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
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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