Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2016)
A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2016 FROM PAGE A1 EOTEC leaders show off center to Walden By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, stopped by Hermiston for a tour of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center on Friday during his trip across East- ern Oregon. Standing in the most- ly-completed event center building, EOTEC board member Dan Dorran told Walden the project repre- sented a unique partner- ship between city, county, school district and private industry. “We’re very proud of this project,” Dorran said. Dorran explained the center’s history, starting with the purchase of the EOTEC property in 1983, when the Umatilla Coun- ty Fair had 12,000 visitors per year. In 2015, the same fairgrounds draw in 80,000 people for the fair and close to as many for the Farm- City Pro Rodeo. He noted that in addi- tion to planned events, the project could also serve as an evacuation point in an emergency, just like the current fairgrounds did in 2014 after an explosion at the LNG natural gas plant in Plymouth forced resi- dents across the river. “Our plan is to have ev- erything in place to be able to do that again,” Dorran said. He told Walden that if he had any federal grants or other pockets of money needing to be spent, the EOTEC project was “shov- els in the ground” ready. “We do have our hand out all the time,” Dorran said. Walden didn’t make any promises that he could con- jure up federal funding for ECHENRODE: continued from Page A1 operatives. He previously worked six years as general manager of the Northeast Oklahoma Electric Co-op in Vinita, Oklahoma, serv- ing 38,000 customers. Echenrode has also worked as an engineering manager at Carroll Electric Co-op in Berryville, Ar- kansas, and Indian Electric Co-op in Cleveland, Okla- homa. The UEC Board of Di- rectors chose Echenrode from a pool of 22 candi- GDWHV DQG HLJKW ¿QDOLVWV from a nationwide search. Board President Jeff Wen- holz said Echenrode brings both experience and dedi- cation to the position. “From the beginning, we were impressed with his work ethic and devotion to the cooperative, and how quickly he learned our sys- tem,” Wenholz said. Echenrode becomes only the fourth general manager in UEC history. Eldrige has CANCER: STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS EOTEC board member Dan Dorran gives a tour of the event center to Rep. Greg Walden on Friday in Hermiston. the project, but he did ask questions and make sugges- tions during a detailed tour of the facility. While dis- cussing the acoustics in the great hall, he told Dorran he was interested to see a com- puterized PA system at the Readiness Center in The Dalles that automatically senses the level of noise in the room and adjusts ac- cordingly. The EOTEC board is planning a community open house of the event center facility sometime in March, once the building is com- pleted. Earlier in the day, Walden made a stop at the Boardman Tree Farm with state Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, where the two met behind closed doors with GreenWood Resourc- HV RI¿FLDOV 7KH WUHH IDUP is undergoing a change of ownership, with roughly one-third of the property having been sold to Willow Creek Dairy and the rest of the land to AgriNorthwest. The lawmakers toured both the Collins Compa- nies’ Upper Columbia Mill and Columbia Forest Prod- ucts veneer mill after their meeting. Walden said he was impressed with the op- erations, and is pleased to know the land will remain under local management and ownership. Much of Walden’s recent focus has been on the situ- ation in Harney County and the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He said the nation LV ¿QDOO\ JHWWLQJ HGXFDWHG on a long-standing problem in the West, where “the fed- eral government has been the landlord.” However, Walden said he does not agree with the occupation and said most of the community wants those involved to leave. “It’s unfortunate they re- sorted to this kind of armed protest. History shows that the longer this goes, there really are no winners,” Walden said. “We’re all hoping this ends with no violence.” Walden said he does not see Congress acting on the militia’s request to turn the federal wildlife reserve over to the county. Walden said the federal govern- ment must improve rela- tionships with local com- munities, and part of that is increasing active land management to revive the rural economy. “We need to get back to the point where people feel like the government listens to them, and they’re getting a fair shake,” he said. served in the position since 1990, overseeing rapid growth at the Port of Mor- row along with introduction of power-hungry data cen- ters in both Boardman and Umatilla. Echenrode takes the reigns at a time when UEC is on the verge of becoming one of the state’s “large” utilities, meaning it pro- vides at least 3 percent of all electric sales statewide. 7KDW ZRXOG OHDG WR VLJQL¿- cant changes in how UEC must obtain power under the state Renewable Portfo- lio Standard. UEC currently serves more than 14,000 accounts and about 2,200 miles of power lines from Board- man to the Blue Mountains. The co-op recorded about $87.25 million in revenue in 2015. Echenrode has a bach- elor’s degree in electri- cal engineering from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree from Oklahoma State Universi- ty. As engineering manag- er, he was closely involved in helping UEC accommo- date industrial expansion at the ports of Morrow and Umatilla. Echenrode and his wife, Judy, have been married since 1989. Their son Evan, 20, is a sophomore at Okla- homa State University. Their son Avery, 18, will graduate from high school in Oklahoma and has al- ready been accepted to col- lege by Oregon State Uni- versity and Portland State University. 2016 CAMRY FWD % 0 FRONT WHEEL DRIVE APR for 60 Mo. OR Special Low Payment Leases D W A % 0 2015 RAV4 2 OR Special Low Payment Leases continued from Page A1 rounding community-based projects. For instance, Rohr- man talked about a canned food drive and a fundraiser for Special Olympics. “All we have to do is ask,” he said. “Consistently ask.” Rohrman said a goal for his ASB unit to is achieve 100 percent participation in one of these projects. With the amount of attention #Young- manOnEllen is attracting — Rohrman said some of his students have said in class, ‘Can we look at the Facebook page? We don’t want to talk about the end of World War II — he’s hopeful he can both achieve his 100 percent goal, but also give the important OHVVRQ RI VHOÀHVVQHVV DQG helpfulness. “It’s so easy to do and we’re gonna have a pret- ty good impact as far as the awareness for cancer and how strong someone like Mrs. Youngman is. I mean, three bouts with cancer from a young age — that’s a tough lady. It’s just another opportu- nity to show how easy it is to EHVHOÀHVVDQGKHOSIXO´ ALL WHEEL DRIVE APR for 60 Mo. 2016 TUNDRA Excludes TRD PRO % 1.9 APR for 60 Mo. OR Special Low Payment Leases 4WD FOUR WHEEL DRIVE Every new Toyota comes with (541) 567-6461 or 800-522-2308 ToyotaOfHermiston.com Mon-Fri 8:30a-6:30p • Sat 9:00a-6:00p • Sun 10:30a - 5:30p 0% APR for 60 months available to eligible customers who finance a new, unused, or unlicensed 2016 Camry and 2015 RAV4. 1.9% APR for 60 months available to eligible customers who finance a new, unused, or unlicensed 2016 Tundra from Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (TMS) and Toyota Financial Services (TFS) 1/5/16 - 2/1/16. Offer may or may not include a dealer documentation fee. Vehicle ID numbers available upon request. Specific vehicles are subject to availability. You must take retail delivery from dealer stock. Special APR may not be combined with any other Customer Cash Rebates, Bonus Cash Rebates, or Lease Offers. Finance programs available on credit approval. Not all buyers will qualify for financing from Toyota Financial Services through participating dealers. Monthly payment for every $1,000 financed is 0% - 60 months = $16.67; 1.9% - 60 months = $17.48. See your Toyota dealer for actual pricing, annual percentage rate (APR), monthly payment, and other terms and special offers. Pricing and terms of any finance or lease transaction will be agreed upon by you and your dealer. Special offers are subject to change or termination at any time. ToyotaCare covers normal factory scheduled service. Plan is 2 years or 25K miles, whichever comes first. The new vehicle cannot be part of a rental or commercial fleet, or a livery/taxi vehicle. See participating Toyota dealer for plan details. Valid only in the continental U.S. and Alaska. Roadside assistance does not include parts and fluids, except emergency fuel delivery.
