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Hermiston
Herald
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017
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NEW HERMISTON STORE
BY JAN. 1, 2018.
PAGE A3
LUANN DAVISON & ANTHONY WIPP CHA LE
MOVED
DANCE: CHA
MONEY RAISED: $3,959
GREG SMITH & TRINA MORAGO
O DOBLE
DANCE: THE PAS MONE
Y RAISED:
$4,184
PREGNANCY CARE SERVICES
OPENS CENTRALIZED OFFICE
AT GRANARY SQUARE.
PAGE A4
DANCING
EVA SWAIN & ALEX GAVIN
DANCE: THE TWO-STEP
STARS
ROBO-AID
UMATILLA ROBOTICS
STUDENTS HELP
COMMUNITY WITH
TECHNOLOGICAL
KNOW-HOW.
PAGE A6
PINNED
BRING IN
HERMISTON WRESTLING
WINS OREGON CLASSIC, FIRST
BIG TOURNEY OF YEAR.
PAGE A8
THOUSANDS
AMERICAN
PROFILE
STAFF PHOTOS BY KATHY ANEY
FANS SHARE THEIR
FAVORITE GAMEDAY
SNACKS AND TRADITIONS.
INSIDE
SPIKE PIERSOL & GRACE JOHNSON
BILL ELFERING & ALLYSA BACCUS
DANCE: THE FOXTROT
DANCE: THE TANGO
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
H
ermiston saw a lot of
star power on Satur-
day night, when six
local business and
community leaders
competed for the
title in the fi fth an-
nual Dancing With
the Hermiston Stars
event.
State Representa-
tive Greg Smith took home the
top prize, dedicating his win-
nings to the Hermiston Warming
Station. Local businesswoman
LuAnn Davison was the run-
ner-up, with her funds going
toward Hermiston Campus
Life, a mentorship and Chris-
tian organization for local teens.
The other contestants were city
councilor Clara Beas-Fitzgerald,
county commissioner Bill Elf-
ering, retired fi refi ghter Spike
Piersol, and business owner Eva
Swain.
Smith and his partner Tri-
na Morago danced the Paso
Doble, with a “Buffy the Vam-
pire Slayer” theme. Davison and
her partner Anthony Whipple
danced the Cha Cha with a hard
rock twist — to AC/DC’s “You
Shook Me All Night Long.”
The six contestants raised a
total of $11,347 for their char-
ities — though earnings for
each charity have yet to be an-
nounced. Last year the event
raised about $15,000 for char-
ities, event director Mary Corp
said.
The two highest earners were
Smith, who raised $4,184 for the
Warming Station, and Davison,
who raised $3,959 for Hermis-
ton Campus Life.
CLARA BEAS-FITZGERALD & JOEY WILLIAMS
DANCE: THE POLKA
“This is the second highest
amount we’ve raised, after last
year,” Corp said. “We’re very
pleased.”
The contestants faced a pan-
el of judges — Phil Hamm, Er-
ika Sandoval and Tyler Hansell
— who scored them based on
skill, enthusiasm and audience
engagement. The fi nal scores
were taken from a combina-
tion of audience votes, judge
scores and funds raised by each
individual for their charity of
choice.
Each pair fi lmed a video seg-
ment, which was played prior
to their performance. The clip
showed footage of the pair train-
ing, as well as the contestant dis-
cussing their charity.
‘THIS IS THE SECOND HIGHEST AMOUNT PL W EA E’ SE VE D.’
RAISED, AFTER LAST YE EN AR T . DIR W EC E’ TO RE R VE MA RY RY CORP
– EV
BRIEFLY
Piersol, who along with his
partner Grace Johnson, danced
the tango, and raised money for
the First Responders Memorial.
Judges appreciated Piersol’s in-
tensity and passion during the
dance.
“You were very light on your
foot,” Hansell teased the retired
fi refi ghter, who has a prosthetic
leg.
Swain, who danced the night-
club two-step with her partner
Alex Galvan, raised money for
the Hermiston Senior Center,
which is trying to build a new
facility.
“It will take a lot of money to
build a new center,” Swain said.
Judges admired Swain’s poise
on the dance fl oor, as well as her
chemistry with her partner.
Elfering and his partner Alys-
sa Baccus danced the Foxtrot, to
Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With
Me.”
See DANCE, A14
Police train to handle mental health issues
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
Police offi cers in Hermiston deal
with dozens of calls a day — and
those calls sometimes involve a per-
son going through a mental health
crisis.
Hermiston police chief Jason Ed-
miston said while handling mental
health cases isn’t typically in police
offi cers’ job description, it seems to
have become one of their daily tasks.
“The concept of ‘throw more
training at the police’ instead of
looking at the problem,” Edmiston
said. “We’re trying to address the
problem as best as possible.”
Edmiston said one of the biggest
challenges is diagnosing a problem,
and then directing the person to the
correct place for help.
“It’s a growing problem,” Edmis-
ton said of cases related to mental
health issues or short-term mental
About three-quarters of depart-
health crises. “I think substance ment staff go through the training,
abuse plays a role in people in crisis. Edmiston said. The course covers
But mental illness being hereditary drug and alcohol abuse, military
— that’s in play. As Hermis-
trauma and post-traumatic
ton grows, more people come
stress disorder, drug-induced
through the area and our calls
psychosis and other mental
for service increase.”
health issues offi cer might en-
Edmiston said while the
counter on calls.
long-term solution to mental
“(The training) identifi es
health issues should not be
what those issues are, and
police response, his offi cers
gives (offi cers) tools for how
have undergone Crisis Inter- Edmiston to deal with people experienc-
vention Training for when
ing them,” he said.
problems arise.
Edmiston said the offi cers learn
The training helps offi cers learn to talk to people going through a
about various issues related to men- mental health crisis, rather than
tal illness.
talking at or down to them.
“It’s a 40-hour course that var-
“We expect them to diagnose
ies depending on feedback from the what’s going on in a matter of sec-
previous one,” said Hermiston Po- onds,” he said, adding that a situation
lice Captain Travis Eynon, the de-
See TRAINING, A14
partment liaison for the training.
Educators
of the year
Hermiston Herald
The Hermiston School
District has selected
a handful of standout
teachers for its annual
“Educators of the Year”
awards, which will be
presented at the Jan. 23
board meeting.
Awards went to one
teacher from each of
Hermiston’s fi ve elemen-
tary schools and two mid-
dle school, and two from
Hermiston High School.
An award was also given
to one district employee.
One of the teachers will
be selected as teacher of
the year and announced
at the Distinguished Cit-
izens Award Banquet on
Feb. 1.
The school district will
also recognize its admin-
istrator of the year at the
Jan. 23 board meeting.
A list of award win-
ners is below:
• District: Linda White,
instructional coach
• Hermiston High
School: Susie Cobb,
Family and Consumer
Sciences; Ericka Keefau-
ver, instructional coach
• Armand Larive Mid-
dle School: Tate Enright,
Special Education
• Sandstone Middle
School: Kimo Gabriel,
Science
• Desert View Elemen-
tary: Garth Lind, fi fth
grade
• Highland Hills Ele-
mentary: Mark Douglass,
Music
• Rocky Heights Ele-
mentary: Jolene Davis,
second grade
• Sunset Elementary:
Joyce Barak, Title One
• West Park Elementa-
ry: Margaret Gutierrez