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
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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
