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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2019)
FROM A1 A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAy, JANuARy 9, 2019 Contributed photo Lacey Wallis, Hermiston Community Bank branch manager, presents a check from its annual holiday Charity Drive to Kriss Dammeyer, director of Made to Thrive. BTW Continued from Page A1 HH file photo Electrical equipment at a substation near the Umatilla Electric Cooperative office on West Elm Avenue help supply power to Umatilla Electric and Hermiston Energy Service. AHEAD Continued from Page A1 The line, 5 miles long and 115 kilovolts, is in the final stages of planning and per- mitting. Meyers said the line will provide service to residential customers in Hermiston, Stanfield and Umatilla. Meyers said this line is in response to a 30 percent increase in cus- tomer demand for residen- tial power over the last two decades. Meyers said the com- pany is also constructing a new substation in Morrow County, south of Home- stead Road. Called the Ore- gon Trail Substation, the new facility will serve irri- gation and farming activi- ties in the area. Both those projects are part of a nearly $65 mil- lion plan for the next bien- nium, Meyers said, which includes other projects in the region as well. Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Commerce It is inevitable that 2019 will be a year of change for the Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is cur- rently searching for a new chief executive officer after former chamber director Debbie Pedro, who served in the position for 10 years, resigned in December. Chamber board presi- dent Paul Keeler said parts of the chamber’s path will be charted by the incom- ing director, who will bring a “fresh perspective” to the role. “A lot will depend on the new director,” he said. In the interim, how- ever, the chamber is mov- ing forward with two large projects. The organization has received $1 million HH file photo Former Hermiston Fire chief Pat Hart speaks after being named Man of the Year at the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Citizens Awards Banquet in 2017 in Hermiston. from the Oregon legisla- ture to pay for a new build- ing, which will include offices for the chamber, meeting space available to businesses and an area for workforce development programs. More specific plans are still being worked out, Keeler said, but the cham- ber is getting close to final- izing a location. “Plans are getting more and more definite,” he said. “We have a piece of property we’re looking at, and we’re hoping in 2019 to possibly even break ground.” $1 million won’t be enough to cover the cost of the entire business cen- ter, so Keeler said the chamber will be fundrais- ing for the rest. To assist in those efforts, the cham- ber is starting a nonprofit foundation, where dona- tions to the building, Lead- ership Hermiston ser- vice projects and other chamber programs will be tax-deductible. Hermiston Police Department Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston said there are a few changes on the horizon in 2019. One, he said, is that police officers will start to work events at Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center as contracted employees of the company VenuWorks, which man- ages EOTEC. Edmiston said the benefit to having officers work under Venu- Works is that it wouldn’t affect their benefits as city employees. “The PERS liability to the city is pretty sig- nificant,” he said. ‘This removes them from being in overtime capacity.” He said he has offered that service to other local companies and groups as well. The department is also looking at some new traf- fic enforcement plans. Lt. Randy Studebaker said he hopes they will be able to implement a process that police in Cheyenne, Wyo- ming use. “They do this every Christmas — an officer dresses up in a Grinch cos- tume at a different loca- tion, running radar, and a stationed police officer chases down the cars he spots,” Studebaker said. “It’s well-publicized — they’ll be at this location at 10 a.m. on this day.” Edmiston said they have some trouble spots in mind where they’d like to try this — such as Highway 395 and Elm Ave., but logisti- cally, it may be difficult to have a police car stationed in such a busy spot. Nevertheless, they said they hope to give the pro- cess a try, although Stude- baker said he wasn’t sure about the costumes. “It’s unconventional, but it’s well-publicized ahead of time,” he said. “Obviously our goal is vol- untary compliance.” • • • In recognition of School Board Appreciation Month, the Hermiston School District recently gave a shout-out on its Face- book page to their board of education. The group of local cit- izens are elected to the board and do not receive pay for their voluntary ser- vice. The members include board chair Karen Sher- man, Dave Smith, Josh Goller, Bonnie Luisi, Mark Gomolski, Ginny Holthus and Brent Pit- ney, who was appointed from a pool of five individ- uals in November to replace the seat vacated by Jason Middleton. For more about the school board, including a link to meeting agendas and minutes, visit www.hermis- ton.k12.or.us. • • • Made to Thrive recently cashed in on the annual Community Bank Charity Drive. Kriss Dammeyer, director of the Hermis- ton-based nonprofit orga- nization, received a check from Lacey Wallis, Herm- iston Community Bank branch manager. Each of the bank’s branches in northeast Ore- gon and southeast Wash- PEDRO Continued from Page A1 Her new role will take her to the Columbia Devel- opment Authority’s offices at the Port of Morrow in Boardman. The CDA is a partnership between Umatilla County, Morrow County, the Port of Umatilla, the Port of Mor- row and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. About 7,500 of the 19,700 acres of the for- mer Umatilla Chemical Depot were transferred to the Oregon Military Depart- ment for a training facil- ity, but the CDA’s board has been working with the U.S. Army to transfer the remain- ing acres to local control. Some will be used for a wildlife refuge, while other sections have an industrial zoning, and a strip of land along Interstate 82 will also be available for commer- cial development. The CDA plans to recruit businesses to ington had a local nonprofit organization it was collect- ing money for. The bank matched donations at 50 cents on each dollar, with a maximum match amount of $500 at each of its branch locations. Over the past nine years, the Community Bank Charity Drive has provided more than $194,000 to char- ities throughout the region. Founded in 2014, Made to Thrive’s mission is to stop the cycle of child abuse, neglect and poverty by providing opportunities for the physical and emo- tional benefits of sports, adventure activities, music and the arts to vulnerable youth. For more informa- tion, visit www.madeto- thrive.org. • • • Special guests John Witherspoon and Isaac Butts of Wake Up Nation will be featured during the 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. March in Hermiston. In addition to the march, the event’s program is Mon- day, Jan. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church. Call John Carbage at 541-701- 7073 or see next week’s Hermiston Herald for more details. ——— You can submit items for our weekly By The Way col- umn by emailing your tips to editor@hermistonher- ald.com. the property once the land is transferred, and Pedro will play a part in that in her new role. Greg Smith, who serves as the CDA’s executive director as part of a con- tract between the CDA and Gregory Smith & Company, said in a statement he was pleased to be able to hire Pedro. “The Columbia Devel- opment Authority and I are lucky to have Debbie join the team,” he said. “She brings to the job a wealth of knowledge of the area and the people associated with the Umatilla Depot. Debbie is someone who will jump into the job immediately.” To fill the vacancy left by Pedro at the Greater Hermis- ton Area Chamber of Com- merce, the chamber plans to have marketing director Kelly Schwirse and board chair Paul Keeler oversee operations while the cham- ber searches for a new exec- utive director. McKay Creek Estates M A K R A V N E L O H P Thanks to modern technology and industry-leading expertise, Phonak is able to bring you the best possible solutions for your hearing needs FREE Cognitive Screening Is Mom a little more forgetful lately? There are many early warning signs of a potential memory disorder, such as Alzheimer’s disease. That’s why we’re offering a FREE and CONFIDENTIAL cognitive screening. We encourage anyone who is concerned about cognitive decline to take this short, in-person screening. The screening is administered by a qualified health care professional. To schedule your cognitive screening today, please call (541) 704-7146. 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