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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2019)
LOCAL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 Armand students raise $5,000 for staff member with cancer By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER On Thursday morning, Kelly Shy knew her workplace — Armand Larive Middle School — was having an assembly. She was asked to come in early and obliged, not suspecting a thing. Instead, Shy, who works in the kitchen at the Hermiston middle school, was greeted by the entire school, packed into the commons — waiting to give her a $5,000 check. Shy is battling breast can- cer, and the students and staff had raised the money for her to use for treatment, through a month-long penny drive. After they presented her with the check, students and staff decked in pink shirts, tutus, and even pink wigs lined up to give her a hug and wish her the best. Shy wiped away tears, hugging students and staff members as she got over the shock. “I had no idea about any of it,” she said. “I was just told to wear pink and show up at 8.” Shy has been working at Armand Larive since September, and was diagnosed with breast cancer in October. She is also a single mother and has two sons, a 2-year-old and a 12-year-old. Mariangela Summers, Armand Larive’s media assistant, said the school wanted to do something for Shy, fi rst deciding to do a benefi t dinner. That will happen on April 18. But Summers said a group of students decided to do something Staff photo by E.J. Harris Kelly Shy wipes a tear from her eye while being presented with a check for $5,000, and another for $850, to help in her fi ght against cancer Thursday during an assembly at Armand Larive Middle School in Hermiston. Students at Sandstone and Armand Larive middle schools raised the funds in a coin drive. more. Summers is the advisor for the school’s Kindness Club, a group of about 80 students that do ran- dom acts of kindness throughout the school. That includes small projects like giving thank-you notes to the bus drivers and I.T. department, handing out buttons with nice messages to local busi- nesses, and volunteering at the ARC’s Valentine’s Day dance. “This was an opportunity for the kids to use kindness,” said Armand Larive principal Stacie Roberts. “Instead of ‘March Mad- ness,’ we do ‘March Kindness.’” The Kindness Club decided to spearhead a penny drive, starting in early March. Each class talked about the purpose of the drive, raising money for Shy’s treatment, Crop duster plane crashes in Hermiston By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER A pilot suffered minor injuries after crashing his crop duster plane in a fi eld in Hermiston on Thursday a little before 3 p.m. Hermiston Police Cap- tain Travis Eynon said the pilot is Ted Pasicka, 60, of Hermiston. He said the crash is under investigation, and they do not have a cause identifi ed yet. According to Sgt. Seth Cooney of Oregon State Police, the man was fi n- ished with his work for the day and returning to the air- port with an empty tank. “For unknown reasons, witnesses indicate that but all managed to keep it a secret from her. Teachers and staff at Armand Larive sweetened the deal to encourage their students to bring in coins — for each level of fund- raising, the teachers would do something different — some of the male teachers agreed to dye their beards or wearing a tutu to class. Daylight Saving bill moves forward By MARK MILLER OREGON CAPITAL BUREAU Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan Emergency personnel look on as others clean up after a crop duster plane crashed in a fi eld near Hermiston. he inverted and crashed,” Cooney said. Cooney said the pilot was the only person in the plane. Umatilla County Fire District personnel said they didn’t know whether it was fuel or pesticide that had leaked out of the plane when it crashed, but a hazardous materials truck arrived at the scene about a half hour after the crash. Hermiston to add modulars to two schools HERMISTON — Though it’s spring break, Hermiston School District’s Mainte- nance Department is hard at work, installing modular buildings to two of its schools this month to keep up with population growth. New modulars will be placed at Sunset Ele- mentary School and Hermiston High School this week. A press release from the district said they are expecting an incoming kindergarten class of more than 450 students, and an incoming freshman class of 440 students. Superintendent Tricia Mooney said the modulars are a temporary solution to con- tinued growth, and the district’s long-range facilities planning committee is working on fi nding a long-term solution to recommend to the school board. The movement gained trac- tion outside the school, as well. Sandstone Middle School spent the last week collecting pennies, and donated more than $800. And, the school had a supporter in the Midwest. “We had a motivational speaker come to Armand, and the kids loved him,” Summers said. “We decided, when we started the penny drive, to ask him to send a video to encourage the kids.” The speaker, Cory Greenwood, was moved by the idea, and told the students that if they docu- mented their acts of kindness by writing them down, he would donate 10 cents for each one. If they raised $5,000 on their own, he promised to come back and deliver the money in person. Shy, who is in treatment, said the money will help. “It’s much appreciated,” she said. Overall, she said, she’s feel- ing good. “I feel tired and achy,” she said. “But I haven’t been too sick.” Shy’s colleague in the kitchen, Debbie Spinden, said she has never heard her complain about her illness. “Kelly is so positive, I’ve never seen another person like that,” she said. “I don’t know what more to say, but I’ve never heard her say a darn thing.” In addition to the entire staff and student body, Shy’s sister and nephew came to support her on Thursday. “They’ve all been very sup- portive,” she said. SALEM — Oregon may not go it alone on switch- ing to daylight saving time year-round. In the latest legislative proposal, Oregon would only stop “falling back” in November if neighboring California and Washington do likewise. Washington lawmak- ers approved the idea this month. They still need to reconcile differences between the competing proposals — one bill would refer the question to voters, while the other would not — and submit one to Gov. Jay Inslee for approval. In California, voters passed Proposition 7 last year, allowing a change to permanent daylight time if two-thirds of legisla- tors approve. A bill to put California on year-round daylight time has not yet received a vote. If all three states move to daylight time, the West Coast of the continental United States would effec- tively run on Mountain Standard Time year-round. British Columbia is consid- ering a similar idea, and its premier said he expects the Canadian province to fol- low the lead of the three states. “Our biggest trade part- ners are Washington and California,” state Sen. Chuck Riley, D-Hills- boro, said, also noting Brit- ish Columbia’s interest. “Keeping in sync in the whole coastal area makes a lot of sense.” Riley chairs the Sen- ate Business and General Government Committee, which endorsed and for- warded the amended Sen- ate Bill 320 to the Senate last week. It is scheduled for a third reading there on Thursday. 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