQDU\ UHKDELOLWDWLRQFHQWHUIHDWXUHVVWDWHRIWKHDUWH[HUFLVH HTXLSPHQWLQDGGLWLRQWRDOLYHPRQLWRUIHHGZKLFKWUDFNV SDWLHQWV·KHDUWUDWHVDVWKH\H[HUFLVH booked him for a quadru- ple bypass surgery that in- cluded valve replacements only a couple of days later. His surgery was success- ful, but he said he wasn’t HSD prepares for µLQVXI¿FLHQW¶ state funding The only thing prevent- ing the Hermiston School District from making bud- JHW RU VWDI¿QJ UHGXFWLRQV next year is the projection that the district will grow by at least 50 students. The state’s most recent education budget propos- al is $7.235 billion, which Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith said is still far less than what districts across the state need to maintain current program and staff levels. He said if the Hermiston School Dis- trict grows by at least 50 students next year as ex- pected, under the current proposed state education budget, it will have enough revenue coming in to cover its total projected opera- tions costs. That, however, may not be the case for districts with stagnant or declining enrollment. “This number, right here, is truly catastrophic for a lot of schools,” Smith said. “If you are a district that is not seeing any increase in enrollment, you are going to have less money next year than you are this year … This is clearly an inade- quate budget to even main- tain status quo.” Smith told Hermiston School Board members Monday night during their regular meeting that even though the proposed $7.235 billion budget is higher than what was allocated in the current biennium, with addition of full-day kin- dergarten, that number will amount to less dollars per student. *HQH%HUUH\ZRUNVRXWRQDQDUPHQGXUDQFHPDFKLQH7KXUVGD\DW*RRG6KHSKHUG0HGLFDO&HQWHU·VFDUGLRSXOPLQDU\ rehabilitation center. GSMC rehabilitation program helpful to many residents SEE WATER/A7 HERMISTON HERALD TODAY’S WEATHER OUTLOOK of that process.” The approval process usually takes about six months, he said. After meeting with leg- islators, including Oregon Senate president Peter Courtney and Gov. Kate Brown, Reeder said the water project, including the infrastructure portion, has momentum, and he ex- pects to know whether it BY MAEGAN MURRAY SEE RATES/A10 A few showers High: 66º Low: 45º 300 worth of savings. SEE INS IDE! 3RUWVLJQVVLJQL¿FDQWZDWHUGHDO BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD SPORTS PAGE A6 $ Over Local student raises money for children with heart problems BY MAEGAN MURRAY HERMISTON HERALD Hermiston Herald $1.00 MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO © 2014 EO Media Group 0F1DU\+HLJKWV(OHPHQWDU\6FKRROÀIWKJUDGHU%ODNH:LFNHUVMXPSVURSHLQKLV GULYHZD\)ULGD\DIWHUQRRQ:LFNHUVKDVUDLVHGPRUHWKDQVLQFHKHZDVLQ VHFRQGJUDGHIRUWKH$PHULFDQ+HDUW$VVRFLDWLRQWKURXJK-XPS5RSHIRU+HDUW When McNary Heights El- ementary School fifth-grader Blake Withers was in the second grade, his physical education teacher, Lee Cody, showed stu- dents a video that moved With- ers so much that he broke down in tears. The video depicted how many children across the nation are born with heart problems in- cluding those that cause severe illness and even death. After watching the video, Withers wanted to make a difference so much that he was impacted emo- tionally, his mother, Gail, said. “I remember him getting into the car and telling me about these kids with holes in their hearts, and he just started cry- ing,” she said. Beginning that year, Withers said he dedicated everything he had to help the children he felt needed it the most. He partici- pated in a fundraising campaign McNary Heights did through Cody’s physical education class. The effort was part of a program called Jump Rope for Heart, which allowed Withers and his classmates from all different grade levels to raise money for the American Heart Association by jumping rope, which encour- aged them to keep their own hearts healthy. The students didn’t have a set amount of time they needed to jump rope. They were just encouraged to practice at home and then also jump rope during their PE classes. That SEE WITHERS/A10