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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2015)
HOSPITALITY OPENING WEEKEND CHUCKWAGON OFFERS GOOD FOOD, PLACE TO MEET LITTLE LEAGUE SEASON KICKS OFF SATURDAY IN HERMISTON PAGE A4 SPORTS PAGE A7 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015 New port warehouse might be built at another site YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER City plans to Eust out space to carve concrete Officials working to acquire property for modern skate park BY SEAN HART Proposed location nearby former one HERMISTON HERALD BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD After the Port of Umatil- la agreed to sell land west of Bud Draper Road to the city of Umatilla to end a year-long zoning dispute, the industrial warehouse that spurred the conÀ ict may end up Eeing Euilt across the street After the Port Commis- sion meeting Tuesday, Port General Manager Kim Puzey said a site east of Bud Draper Road, near Ro[Eury Road, is similar to the ¿ rst proposed location and meets all of the eligiEility reTuirements to receiYe the million state ConnectOregon IV grant that would Ee used to construct the facility Puzey said, however, he is not certain whether the grant will still Ee availaEle after the proMect was held up for aEout a year Ey a zoning discrepan- cy at the ¿ rst proposed site He said the Oregon Transpor- tation Commission met Tues- day, and the grant funding was on the agenda, Eut he was HERMISTONHERALD.COM Hermiston of¿ cials are in the pre- liminary stages of planning a new skate park with modern amenities Parks and Recreation Director Larry Fetter said, although the ideas are currently highly conceptual, the new park would Ee designed to last well into the future Fetter said he is currently working on acTuiring property for the skate park, and he Eelieves a high-visiEility location near Hermiston Police De- partment would Ee ideal The park would Ee designed for Eoth skateEoards and BM; Eikes with features designed to last, he said “I would love to have one that’s either partially or entirely covered that would have not just active ar- eas Eut passive areas where people SUBMITTED IMAGE SEE SKATE/A6 This is a conceptual drawing of a proposed skate park in Hermiston. MUSICAL INSPIRATION SEE PORT/A12 TODAY’S WEATHER Mix of sun and clouds High: 64º Low: 40º OUTLOOK MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO • THURSDAY Mostly sunny High: 66º Low: 37º • FRIDAY Mix of sun and clouds High: 70º Low: 45º New SUM Bible College cohort adviser Jacob Looper, practices a tune on his keyboard in the sanctuary of the Hermiston Assembly of God Church Thursday afternoon. Music has had a tremendous impact in his life, and he hopes to use it as a guide and as encouragement in his new position with the college. BY MAEGAN MURRAY HERMISTON HERALD A complete weather forecast is featured on page A2. Growing up, -acoE Looper didn’t have much money Looper, Hermiston’s 6UM BiEle college advis- er, said it was hard trying to ¿ nd opportunities where he could explore his pas- sion for music that didn’t reTuire an immense ¿ nan- cial contriEution “Growing up was very hard,” he said, with tears in his eyes “:e were very poor” Looper, who grew up Find the Hermiston Herald on Facebook and Twitter and join the conversation. FOR LOCAL BREAKING NEWS www.HermistonHerald.com in Redmond, Oregon, started competing in the Sun River Music Festival in his youth He ultimate- ly earned a scholarship for voice lessons, which changed his life and pos- siEly future career, he said The opportunity ultimately led him to accept a posi- tion in Hermiston, where he could guide students in the college sector to follow their dreams MUSICAL BEGINNINGS In his youth, Looper Ee- gan taking vocal lessons with teacher Eileen Hea- ton, an opera-Eased vocal instructor, thanks to his scholarship The pairing would ultimately lead to Looper developing a pas- sion to teach and develop a career in music “She gave me the ex- ample of what I could do,” he said “She launched me into what I wanted to do” The vocal lessons led Looper to develop his craft enough that he eventually started recording his own music, which has led to other opportunities Loop- er has recorded multiple New Municipal Court program urges compliance Defendants may face jail time if they do not pay fines BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD Hermiston Herald $1.00 © 2015 EO Media Group People who continually re- fuse to pay Hermiston Municipal Court ¿ nes without trying could face jail time, and a new court program is showing defendants the Eene¿ ts of compliance Hermiston Municipal Court Judge Thomas Creasing said, this year, the court Eegan a monthly Compliance Day where “serious- ly non-compliant defendants” are ordered to attend a hearing to ad- dress their cases, which can result in jail time He said the defendants gen- erally have multiple ¿ les, ¿ nes owed of at least several thousand dollars, warrants or jail releases and have made little effort to pay down their ¿ nes over the life of their cases Creasing said jail is a last resort, and he tries to “work things out” with the defendants, Eut those who cannot or will not work to reduce their ¿ nes can have the dollar amount convert- ed to a jail sentence through the court’s Clean Slate program, which allows sentencing defen- dants to serve up to 180 days in jail in lieu of paying ¿ nes “Compliance Day is just an SEE COMPLIANCE/A6 records, one of which hon- ors his late grandparents He said he worked on his latest alEum for three years as a way to give Eack to his grandparents, who signi¿ - cantly impacted him, mu- sically The record connected him with David Klinken- Eerg, a prominent Chris- tian instrumentalist, who he performed with on a cruise for a time Looper also got in- volved in a ministry-Eased arts competition known as the Oregon Fine Arts Fes- tival He said that, after participating in the com- petition, which he won ¿ ve years straight in vocal and musicianship, he landed a MoE as a pencil sharpener for the judges for the event and eventually Eecame a judge for the competition As a judge, he said, has Eeen aEle to guide young musicians through the ministry to follow their dreams “:ith the ¿ ne arts fes- tival, I was involved in it for ¿ ve years as a partic- ipant,” he said “I know SEE MUSIC/A12 Finding a purpose and place to belong Peer support network helps people grow To help or learn more BY MAEGAN MURRAY For more information about the Umatilla County Peer Support Network, contact the Hermiston Lifeways offi ce at 541-567-2536. To donate to the Connections peer network group’s eff orts for Malawi, bring empty medicine bottles with the removed and drop them off at the Lifeways offi ce, 595 N.W. 11th St., Hermiston. HERMISTON HERALD Hermiston’s Tammy :alker found a way to get out of a Ead re- lationship, Eut needed some moti- vation to get out of the house and connect with people again “I was isolated and needed so- cialization,” she said “Immediate- ly after I got out of that relation- ship, I called Lifeways I know for a fact that if I wasn’t coming here, I would Ee a recluse” :alker said she was aEused in her former relationship, and she felt she could never leave the house, for fear of retriEution She said if she did leave their home SEE SUPPORT/A12