WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016
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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.
MOTHER’S DAY
MAY
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