SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
COMMUNITY
Eldrige to retire in 2016 as Umatilla Electric CEO
Steve Eldrige, general
manager and CEO of Uma-
tilla Electric Cooperative
announced he will retire
next year as only the third
general manager in the or-
ganization’s history.
“With UEC’s fortunes
on the rise, with an engaged
membership, an exception-
al board and wonderful em-
ployees, I am announcing
the beginning of another
new chapter in my life,”
Eldrige told attendees of
the cooperative’s 78th an-
nual meeting April 18 at
the Hermiston Communi-
ty Center. “It has been my
honor to serve the UEC
membership for the past 43
years. You have entrusted
me with work that mat-
tered. Thank you.”
Eldrige will retire in
early 2016, but an exact
date has not yet been an-
nounced. The cooperative
board of directors will hire
a recruiting firm and con-
duct a national search for a
new manager.
Jeff Wenholz, president
of the Umatilla Electric
board, said Eldrige is one
the Northwest’s most re-
spected utility managers
and a powerful voice for
the cooperative and other
public power utilities.
“He’s an important and
valuable asset to UEC and
will be greatly missed,”
Wenholz said.
Eldrige is credited with
negotiating
compromise
with the Ore-
gon Legislature
on the Renew-
able Portfolio
Standard that
Eldrige
could
save
cooperative
members about $35 million
over the next 20 years.
Eldrige was raised in
Umatilla and studied elec-
trical engineering at Ore-
gon State University, grad-
uating in 1972, which is the
year he was hired as the co-
operative’s engineer.
He became Umatil-
la Electric’s third general
manager in 1990, succeed-
ing Russ Dorran, who held
the post since 1971.
Umatilla Electric serves
more than 14,000 custom-
er accounts on about 2,300
miles of power lines in ser-
vice territory from Board-
man to the Blue Mountains.
Umatilla Electric has grown
from about $19.7 million in
revenues in 1990 to an esti-
mated $90 million in 2015.
Eldrige also serves as
chairman of Eastern Or-
egon Telecom, the Good
Shepherd Health Care Sys-
tem Hospital board, Ru-
ralite Services board and
the Power Resources Coop-
erative board and serves on
the boards of PNGC Power,
Pacific Northwest Utilities
Conference Committee and
Lightspeed Networks.
McNary Heights students celebrate Earth Day Free recycling event Saturday
Acceptable items
must be separated
HERMISTON HERALD
The city of Hermiston
is offering a chance to get
rid of a variety of diffi-
cult-to-dispose items for
free today.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
people can recycle vari-
ous materials at the Uma-
tilla Electric Cooperative
parking lot, 750 W. Elm
Ave., Hermiston.
The items must be sep-
arated before the event
because each different
type will be handled sep-
arately.
Only certain items
can be recycled: bro-
ken-down
cardboard,
mixed paper, mixed plas-
tics, used and uncontam-
inated motor oil in five-
gallon-or-less containers,
undamaged car batteries,
unbroken pallets, elec-
tronics, appliances, scrap
metal, compost, clean
wood up to 12 inches in
diameter with no nails or
treatments, upholstered
furniture, concrete up
to two square feet with-
out rebar, latex- and oil-
based paint and stain in
labeled containers and
unmounted tires.
Alzheimer support group Monday
JESSICA KELLER PHOTO
McNary Heights Elementary School students play a game of animal food chain freeze tag,
where some of the children wearing animal masks were predators and the others prey, at the
Who is Eating Whom station during the school’s Earth Day celebration Thursday at McNary
Dam. Students had visited up to six stations set up covering a range of topics, from What’s
Swimming in Our Water to park ranger animals.
The Alzheimer Asso-
ciation Support Group
meeting will take place
from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30
p.m.
Monday.
The
meeting place has been
moved to the Good
Shepherd Medical Cen-
ter Medical Pavilion,
just north of the hospi-
tal in the same parking
lot. The group will be
meeting downstairs in
room M1. In addition
to visiting and sharing
thoughts and concerns,
the group will hear from
guest speaker Toni Skin-
ner, who will discuss in-
come cap trusts, Miller
Trusts, conservatorships,
guardianships and pow-
er of attorneys. In May,
the meeting has been re-
scheduled for May 18.
For more information,
call 541-390-1158.
Richland man killed,
Echo man injured in crash
A Richland man died
and an Echo man was
injured following a traf-
fic crash Wednesday af-
ternoon on Highway 207
outside of Hermiston.
According to an Or-
egon State Police press
release, at 1:13 p.m.,
troopers from the OSP
Hermiston and Pendle-
ton offices responded to
a reported fatal crash on
Highway 207 near mile-
post 1 in Morrow County.
Preliminary
inves-
John
Sm ith
07 /08/7 2
05/02/12
You w ill forever b e in
ou r hearts.
M om & D ad
A ctu al size of ad (1x2)
tigation revealed a red
2009 Honda Fit, operated
by Neal Reau, 35, from
Richland,
Washington,
was traveling southbound
when for an unknown
reasons the vehicle failed
to negotiate a curve and
crossed into the north-
bound lane, sideswiping
a white 2009 Chevy pick-
up towing a flatbed trail-
er driven by Theodore
Bither, 44, Echo. Bither
was transported to the
hospital in Heppner with
minor injuries. Reau was
pronounced dead at the
scene.
The
highway
was
closed for approximately
five hours while troop-
ers investigated. Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office,
Morrow County Rural
Fire Department and the
Oregon Department of
Transportation assisted at
the scene.
OSP troopers are con-
tinuing to investigate the
crash.
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P ILOT R OCK H IGH S CHOOL
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