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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2018)
A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM NEWS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 Delay keeps De La Paz in jail for now By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL. This half acre of property on Beech Avenue in Hermiston is being transformed into Greenwood Park. Hermiston transforming park, building new trail By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER Hermiston’s smallest park is getting a makeover. Most people don’t even know the half-acre on Beech Avenue exists, but the kids who grew up in that neigh- borhood have used it as a gathering place for decades. Now the park has been stripped down to bare dirt and is being rebuilt with input from the neighbors. The park holds a spe- cial place in Jackie Lin- ton’s heart. Her grandfather, Greenwood Luster, lived across the street and spear- headed the park’s original creation in the 1970s. Now Linton lives in her grandfa- ther’s old house and takes her own grandchildren to play there. The park, which was informally known as the “northside playground” before, is being re-named Greenwood Park after her late grandfather — a man she said absolutely loved Herm- iston and always worked to make it better. “I’m very excited about it,” she said. “I’m glad to see it’s progressing.” Linton was involved in helping re-design the park a couple of years ago, and as delays cropped up she con- tinued to attend city coun- cil meetings to press for updates. She said she is grateful the city is working to make “our little neighbor- hood park more livable” and is excited to start taking her grandchildren again once construction is finished later this fall. Parks and recreation director Larry Fetter said the old park was run down and had some design issues such as the swings being closer to the chain-link fence Jason Barron than insurance companies recommend. “None of it met the mod- ern safety standards we have today, so it was easiest to strip it down and start over,” he said. Cities and schools have mostly done away with merry-go-rounds, but Fet- ter said neighbors were ada- mant about still having one so he was able to locate a new, safer model. The bath- room, which hasn’t worked for years, is being removed, and a new play structure, wrought iron fence, wall, shade structure and swings will be added. High school students from the home- building program will assist in creating the wall. “We really wanted to dress it up and give that neighborhood something to be proud of,” Fetter said. He said the basketball court is being removed, because in the past basket- balls were constantly fly- ing into the playground area or over the fence as teens played there. But Fetter is searching for a location to build a new court in the neighborhood. West Highland Trail Greenwood Park isn’t the only new parks and recre- ation project in Hermiston. Construction is also under- way on the West Highland WE HEAR YOU! Trail, which will connect Riverfront Park with Steel- head Park and lead up from both parks to Southwest 11th Street. The pedestrian/bicy- cle trail will run parallel to Highland Avenue from 11th Street to the bridge that cuts over the more devel- oped Riverfront Park and the wilder Steelhead Park along the Umatilla River. The city recently acquired Steelhead Park from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, in part so that it could run the trail under the bridge instead of having pedestrians try to cross the road. The underside of the bridge has been a magnet for graffiti and other mis- behavior, so Fetter said the city hopes that once a well- used trail runs through there it will put a stop to that. When the West Highland Trail is complete it will allow users to make one large loop using Riverfront Park, the West Highland Trail, 11th Street and the Oxbow Trail that runs from the park to the hospital. City planner Clint Spen- cer, who is supervising the project, said it is on sched- ule to be complete Nov. 1. New parks manager While Fetter remains the head of the entire parks and recreation department, the city recently created a new parks manager position to oversee day to day main- tenance. That position has gone to Jason Barron, who previously served as the city of Umatilla’s public works director. Barron graduated from Hermiston High School, where he met his wife, in 1990. He spent time work- ing at his father’s asphalt company before working 17 years for the city of Uma- tilla, including positions in parks, streets and water. He told the Hermis- ton City Council on Mon- day that he appreciated the opportunity to serve as Umatilla’s public works director for over a year but he liked the idea of returning to a more hands-on job. “I like to be in the field,” he said. He will work with two other full-time employees and 10 seasonal summer employees on maintaining the city’s green space, leav- ing Fetter free to work on more broad projects such as a parks master plan and a feasibility study for an indoor aquatic center. Fetter said Barron did great his first week on the job starting the Greenwood Park renovation. “Jason is a really good fit for us,” he said. “He jumped right in.” Attempted murder defendant Silvestre San- guino De La Paz of Herm- iston has to wait until next week for a jail release hearing. De La Paz, 23, has been in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, since his arrest on Sept. 4. He appeared Monday after- noon via video in the Pend- leton courtroom of Cir- cuit Judge Jon Lieuallen for a release hearing. But defense attorney Michael Breiling of Pendleton told the court he received reports and other informa- tion about the case earlier in the day and had yet to talk to De La Paz. “A number of things that were alleged frankly don’t add up,” Breiling said, and he needed time to thoroughly review the information. Still, the lawyer said, De La Paz was the one in WORSHIP COMMUNITY 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 LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH 125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232 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 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 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 First Christian Church “Proclaiming the Message of Hope, Living the Gospel of Love” Sunday School 9:15am Worship Service 10:30am 567-3013 775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston Renata Anderson, MA Pam Wagenaar, Administrative Assistant LOCAL, INDEPENDENT AUDIOLOGIST Working within the community of Pendleton, our clinic provides a variety of hearing healthcare services including hearing assessments and rehabilitation, education, and counseling. SERVICE YOU CAN RELY ON! You can trust Renata to provide a complete hearing evaluation and a professional diagnosis of your specifi c hearing loss. Call for an appointment with Renata today and start hearing what you’ve been missing. 2237 SW Court, Pendleton 541-276-5053 • www.renataanderson.com jail and his mother and other relatives were pres- ent and ready to testify. De La Paz told Breiling to do what he thought was best. With that, the court reset the release hearing for Monday, Oct. 1, at 2 p.m. The court also pushed back a hearing to consider a civil restraining order against De La Paz to Oct. 16. Breiling said that had to do with the custody of a child. Hermiston police arrested De La Paz fol- lowing an investigation into an attack of a 20-year- old woman. Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmis- ton described the attack as “vicious” and reported a 2-year-old child was present. De La Paz has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, sec- ond-degree assault, sec- ond-degree kidnapping, unlawful use of a weapon, strangulation, coercion and menacing. 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 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” 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. Seventh-day Adventist Church Saturdays Sabbath School........9:30 a.m. Worship Service......11:00 a.m. English & Spanish Services 567-8241 Hermiston Jr. Academy 1300 NW Academy Lane, • Hermiston To share your worship times call 541-278-2678
