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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2019)
NEWS Wednesday, July 24, 2019 HeRMIsTOnHeRald.COM • A3 $7.2 million lawsuit goes after UEC Electric cooperative and its boss face accusations By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER Umatilla Electric Coop- erative and its chief exec- utive officer are among defendants in a lawsuit seek- ing almost $7.2 million for whistleblower retaliation and workplace harassment. Beth Looney of Portland filed the suit in early June in Multnomah County Cir- cuit Court. She worked from March 2016 to July 3, 2018, for Pacific Northwest Gen- erating Cooperative of Port- land, which does rode’s breaches of business as PNGC fiduciary duty as Power. Umatilla a board member, Electric Cooperative and Echenrode’s general manager and response to her CEO Robert Echen- attempts to unmask rode serves on the his actions were to Echenrode PNGC Power board bully, demean and of directors. degrade her and According to the com- undermine her authority and plaint, Echenrode pushed for reputation at the company. a “UEC industrial customer” She claimed she reported to receive special treatment Echenrode’s actions and atti- with a “carve-out” of more tude about her and his gen- than a certain percentage, der-based harassment, yet which would have “posed PNGC Power did not inves- disproportionate risks for tigate her reports, and the company did nothing to dis- PNGC and its members.” Looney claims she courage Echenrode’s behav- reported what she believed ior nor ensure he would not was evidence of Echen- adversely affect her job. She claimed she met with Echenrode on June 3, 2018, to address their issues, but Echenrode again gave her “a demeaning and sexu- ally appraising look.” She contacted his fellow board members the next day, according to the complaint, and some apologized for his behavior. About 10 days later, the company demanded Loo- ney apologize to Echenrode, according to the complaint, and on June 19 began inves- tigating Looney. The situ- ation escalated during the board meeting of July 3, 2018, when she stated she told the board “this is more than bullying, this is harass- ment.” The company fired her later that day. Looney seeks more than $3.4 million from PNGC, UEC and Echenrode for the loss of future wages, bene- fits and pension payments and almost $3.8 million for emotional and physical harm. Court records show the plaintiff served copies of the lawsuit to Echenrode and the two power compa- nies, but there are no legal responses from the defen- dants. Umatilla Electric Cooperative, however, pro- vided this response from Echenrode: “I’m proud of our work at UEC to serve our members by bringing power, progress and opportunity to the com- munity. I approach this mis- sion with a commitment to collaboration and supporting an inclusive and safe work- place for all of our employ- ees. Those missions and values guide my work and remain my focus. I believe the claims are without merit and we will respond through the appropriate legal pro- cess, but my focus remains where it should be — on car- rying out our mission guided by strong values on behalf of our members and the com- munity we serve.” Herald, EO take prizes in state newspaper contest HERMISTON HERALD T he Hermiston Herald took home five awards at the Oregon News- paper Publishers Associa- tion’s annual competition, held Thursday and Friday at the Salishan Resort in Glen- den Beach. Its sister paper, the East Oregonian received 10 awards, including the top prize, known as the General Excellence award. The awards are for work done during the 2018 cal- endar year. The contest was judged by newspapers from the Kentucky Press Associ- ation and the Herald com- peted against other weekly Oregon newspapers while the EO competed against daily Oregon newspapers with circulations less than 10,000. The Hermiston Herald took home third place in the General Excellence category. “I couldn’t be prouder of the staffs in both Pendleton and Hermiston — not only in the newsrooms, but through- out both buildings — and the dedication they show every day to put out the abso- staff photo by Jade Mcdowell The Hermiston Herald won third place for all-around General Excellence and prizes for four stories during the 2018 Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association awards. tor Jade McDowell won first place for best government coverage with ”Food for thought,” a story about the Hermiston city’s council’s efforts to revamp its rules for lute best product they can,” Hermiston Herald and East Oregonian publisher Chris Rush said. “The awards are the icing on the cake.” For the Herald, news edi- food trucks. Community Editor Tammy Malgesini took sec- ond place in best lifestyle coverage for ”Families wrap up holiday traditions,” about area families’ Christmas traditions. Former reporter Jayati Ramakrishnan took home second place for best fea- ture story for ”The 16.8 per- cent,” a story about women in the armed forces, and third place for best educational coverage for ”Experienc- ing the English language,” a story about English language learners. On the East Oregonian side, McDowell took third place for best lifestyle story for ”Age of the Millennials.” Ramakrishnan and reporter Kathy Aney took the top two spots in the person- ality feature category. Aney took first place for her story “Rural journal revived.” Ramakrishnan took second place for the story “Shining a light on sexual abuse.” Reporter Antonio Sierra was a multiple winner, earn- ing a first-place finish for best education coverage for his story “Homeless in high school.” Sierra teamed with Ramakrishnan in the same category for the story “United in protest.” Former photographer E.J. Harris was also a multiple winner, taking the top spots in the best feature photo cat- egory. Harris’ photo “Ferris Wheel Sunset” took top hon- ors, while his photo “Speed and Impact” took second place. Harris also took a third place in the best sports photo category for his photo “Purple Reign.” Sports writer Annie Fowler earned a third-place award in the best sports story category for the story “Glory Days.” The General Excellence award, which the EO has won eight of the past nine years, is judged based on the overall product, from news and editorial content to pho- tos and design to advertising and reproduction. The sam- ples are taken from three ran- dom editions throughout the year. “It’s a tremendous honor for any journalist to win and be recognized for their hard work and diligence through- out the year,” Rush said. “Another General Excel- lence award is added confir- mation that we are striving to serve our readers as best we can with relevant news, fea- tures and information.” Five people arrested by immigration officials near Hermiston By JESSICA POLLARD STAFF WRITER ive Guatemalan citi- zens were arrested on July 9 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents near Hermiston. Mateo Demateo-Baltazar and Rolando Pablo-Calmo are facing pending immigra- tion proceedings. Higinio Pablo-Calmo, Teodoro Pablo-Ramos and Mario Lorenzo-Pablo are facing pending removal from the United States. Tanya Roman, a pub- lic affairs officer for ICE in Seattle, said last week she is still working to confirm if all five people are still in custody. According to Roman, they all have prior criminal records. The ICE Online Detainee Locator System lists Dema- F teo-Baltazar and Pablo-Ra- mos as still in custody at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. According to the city of Tacoma, the center is the fourth largest in the nation, with a capacity of 1,575 detainees. Roman said the arrests were in “no way associated with any anticipated nation- wide targeted enforcement actions.” Roman stated the arrests were, instead, part of a tar- geted enforcement action. On July 12 — after the arrests near Hermiston — President Donald Trump reported that ICE was plan- ning raids across the country to arrest thousands of undoc- umented immigrants, start- ing July 14. Meanwhile, some local residents are still on high alert following the arrests You Never Know What You’ll Find At A Collectors West Gun & Knife Show! Pendleton Convention Center 7t4BUBQ 4VOBQt*OGPDPMMFDUPSTXFTUDPN Roscoe is a middle aged sweet shy boy who came to rescue after he was found with several other dogs in a house with his deceased owner. He was quite shut down as his owner was the only person he had known, but has warmed up and bonded to his foster. Roscoe prefers women and will usually hide from men. He can become possessive of his person and it leads to spats with the other dogs. Although he is currently being fostered with dogs and came from a home with 11 others, he would do best in a home with no other dogs that he has to compete with. He loves to snuggle under the covers and be in your lap. He is crate trained but hates it and will be vocal. He is working on leash training. He is potty trained but you need to watch his cues. Neutered, vaccinated, microchipped. Roscoe needs someone who will say; let me love you as you are. His world has been shattered with the loss of his owner so he needs someone who can be unconditional in their love for him and patient while he learns to feel safe with you. a lot of fear. Not only for migrant families, but for peo- ple who are friends or rela- tives to families,” Roa said. “I think this community is really resilient. I’m pretty sure the community is going to come together to help each other.” Irrigon Watermelon Festival Saturday, July 27, 2019 All Day Festivities at the Irrigon Marina Park Irrigon, Oregon 97844 BREAKFAST - 6:30 - 10:00am Hot Coffee • Pancakes • Biscuits & Gravy Ham & Eggs • Cinnamon Rolls DOWNTOWN PARADE - 10:00am Local Craft Vendors • Entertainment • Bingo • Kid’s Games Giant Water Slide • Dunk Tank LOTS OF RAFFLES ITEMS MEET E O C S RO Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA Small and Large Animal Care 541.567.1138 He said there were also sightings in the Irrigon area. Roa said that some peo- ple were using vacation time to avoid going out during the sightings, and others were leaving the area. “(This) is tearing the com- munity in half and adding August 3 rd & 4 th PET OF THE W EEK Mon: 8-6 Tue - Fri: 8-5 Sat: 8-12 Emergency Service and multiple ICE sightings in the Hermiston area. Jesse Roa, who works with the Tri-Cities Immigrant Rights Coalition, said a sight- ing reported at the Hermis- ton Wal-Mart was reported by volunteers specialized in spotting ICE officers. 80489 Hwy 395 N Hermiston www.oregontrailvet.com PLACE YOUR AD HERE! Contact Audra at 541.564.4538 Today! Including a 50” screen TV • Silverwood Tickets Pendleton Round-Up Tickets • Farm-City Pro Rodeo Tickets • Java Junkies Many more items from our generous local businesses FOOD • FOOD • FOOD Hamburgers & Hot Dogs & French Fries • Homemade Pies• Ice Cream BBQ Chicken • Corn on the Cob • Baked Potato & Coleslaw Fresh Cut Watermelon & Cantaloupe CAR & MOTORCYCLE SHOW MAIN STAGE ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP Gems & Gents Cheerleading • Community Lip Sync Contest Blue Mountain Old Time Fiddlers • City Leader Seed Spitting Contest Comedian, Jerry Miner • Round-Up City Cloggers • The Wasteland Kings Street Dance with Desert Sounds Entertainment ENTERTAINMENT SPONSORED BY: If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application. If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838 MORROW COUNTY UNIFIED RECREATION DISTRICT
