A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
Lack of transportation hinders some residents Elderly man
with Alzheimer’s
missing in Irrigon
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Every time Dale Orem
leaves his house, it costs
him.
Orem is one of many
Hermiston residents who
deals with the daily chal-
lenges of not owning a car
in a city with no public
transportation system. If he
walks, he might use an hour
of his day to make the round
trip. If he uses a taxi, the fare
chips away at his limited
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“This town is not big, but
it’s huge when you think of
it in terms of walking,” he
said.
Orem has a driver’s li-
cense, but looking at his
budget he said if he got to-
gether the money to buy a
car he wouldn’t be able to
keep up on paying for in-
surance, gas, maintenance,
DMV fees, tires and other
costs.
Instead, he buys $32
worth of tickets — 16 one-
way trips — a month from
the city’s senior and dis-
abled taxi program.
“Thankfully I’ve got
friends who will take me if
I need to go to the Tri-Cities
or Walla Walla, but when I
moved here I didn’t know a
soul,” he said.
His 12-year-old son
walks back and forth to
Sandstone Middle School,
only blocks away, but Orem
is worried about what will
happen when his son is old
enough to attend Hermiston
High School and has to walk
a little over a mile to school
every day, rain or shine.
Orem, who spent 17
years living in California
cities with public transpor-
tation, said having a small
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Hermiston would be a huge
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other transportation.
“I would go out and just
do things,” he said.
Orem said the employ-
ees of Hermiston Transit
Services and Umatilla Cab
Company are all “beautiful
people” he has enjoyed get-
ting to know. But he wishes
he could take a spontaneous
trip to a restaurant or store
without having to call and
PEACE:
continued from Page A1
thought and discussion
with the girls we decided
we wanted to do something
for veterans and those cur-
rently serving our country.”
The four sides of the
pole say “May peace pre-
vail on earth” in English,
Spanish, Umatilla and
braille. A plaque notes that
the pole is meant to honor
veterans and current ser-
vice members.
FRQIXVHGZKHQKHFDQ¶W¿QG
his way.
7KLV LVQ¶W WKH ¿UVW WLPH
After a second full day
of searching, the trail ap- Getman has gone missing.
pears to have gone cold for On Feb. 10, a news station
a missing Irrigon man with in Utica, New York report-
ed Getman went
Alzheimer’s disease
who walked away
missing in his pickup
truck from the nearby
from home at about 2
a.m. Monday.
city of Little Falls.
He was found safe
John Getman, 78,
was last seen near the
the same day by New
York State Police in
Irrigon Fish Hatchery
between 8 a.m. and
Marcy, New York, 33
miles away.
8:20 a.m. Monday, Getman
three miles northwest
Matlack said he
of town. He was spotted will talk again with the
earlier that morning walk- family on Wednesday. Tem-
ing west on Washington peratures in Irrigon Tuesday
Avenue.
night were expected to fall
$ KHOLFRSWHU ÀHZ LQ to 42 degrees, with winds
from Salem on Tuesday to gusting as high as 44 mph.
scout the surrounding area,
“We’re just hopeful we’ll
including the Umatilla Na- get a lead today from some-
tional Wildlife Refuge. one who might have seen
Morrow County Sheriff him,” he said.
Ken Matlack said the search
Getman is described as
6 feet tall, 190 pounds with
so far has come up empty.
“We still have no idea very short gray hair, brown
where he is,” Matlack said. eyes and no facial hair. He
“At this point, we don’t was last seen wearing a
have a whole lot of options.” heavy brown Carhartt jack-
Authorities have issued et, brown plaid shirt, blue
all-points bulletins in Ore- jeans and sneakers. Apart
gon, Washington and Idaho, from Alzheimer’s, he has no
and alerted truck stops from other serious medical prob-
Biggs Junction to Ontario lems.
in case Getman was picked
In addition to the aerial
up somewhere along the search, Matlack said volun-
road. Police also checked teers on horseback rode east
with local hospitals from from Irrigon to the Umatilla
The Dalles and Pendleton to County line, but found no
Walla Walla and the Tri-Cit- sign of Getman. Deputies
ies.
used a patrol boat to check
Matlack said they’ve re- the banks of the Columbia
ceived no other tips or sight- River from Irrigon to Board-
ings since Monday.
man, but found nothing.
“We’re hoping we will
There was a report Mon-
get calls from somebody day afternoon of an elderly
who’s seen him. It’s not too man walking on old high-
late for that,” he said. “But way 30 near Frederickson
the reality is that time isn’t Farming, though Matlack
our friend anymore. We VDLGWKH\FRXOGQRWFRQ¿UP
need to catch a break.”
it was Getman.
Getman came to Irrigon
Anyone with informa-
from New York in February tion on Getman is asked to
to live with his sister and call the Morrow County
is unfamiliar with the area. 6KHULII¶V2I¿FHDW
Matlack said Getman gets 5317.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Dale Orem, of Hermiston, climbs inside a Umatilla Cab Company taxi for a ride to Loneys
Martial Arts Center on Main Street. Taxi driver Mickey Trujillo stands by to close the door.
wait as long as 30 minutes
for a cab.
“It’s doable to live with
just the taxi system in town,
but it’s just not cutting the
mustard,” he said. “It’s an
existence but it’s not a hap-
piness.”
Sundi Marquez sees a
lot of car-less residents, in-
cluding Orem, through the
Umatilla Cab Company and
Prestige Car Service. She
said probably 80 to 85 per-
cent of her companies’ cli-
ents don’t have another way
to get around.
“You’d be surprised,”
she said. “There are a lot.
We’re their primary mode
of transportation.”
She said cab drivers in
town become “part of peo-
ples’ daily activities,” in-
cluding rides to work, to
medical appointments and
to the grocery store.
“Wal-Mart is our main-
stay, always,” she said.
Umatilla Cab Company
charges customers by the
mile, while Prestige Car
Service charges by the hour.
Marquez said the car service
has become popular with el-
derly customers who would
like a driver to come into
the store and help them with
their groceries.
Not everyone who takes
a taxi is without other modes
of transportation. Marquez
said clients’ car might be in
the shop, or they don’t want
to drive in the snow or need
a ride home from a medical
procedure.
Taxis aren’t the only way
to get around without a car,
either. For residents who
want to go from one city
to the next, Kayak Public
Transit is a free bus system
run by the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indi-
an Reservation.
The bus is open to all
area residents and runs
through cities around Uma-
tilla County, as well as con-
necting the Tri-Cities, Wal-
la Walla and La Grande. It
stops daily in Hermiston at
McKenzie Park and Wal-
Mart.
CTUIR Planning Direc-
tor J.D. Tovey said “kayak”
is a tribal word that means
“to remove hindrances.”
“That’s kind of what our
mission is, is to remove ob-
stacles for people to go to
work, to play, whatever they
need to do in their lives,” he
said.
Tovey said a family with
two vehicles can save an
estimated $9,000 a year by
getting rid of one. Kayak
Public Transit saves fami-
lies that money by allowing
WKHPWR¿QGDQRWKHUZD\WR
get to work, he said. Each
bus seats about 30 people,
and Tovey said every morn-
ing there is a “nearly full”
busload of people commut-
ing to work from Pendleton
to Hermiston. Some go even
farther, meeting up with a
carpool buddy in Hermiston
to travel the rest of the way
“This connects Herm-
iston with hundreds of
thousands of communi-
ties across the world in
the spirit of peace,” Kane
said.
Girl
Scout
Andrea
Gispert, 18, said she wasn’t
in the troop during its orig-
inal dedication of the peace
pole in 2007, but she was
happy to be able to help
plan the ceremony to re-
locate the pole to a safer
place.
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also 18, said having a land-
mark like the peace pole
helps “make a town’s his-
tory.”
“I think it’s pretty cool
that it’s got the different
languages on it because it’s
inclusive,” she said. “When
people see it they will
think, ‘This is an inclusive
community.’”
The dedication ceremo-
ny included a speech by
Kane, prayers for Amer-
ica’s veterans and an En-
glish translation of a poem
about peace by Chinese
poet Lao Tzu.
McKay Creek Estates
presents:
to a job in Heppner.
The service has been
growing steadily and now
gives more than 100,000
rides a year. It connects peo-
ple to eight regional hospi-
tals and helps reduce absen-
teeism at the area’s major
employers.
Some
organizations
offer rides to medical ap-
pointments for low-income
patients. Good Shepherd
Medical Center’s CareVan
service has been providing
free transportation to ap-
pointments at the hospital or
+HUPLVWRQSK\VLFLDQV¶RI¿F-
es since 2006.
CAPECO also provides
rides to its clients via Dial-
a-Ride. In some cases, such
as an Oregon Health Plan or
Medicaid patient going to
a doctor’s appointment, the
ride is free; in other cases
riders are asked to pay for
the trip.
Dawn Capica of CAPE-
CO transportation said there
LV ³GH¿QLWHO\ D QHHG´ WKDW
CAPECO does its best to
KHOS¿OO6KHVDLGPRUHYRO-
unteer drivers would make a
world of difference in how
many rides the program
could give.
“There are a lot of people
out there who need help,”
she said. “Not everyone has
a vehicle or has access to
one.”
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