NEWS
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2021
Hermiston judge retires from
military service after 33 years
Mongolian forces, as well
as the U.S. Navy, Marines
and Air Force, the task
Umatilla County Cir-
force trained the Afghani-
stan National Army.
cuit Court Judge and Ore-
As staff judge advocate,
gon National Guard Brig-
adier General Daniel Hill
Hill gave legal advice to
U.S. forces, handling mil-
retired from his position in
itary justice claims, pro-
the National Guard on Sat-
viding legal assistance and
urday, June 5.
advising on operational
Hill’s military service
law. The legal personnel
ended with a small cere-
mony at the Major Gen-
supporting the task force
eral George White Head-
also worked with Afghan
quarters of the Oregon
judge advocates and gave
Contributed photo
Military Department in
legal training to Afghan
Salem, according to a Umatilla County Circuit troops, according to news
Court Judge Daniel Hill reports.
news release.
Hill said the people he
“It was nice to see folks will continue serving in the
I hadn’t seen for a while court. He has retired from served with is what he will
remember most about his
and go through the cer- the military after 33 years.
emony that I missed last
time in the military.
Guard’s top legal posi-
year,” Hill said.
“You remember cer-
He was scheduled to tion. He was appointed to tain things,” he said, “like
retire a year ago, but the the position in 2015 while large dust storms in Kabul,
traveling
ceremony was delayed due maintaining a role as cir- Afghanistan,
to COVID-19. The cer- cuit court judge for Uma- through Kabul in a small
emony, which was brief tilla and Morrow counties. convoy of Ford Rangers.
Hill went into active Or sitting in the New Orle-
and small due to COVID-
19 restrictions, included duty for the Army as a ans area area post-Katrina
as Rita was coming
an
introductory
in. But it’s the peo-
statement
from
ple around you. It’s
Adjutant General
all about the people
Michael Stencel.
you’re working with,
Hill then received
the people you’re
the Defense Supe-
rior
Service
helping, the people
you’re serving.”
Medal, the Legion
Hill
attained
of Merit and the
degrees from Blue
Oregon National
Mountain Commu-
Guard Exceptional
nity College and Ore-
Service Medal, he
gon State University,
said.
a juris doctorate from
Hill, of Herm-
iston, served in
Willamette Univer-
sity College of Law
the military for
and a master’s degree
33 years, mostly
Daniel Hill, Umatilla County Circuit
from the U.S. Army
with the Oregon
Court Judge and Oregon National Guard
War College in 2014.
National Guard,
Brigadier General
Hill received sev-
before he finished
eral awards for his
a tour as assistant
military
service,
to the chief coun-
sel of the National Guard lieutenant with the Judge including the Bronze
Bureau in Washington, Advocate General’s Corps Star Medal for his work
D.C. He added that he in 1987. Four years later, on crime and corruption
would have served longer he joined the National issues in Afghanistan,
had his tour not ended in Guard, according to news according to news reports.
May 2020.
reports. In 2005, Hill was He also received a Merito-
“Had I been given an the task force staff judge rious Service Medal with
option and a promotion, advocate during Hurricane three Bronze Oak Leaf
I would have stayed,” he Katrina in New Orleans. A Clusters and the Army
said. “But I had a great year later, he deployed to Commendation Medal, the
ending. It was natural tim- Camp Phoenix in Kabul, press release said.
ing to retire at that point.” Afghanistan, where he
Hill said he will con-
Before then, he served served on the task force tinue to serve as a circuit
as state judge advo- Phoenix Five. Working court judge for the indefi-
cate, the Oregon National with French, British and nite future.
By BRYCE DOLE
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston Herald, File
The Hermiston Area Regional Transit bus leaves a bus stop on Southwest Third Street on
Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019 in Hermiston. The vehicle has since been upgraded to a larger bus as
ridership increases.
Public transit options
grow in Hermiston
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
It may not be a big city
subway system yet, but
Hermiston’s public trans-
portation system has grown
with the city’s population.
During a Monday, June
14, city council work ses-
sion, Assistant City Man-
ager Mark Morgan reminded
councilors of how options
have increased in recent
years.
Senior & Disabled Taxi
Program
The city’s oldest current
form of public transporta-
tion, the Senior & Disabled
Taxi Program, began in
1962, according to Morgan.
Under the program, resi-
dents over the age of 60 or
those with disabilities can
purchase subsidized taxi
cards from city hall and use
them to catch rides around
town.
Morgan said out of the
approximately 20,000 rides
per year the service pro-
vides, about two-thirds are
to Walmart, Lifeways or
Good Shepherd Medical
Center.
Currently, participants
pay $2.50 for a one-way ride
anywhere in the city, while
the city uses taxpayer dollars
to pay another $4.25 to the
taxi company. Morgan said
the city has been receiving
an increasingly small allo-
cation from the state’s Spe-
cial Transportation Fund for
the service — $45,000 in
1993 compared to $18,000
in 2020 — in large part
because the money comes
from a statewide cigarette
tax and fewer people smoke
now.
LOOKING FOR A RIDE?
For information about bus routes and schedules for the
HART and Hermiston Hopper, visit ctuir.org/departments/
tribal-planning-office/kayak-public-transit/bus-schedules or
call the bus dispatch line Monday through Friday, 4:30 a.m.
to 8:30 p.m.
For information about the WORC or Senior & Disabled Taxi
Program, visit hermiston.or.us/transit/page/taxi-programs
or call 541-567-5521.
age in 2017, adding a payroll
tax to create the Statewide
Transportation
Improve-
ment Fund.
Morgan said Umatilla
County has a $1.1 billion
annual payroll, which gen-
erates $1.1 million for pub-
lic transportation in the
county each year.
The city has used part of
that money to create WORC,
or the West-End On-De-
mand Ride Cooperative.
The taxi program is sim-
ilar to the Senior & Dis-
abled Taxi Program, but is
meant to help workers get
to and from their jobs. Any-
one who brings proof of
employment into city hall
can purchase a punch card
good for 10 rides at $2.50
per ride inside Hermis-
ton city limits, with higher
prices available for rides to
and from Stanfield, Uma-
tilla and the areas inside the
Hermiston ZIP code but out-
side city limits. The subsidy
for the rides comes entirely
from the state STIF funds,
with none paid directly by
the city.
Riders can use the cards
to go from anywhere to
their place of employment,
and to anywhere from their
place of employment. Mor-
gan said the program pro-
vided 600 subsidized rides
The HART
In January 2018, the city
began the HART, which
stands for Hermiston Area
Regional Transit. The public
bus system offers free rides
around Hermiston and con-
nects to the Hermiston Hop-
per, which offers free rides
from Hermiston to Umatilla,
Stanfield and Pendleton.
The city pays Kayak
Public Transit, the trans-
portation system run by the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion, $150,000 a year to run
the bus system completely,
and the tribes leverage that
money to obtain additional
grant funding.
“It really has been a turn-
key operation,” Morgan
said.
The HART makes 10
loops around Hermiston
per day, running Monday
through Friday from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m. Bus schedules are
available on the Kayak Pub-
lic Transit website, but Mor-
gan said the easiest way to
plan trips is to simply input
a starting point and desti-
nation and desired time of
arrival on Google Maps and
hit the “public transporta-
tion” option to let Google
plan the best route.
WORC Taxi Program
Revenue for public trans-
portation increased after the
Oregon Legislature passed a
major transportation pack-
in April, and the majority
of riders using the program
were riding to and from
jobs at grocery stores and
restaurants.
He said the addition of
WORC as an option works
better for some people’s
schedules than riding the
HART, which only runs 12
hours a day.
“A large amount of our
workforce doesn’t just work
bank hours, 8-5,” he said.
Other options
Morgan said for those
without a vehicle of their
own, there are a few other
options that the city isn’t
involved in.
That includes the Care-
Van program by Good Shep-
herd Health Care System,
which will provide free rides
to medical appointments to
the hospital and any of Good
Shepherd’s affiliated clinics.
A more recent addition
was Bird Scooters, a private
company that offers paid use
of electric scooters stationed
around town.
Morgan said Morrow
County is also partnering
with Umatilla County to
plan a new bus route simi-
lar to the Hermiston Hopper,
that will create a bus loop
that travels between Herm-
iston and Boardman.
“IT’S ALL ABOUT
THE PEOPLE
YOU’RE WORK-
ING WITH, THE
PEOPLE YOU’RE
HELPING, THE
PEOPLE YOU’RE
SERVING.”
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Hermiston - 220 W. Harper Rd.
Stanfield - W. Wood (by Grange Hall)
Echo - 321 W. Main St. (next to Fire Hall)
Umatilla - Hwy 730
(next to Columbia Harvest Foods)
5. Umatilla County - Hwy 395 N.
(next to transfer station)
6. Umatilla County - 81144 N. Hwy 395
7. Irrigon - 198 W. Columbia Lane
8. Boardman - NW Columbia Ave
COMPOSTING
Compost holds nutrients in the soil until plants
can use them. Loosens and aerates clay soils
and retains water in sandy soil. More
information about composting is available from
Oregon DEQ at: www.oregon.gov/DEQ
Sanitary Disposal, Inc.
Hermiston/McNary Hwy • Hermiston
541-567-8842