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.