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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Good Shepherd plans to acquire Gifford Medical HERMISTON HERALD STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY The 2017 Hermiston High School graduating class listens to a speaker during Saturday’s commencement ceremony. Hermiston looks at new venues for graduation By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER Hermiston High School this year boasted a record number of graduates — but with that came unprece- dented crowds filling the gym, auditorium and com- mons to watch those stu- dents walk across the stage. In the coming months, the Hermiston School Dis- trict will look at options to better accommodate those crowds, which will likely keep growing. The district is examining three new venues in which graduation could be held: the school’s Bulldog Stadium at Ken- nison Field, the rodeo grounds at the new Eastern Oregon Trade and Events Center, and the Toyota Cen- ter in Kennewick. Hermiston superinten- dent Dr. Fred Maiocco said the district would bring the issue before the school board this fall. “The challenge is that our crowds are growing, and we can only accom- modate the same number of people. This year we allowed each student to have five tickets for fami- ly members, and last year it was six. I anticipate it would go down to four next year, and that’s just too few.” Maiocco said this year about 300 people watched the graduation on a screen in the auditorium, and more overflowed into the school commons. There were 1,800 in the gym, not including the students and staff on the floor. This year’s graduating class of 332 students came from a school population of about 1,600. Of the three options the district is exploring, Maiocco said there are some challenges with each. “We’re taking another look at the Bulldog stadi- um, Kennison Field,” he said. But he noted several disadvantages to using that facility, including the lack of air conditioning, and the distance between the crowd and graduates. “And it only provides a couple hundred more seats,” he said. The EOTEC rodeo grounds are another option, Maiocco said, that would not address the problem of outdoor heat. “Unfortunately the EO- TEC building is not big enough,” he said. With nothing in the re- gion on the Oregon side large enough to hold such large crowds, the district has also begun looking across the river. Holding graduation at the Toyo- ta Center would be a ma- jor change, but mitigates some of the issues the dis- Hermiston signal project delayed HERMISTON HERALD One of Hermiston’s main infrastructure projects has been delayed after it received no bids from contractors. The project, which planned to put a traffic signal at Highway 207 and West Elm Avenue and another at West 11th Street and Or- chard Avenue, will likely be delayed at least six months according to Mark Morgan, assistant city manager. “We don’t have a plan nailed down,” Morgan said. “But we will probably re-bid in the fall once construction season is over.” Morgan said the city had hoped to start construction this fall, but now will likely not get to bid again until that time. “It’s not a minor project,” he said. “Really, the environ- ment we’re in now is that construction folks are just so busy.” The projects at those two intersections included a left- turn lane on Highway 207 into Good Shepherd Medical Center. The cost for the traffic signals is about $1.6 mil- lion, with funds provided by an Oregon Department of Transportation grant, Good Shepherd Healthcare system and the city of Hermiston. Committee looking at franchise fee increase By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER As the Oregon legisla- ture looks to raise revenue for transportation projects, the city of Hermiston is working on a plan of its own. The city’s public infra- structure committee has been working to put togeth- er a comprehensive capi- tal improvement plan, and recently moved on to the street department portion of the project. That could include a plan to raise franchise fees on providers of electricity, natural gas, cable and tele- communications. “Before we start to de- velop what that plan looks like, we really need to have an idea of what the resourc- es are going to be,” assis- tant city manager Mark Morgan said. In a 12-page memo to the committee, Mor- gan recently laid out the city’s main options for raising money for street projects: increasing fran- chise fees to 7 percent, add- ing a $5 surcharge to utility bills or adopting a 5 cent gas tax. Outside of the city’s control, but also a possi- ble revenue stream, is the major transportation pack- age the legislature is hop- ing to pass before the end of their 2017 session. If the bill passes as current- ly written the city would receive additional street maintenance revenue from the state’s plan to raise the gas tax by 14 cents per gallon, in addition to fund- ing a multi-million dollar overhaul of First Place that would include traffic signals at its intersections with Highland Avenue and Orchard Avenue. Other street projects the city’s public infrastructure committee is looking at list- ing in the capital improve- ment plan include paving roads like East Theater Lane, overlays on various worn-out streets and ex- tending Gettman Road to Highway 395 so that it can be used as another major east-west corridor through town. Concealed Carry Permit Classes J UNE 22 ND • 1:00 & 6:00 PM Best Western 2255 Highway 395 South. Hermiston, OR Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State permit. Class includes: • Fingerprinting & photo • Oregon gun laws • Washington gun laws • Interstate travel laws • Interaction with law enforcement • Use of deadly force • Firearm / ammunition / holster selection 360.921.2071 Multi-state: $80 or Oregon only: $45.00 FirearmTrainingNW.com : FirearmrainingNW@gmail.com trict is looking to address. Maiocco said this year, the district sent a team up to review a graduation at the Toyota Center, and felt it may be a good option for Hermiston. “The basic rental would be less than $10,000 to rent a facility,” Maiocco said. “But that’s not the only cost. We’d look at trans- portation, all logistics.” But he added that Herm- iston already spends about $10,000 on graduation, even at its own facility. Maiocco said the dis- trict is currently analyzing its options. “We’ll certainly take public input, and provide all kids of opportunities for that,” he said. “But ulti- mately, it’s a school board decision.” Maiocco said the dis- trict aims to find a solution to its graduation issues for the upcoming school year. One of Hermiston’s largest employers will get even larger as Good Shepherd Medical Center will assume ownership of Gifford Medical on July 1. Gifford Medical, which is located across from Good Shepherd on West Elm Avenue, will retain its name and current services. Dr. Joseph Gifford will continue to see patients, but on a part-time basis. The other three doctors at the facility will also con- tinue to work there. Gifford has been a doc- tor since 1974 and has been practicing in Herm- iston since 1990. When he started the practice, he was the only doctor there. Lisa Gifford, Dr. Gif- ford’s wife and the com- pany’s spokesperson, said the hospital plans to retain all the company’s employ- ees. “It happened pretty fast,” said Gifford. “We decided to sell because we’re wanting to retire.” Gifford said she hopes the change will be good for the practice and for pa- tients. “We hope it will even- tually grow it and allow it to expand hours,” she said. A representative for Good Shepherd could not be reached by press time. Gifford Medical currently provides urgent care as well as private practice. HSD hires new operations director HERMISTON HERALD The Hermiston School District has hired Brad Wayland as its new direc- tor of operations. Wayland will start the job July 15, pending ap- proval from the school board, replacing outgoing director Mike Kay. Kay is retiring from the district June 30. Wayland has a back- ground in operations man- agement. He is currently the president of his own company, Sentry Securi- ty Consultants in Haw- thorne, Nevada. Among other jobs, he has served as the director of facilities and operations for Cen- tral Valley School District outside Spokane, Wash- ington. Wayland is also a retired Air Force lieutenant and has a Masters of Science in Management Science from Ohio University, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy. “Mr. Wayland will be a great addition to the ad- ministrative team,” said Tricia Mooney, assistant superintendent of human resources. “He brings a wealth of knowledge in many areas.” ؏ EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ؏ Administrative Assistant Great work environment. Super awesome team. Good pay. Excellent health insurance. Retirement plan. Weekends off . Interested? We are looking for a motivated, self-confi dent individual to join our inside sales team at East Oregonian in Pendleton. We have an opening for an administrative assistant position. No newspaper experience? 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