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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 COMMUNITY Three administrators cleared in TSPC investigation By JENNIFER COLTON Staff Writer The Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission is still consid- ering the fate of a local ed- ucator accused of a sexual relationship with a student, but recently dismissed the cases of three administra- tors that were part of the investigation. A former student report- ed she had a sexual rela- tionship with Jake McElli- gott, a former math teacher and coach at Irrigon High School, that began the day of her high school gradua- tion in 2013. The student was an adult at the time, according to a Morrow County Sheriff’s Ofice re- port. The sheriff’s investi- gation was closed because there were no allegations of criminal conduct, but the case was forwarded to the TSPC for investigation in September 2014. Four individuals were conirmed under investiga- tion in the case: McElligott; Dirk Dirksen, superinten- dent of the Morrow Coun- ty School District; Craig Bensen, former Irrigon Junior/Senior High School principal; and Blaine Gan- voa, former athletic direc- tor in Irrigon and current athletic director at Hermis- ton School District. This month, the com- mission cleared the cases against Dirksen, Bensen and Ganvoa. TSPC ofi- cials stated they can release names of anyone cleared of charges. However, informa- tion on any educators still in the disciplinary process cannot be released until the process is complete. McEl- ligott was not included in the list released by TSPC of regional educators cleared. The TSPC is a 17-mem- ber board of educators ap- pointed by the governor and approved by the state legis- lature. The commission’s mission is uphold profes- sional standards for Oregon educators and is known for handling investigations of misconduct against teach- ers and administrators. By law, every complaint against an educator iled with TSPC must be inves- tigated, and complaints can come from almost anyone, including school districts, parents, law enforcement or community members. TSPC sees between 250 and 300 cases a year. City adds EOTEC to Transient Room Tax fund By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer STAFF PHOTO BY JENNIFER COLTON Deputy clerk Jennifer Herrera, left, and senior deputy clerk Dalia Velasco nominated Hermiston Court Administrator Rose Emerson, center, as the 2016 Administrative Professional of the Year. Emerson named Administrative Professional of the Year By JENNIFER COLTON Staff Writer Rose Emerson, court administrator for Herm- iston Municipal Court, is the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce 2016 Adminis- trative Professional of the Year. “I’m shocked,” Emerson said after receiving the award on Tuesday. “I had no idea.” Emerson was nominated by her coworkers and cho- sen by the Administrative Professionals committee. This year’s nominees were: Perla Mejia from Advanced Pediatric Dentisty; Diana Baker from Sherrell Chev- rolet; Nicole Brown from Nookies Restuarant; Tere- sa Brower from American West Properties; Amalia Zinni from Umatilla Mor- row County Head Start; and Sheri Harper from RE MAX Cornerstone. LaCosta Noland, the 2015 Professional Assisstant of the Year, presented Emerson with a bouquet of lowers and crowned her this year’s recipient. Emerson was honored for her 22 years with the Herm- iston courts and for being a role model and leader in her ofice. “She excels in her duties as an administrator,” Dalia Velasco said in her nomina- tion. “However, it’s her other qualities that really make her shine.” The Administrative Pro- fessional Luncheon traces its origins to 1952 as a way to honor professional assis- tants and ofice profession- als. The luncheon also includ- ed a presentation on magic and leadership by Paul Drap- er, a professional magician and mentalist. Fire displaces ive families in Umatilla By JENNIFER COLTON Staff Writer A ire that spread inside the walls of a Umatilla apartment building destroyed the homes and many of the belongings of nine adults and 15 children Friday night. The smell of smoke and burnt plastic still hung in the air around 1521 Second Street on Monday afternoon while volunteers boarded up windows, and the grass around the building was still wet from hours of work by area ireighters. At around 7:20 p.m. Fri- day, one of the residents of Umatilla’s Marina Apart- ments noticed smoke coming from the side of the building, according to apartment man- ager Sara Holford. The resi- dent found the smoke rising from the area of the power box and notiied his neigh- bors, helping everyone get out. The residents attempt- ed to locate the cause of the smoke before calling 9-1-1 around 7:30 p.m. Umatilla Rural Fire re- sponded and determined there was a ire, but they had trouble locating it. “It was a very dificult ire because it was in the walls and it was in between loors of the irst and second apart- ment as well,” Umatilla Fire Chief Steve Potts said Mon- day. “Our guys started to get worn out. We just needed more help tearing loors and ceiling apart.” By 7:53, Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District had put out a call for mutual aid, calling in trucks from Herm- iston and Irrigon to help. Due to other calls in the district, the Hermiston ladder truck had to wait until off duty staff could arrive before responding. More than 30 ireighters responded, including ire- ighters from Umatilla, Irri- gon, Hermiston and Stanield. It took more than three hours to extinguish the ire and clear out the buildings. After the ire, Potts and Fire Marshal Tom Bohm began an investi- gation, but Potts said the ofi- cial determination will likely never be known. “We’ve determined at this point that there was no reason to believe it was arson,” he said. “All indications are that it’s possibly electrical, but our investigation will not deter- mine that completely.” The ire displaced ive families; the sixth apartment in the building had been leased on Friday — the day of the ire — but nothing had been moved in yet. Most of the residents did not have renter’s insurance. According to the American Red Cross, the multi-family ire affected nine adults, 15 children and multiple pets. Two volunteers from the Red Cross responded to the scene and provided assistance for immediate and basic needs, in- cluding temporary assistance. “When disasters like a home ire strike, the Red Cross is there. On average we re- spond to two home ires ev- ery single day in our region, providing temporary housing, food and comfort to those af- fected,” said Monique Dugaw, Red Cross spokeswoman. “We also work pro actively to help individuals and families escape a home ire safely by installing free smoke alarms in homes that need them.” While the Red Cross works to provide immediate assistance, Marina Apart- ments and local volunteers are also gathering supplies for the families. Two families lost everything to the ire, in- cluding all household goods, clothing and children’s toys. Another apartment on the irst loor was looded with two feet of water during ire suppression efforts. Holford said she had al- ready received donations of adult clothing but was still in need of children’s clothing in: girls sizes 4T, 5T, 6; and boys sizes 10, 12, 14. Holford said Marina Apartments has one open two-bedroom apartment they have set aside for one of the families, and they are work- ing with other properties to ind homes for the others. “The community has come together, they’ve brought clothes, blankets, even on the night of the ire,” Holford said. “We’re also try- ing to gather dishes, furniture, toiletries. They’ll have to re- place everything. The fam- ilies are all being amazing. They’re upset, but they’re holding together.” The families are also in need of dog and cat food, and volunteers are working to set up pages on GoFundMe.com for monetary donations. Physical donations can be dropped off at Marina Apart- ments in the ofice or apart- ment 1500 A. Money from Hermis- ton’s tax on hotel rooms will help cover operational costs for the Eastern Ore- gon Trade and Event Cen- ter. The city council vot- ed Monday to approve adding EOTEC to the list of approved uses for the Transient Room Tax but left the exact amount of money lexible. The city is responsible for splitting any needed subsidies for EOTEC’s operations bud- get with Umatilla County, but because the center is not yet open those costs remain largely unknown. The ordinance passed Monday night adds EO- TEC to the “event center” category, where the Herm- iston Conference Center has been getting approx- imately 28 percent of the Transient Room Tax rev- enues. City manager Byron Smith said for many years that percentage was not enough to cover the con- ference center’s operating costs, and the city had also been using its general fund to subsidize the conference center. However, in recent years substantial growth in transient room tax revenue has resulted in more funds being earmarked for the conference center than are actually needed. This year the tax is expected to generate $161,000 for the confer- ence center, while only $90,000 is needed. The new ordinance means the extra money can go to EOTEC instead of into the general fund, meaning EOTEC’s operations will be supported by the out-of- town visitors the project is meant to attract instead of local property taxes. “We’re not proposing at all not to fund the confer- ence center,” Smith said, clarifying that the intent wasn’t to reduce the mon- ey put toward the center. The ordinance also rounded all of the numbers in the TRT to a lat percent- age, adding the leftover fractions of percents up to a 1.5 percent fund that will put more than $8,000 a year toward maintenance at the Hermiston Family Aquatic Center. Other actions taken at Monday’s city council meeting include: The council approved a new stop sign, at the in- tersection of Joshua Court and SW 10th Street. Smith said the cost would be minimal because the sign could be afixed to a street sign pole already in place. The council adopted a summary report of a goal-setting session they participated in during Jan- uary. City goals set at that meeting are to revitalize downtown, develop more parks and recreation oppor- tunities, create an infrastruc- ture master plan, create a public transportation plan, perform an assessment of city facilities, support eco- nomic development, see EOTEC to completion, cre- ate a capital improvement plan, perform an assessment of city service levels and continue with ongoing proj- ects such as adopting a new city brand. The council received an update on EOTEC. Rob Drier of Frew Develop- ment said the event center will be ready for an open house on May 13 from 3-7 p.m. with a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. The irst event scheduled after that is a League of Oregon Cities meeting on May 18. The council discussed the April 9 community recycling event, which Mayor David Drotzmann called “an event the com- munity can be proud of.” Approximately 270 people brought in 83 tons of junk to be recycled, up from 200 people and 61 tons in 2016. 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