WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
Former Umatilla chamber
director under indictment
Hutchinson-Talaski
pleaded not guilty at an
The former executive arraignment Monday in
director of the Umatilla Hermiston circuit court.
The chamber is a chari-
Chamber of Commerce has
been indicted on charges she table nonprofit, and its tax
stole thousands of dollars returns are available from
Guidestar.org, which spe-
from the organization.
Karen Hutchinson-Ta- cializes in gathering and
laski, 60, of Hermiston, did providing data on non-
not immediately return calls profits. The chamber’s tax
Wednesday. She left the forms shows it lost $25,221
chamber post sometime in in 2012, lost $27,677 in
2016. According to public 2013 and lost $40,139 in
records, this is the second 2014.
Hutchinson-Talaski was
embezzlement case involv-
a reporter in 2008
ing Hutchinson-Ta-
for the Hermiston
laski.
Herald.
Umatilla Coun-
And from Au-
ty Circuit Court
gust 1992 until
documents show
October
1998
a
grand
jury
she taught for the
handed up the in-
Morrow County
dictment Dec. 6,
School
District.
2016,
charging
Hutchinson-Talas- Hutchinson- Records from the
Oregon
Teach-
ki with one count of Talaski
er Standards and
third-degree theft,
Commission
one count of second-degree Practices
theft, both misdemeanors, show she lost the job after
and four felony charges of embezzling approximately
first-degree theft. The thefts $9,000 from the district.
Hutchinson-Talaski
span early July 2014 to late
November 2015 and include signed an order from the
taking $1,000 or more on commission in May 1999 in
two occasions from bank which she agreed to surren-
cash machine withdrawals der her Oregon teaching li-
as well as making unautho- cense and admit to the theft.
rized purchases on a cham- The order also states a Mor-
row County grand jury in-
ber account.
According to Oregon dited her on Dec. 14, 1998,
law, third-degree theft ap- on multiple counts of theft,
plies to values of less than and she pleaded guilty to
$100, second-degree theft is first-degree theft. She avoid-
for $100-$999, and first-de- ed jail, had to pay back the
gree theft covers values of at $9,000 and served two years
of probation.
least $1,000.
By PHIL WRIGHT
Staff Writer
Parks director plans summer
projects as winter lingers on
Disc golf course,
Sunset Park
addition in
planning phase
By JADE MCDOWELL
Staff Writer
Snowy weather has
put a damper on park use
this winter, but Hermiston
parks and recreation direc-
tor Larry Fetter is still ex-
cited about projects com-
ing up when the weather
thaws.
One of those projects is a
disc golf course. Fetter said
he is discussing agreements
right now with Good Shep-
herd Health Care System
and Hermiston Irrigation
District that would allow
the city to place a course
across from the hospital
near the corner of North-
west 11th Street and Elm
Avenue.
“We’ve already started
seeking funding,” he said.
Fetter said the parks and
recreation committee has
also looked into what will
be needed to get the course
officially ranked by profes-
sional disc golf associations
for tournament play. The
18-hole course would likely
be utilized by a mix of seri-
ous disc golfers and people
who just wanted to “go out
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
Discarded Christmas trees at Butte Park that the city hasn’t
fed through a wood chipper yet are one thing the parks
department has delayed due to snow.
and have a good time,” Fet-
ter said.
As for parks projects
already underway, Fetter
said the snow and the pro-
longed freezing weather did
halt some concrete work at
Sunset Park, which the city
has been working to expand
and renovate.
“We would have made
some winter progress on
Sunset Park, but that’s re-
ally ground down to zero,”
he said.
However, when the
weather gets better the de-
partment will continue to
work on concrete borders,
landscaping,
basketball
hoops and a new set of
playground equipment that
will arrive in the spring.
Fetter said the backstop
screen at Newport Park will
also be installed “as soon as
the weather breaks.”
Newport Park’s soft-
ball field was lowered by a
couple of feet to help catch
water that was flooding
neighboring homes during
rainstorms, but Fetter said
when a portion of the snow
melted last week it did so
slowly enough that it didn’t
turn the park into a lake.
In the spring or sum-
mer the parks department
will also begin work on a
planned overhaul of Green-
wood Park, the half-acre
neighborhood park tucked
away on Beech Street.
Fetter noted that the de-
partment has had to delay
its annual wood-chipping
of all the Christmas trees
people drop off at Butte
Park each January. The
chips are used as mulch at
parks around Hermiston,
but Fetter said the snow
keeps delaying use of the
wood chipper.
He said the extra snow
this year shouldn’t cause
too many extra mainte-
nance problems in the
spring, unless a rapid thaw
causes the Umatilla Riv-
er to overflow its banks at
Riverfront Park.
“If it’s like it was four
years ago (when the park
flooded), we would have
to go in and do some resto-
ration work,” he said.
On the recreation side
of things, Hermiston is cur-
rently missing its recreation
director after Dan Earp left
for a job at a larger parks
department in Carson City,
Nevada. Fetter said he re-
ceived 32 qualified appli-
cations, however, and has
narrowed them down to
five applicants that he plans
to interview Monday.
FEBRUARY 2017
WIh
VALENTINE'S DAY
GRAhD PRIZE DRAWIhG
S mackers!
7-Day Cruise!
14 DAYS OF PRIZES!
Win $114 of FREEPLAY every 30 minutes
February 1–14 • 2pm to 8pm
Win a $1,400 Sweetheart Package every night at 8pm
BOhUS! Receive a Grand Prize entry with purchase of any Roots and Boots ticket.
1,400
S
POIhT
Earn 1,400 points on Feb 14 and receive one Grand Prize entry
into the $40,000 imackers Grand Prize Drawing.
88 base points slot play per entry. 188 base points rated play per entry. Management reserves all rights.
Must be Club Wild member and 21+ years of age.
$
10 , 000
President's Day Weekend Bingo
Sunday, February 19
Doors will open at 11am, warm-ups at 2:00pm
and main session at 2:30pm.
Win a BINGO and get Grand Prize entries
into the $122,000 CashBash Giveaway!
THE
Now awarding FREEPLAY!
RED ZONE
PART Y!
$5,000
PRESIDENT'S DAY
SLOT TOURNAMENT
Monday, February 20
Registration at 10am
Tournament at 12pm
$5000 Guaranteed!
Up to $8,500 prize pool!
Earn base points between Feb 14 – Feb 20
ieating is limited!
ROOTS &
BOOTS TOUR
Sunday, February 5 • Rivers Event Center
Doors open at 2pm, kickoff at 3:30pm.
WIh great prizes when you
purchase raffle tickets!
Featuring Sammy Kershaw,
Aaron Tippin and Terri Clark.
Friday, February 10, 2017 at Rivers Event Center
ihow starts at 8pm • Doors open at 7pm
All proceeds benefit the Divide Camp, honoring the
service of our combat veterans. www.dividecamp.org
Tickets on Sale Now!
Purchase online at wildhorseresort.com
or at the Wildhorse Gift ihop.
CAiINO • HOTEL • GOLF • CINEPLEX • RV • MUiEUM • DINING • TRAVEL PLAZA
800.654.9453 • PENDLETON, OR • I-84, EXIT 216, wildhorseresort.com. Owned and operated by CTUIR
Management reserves all rights to alter, suspend or withdraw promotions/offers at any time.
650.7929.BA.1.17
®