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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Umatilla moves on without mayor By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The Umatilla City Coun- cil addressed city business without a mayor March 7 after David Trott resigned from the position the previ- ous week. Council president Mary Dedrick will preside over the council until a new mayor can be elected in November. Both she and councilor David Lougee voted against accepting Trott’s letter of resignation. The letter came after Trott called a special ex- ecutive session meeting that he stated beforehand was to address several con- cerns that had been brought to him about city manager Russ Pelleberg. The council emerged from that meeting without taking any action, and later councilor Mel Ray asked for a second closed- door meeting to discuss Trott’s behavior. After Trott’s request that the meeting be conducted in open session was met with resistance from some councilors, Trott resigned, writing that “a majority of the council appears unwill- ing to discuss recent issues in an open public forum and would rather conduct their discussions behind closed doors ... attitudes like this show a disdain and lack of respect for the public that the mayor and council rep- resent.” Councilors were split in their assessment of Trott’s resignation. Lougee stated that while he did not always agree with Trott, he thought as mayor he had provided experience and a balance to the council that was im- portant. “I believe him to be an honorable man who was trying to do what was best for the city,” Lougee said. He said that while he would presume Pelleberg was innocent of any allega- tions against him until prov- en otherwise, Lougee did believe that there should be a third-party investigation when there were claims against city staff. Lougee also stated that he, too, felt that too much city business was dis- cussed outside of open public meetings. He said when it was publicly stated that “the council” wanted former city manager Bob Ward to retire early, it was the first he had heard of it, suggesting that it had been discussed beforehand by certain councilors instead of going through appropri- ate channels such as a com- mittee meeting or council work session. “We need to do things openly,” he said. Roak TenEyck took a different view of Trott’s resignation. He called Umatilla his “own personal paradise” he loves coming home to. He said he can’t stand idly by, then, as a “self-serving person” with an agenda tries to publicly destroy the career of a city manager who “has done more in a year than some people have done in total” for Umatilla. “Mr. Trott most defi- nitely needed to resign and that’s about the only thing he and I agreed on,” Ten- Eyck said. He said the information that had been made public was only one side of the story and he stood by the council’s decision to pro- mote Pelleberg to city man- ager. “I thought then and still do now that he is the right person for the job,” he said, all students and families, and is at Hermiston High School, 600 S. 1st St., Hermiston. production are today and Thursday at 7 p.m. in Bob Clapp Theatre, lo- cated in Pioneer Hall at Blue Mountain Commu- nity College, 2411 N.W. Carden Ave., Pendleton. The auditions are open to all community members. The story centers around two friends — one a total slob, the other an obsessive neat freak — who unexpectedly find themselves as room- mates. Between the two versions, the casts call for eight men and eight wom- en. No advance prepara- tion is needed for the au- ditions. The performance dates are May 11-14 and 18-21. For more information, contact 541-278-5928 or cct@bluecc.edu. Students to perform Hawaii concert IN BRIEF Teen hit by car near high school A 13-year-old boy sus- tained minor injuries but declined medical treat- ment after he was hit by a vehicle near Hermiston High School. The incident occurred about 4:18 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of South First Street and Highland Avenue. The boy, a Hermiston resident, was crossing north on West Highland Avenue at the crosswalk, when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Rebecca Kruse, also of Hermiston, who was driving west on West Highland. Kruse was issued a ci- tation by the Hermiston Police Department for careless driving. Hermiston Police did not release the name of the teen who was struck. College Night Oregon is tonight Hermiston High School will host its College Night Oregon event tonight, Wednesday, March 15. at 5:30 p.m.. Students and parents can learn more about choosing a college, nav- igating financial aid and scholarships. Pizza will be provid- ed at the event, and stu- dents can enter a drawing to win one of three $500 scholarships, which will be announced at the end of the night. The event is open to Hospital auxiliary offers scholarships Students pursuing high- er education in the field of medicine are eligible to apply for $1,500 schol- arships for the 2017-18 school year. To be eligible for the Good Shepherd Medical Center Auxiliary schol- arships, a student’s home residence must be within the areas served by Good Shepherd Health Care System. Those communities in- clude Hermiston, Board- man, Echo, Irrigon, Stan- field and Umatilla. Also, applicants must have successfully com- pleted at least one year of study in the field of med- icine at a college or uni- versity. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 28. Ap- plication forms are avail- able at the hospital gift shop, 610 N.W. 11th St., Hermiston, or by calling the director of volunteer services at 541-667-3690. BMCC sets auditions for ‘Odd Couple’ A “male” and “female” version of the popular Neil Simon comedy “The Odd Couple” will be staged by BMCC’s Col- lege Community Theatre. Auditions for the May Spray Rodeo seeks queen Tryouts for the 2017 Spray Rodeo queen will be held Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m. at the Spray Rodeo Grounds. Contestants are wel- come from throughout the region, they do not have to be Wheeler County res- idents. Those applying must be at least 15 years old and never have been mar- ried or had children. In its 70th year, the ro- deo, which is held in con- junction with the Eastern Oregon Half Marathon, is May 27-28 in Spray. For more information or to request an applica- tion, call 541-468-2442. Students traveling to Hawaii over Spring Break to perform a concert are presenting the music to local audiences Friday. Musicians from high schools in Stanfield, Ione, Irrigon and Echo will present the concert at 6:30 p.m. in the Stan- field High School cafete- ria. The event is open to the public and admission is free. For more information, contact Ione music direc- tor Bryan Bates at bryan. bates@ionesd.org. Program targets diabetes risk If you are 45 or older, are overweight, have a family history of type 2 diabetes, or had diabetes while you were pregnant, you may be at risk for pre- diabetes and type 2 diabe- tes. PreventT2, a program proven to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, is being offered at Good Shep- herd Wellness Center in Hermiston, located behind Good Shepherd Medical Center, 610 N.W. 11th St. The year-long program, led by a lifestyle coach, is free. Classes begin March 20 and run each Monday from 4-5 p.m. For more information and to sign up, contact Helena Wolfe at 541-561- 5443 or hwolfe@cape- co-works.org. stating that Umatilla was on the cusp of growth and deserved a chance to grow. His speech was met with applause from several members of the audience. Despite the conster- nation caused by Trott’s resignation, the rest of the meeting moved through typical city business with- out disruption. The coun- cil authorized Pelleberg to sign a lease renewal with the U.S. Army Corps of En- gineers for portions of the Lewis and Clark Trail, au- thorized Dedrick to sign an intergovernmental agree- ment with the Department of Energy, passed an ordi- nance officially adopting the Youth Advisory Coun- cil as a city committee and approved a contract with Portland State University graduate students who are helping Umatilla create a downtown revitalization plan as a class project. The students hosted an open house Friday at Umatilla High School from 3-7 p.m. to solicit feedback from the community on what resi- dents want Umatilla to look like. Pelleberg reported he is working with cities from the west side of the county to pursue funding for a trail along the Umatilla River stretching from the Colum- bia River to Stanfield or possibly Echo. He said he was delaying creation of a Community Development department for a month or two until he could give the council a detailed presenta- tion about his plans for the department and how duties across city departments would be reorganized. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. Local classified staff honored By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN Staff Writer The Hermiston School District honored several people on Monday who make the schools run — even though they some- times go unrecognized. The school board handed out awards to its Classified Employees of the year from all eight schools, as well as at the district level. The award winners are as follows: Hermiston High School: Lindy Thomp- son, athletics and activi- ties secretary Joyce Wright, campus monitor Armand Larive: Delia Lopez, custodian Sandstone: Shou Yun Foun, special education assistant Desert View: Serena Barker, special education assistant Highland Hills: Sharla McDonald, special edu- cation assistant Rocky Heights: Nicole Malmberg, special educa- tion assistant Sunset: Jennifer Mor- rell, special education as- sistant West Park: Gaby Cho- ra, special education as- sistant District office: Nancy Coria, home liaison. The classified staff members were honored at this week’s school board meeting, with com- mendations from each school’s principal, the school board and Super- intendent Fred Maiocco. “Our support staff are second to none,” Maioc- co said. The honors come on the heels of Classified Employee Appreciation Week, which was March 6 to 10. NEW SPRING INDOOR & OUTDOOR DECOR & FASHION ACCESSORIES! Put a smile on the heart with the power of flowers. HWY 395, HERMISTON 541-567-4305 Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am www.cottagefl owersonline.com Mom has always been so patient, but now when I ask her questions she gets angry. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Be safe! IT’S NOT LIKE HER. Photo, Left to right: Verna Taylor, HAS Ric Jones, BC-HIS Forrest Cahill, HAS 541-567-4063 • 405 N. 1st St., Suite #107, Hermiston 541-215-1888 • 246 SW Dorion, Pendleton March 4-5-6, 2016 | Spokane Fair & Expo Center | Spokane, WA Press Position March 17-18-19, 2017 Press person need- ed at East Oregonian newspaper. Our operation prints an array of weekly, bi-weekly and monthly publications. To join our team, you’ll need web press operation skills, an eye for color, mechanical ability, be a good com- municator and work well with others. Must be able to lift 50# and go up/down stairs on a regular basis. 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