INSIDE SPORTS
BULLDOG WRESTLING TESTED IN THE CLASH TOURNAMENT
Hermiston
Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2017
$1.00
INSIDE
LOOKING BACK
CREATING A COMMUNITY
CONSTRUCTION STARTED 25 YEARS
AGO ON THE FIRST WALMART
STORE IN UMATILLA COUNTY.
PAGE A2
RECYCLED
REFUSE
Faith-based programs
offer redemption, hope
SANITARY DISPOSAL
HELPS HERMISTON MEET
RECYCLING GOALS.
PAGE A3
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Community Editor
eading a Bible for the first
time a handful of years ago
in a prison cell at Two Riv-
ers Correctional Institution,
Jose Avila-Flores was intro-
duced to a loving God.
“I read that people were broken
and needed love and care,” he said.
“I learned that I was lost but I was
loved.”
Now 28, Avila-Flores has been
locked up for nearly nine years.
Barely an adult when he was first
incarcerated for attempted aggra-
vated murder, the former Lane
County resident is grateful for re-
ligious services offered at the pris-
on.
“The chapel is a community of
support,” he said.
A sea of denim filled a
multi-purpose room during a re-
cent chapel service at the Umatilla
prison, which houses both medium
and minimum security inmates.
The services are facilitated by var-
ious religious organizations and
are offered seven days a week, said
Don Hodney, a chaplain with the
Oregon Department of Corrections
since 2000.
Hodney, who echoed Avi-
la-Flores’ comments about com-
munity, said the worship services
averages between 45 and 90 in-
mates.
“Religious services provide a
sense of community — coming
together in worship creates a com-
munity that seems to cross per-
ceived boundaries of race, status
or denomination loyalty,” he said.
The services, Hodney said, pro-
vide an opportunity for inmates to
become members of a community
of faith where they can receive in-
struction on how to focus on God.
Ray Douglass, 47, who has been
incarcerated for 11 years, has also
gained skills by performing video
production and PowerPoint pre-
sentations for services. However,
he said participating in faith-based
programs several times a week is
more than a job to him.
“It leads to a renewal in your
life and realizing what we’ve done
is wrong,” Douglass said. “It takes
it beyond a head knowledge.”
Coming to prison made things
real for the former Yamhill County
man. Douglass, too, appreciates the
opportunity to not be so guarded.
“You always hear you have to
be tough,” he said. “But people
can relax around here and let oth-
ers in some.”
See PRISON, A14
COUNTY CLEANUP
UMATILLA COUNTY CLEARS
TRASH OUT OF ABANDONED
HOMELESS CAMP.
PAGE A3
DELAYED BY
WEATHER
A DAY-LONG TEST OF BURNING
BIOMASS AT THE BOARDMAN
COAL-FIRED PLANT POSTPONED
BY ENERGY DEMANDS.
PAGE A6
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Shane Hall on guitar watches as Kelly Zielke of Hermiston joins in singing with the Two Rivers
Correctional Institution worship band — which also includes Jacob Lawrence on bass, Chester Gunter on
drums and Joseph Opyd on keyboard (not pictured) — prior to a chapel service at the Umatilla prison.
BRIEFLY
Pedro chosen
as executive
of the year
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Ray Douglass, who has been incarcerated since 2005,
sings along while running the projection equipment
during a recent prison worship band rehearsal at Two
Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Inmates bow their heads in prayer at the end of a
recent chapel service at Two Rivers Correctional
Institution in Umatilla.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Jacob Lawrence on bass and Shane Hall on guitar
smile while rehearsing with the inmate worship
band prior to a recent chapel service at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
Tadd Bazant, who has been incarcerated since
2004, shares what it means to him to support an
orphan at Otino Waa Children’s Village in Uganda
during a recent chapel service at Two Rivers
Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce di-
rector Debbie Pedro has
been named the 2016 Cham-
ber Executive of the Year by
the Oregon State Chamber of
Commerce.
Pedro was
honored at a
conference in
October, ac-
cording to a
news release
from the state
chamber. She
Pedro
was recognized
for her leadership in helping
the chamber consistently meet
or exceed its membership goals
and for keeping “members
well-served and staff perform-
ing at peak levels.”
Pedro has served as the
Hermiston chamber’s director
for 10 years and worked for the
chamber for an additional six
years before that. In 2014 she
served as the board chair for the
state chamber of commerce.
The Oregon State Cham-
ber of Commerce provides
support and assistance to lo-
cal chambers and represents
their interests to the state
government.
New year rings in with winter weather
Snow leads to
multiple crashes
on freeways
since Sunday
Hermiston Herald
The new year brought
a wave of winter weather
to Eastern Oregon, creating
treacherous roads and caus-
ing dozens of crashes.
Emergency medical per-
sonnel responded to several
rollovers and other crashes
since the weekend.
Pendleton
ambulance
crews responded to many
crashes along Interstate 84
since Sunday. Pendleton
covers the interstate from
about Echo to the Umatil-
la Indian Reservation, but
Pendleton Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo said city ambulanc-
es often roll beyond those
limits to help partner agen-
cies from Hermiston to the
top of Cabbage Hill.
Umatilla County Fire
District 1 had responded to
seven crashes on Monday
as of 4 p.m. Five of those
crashes were on I-82 and
I-84, with a few on local
roads. UCFD employees
said so far there have been
no major injuries. Monday
as of 2:45 p.m., Echo Fire
Department had responded
to three rollover accidents.
The most serious (accident)
appeared to happen .... when an
eastbound vehicle rolled and also
ended up in the median.
Schools districts were
supposed to be back in ses-
sion this week, but Morrow
County, Stanfield and Ione
canceled classes on Mon-
day because of the weather.
On Tuesday there were
multiple districts, includ-
ing Hermiston, Stanfield,
Morrow County and Ione
school districts that delayed
the start of school by two
hours.
Police, fire and ambu-
lance crews in Morrow
County spent the first night
of 2017 responding to sev-
eral slide-offs and crashes.
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office alone re-
ported 10 wrecks on Inter-
state 84 near Boardman on
Sunday. The first crash came
at 4:03 p.m. when a vehi-
cle hit a guardrail at mile-
post 153 on the eastbound
side of the freeway. And at
6:12 p.m. an eastbound car
ran off the interstate near
Boardman, rolled and came
to a stop in the median.
An ambulance took one
person from that crash to
Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston. Ambu-
lances transported others
from crashes as the night
went on.
The most serious ap-
peared to happen around
11:40 p.m. when an east-
bound vehicle rolled and
also ended up in the median.
Bulletins stated ambulances
transported more than one
patient to Good Shepherd.