A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017
FROM A1
BY THE WAY
BTW
Continued from Page A1
Westland Road campus
is expected to be finished
sometime in the spring.
• • •
Hurricanes that hit
Texas, Florida and Puerto
Rico earlier this year are
having a ripple effect on
Hermiston as work to
rebuild power grids dam-
aged by the storms causes
a shortage in electrical
supplies.
Hermiston Energy Ser-
vices superintendent Nate
Rivera told the city coun-
cil Monday that the new
decorative light poles the
city had hoped to install
downtown before Christ-
mas would not come on
time, and work on the new
Umatilla Electric Coop-
erative substation on
10th Street had also been
affected. The substation
should come online next
month.
• • •
Free hot dogs and
soda will be on tap at a
grand opening celebration
planned Saturday for the
new Sinclair Oil in Herm-
iston, along with give-
aways such as a 55-inch
TV.
Formerly a 76 gas sta-
tion, the business at 710
W. Hermiston Ave. made
the switchover to a Sin-
clair last month. Store
manager Linda Lan-
caster invites the pub-
lic to stop by the gas sta-
tion and Dino Mart from
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, call
541-567-0202.
• • •
The American Red
Cross community blood
drive held Oct. 16 at Good
Shepherd Medical Cen-
ter drew 52 donors and
collected a total of 49
TODDLER
Continued from Page A1
against adults connected to
the incident.
“It goes without saying
that this is an incredibly
horrible incident for the
involved family, and the
officers who responded, the
medical professionals who
treated the child, and the
community as a whole,”
the department stated. “If
you own firearms, we urge
you to store them in a safe
units. Volunteer Patti Per-
kins expressed appreci-
ation to the Hermiston
Emblem Club for run-
ning the canteen. The next
drive is Monday, Nov. 20
from 12:30-6 p.m., also at
Good Shepherd, 610 N.W.
11th St. Perkins said walk-
ins are welcome, but it’s
helpful if donors schedule
an appointment by calling
800-448-3543. For more
information, contact Per-
kins at pzperchek@char-
ter.net or 541-571-5372.
• • •
Among those cash-
ing in during the 14th
annual Wildhorse Resort
& Casino Fall Poker
Round-Up was Hermis-
ton resident Phillip Fer-
guson. He placed second,
receiving a $5,941 payout
during the Sunday, Nov.
5 No-Limit Shoot Out.
Other local finishers, the
event and their payouts
included: No-Limit Hold
‘em Nov. 3: Emmanuel
Ayala (34) of Hermiston,
$475; No-Limit Hold ‘em
Nov. 4: Denny Edwards
(6) of Hermiston, $3,938,
and Nov. 10 (21) with
$850; and Temo Cal-
deron (33) of Boardman,
$725; No-Limit Shoot Out
Nov. 5: Jimmy Schlen-
ker (17) of Hermiston,
$700; Turbo No-Limit
Hold ‘em Nov. 11: Sergio
Perez (9) of Hermiston,
$487; Chanty Pin (10) of
Hermiston, $325. Vying
for more than $863,000 in
payouts, the tournament
drew nearly 3,900 par-
ticipants from across the
United States and Canada.
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manner to prevent unau-
thorized access.”
Centers for Disease
Control estimated 77 chil-
dren died from acciden-
tal gun discharges in 2015,
but the Associated Press
counted 141 cases that year
reported in the media.
Gun locks are available
for free at the Hermiston
Police Department. The
Project Childsafe cable
locks, which look similar
to a bike lock and come
with two small keys, keep
the gun from being fired.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston firefighter/paramedic Carry Munro, right, gives a chemical weapons incident training on Tuesday at the main
station in Hermiston.
UCFD
Continued from Page A1
partner up with community
health workers and visit the
homes of people who have
chronic illnesses or who
have just been released from
the hospital. The goal of the
program is to help people
manage their health issues to
prevent unnecessary return
trips to the hospital, thereby
reducing the strain on para-
medics and ambulances.
Stanton said the grant-
funded program has been a
positive for the community
so far.
“We’re seeing some
amazing work being done
with the paramedics in con-
junction with the ConneX-
ions program,” he said.
The third major change,
Stanton said, has been the
building of the drill tower at
the district’s Station 23 on
Westland Road. The four-
story tower, which was just
completed, will be used by
UCFD, and was built in con-
junction with Blue Mountain
Community College for the
school’s Fire Science Pro-
gram. But Stanton said the
facility will be a resource for
fire districts and programs
throughout Eastern Oregon.
“We’re already in talks
with County Search and
Rescue about starting a rope
rescue team,” he said. “As a
regional concept, versus just
us doing it.”
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College and UCFD will
host a grand opening for the
new fire training tower at
noon on Monday, Nov. 20 at
the station, at 78760 West-
land Road.
The district’s first pri-
ority, Stanton said, is mak-
ing some capital improve-
ments to the district, such as
replacing new engines and
updating fire equipment.
They also hope to secure
a grant for a new app called
“Pulse Point,” which civil-
ians trained in CPR can use
to alert them if someone
nearby has an emergency.
They can then administer
CPR before medics arrive,
potentially saving the per-
son’s life.
“Say you’re in Wal-Mart,
when a cardiac arrest goes
out through the dispatch
system,” Stanton said. “It
comes up over the phone
that the person is in aisle 16.
You might be in aisle 10, and
can initiate CPR.”
Stanton said as the dis-
trict progresses, they’d like
to work on getting sustain-
able funding for the commu-
nity paramedic program and
to recruit more volunteer
firefighters.
“That’s an issue across
the state, and across the
nation,” he said. “It’s not
new, but it is an ongoing
problem.”
The bond, which was
designed to consolidate and
improve fire and emergency
medical services for the
area, passed by about 61 per-
cent, with voters approving
three separate measures —
one each to dissolve Herm-
iston and Stanfield’s fire dis-
tricts, and a third to form the
new district and establish its
funding.
The district cost Hermis-
ton and Stanfield residents
an additional $1.75 per
$1,000 of assessed value,
and was projected at elec-
tion time to bring in about
$900,000.
Insurance sign-up
period cut in half
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Local insurance agents
will be hard-pressed to
keep up with demand for
their services this year
after the federal govern-
ment shortened the enroll-
ment period for the health
insurance exchanges.
“It’s fast and furious,”
said Doug Beamer, a part-
ner at Wheatland Financial
Services in Pendleton.
The enrollment period
for people to sign up or
switch insurance plans
runs from Nov. 1 to Dec.
15. Last year it ran twice as
long, through Jan. 31. The
deadline applies to any-
one who buys their health
insurance through the
insurance marketplace set
up by the Affordable Care
Act.
Computer-savvy Amer-
icans can log in to health-
care.gov and shop for and
enroll in plans on their own.
But many people prefer to
consult with an insurance
agent before making the
decision. Tania Mulcare,
an insurance agent with
the ISU Stratton Agency in
Hermiston, said people can
help keep their appoint-
ments short by being pre-
pared. That means creating
a username and password
for healthcare.gov before
arriving, or making sure
you remember your login
information from last year.
She said people should
also bring in any letters
they’ve received about
their health insurance,
plus social security num-
bers and financial infor-
mation about each member
of the household needing
insurance.
“Time is valuable, so
anything they can do to be
prepared helps,” she said.
A majority of Ameri-
cans receive their health
insurance through their
employer or the govern-
ment. The rest — includ-
ing those self-employed —
can sign up for plans via
the ACA health exchange.
In most cases, depend-
ing on income level, peo-
ple who sign up for health
insurance via the exchange
can qualify for tax credits
to help cover some of their
premium costs.
The enrollment period
open now is the only time
they can sign up for a new
plan or change to a differ-
ent plan for 2018 unless
they have a “qualifying life
event” during the year such
as marriage or moving to a
new state.
For those who want
help navigating the sys-
tem, a list of licensed
health insurance agents
in the area can be found
online at oregonhealthcare.
gov/gethelp. The website
also lists community part-
ners who will assist in the
sign-up process for free.
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