WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
NEWS
The safe way to clear the medicine cabinet
Drug Takeback Day
is set for Saturday
“We’re looking to avoid drug abuse
as well as accidental overdoses
by children. To a child, one or two
opioid pills is enough to cause
death.”
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Local businesses and
police departments are
working to make a dent in
the opioid epidemic by lim-
iting its primary source —
the home medicine cabinet.
Saturday is National Pre-
scription Drug Takeback
Day, and people can get rid
of unused pills at several
locations throughout Uma-
tilla and Morrow counties.
Boardman and Pilot Rock
will set up temporary drop-
off locations, and there are
permanent disposal boxes
in the Hermiston and Pend-
leton police departments,
Hermiston’s courthouse, the
Yellowhawk Tribal Health
Center in Pendleton and
Carlson’s Drug in Umatilla.
Mike
Stensrud,
the
prescription drug over-
dose prevention coordi-
nator for Eastern Oregon,
said the temporary disposal
options are important, but
he is working to expand
permanent disposal loca-
tions around Eastern Ore-
gon as well. Right now, he
said, several larger cities in
the area do not have perma-
nent disposal boxes, includ-
Mike Stensrud
Prescription drug overdose prevention
coordinator for Eastern Oregon
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Congressman Greg Walden, center, discusses signal sidearm, a camera that activates when
officers draw their guns, with Captain Scott Clark, right, and Chief Jason Edmiston on a visit
to the Hermiston Police Department on Friday.
ing Milton-Freewater, Baker
City and Ontario.
“I’m actively seeking a
pharmacy or police depart-
ment in those locations to
take on the responsibility of
providing such an important
community resource,” Sten-
srud said in an email. “We’re
looking to avoid drug abuse
as well as accidental over-
doses by children. To a
child, one or two opioid pills
is enough to cause death.”
Stensrud said national
surveys on drug use and
health show that drug deal-
ers are not the primary
cause of opioid distribution.
According to the survey, he
said, those misusing opioids
get them from a friend or a
relative 70 percent of a time,
and a doctor 19 percent of
the time.
“A drug dealer is only
used four percent of the
time,” he said. “So, it
becomes apparent that get-
ting rid of these danger-
Former police officer picked
for Stanfield council seat
over, breaking his spine
and leaving him confined
to a wheelchair.
After the city put out a
call for city council appli-
cants, Parrish threw his
hat in the ring along with
David Clark, Scott Chal-
lis and Blaine Braithwaite.
Larsen said Parrish and
Clark were both present
at Tuesday’s city coun-
cil meeting and answered
a series of questions from
council members before a
vote was taken and Parrish
was appointed.
Parrish said after years
of working in munici-
pal law enforcement he is
curious to see the “other
side” of the equation in
sitting on the council, and
excited to have an oppor-
tunity to serve the com-
munity where he was born
and raised.
He said he liked the idea
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
The Stanfield City Coun-
cil has appointed Ralph
“Butch” Parrish to fill a
vacancy on the council.
Parrish, who is the office
manager for the Boardman
Police Department but lives
in Stanfield, will replace
councilor Pam McSpadden,
who died in February.
City manager Blair
Larsen said Parrish has a
“pretty good history with
the city” through a number
of roles, including as a for-
mer Stanfield police officer
in the 1990s.
In 1994, Parrish was
injured in the line of duty
after he stopped to help
the then-Stanfield police
chief with an arrest and
the suspect managed to
get into the front seat of
a cruiser and run Parrish
Copper wire thieves hit substations
HERMISTON HERALD
UMATILLA — Thieves
who broke into the McNary
Substation in Umatilla
stole 29 copper ground
wires, threatening both the
safety of Bonneville Power
Administration
employ-
ees and endangering the
equipment.
According to the Uma-
tilla County Sheriff’s Office,
sometime between April
13-16 thieves with knowl-
edge of the substation and
its operation cut the cyclone
security fence to get in, then
cut multiple copper cables.
The value of the cables and
the damage done is estimated
to be more than $10,000.
The station is the entry
point from McNary Dam
of being appointed to a par-
tial term to get a feel for
the job and for the town
to get an idea of whether
he fits what they are look-
ing for, before deciding
whether to run for another
term. He said he is trying to
come into the position with
a blank slate and an open
mind.
“I’m a very approach-
able person, and I consider
myself to be a fair individ-
ual,” he said.
He will be officially
sworn in during the May
1 city council meeting
and will fill out the rest of
McSpadden’s term, which
ends Dec. 31, 2020.
into the regional power grid.
A BPA employee noticed
the theft of the cables Mon-
day. Each is marked with the
words “Bonneville Power
Administration” that can
been seen when they are
unfurled.
Power transmission was
not interrupted.
Doug Dailey, BPA phys-
ical security specialist, said
this is one of four similar
thefts at substations in the
area in the past few months.
Anyone with information
about the thefts is encour-
aged to contact the sheriff’s
office at 541-966-3600.
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save lives.
“I fully expect to see that
double,” Edmiston said.
Walden said Oregon just
received another $6.5 mil-
lion from the 21st Century
Cures Act this week, which
he said will go toward fight-
ing opioid abuse in rural
areas.
He said he recently fin-
ished a series of panels
about opioid use, the most
recent focusing on families
who have lost children.
“It helps us better under-
stand what we need to try
and change, legislatively,”
he said.
Edmiston said he would
like to see pharmacies take a
more active role in stopping
over-prescription.
“They see it — they can
report it,” he said.
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ous medications properly
is imperative in beginning
to control the root of the
problem.”
But Stensrud said the
problem extends beyond
opioids, to any medication
that can be easily abused.
All medications, he said, can
be disposed of at those drop-
off locations.
Rep.
Greg
Walden
stopped in Hermiston on
Friday, to discuss opi-
oid abuse and preven-
tion in Umatilla County.
He talked with police chief
Jason Edmiston about some
of the challenges of report-
ing overdoses publicly, and
Edmiston discussed some of
the dangers for police offi-
cers, such as fentanyl — a
synthetic opioid that can be
fatal if handled.
Walden is chair of the
House Energy and Com-
merce Committee, which
is currently holding hear-
ings on the opioid crisis. He
said he hopes for a vote on a
group of bills aimed at opi-
oid abuse prevention in May.
Edmiston said in 2017
the Umatilla County Fire
Department administered 30
doses of naloxone, a drug
that reverses overdoses on
prescription painkillers, her-
oin and fentanyl, and can
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through club involvement, and personal projects. When he
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