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SATURDAY,
APRIL 18, 2015

Parking,
restroom
planned at
Victory Square
Dog park sites
being evaluated
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
A 2010 grant application
may finally pay off this year
with anticipated upgrades
to Victory Square Park in
Hermiston.
At the Parks and Recre-
ation Committee meeting
Thursday, Director Larry
Fetter said the city plans
to install a parking lot and
a permanent restroom this
year at the park on South-
west 10th Street between
Hermiston and Orchard av-
enues.
The project may also in-
clude a durable roof for a
picnic structure, landscap-
ing and lighting, he said,
and the $149,000 projected
cost will be funded from a
state grant already secured.
To qualify for the grant,
however, Fetter said the
city was required to convert
more land to park uses, and
he believed the city now
qualifies.
“We’re going to be
taking care of some
SPORTS A10
YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Oxbow trees improving wildlife habitat
Plant survival far
exceeding expectations
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
In the years to come, trees
planted near the Oxbow Trail site,
near Riverside Park, in Hermiston
will provide enhanced fish and
wildlife habitat.
A year ago, members of the
2014 Leadership Hermiston class
and about 200 volunteers plant-
ed 5,000 trees on 20 acres near
the Umatilla River, and Umatilla
Basin Watershed Council board
member Ken Thompson said even
more survived the first year than
anticipated.
“We did some mortality surveys
last fall after the growing season,
and we had 83 percent survival,
which we were very pleased with,”
he said. “We were thinking it was
going to be as low as 65 or 70 per-
cent.”
Thompson said about eight na-
tive varieties were planted after
invasive Russian olive trees were
removed, and the Ponderosa pine,
cottonwood and poplar trees plant-
ed are faring best at the site. When
they mature, he said, they will pro-
vide shade on the river for cooler
temperatures for fish habitat, as
well as benefits to wildlife, such as
pheasants, quail and deer, that use
the site.
Thompson said the council
built upon the plan of the Bureau
of Reclamation, which manages
the land, and partnered with the
agency to enhance the area.
SEE TREES/A8
SEAN HART PHOTO
This is one of 5,000 trees planted last year on 20 acres of Bureau of Reclama-
tion land near the Umatilla River at the Oxbow site in Hermiston. More trees
survived the first year than anticipated, and when mature, they will provide
enhanced habitat for wildlife.
MOURNING A
FRIEND
SEE PARK/A6
TODAY’S WEATHER
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Top: McNary Heights first-grade teacher Elisabet Flores,
second from left, holding ‘Kids at Work’ sign, relaxes with her
colleagues in McNary Height’s Principal Bob Lorence’s office,
feet on his desk, in this contributed photo. While Flores, who
died in a car crash April 11, was described as a strict and
loving teacher to her students, she is also remembered by her
friends and colleagues as being funny and playful.
Sunny
High: 74º Low: 40º
OUTLOOK
• SUNDAY
Sunny
High: 76º Low: 40º
• MONDAY
Sunny
High: 80º Low: 45º
PHOTO COURTESY KIM LAPLANT
A complete weather forecast is
featured on page A2.
Flowers from the community have been placed at the site of the car crash on Westland Road in Herm-
iston where McNary Heights Elementary School first-grade teacher Elisabet Flores died April 11.
Colleagues of
teacher killed in
crash remember
her fondly
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BREAKING NEWS
www.HermistonHerald.com
JESSICA KELLER
HERMISTON HERALD
“Determined,” “funny,”
“loving,” “caring,” “prank-
ster.”
Colleagues of Mc-
Nary Heights Elementary
School used those words
when describing first-grade
teacher Elisabet Flores,
who died in a car crash the
evening of April 11. Most-
ly, though, they described
Flores not as a coworker,
but as a friend.
“She was my best
friend,” McNary Heights
Elementary School fourth-
grade teacher Teresa Rus-
sell said Friday. “She was
just willing to drop every-
thing and listen to you.
We shared personal things
with each other. She would
come in and talk to me and
close the door, and I would
do the same when I needed
to talk to her.”
Russell said what struck
her most about Flores from
the start was her determi-
nation and perseverance.
Memorial set up
for Flores family
A memorial account has been established in Elisabet Flores’ name
following her death April 11 to help pay for funeral and other
expenses and support the teacher’s three children. Donations can
be made at any Banner Bank branch in Oregon or Washington to
the account FBO Elisabet Flores in care of Zulema Murguia, who is
Flores’ sister.
She said she first met
Flores when they were get-
ting their teaching certifi-
cates through Eastern Or-
egon University years ago.
At the time, Flores already
had two children, and was
pregnant with her third.
Showing the power
HHS graduate highlights
God’s strength in
demonstrations
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
Hermiston Herald $1.00
8
08805 93294
© 2015 EO Media Group
2
The Power Team breaks chains,
physically and metaphorically.
Hermiston High School gradu-
ate John Kopta broke the chain on
a set of handcuffs behind his back
during the Power Team’s Thurs-
day night performance in Irrigon,
Above: McNary Heights Elementary students shared their love
for Elisabet Flores, the first-grade teacher who died April 11 in
a car crash, by writing notes on flowers and posting them on a
bulletin board at the school this week.
while delivering the message that
acceptance of Jesus Christ can
break through the chains holding
people back.
Kopta punched through boards
and tore apart a phone book. Oth-
er members of the Power Team
demonstrated similar feats of
strength by breaking a bat, bend-
ing a steel rod and rolling up a fry-
ing pan during the performance.
The message, however, was the
strength of God.
“There is one thing God cannot
do,” Kopta said. “The one thing
SEE POWER/A6
Russell said her friend
never considered dropping
out, and, despite missing a
year to care for her son, she
returned and got her teach-
ing certificate.
Russell said Flores also
was determined to get her
master’s degree despite
encountering
setbacks
through the years that
forced her to temporarily
abandon her plans, includ-
ing the death of her young-
est son. Russell said, just
prior to her death, Flores
had re-enrolled in a mas-
ter’s degree program, and
they spoke two weeks ago
about what her focus was
going to be.
“Education was so im-
portant to her, and it was
very important to her to
pass that on to her kids,
and she was proud of them,
oh my God, she was so
SEE FLORES/A18
Kopta: strength in Christ
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
John Kopta graduated from
Hermiston High School in
1983, joined the Power Team
in 1985 and has been using his
strength as a tool for the Chris-
tian ministry ever since.
“I went to school here, grad-
uated from here, played foot-
ball and wrestled here,” Kopta
said Friday while working out
at a gym in Hermiston. “Wres-
tling was a real important thing
in my life, but when I put that
to the side and started pursuing
the ministry, God gave me a
ministry in athletics.”
Kopta recalls the exact
day he “accepted Christ” into
his heart and life during high
school: Dec. 2, 1981. After
graduating, he spent a year as a
missionary in Tahiti after train-
ing in Hawaii.
When he returned, he en-
rolled at Blue Mountain Com-
munity College and soon had
his first encounter with the
SEE KOPTA/A6