Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2016)
A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 Herald Business Follow us on Twitter @HermistonHerald BOTTLE RECYCLING CENTER NOW OPEN Hermiston Herald STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston Police Sgt. Bill Osborne talks about mass shooters during a CRASE training Thursday in Hermiston. CRASE trains civilians to respond to active shooters By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer It’s one of the most high-stress situations a person can be in: A gun- man enters a building, opening fi re on everyone in sight as crowds attempt to fl ee or hide. In the panic, it’s easy for people to freeze, or do oth- er things that increase their chance of being harmed. The Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events course offered for free by the Hermiston Police Department gives people tools to reduce their chanc- es of being harmed. “Nobody in here is help- less,” Sgt. Bill Osborne told Umatilla-Morrow Head Start staff members during a training on Thurs- day. The message shared over and over again during the three-hour course: In an emergency situation your actions matter. The CRASE training, offered by law enforce- ment agencies around the country, focuses on help- ing people train their brain to act on three steps: avoid, deny and defend. The best-case scenario is for people to avoid the danger. Osborne said they can do that by being aware of their surroundings and taking threats seriously. If it sounds like maybe there are gunshots coming from another part of the build- ing, he said, assume those are gunshots and act ac- cordingly until you know otherwise. Don’t assume a fi re alarm or lockdown is just a drill. Often people waste precious time they could have used to get to safety telling themselves nothing is wrong. “Take things seriously,” Osborne said. “If you treat it as if it’s real until you’re sure it’s not, you increase your chances of survival.” Osborne said making note of all available exits when entering a building and not just following the crowd can help people get out of harm’s way more quickly in situations rang- ing from active shooters to fi res. He also said often people ignore secondary exits like windows because society has ingrained in them that it’s not OK to break things. “Don’t look at things as barriers, look at things and think, ‘How do I defeat this barrier?’” he said. If people don’t have time to get out or the shoot- er is blocking the only exit, the next step is to deny them access to victims. The training included vari- ous methods for doing that, including locking doors, turning off lights, barri- cading entrances with fur- niture, wedging doorstops under the door or tying it shut. One method partici- pants used during a hands- on practice was wrapping a belt around the large hinge found on the top of many doors in offi ces, schools or churches. If that fails, Osborne said, people have a moral and legal right to defend themselves. They can use everyday objects as weap- ons, they can disorient the shooter by throwing things and they can fi ght dirty. After volunteers prac- ticed barricading the door Osborne had them practice defending it. As he came through it, wielding a Nerf gun, the participants wait- ing on either side of the door tackled him, threw things and grabbed the gun before he managed to fi re a single shot. “There is a mental com- ponent to this,” he said. “People do not have the right to hurt you. They do not have the right to kill you. If they’re trying to do that it should make you mad. You can use that.” The training used vid- eos throughout, showing in some cases re-enact- ments and in other cases real-life footage of inci- dents such as a man who pulled a gun at a school board meeting. Osborne used the videos to point out actions that saved lives or put them in danger. Proactive decisions peo- ple make to avoid, deny or defend can help buy time for people to call 9-1-1 and for law enforcement to ar- rive, he said. Once they do people should be careful to keep their empty hands visible, make no sudden movements and follow in- structions. The CRASE training helps give people tools to respond decisively in an emergency, but at the end of the day, Osborne said, people can make their own moral choices, like the staff of a hospital in Seat- tle where a mass shooting took place. “Some of the nurses ran, some of the nurses fought back and some of them covered their patients,” he said. “None of them made the wrong choice.” Good Shepherd welcomes two new doctors Good Shepherd Health Coast natives we knew that Care System has welcomed eventually, we’d return,” two new doctors recently. she said in a news release. Jennifer Poste, M.D., an “So we began our search internal medicine and in Oregon and Wash- endocrinology phy- ington and visited sician, is taking new several places in each patients after moving state.” to Hermiston from As an internal New York City. She medicine and endo- said she and her hus- crinologist doctor band were looking Poste’s focuses will for a simpler, more Dr. include chronic dis- Allison rural life and imme- Khavkin ease management, diately felt at home diabetes, and thy- when visiting Herm- roid and glandular iston and meeting the Good issues. Shepherd staff. Good Shepherd also “Both of us being West welcomed obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN) town outside of Vancouver, Allison Khavkin, M.D. to Canada, and said after com- its Women’s Center team. pleting her training she was Khavkin joins the team looking for an opportunity just as the hospi- to return to the Pacifi c tal begins work on Northwest. an expansion of its “I love the outdoors, north wing that will fresh food, and beauti- greatly increase the ful weather — and for size of the Good me, Hermiston has Shepherd Women’s plenty of everything,” Center. she said in a news re- Khavkin recently Dr. lease. Jennifer completed her resi- Poste The new doctors dency in obstetrics are now taking pa- and gynecology at tients. Khavkin can be the State University of New reached at 541-667-3801. York at Buffalo. She spent Poste can be reached at her childhood in a small 541-667-3801. Hermiston’s new cen- ter for recycling cans and bottles is now open. The BottleDrop Re- demption Center, op- erated by the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, is locat- ed at the former Good- will building at 740 W. Hermiston Avenue. It will be staffed and open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. As members of the recycling cooperative, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Fi- esta Foods, Rite Aid, Bi-Mart and Big Lots in Hermiston will no lon- ger be required by the state to take bottles and cans at their stores after Sept. 9. Customers will be offered three different ways to redeem depos- its. The center’s self- serve machines will accept up to 350 con- tainers per customer per day. Staff can accept and hand-count up to 50 containers per person. And regular customers can open a BottleDrop Account. The account offers pre-labeled bags that customers can drop off at the center 24 hours a day for staff to count. Within 48 hours the deposit money will be available in the custom- er’s account, which they can redeem for cash at participating grocery stores or use it to pay for groceries. The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative said in a news release that the Hermiston cen- ter will be the state’s 16th BottleDrop center after the legislature ap- proved a statewide roll- out in 2013. “You really have to experience one of our clean, spacious Bot- tleDrop Redemption Centers to appreciate this whole new level of returning bottles and cans,” John Andersen, President of OBRC, said in a statement. “We are excited for Hermiston residents to see how fast and convenient collect- ing your refund can be.” H&R Block offering tax preparation courses Eastern Oregon resi- dents interested in mak- ing extra money as a tax preparer can learn more about training oppor- tunities during two re- cruiting events at H&R Block. The Hermiston open house will be Sept. 9 from 1-3 p.m. at the Hermis- ton WorkSource offi ce, 950 S.E. Columbia Drive, Suite B. The Pendleton open house will be Sept. 1 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pendleton WorkSource offi ce, 408 S.E. Seventh St. Interested parties will be able to visit with tax professionals and learn about the H&R Block In- come Tax Course that can teach them to prepare tax- es and develop tax-saving strategies. For more information call Melissa Gorham at 509-579-9976 or visit hr- block.com/class. Printed on recycled newsprint VOLUME 110 ● NUMBER 34 Gary L. West | Editor • gwest@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4532 Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4539 Jade McDowell | Reporter • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536 Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531 Shannon Paxton | Offi ce coordinator • spaxton@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4530 Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538 To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising or subscription information: • call 541-567-6457 • e-mail info@hermistonherald.com • stop by our offi ces at 333 E. Main St. • visit us online at: hermistonherald.com The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN 8750-4782) is published weekly at Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838, (541) 567-6457, FAX (541) 567-1764. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES Delivered by carrier and mail Wednesdays Inside Umatilla/Morrow counties .......... $42.65 Outside Umatilla/Morrow counties ....... $53.90 Periodical postage paid at Hermiston, OR. Postmaster, send address changes to Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838. Member of EO Media Group Copyright ©2016