A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
NEWS
Training program ramps up for National Guard
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Changes to the Army
National Guard are result-
ing in more days that sol-
diers are away from home
for training and deployment.
A Department of Defense
agency known as Employer
Support of the Guard
and Reserve is reaching
out to local employers to
help them understand the
changes, which mean that in
some years soldiers will be
required to train for at least
63 days instead of 39.
“Right here in Herm-
iston, it’s very important
because of the increased
tempo of training that we
have a good relationship
with employers, because
they take part of that heat
when soldiers are gone,”
said Jack Johnson, area
chairman for ESGR.
Johnson said the all-vol-
unteer ESGR helps with out-
reach to employers and has
ombudsman power to work
through
“misunderstand-
ings of the law” surrounding
EO FILE PHOTO
Oregon Army National Guard soldiers salute as the national
anthem is played during a mobilization ceremony for their
deployment to Kuwait October 3, 2015 at the Pendleton
airport.
duties to employees who are
in the National Guard or the
reserves for other military
branches.
Since the National Guard
was created in 1903, John-
son said, to replace the state-
by-state militia system, fed-
eral law said soldiers in the
Guard must train at least 39
days a year and could only
be deployed by the federal
government for war (the
governor, on the other hand,
can utilize Guard units to
respond to natural disasters).
That has usually been
accomplished with drills
one weekend a month and
for two weeks during the
summer. But in 2016 the
law was amended so that
the president could mobilize
Guard units to non-combat
situations.
In response, Johnson
said, a new “National Guard
4.0” was implemented, cre-
ating a four-year training
cycle for many units that
includes a standard 39-day
training minimum in the first
year, a 54-day minimum the
second, 60 in the third and
63 days in the fourth year,
with units also more likely
to deploy and on shorter
notice than in the past.
In practice, said local bat-
talion commander Major
J.W. Lundell, that means
a “weekend” training will
sometimes be Thursday
through Sunday instead
of Saturday and Sunday,
requiring days off work for
some soldiers. It also means
a four-week training period
in the summer, although
Lundell said they are try-
ing locally where possible to
break it up into two separate
two-week periods.
“What we’ve gotten back
(from employers) is that
they can handle an employee
being gone for a two-week
timeframe, but any more
than that is hard,” he said.
Next year, however, the
62-person Hermiston unit
will be required to spend a
30-day training period in
Fort Irwin, California.
“There’s nothing I can do
about that,” he said.
The Guard operates on a
“year” that runs from Oct.
1 to Sept. 30, so in order
to help local employers out
Lundell said he is trying to
get the next year’s training
schedule directly to local
employers of soldiers by
June or July. Hermiston-area
employers of soldiers —
who range from Auto Zone
to Subway to the Hermiston
School District — will also
have opportunities to visit
the base in Idaho by helicop-
ter while their employees
are training there in order to
have a better understanding
of what they do.
Jerry Carlson, the Herm-
iston-based military out-
reach coordinator for ESGR,
said soldiers are also being
encouraged to nominate their
employers for ESGR-spon-
sored awards for being sup-
portive of their service in the
National Guard or other mil-
itary reserves.
Last week no employers
showed up for an informa-
tional meeting at the Herm-
iston armory, but Carlson
said it was too far for some
employers, who live as far
away as Portland and the
Tri-Cities, and noted that his
one-on-one conversations
with employers have gone
well.
Carlson, Lundell and
Johnson said while there are
cases for the ESGR to medi-
ate on the east side of the
state, it was very rare for an
Eastern Oregon employer
to be anything but highly
supportive of their employ-
ees who have to leave for
days, weeks or even months
at a time for trainings and
deployments. In some cases,
Johnson said, employers
even go the extra mile by
doing things like continu-
ing health insurance for the
soldier’s family while they
are on a lengthy deployment
overseas.
“You would be surprised
by how supportive many of
them are,” he said.
County paying $43,000 for election WORSHIP
COMMUNITY
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Ballots, envelopes and
mailing for Tuesday’s elec-
tion cost Umatilla County
almost $43,000. That money
was split between payments
to private businesses and the
United States Postal Service.
The
county
owes:
$17,379 to Ryder Election
Services, Bend, for printing
53,557 ballots for the elec-
tion; $5,521 to BMS Tech-
nologies, Bend, for printing,
filling and delivering enve-
lopes for the election; and
$20,000 to the United States
Postal Service.
The elections division
used to handle this work
in-house, said Dan Lonai,
administrative
services
director for the county.
“And no matter what,
I always ended up with
errors,” he said, “... stuffing
errors, human errors. That
was a big part of it. We want
to make sure the right ballots
are stuffed in.”
Even a 1 percent error rate
with 30,000 ballots means
there can be 300 errors. And
the state’s motor voter reg-
istration law boosted the
county’s voter total to more
than 40,000. As of April, the
county had 42,519 voters,
about 2,400 more than the
same time last year.
All told, the county owes
$42,901. That includes
$5,570 to Elections Sys-
tems & Software, Chicago,
for maintenance of the bal-
lot reader.
The costs are in the coun-
ty’s 2017-18 budget and are
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
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Mail-in ballots wait to be counted at the Umatilla County Courthouse on May 9, 2018.
about the same as what the
county allocated for a part-
time surveyor or improve-
ments to the Stafford
Hansell Government Cen-
ter, Hermiston. The county
board of commissioners
plans to approve the pay-
ments during its meeting
Wednesday morning start-
ing at 9 at the county court-
house, 216 S.E. Fourth St.,
Pendleton.
It wasn’t just a concern
for accuracy that caused the
county to outsource the work
— the election costs began
mounting for the county a
few years back.
First the Postal Service
stopped using Pendleton as
a distribution center, which
for a long time allowed the
county to receive a discount.
“If I want to drive my
ballots down to Portland, I
can get still get a good dis-
count,” Lonai quipped.
And the county no lon-
ger has its own print shop.
So the county pays Ryder
Election to handle the pre-
cise printing on card stock
that ballots require. Lonai
said Ryder also services the
county’s election machines.
Ryder also is “right next
door to Bend Mail Ser-
vices,” he said, which prints
the envelopes and makes
sure the right ballots go
inside.
“That’s still a bit more
than in-house,” Lonai said,
“but everybody gets the
right ballot.”
Well, almost everybody.
Some voters move and don’t
update their registration, he
said, and the ballot goes to
the address the county has.
That’s most common when
someone moves out of a
family home, he said.
The county in those cases
can mail a second ballot.
Lonai explained serial num-
bers on the envelopes allow
the county to keep track and
make sure someone does not
vote twice. He said keeping
this all under the county’s
roof would be nice, but East-
ern Oregon lacks the volume
to make that work.
Grand Alaskan
First Christian
Church
“Proclaiming the Message of
Hope, Living the Gospel of Love”
Sunday School 9:15am
Worship Gathering 10:30 am
Children’s Church 10:30 am
567-3013
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
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
Departs Aug - Sept 2018
SUMMER CAMP
Inviting all female high school
students age 15-18
AUG. 5-11, 2018
KLAMATH FALLS, OR
OIT.EDU/GIRLS-STEM
2018 POLK
2018
POLK COUNTY
COUNTY
BAZAAR
Friday & Saturday
May 18 & 19 • 9 am - 4 pm
• Handmade Crafts • Home Decor
• Private and Commercial Vendors
12 days from
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Episcopal
Church
Promo code N7017
1,399
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1-766-771-0353
Join Us On Our Journey With Jesus.
EOU
IS
EOU officially breaks ground CONNECTED
on the Stadium-Track Project
POLK COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS & WVWNT CWNTWR
520 S. PACIFIC HWY W. RICKRWALL, OR 97371
Gift s for Graduates
Candy Bar Bouquets
Balloons • Gift s & more!
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
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
t. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
ll.
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”
at a special ceremony on
Saturday, May 5
Travelin Taphouse will have wine, beer & cider
• Free Admission • Free Parking • Food Available Onsite
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Prices are per person, double occupancy and exclude taxes & government fees of $ 299. Prices shown are after 2for1 offer is applied. Cruise prices based on Inside Cabin. Free onboard credit with Ocean
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Great things
are
happening!
Campus librarian Shirley Roberts earns
Distinguished Service Award from the Oregon
Library Association
Senior hurdler Matt Kirkendall broke a
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
NEW BEGINNINGS
2 FOR 1
SAVINGS
Cruise & Tour
The Full Gospel
Home Church
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
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
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
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
855 W. Highland • Hermiston
55-year-old school record in the 110-meter
hurdles
For more information visit
eou.edu/connected
To share your
worship times call
541-278-2678