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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022
HermistonHerald.com
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Warming station off ers respite
Guests, volunteers at
Hermiston Warming Station
address homelessness
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
When Sierra Gilman was home-
less, she did not know of the Herm-
iston Warming Station, but she
said she wished she had.
She worked her fi rst day as a
volunteer at the station on Satur-
day, Jan. 8. In this capacity, she
checked in people as they sought
refuge from the elements. She and
others at the warming station spoke
of life on the streets and their grat-
itude for this service.
Starting at 7:30 p.m., people
who would otherwise be sleeping
on the streets in the cold checked
into the Hermiston Warming Sta-
tion, 1075 S. Highway 395. The
station opens every year as the
weather becomes cold. Come
City Hall
project
on track
morning, the guests of the station
leave to resume their homelessness.
Gilman, 27, of Hermiston,
said she learned of this volunteer
opportunity last year. Her friends
at her church — she is a member
of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints — told her of the
warming station. Now sober and
free of drugs, she said she fi nally
felt able to help out at the building.
Her training included a 30 to 40
minute session to learn the rules.
Among other things, guests must
turn over their possessions and
store belongings in a plastic tote.
They also must maintain a clean
environment and a respectful tone
with others.
In trade for following the rules,
guests have access to cots, where
they sleep throughout the night.
Also, they are provided with food
and hygiene supplies. In addition,
they can use washing machines
and a shower. Volunteers stand
ready to meet the needs of guests.
Gilman remembered back to her
three to four years living without a
home. She was addicted to drugs,
she said, and she lived under the
stars. She would camp on a space
off Theater Lane in Hermiston.
Hiding away, among trees, she was
able to get rest.
It was a trying time, though she
accepts responsibility for her trou-
bles. She said she was making bad
decisions, which included her drug
use. Despite trying several times to
correct her problems, she said she
lacked the strength to turn her life
around.
It was not until her sister died,
she said, that she fi nally experi-
enced an epiphany, and she had
a “God moment.” Suddenly, she
realized the pain she was causing
other people, including her par-
ents, she said.
“It was the gift of desperation,”
she said.
See Warming, Page A7
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Brodie Messenger, a board member and volunteer at the Hermiston
Warming Station, washes clothes for a guest at the shelter Saturday, Jan.
8, 2022, in Hermiston.
Taking the
PLUNGE
The $9 million facility may be
ready to open by the end of
2022, Hermiston offi cials say
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Hermiston Assistant City Man-
ager Mark Morgan fi elds a lot of
questions every day. Nowadays, he
is receiving many inquiries into his
city’s ongoing city hall and public
safety center project at 180 N.E.
Second St. Morgan stood across
the street from the project Wednes-
day, Jan. 5, in the rain, to discuss
progress on the facility.
Construction is on track, he
said, for opening city hall at the end
of 2022. Recently, roofi ng went up
on the building. These days, work-
ers are wiring and plumbing the
structure. Much of their work is
not visible from the outside as they
recently started installing walls.
“From here on out, it’s going to
seem to be moving very slowly,”
Morgan said, as workers fi ll out the
building’s “guts.”
The weather is not causing
delays. Workers are protected
inside the newly roofed and walled
structure. And there are not mate-
rial concerns, which was a worry
last year; Morgan said materials
have been acquired as needed.
See City Hall, Page A7
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Angie Cooke, left, leads a pack of polar plungers out of the water Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, at the Umatilla Marina Swim Beach during the Coats for
Kids Polar Bear Plunge in Umatilla. The event collected more than 60 coats for the program, according to organizers. If your family is in need of a
winter coat, contact Rita Campos at 541-969-3338 or rcampos@umchs.org.
Transgender woman sues state for discrimination
Former Echo resident serving
prison time for killing
girlfriend
By PHIL WRIGHT
Hermiston Herald
A former Echo man serving
time for killing his girlfriend in
2014 is suing the state of Oregon
for failing to provide protection
in prison after he transitioned to
female.
Zera Lola Zombie, 37, is a
transgender woman serving time
for manslaughter for the blud-
geoning death of Samantha
Brown. Zombie was Daniel Lee
Smith at the time of the killing.
She changed her name in July
2020 along with changing her
gender to female, according to
state court records. She fi led the
lawsuit Sept. 10, 2021, in the U.S.
INSIDE
District Court of Oregon.
Zombie in the 18-page com-
plaint alleged she “suff ered ongo-
ing harassment and verbal, men-
tal, and psychological abuse
by both prisoners and (Oregon
Department of Corrections) staff
as a result of her sex, gender and
gender identity” while she was in
custody at Oregon State Correc-
tional Institution and then Oregon
State Penitentiary. The lawsuit
also alleges other inmates phys-
ically and sexually assaulted her
and staff did not protect her from
the attacks.
The lawsuit names the state as
the lead defendant, plus numer-
ous correctional offi cers and other
staff and Josh Highberger, super-
intendent of Oregon State Cor-
rectional Institution, and Brandon
Kelly, superintendent of Oregon
State Penitentiary.
The harassment and assaults
A3 Morrow Superintendent Dirk
Dirksen retires
began in November 2019, accord-
ing to the pleading, when a male
offi cer at Oregon State Correc-
tional Institution strip-searched
Zombie in front of a male inmate.
The abuse escalated from there,
and on Christmas Day 2019 staff
denied she could have toilet paper
for bathroom hygiene. The lawsuit
claims she uses her socks to clean
herself and had to dispose of them
in a biohazard bag.
Sometime after that the Depart-
ment of Corrections transferred
Zombie to the state pen. There,
she claims, another inmate, Allen
Howard, physically assaulted her
on Oct. 9, 2020, and staff ignored
the assault.
Zombie also claims OSP staff
housed her from March 2020 until
June 2021 with Mikal Shabazz.
Court records show he is serving
at least 40 years for convictions
in 1997 in Multnomah County for
A6 MLK to be celebrated Jan 17
a slew of crimes, including rob-
bery, assault, sodomy and fi rst-de-
gree rape. Zombie claims Shabazz
physically and sexually assaulted
her, sometimes on a daily basis.
She reported the assaults to prison
staff at least twice, according to
the lawsuit, and they did nothing
to protect her.
Other inmates also assaulted
and harassed Zombie, the pleading
states, and she now suff ers “psy-
chological trauma, anxiety and
mental anguish as a result of the
physical, mental and sexual abuse
she has experienced” while in the
custody of the Oregon Department
of Corrections.
Zombie did not specify how
much she is suing the state for.
Rather, she wants a jury trial and
compensation for physical pain
and suff ering, emotional distress,
economic losses and an award
for punitive damages, plus court
A8 Schools keep with COVID-19
precautions
costs and attorney fees and “other
and further relief as the court may
deem just and equitable.”
Oregon Department of Correc-
tions online inmate information
shows she is serving her sentence
at Snake River Correctional Insti-
tution, Ontario. But in the lawsuit
she claimed she was an at Coff ee
Creek Correctional Facility, the
only prison in Oregon that houses
female inmates.
Attorneys John Burgess and
Katharine Edwards with the Port-
land fi rm Law Offi ces of Daniel
Snyder represent Zombie and fi led
the lawsuit on her behalf. Judge
Ann L. Aiken is presiding over the
case and set Tuesday, Jan. 11, as
the day to complete discovery and
Feb. 10 for other fi lings, including
a Joint Alternate Dispute Resolu-
tion Report.
The state as of Jan. 4 has yet to
fi le a response to the lawsuit.
A9 Hermiston bodybuilder
prepares for fall contest