A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
LOCAL NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017
Local woman cleans up one bag at a time
Ainsworth picks up
litter every day on
her morning walks
By JADE MCDOWELL
EAST OREGONIAN
Every morning after she
drops her son off at kinder-
garten, Miranda Ainsworth
laces up her waterproof
walking shoes and gets to
work, cleaning up after
Hermiston’s litterbugs.
On Wednesday she was
wading through waist-deep
grass alongside Highway
207 on the south edge
of town, using a plastic
trash-grabbing claw to pull
empty beer cans and plastic
bags from the weeds. So
far this month, Ainsworth
said she has picked up 23
kitchen-sized garbage bags
full of trash. Last month she
filled 49 bags.
Ainsworth isn’t paid for
her work, and her commu-
nity service isn’t court-or-
dered. She’s just an average
citizen who decided that she
could be putting her morn-
ing walks to better use.
“I try and do my part to
help around the communi-
ty,” she said.
Ainsworth said she start-
ed a few years ago in Kent,
Washington, before con-
tinuing the practice when
she moved to Hermiston
in February. She said she
has always noticed litter in
parks and along roadways,
and it bothers her.
“It speaks a lot about the
community,” she said.
First she started bringing
along the plastic grocery
bags so she could grab a
few things along the way,
but after she ran out of
grocery bags she switched
to larger garbage bags and
started getting more serious
about planning her walks
around areas of town that
have litter problems. Bev-
erage containers, cigarette
packs and paper are the
most common items, but
sometimes she makes more
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
Miranda Ainsworth picks up trash along Highway 207.
interesting finds, particular-
ly along the railroad tracks.
“I found part of a TV. I
found a vacuum cleaner,”
she said. “It was tossed
along the roadside and had
a lot of dirt on it.”
Once she found a collec-
tion of used needles and let
the police department know
so that they could be dis-
posed of safely.
She said there are areas
with high-speed traffic that
BMCC enrollment up 11 percent
BMCC recruiters go
full throttle
By KATHY ANEY
STAFF WRITER
Last year, J.J. Hill drove
about 10,000 miles from
high school to high school
in his ride — a silver Sub-
aru Crosstrek emblazoned
with the Blue Mountain
Community College logo.
Last week, the BMCC
recruiter chatted with 25
Echo High School seniors
about college.
“We’re going to do a lit-
tle word association,” Hill
told the students. “When I
say ‘community college,’
what’s the first word that
comes into your head?’”
Words flowed back to
Hill: small, cheap, more af-
fordable, future, cost.
Hill flung out another
phrase — four-year college
— and got another stream
of words: big, scary, expen-
sive, huge, money, dorms
and debt.
He segued into a discus-
sion of why small can be
good. BMCC has an av-
erage class size of 15, he
said, quite different from
four-year institutions where
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
BMCC recruiter J.J. Hill speaks to a classroom of senior high
school students on Wednesday in Echo.
freshmen often find large
lecture halls and little or
no one-on-one time with
instructors. Students asked
about programs, financial
aid and how to find schol-
arships.
What Hill is doing seems
to be working.
BMCC reported enroll-
ment of 11 percent more
students compared with last
fall term — while the na-
tion’s community colleges
are collectively experienc-
ing a downward trend. Lane
Community College in Eu-
gene, for example, experi-
enced a 6.5 percent decline
compared with last fall
according to an article in
“The Torch,” the college’s
media organization. East-
ern Oregon University’s en-
rollment is also down this
year. The BMCC number,
which is 2,766 students, up
from 2,491 in 2016, is just
a snapshot, a moment in
time, but administrators are
ecstatic. BMCC Vice-Presi-
dent of Student Affairs Di-
ane Drebin said the Pendle-
ton college has managed to
buck a trend.
“It is unusual to see a rise
in enrollment when it isn’t
associated with a decline in
the economy,” Drebin said.
BMCC President Ca-
mille Preus credits a switch
in recruitment strategy that
began three years ago. It
didn’t — “Shazam” — just
happen, she said.
The college got inten-
tional about face time with
potential students and out-
reach is at full-throttle. Hill
treks to each high school
in BMCC’s 18,000-square-
mile district at least twice a
year.
The other full-time re-
cruitment person, program
assistant (and BMCC grad-
uate) Abby Pierson, focuses
on younger students. Pier-
son engaged several dozen
Hermiston middle school
students during a recent
campus tour. She explained
federal aid, the cost of at-
tending college and the re-
lationship between educa-
tion and future earnings. A
list of all 70 BMCC degrees
and certificate programs
flashed onto a screen. Pier-
son sped up, slowed down,
changed gears and pulled
them along. Afterwards, the
students toured campus. By
the time they climbed back
on the bus, they could imag-
ine themselves at BMCC.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 941-966-0810.
she feels more comfortable
cleaning up now that her
son is in school and not ac-
companying her on walks.
She tries to be careful by
walking toward traffic
along roadways with larger
WORSHIP
COMMUNITY
Grace Baptist Church
555 SW 11th, Hermiston
567-9497
Nursery provided for all services
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:45 AM
6:00 PM
Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM
“Proclaiming God’s word, growing in God’s grace”
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic Church
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday
...............................English 7:00 am
Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm
SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm
...............................Spanish 7:00 pm
SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am
..........................Bilingual 11:00 am
..............................Spanish 1:00 pm
Offi ce..............................567-5812
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Gas plant devaluation hits school budgets
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
The Oregon Department
of Revenue knocked $54
million off the assessed
value of the Hermiston
Generating Company.
The devaluation means
a drop in local property tax
revenue of $934,672 for
2017-18, with education
taking the brunt of the loss.
Linda Blacklock with
the revenue department’s
valuation section said strict
confidentiality laws prohibit
revealing what led to the
downgrade at the natural
gas plant. The Hermiston
Generating Co., 78145
Westland Road, Hermiston,
had a real market value
of $180 million and an
assessed value of nearly
$155 million for 2016-17.
Blacklock said the plant’s
real and assessed values
for 2017-18 are each $100
million.
Umatilla
County
mailed tax bills this week.
The power company’s
new values show up on
its latest tax statement.
Paul Chalmers, director
of
county
assessment
and taxation, said the
devaluation amounts to
about 1 percent of the
county’s total assessed
value.
And the state would not
tell him why Hermiston
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The Hermiston Generating Co. power plant on Westland Road
had its assessed value lowered by $54 million by the Oregon
Department of Revenue.
Generating’s value fell, he
added.
County tax records show
Hermiston Generating paid
more than $2.43 million in
property taxes for 2016-
17, with $900,000 of that
for education: $89,877
for the InterMountain
Education Service District;
$96,520 for Blue Mountain
Community College; and
$713,602 for the Hermiston
School District.
The decrease in the
company’s assessed value
dropped the portion for the
school district to almost
$400,000, BMCC’s to
about $54,000 and the
service district’s to roughly
$50,000.
Tricia
Mooney,
Hermiston schools interim
superintendent, said the
district planned for growth
at about 3 percent, but
that’s now down to around
1.9 percent. She said the
district will have to address
the situation going forward,
and it’s too early to say
what might result from the
revenue decline.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
STOREWIDE SALE 20% OFF
shoulders, which reduces
the chance of being hit by
a car. Sometimes she gets
dirty looks, she said, from
people who see her in grub-
by clothes carrying garbage
bags and don’t seem to re-
alize what she is doing. But
other times people take the
time to ask her what she’s
doing, and respond with en-
thusiastic thanks when she
explains.
Ainsworth said some-
times she gets busy and
only goes out two or three
times in a week, but for the
most part she is out there
five mornings a week pick-
ing up trash for at least an
hour. She is looking for a
part-time job, which may
cut into her walking time,
but for now she hopes her
habit inspires others to take
better care of their commu-
nity.
“When people see some-
thing clean, they generally
try and keep it clean, but if
it’s already dirty they think,
‘Oh, it doesn’t matter,’” she
said.
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
855 W. Highland • Hermiston
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
t. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
First United
Methodist
Church
Hermiston
191 E. Gladys Ave , Hermiston OR
Sunday Worship 11am • 541-567-3002
Nursery available Check us out on Face Book
Worship Livestream at herfumc.com
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Rev. Dr. Jim Pierce, pastor
LANDMARK BAPTIST
CHURCH
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
Pastor David Dever
Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am
Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am
Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm
Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm
www.hermistonlmbc.com
The Full Gospel
Home Church
235 SW 3rd
Phone 567-7678
Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker
Sunday:
Sunday School........10:00 am
Worship...................11:00 am
Evening Service........7:00 pm
Wednesday Service..7:00 pm
“Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.”
1 Pet. 5:7
First Christian
Church
“Proclaiming the Message of
Hope, Living the Gospel of Love”
1255 Hwy. 395 S. • 567-5834
oasisvineyard.us
Sunday School 9:15am
Worship Gathering 10:30 am
Children’s Church 10:30 am
Worship 10:00 AM
567-3013
“come as you are”
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
NEW BEGINNINGS
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
Pastor J.C. Barnett
Children’s Church &
Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
P.O. Box 933
Hermiston, Oregon
541-567-8441
Echo
Community Church
21 N. Bonanza Street, Echo OR
Phone: (541) 376-8108
Sunday School • 9:30am
Worship • 10:45am
Children’s Church • 11:15am
Potluck & Communion ~
First Sunday of the Month
*not on consignment & Chocolate*
November 1st thru 22nd • 2017
Monday – Saturday: 10 AM - 5:30 PM
SHOP EARLY FOR THE HOLIDAY
SUNSHINE GOURMET SHOPPE
29 Southeast Dorian • Pendleton OR 97801 • 541-276-4974
Purveyors of fine products and foods
1520 W ORCHARD AVE
Sunday Worship Service
10:30 am Classes for Kids @ 9:15 am
SEEKING JESUS, SHARING LIFE,
SERVING PEOPLE
www.hermistonnazarene.org
To share your
worship times
call
541-278-2678