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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 11, 2016)
Hermiston BULLDOGS LET WIN SLIP LATE Herald erald HermistonHerald.com WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016 SPORTS Page 9 $1.00 ABOUT TOWN Riders challenge bulls Saturday STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL Construction is completed on the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center’s fi rst building, which opens to the public Friday, May 13. BIG STEP FOR EOTEC PUBLIC CAN TOUR THE EVENT BUILDING ON FRIDAY DURING OPEN HOUSE By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer D ecades after the idea of the East- ern Oregon Trade and Event Center fi rst took shape, the proj- ect will hit a major milestone Friday when its fi rst building opens to the public. “It’s a huge step,” said Byron Smith, EOTEC board president. The step is one of many in a journey that started as early as the 1960s, when city leaders fi rst discussed the idea of moving the Umatilla County fairgrounds to the outskirts of the city of Hermiston. In 1984 the city purchased 75 acres of land south of the Hermiston Municipal Airport with that purpose in mind. In 2012 the idea became a reality. In March of that year, Hermiston and Umatilla County signed an intergovern- mental agreement forming the EOTEC authority. In April the Hermiston School District purchased the fairgrounds in the center of town, adding $3 million to the $7.4 million in state lottery funds to get the project rolling. And that August the city of Hermiston transferred the land on Airport Way to the EOTEC authority. In December 2014, after two years of planning and design work, a ground- breaking ceremony heralded the offi cial start to construction. Now the fi rst component of EOTEC — a 25,500 square-foot exhibitor and event center — is complete, opening to the public on Friday, May 13. When the entire project is fi nished in 2017 it will be set up to host fairs, rodeos, equestri- an events, concerts, conventions, trade shows and more. “This gives us another facility that can be a tremendous regional attrac- See EOTEC, A14 Some of the rankest bulls will be matched up against some of the best cowboys in the Pacifi c Northwest this weekend during The Coastal Farm & Ranch Challenge of Champions Tour. Presented by Bon- ney’s Ag & Auto Repair, catch the action Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Umatilla County Fairgrounds, 515 W. Orchard Ave., Herm- iston. Tickets are $14 in advance or $18 at the gate. Children under 5 are admitted free. The gates open at 5:30 p.m. Nearly three dozen bull riders will compete for cash and prizes. Rid- ers include PBR, NFR and top circuit qualifi ers, as well as collegiate and high school fi nalists. Also, the public is in- vited to meet some of the cowboys with a live bull Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bonney’s Ag & Auto, 81600 Highway 395 North, Hermiston. Also, free hot dogs and test drives are offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more informa- tion or to buy tickets, visit www.cctbullriding. com. Tickets are also available in Hermiston at Bonney’s, Tom’s Coun- try, Midway Tavern and Northwest Farm Supply. Garbage rates going up in Hermiston By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer HERALD FILE PHOTO Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center offi cials, including the late Chester Prior, then vice chairman of the EOTC board, and then-Chairman Ed Brookshier listen as Frew Development Group owner John Frew speaks during the December 2014 groundbreaking ceremony for EOTEC, which will be open its fi rst building to the public for the fi rst time on Friday. STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL The event center building at EOTEC will get its public unveiling with ceremonies on Friday, May 13. Debit card numbers stolen Police receive reports of money withdrawn By JENNIFER COLTON Staff Writer About a dozen local residents have reported debit card fraud this week in Hermiston, according to Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston. In many cases, a Hermiston res- ident’s debit card number has been used to withdraw money from an ATM in Portland, Clackamas or Lake Oswego. Edmiston said HPD has not seen case of where a physi- cal card has been stolen. The recent fraud cases are not lim- ited to one fi nancial institution: Fraud has been reported by users of at least four different banks or credit unions. “We are seeing some fraud in the Hermiston area. It’s not limited to Hermiston, and it’s not limited to Banner Bank,” said Kelly McPhee, communications manager for Ban- ner Bank. “Because it’s so early, there’s a lot of details we don’t have. We know it did not originate from the bank, but we are working with local law enforcement. We are doing everything we can on our end, behind the scenes.” McPhee recommends fraud vic- tims — or any customers concerned they might have been a victim of fraud — contact the bank as soon as they fi nd a fraudulent charge. “Immediately pick up the phone and call us. Notify us. We can get into the account and take a look at it, we can go through the most recent transactions and start that conversation. We’ll determine if we need to freeze that debit card number and issue you a new card,” McPhee said. Most banks provide provisional credit while the fraud is investigated. Edmiston also recommends checking a bank account and con- tacting the bank immediately if there is any suspicious activity. “Where the majority of the crim- inal activity (actual transaction of money) is outside our service area, our department is taking informa- tion reports,” Edmiston said, adding people can minimize their risks by keeping personal information per- sonal and reporting suspcious activ- ity as soon as possible. “People just need to be vigilant of their account information and report immediately to their bank if something is amiss.” Hermiston residents will see their garbage rates go up in July af- ter the Hermiston City Council approved a rate increase Monday. The 7.81 percent in- crease will mean a $1.25 per month increase for the typical 90-gallon cart service for residents. Sanitary Disposal Inc. is a private company that handles garbage service for the city. Because it has an exclusive fran- chise with the city, the company comes to the city council for approval of rate increases. Mike Jewett, owner of Sanitary Disposal, told the council that the com- pany’s last rate increase was in January 2013 and had been meant to last for two years. Now Depart- ment of Environmental Quality fees are going up by 58 cents per ton, minimum wage is set to increase signifi cantly and infl ation continues to push up costs. “All these have great effect on our company,” he said. Mark Morgan, assis- tant city manager, said the rate increase received a thorough vetting from the city’s solid waste subcommittee and San- itary Disposal agreed to a slightly lower increase plus an independent third-party review of rates in the future. He also said the increase included a .5 percent increase in the company’s franchise fee it pays to the city. The approximately $10,000 generated by the increase will be put toward nui- sance abatement and city clean-up events.
