Hermiston Herald WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2016 HermistonHerald.com GROGAN DRAFTED BY TWINS SPORTS Page 8 $1.00 ABOUT TOWN Columbia Bank names Hermiston manager RATTLING THE CHAINS STAFF PHOTOS BY TAMMY MALGESINI Anthony Fernald of Kennewick follows through while putting on the second hole during a recent doubles tournament at the McNary Golf Disc Golf Course. DISCS FLY AT THE MCNARY DAM COURSE City clarifi es Service Line Warranties letter By TAMMY MALGESINI Community Editor Ginger Wilkinson credits disc golf with motivating her to get off the couch after becoming somewhat sedentary follow- ing foot and knee surgeries. Introduced to the sport several years ago by friends, the Hermiston woman was instantly enthusiastic about exercising and having fun at the same time. “I love being outside,” she said. “I wasn’t getting much ex- ercise and I thought walking would be a good thing for me.” In addition to rattling chains at area courses, Wilkinson serves as secretary-treasurer of the Umatilla Disc Golf Club. She regularly plays at the McNary Dam Disc Golf Course, which was developed in 2013 by the U.S. Army Corps of En- gineers. Earlier this year, the course was expanded to 18 holes. David McDermott, natural resources man- ager at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said they were look- ing at additional ways to bring people to the dam’s facilities and parks. After tossing around several ideas, someone suggested a disc golf course. Starting with just nine holes, McDermott said it provided an opportunity to gauge the public’s reaction before sinking too much money and resources into the project. “With the popularity of the sport, we didn’t know what the response would be,” he said. Above: Jorge Cuevas of Boardman watches as his disc skips off the top of the À fth basket while doubles partner Ginger Wilkinson of Umatilla looks on at the McNary Golf Disc Golf Course. Left: Donny Ballew of Spokane follows through while putting on the 11th hole during a recent doubles tournament at the McNary Dam Disc Golf Course. Left: Ginger Wilkinson of Hermiston leans in while putting on the third hole during a recent doubles tournament at the McNary Golf Disc Golf Course. See GOLF, A12 Love’s Travel location now open near Boardman Hermiston Herald Road warriors crossing Eastern Oregon on Interstate 84 have a new SODFHWRVWRSDQG¿OOXSWKHLUWDQNV /RYH¶V 7UDYHO 6WRSV RI¿FLDOO\ opened its newest location Thurs- day morning on Tower Road west of Boardman. The center includes a 24-hour convenience store, fuel pumps, tire repair shop and Carl’s Jr. restaurant. “We are very excited to expand our presence in Oregon and espe- cially thrilled to become a member of the Boardman community,” said company founder and executive chairman Tom Love. “This location gives us a great opportunity to serve members of the community, travel- ers and professional drivers.” Based in Oklahoma, Love’s Travel Stops has more than 380 stores in 40 states nationwide. The Chris Bettencourt has been named a vice president and branch manager for Colum- bia Bank’s Hermiston loca- tion. Bettencourt has more than 30 years of banking experi- ence, including 18 with Colum- bia Bank. In her new position she will “focus Betten- court on garnering new connec- tions and busi- ness for the branch while overseeing daily operations of the branch and team manage- ment,” according to a news release from the bank. The release states that Bet- tencourt is also involved in the community as a member of the Hermiston High School Advisory Council, a volun- teer for Hermiston Relay for Life and a previous United Way volunteer. She attended Blue Mountain Communi- ty College and the Oregon Bankers Operations School. Columbia Bank is head- quartered in Tacoma, Wash- ington, and has 145 locations throughout the Northwest. STAFF PHOTO BY GARY WEST /ove·s 7ravel Stops ofÀ cially opened its Boardman location on 7hursday. chain has two other locations along I-84 in Oregon, in Ontario and Troutdale. The 11,000-square-foot Board- man center has 16 fuel pumps, 95 truck parking spaces and seven showers available for profession- al drivers. Spokeswoman Kealey Dorian said the facility cost roughly $11 million, and has hired a staff of approximately 40 employees. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 15. Love’s will also donate $2,000 to the Boardman Community De- velopment Association. A letter being sent to Hermiston residents by Service Line Warranties of America is causing some confusion. The letter bears the city of Hermiston logo on the enve- lope and the top of the letter but is not being sent by the city. The company does have permission to use the city’s logo, however, after the city FRXQFLOYRWHGWRRI¿FLDOO\HQ dorse the company last year. Service Line Warranties offers insurance against the cost of replacing water lines between a home and a pub- lic utility connection, which is the homeowner’s respon- sibility if the line leaks or bursts. Customers can pay $5.75 per month or $64 per year for repair coverage of up to $4,000 with no deduct- ibles. The letter is signed “City of Hermiston” but also in- cludes a disclaimer which notes that the city is “not re- sponsible for administration of the program and no public funds are used in the market- ing or administration of the program.” After a concerned citi- zen brought the letter up at Monday’s city council meet- ing, noting that some people thought the letter was com- ing directly from the city, city manager Byron Smith said that the city had mere- ly endorsed the company at the recommendation of the League of Oregon Cities to offer residents protection against what can be a very expensive bill if the water line to their house breaks. “The city is just saying this is a good program if you want to use it,” he said. Smith said adjustments had been made to an earlier version of the letter to make it more clear that it was not a city program, and the council was welcome to withdraw its endorsement if it was not happy with the letter’s cur- rent form. The council did not take any action. —Jade McDowell