NEWS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Boardman leaders
remember ‘devoted’
Barry Beyeler
Boardman’s Youth Citizen of the Year
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Boardman Chamber of Commerce/Contributed Photo
Makaila Lantis (center) holds her 2021 Youth Citizen of the Year award. She received a $1,000 scholarship from the Boardman
Chamber of Commerce, too. During the event the chamber of commerce auctioned off table centerpieces donated by
chamber members/local businesses at the awards banquet and were able to raise more than $10,000 for the Boardman
Chamber of Commerce Scholarship fund for Riverside Jr/Sr High School seniors.
Umatilla County voters only get
choices in a few races this May
Hermiston Herald
Outside of the races for
Hermiston City Council
and the Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners,
there won’t be much choice
on Umatilla County resi-
dents’ May 17 ballots.
Umatilla County Elec-
tions Division recently
released a list of all candi-
dates who fi led for races
that will appear on county
ballots.
In
Milton-Freewater,
city council incumbents
Steve Irving and Wes Kok-
lich are the only candidates
in the at-large races while
Ward 1 Councilor John
Lyon also is running unop-
posed. A similar trend hap-
pened in Pendleton, where
all fi ve city council seats up
for election attracted only
one candidate, all but assur-
ing a free pass to new, four-
year terms.
It was a diff erent story
in Hermiston: all but one
city council race is con-
tested and the municipal
judge race also will have a
competitive election. The
only uncontested race is in
Hermiston’s Ward 3, where
incumbent Jackie Myers’
last-minute entry ensured
the race wouldn’t go to a
write-in vote.
The race for two seats on
the Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners also is
packed and no one dropped
out before the deadline.
The race for Position 1, a
seat Commissioner George
Murdock is vacating, has
six candidates, while Posi-
tion 2 Commissioner John
Shafer is facing a challenge
from two other candidates.
A couple of city elector-
ates also will be asked to
vote on tax issues.
In
Milton-Freewater,
the city is proposing a tax
that would levy an esti-
mated 32-cent per $1,000
in assessed property value
to raise $500,000 for park
repairs. Projects would
include repairs or replace-
ments at the Joe Hum-
bert Aquatic Center, Yantis
Park and the municipal golf
course.
In Helix, the parks and
recreation district is asking
voters to approve an esti-
mated 37-cent per $1,000
tax to raise $1 million over
21 years or less. The money
would go toward build-
ing a new pool, splash pad
and pump house in addi-
tion to making repairs and
improvements to the bath-
house and bathrooms.
State charges Morrow County suspect in
shooting with second-degree murder
Hermiston Herald
Shooting suspect Caleb
Beehler is on the hook for
second-degree murder in
Morrow County.
The district attorney’s
offi ce Friday, March 18,
arraigned Beehler, 39, on
the lone charge following
a grand jury indictment in
the shooting death of Rich-
ard Broadbent, 58, accord-
ing to court records.
Law enforcement was
looking for Beehler in the
wake of the killing March 9
in northern Morrow County.
He turned himself in at the
Hermiston Police Depart-
ment on March 10.
Defense attorney Dean
Gushwa of Pendleton rep-
resents Beehler, accord-
ing to court records, and his
next court date is March 31
for a status check that could
include setting a bail hearing.
District Attorney Jus-
tin Nelson asked the court
to seal all warrants, the
applications for a search
warrant and affidavit in
support of the search war-
rant to anyone except Bee-
hler’s attorney.
“Disclosure of the
information in the war-
rants, applications for
search warrant and affi-
davit in support of search
warrants could compro-
mise an ongoing investi-
gation in that witnesses,
friends, or family mem-
bers of said suspect(s),
might destroy evidence,
coordinate their stories or
even flee the jurisdiction,”
according to Nelson’s
motion. Circuit Judge Dan
Hill granted the request.
When Barry Beyeler died
Feb. 15 at the age of 65, he
left many locals with feelings
of loss and sadness. Recently,
a pair of Boardman leaders
voiced their thoughts.
“He was a devoted and
hardworking citizen who
cared about his city,” Board-
man Mayor Paul Keefer said.
“Barry was actively engaged
in his city and cared about
his home, Boardman. You
could always see Barry driv-
ing around in his work truck
actively trying to promote
Boardman. You could even see
him at athletic events as well as
community events.”
He added, “As mayor, I will
truly miss Barry.”
Boardman City Manager
Karen Pettigrew described
Beyeler as an exemplary, long-
time employee.
“You just don’t fi nd peo-
ple who are committed to their
jobs for that length of time,”
she said.
She said she knew him for
around 30 years, dating back to
her work in the private sector.
Her husband, Pettigrew said,
was an electrical contractor,
which put them in contact with
Beyeler.
Beyeler worked well with
people, she said, because he
had a genuine fondness for
others.
“He was always willing to
help you out if he knew you
needed help,” she said.
Pettigrew said she liked
Beyeler for years. He was the
sort of person who always
seemed to be around and be
useful. Unfortunately, she said,
it is easy to take such people for
granted — until they are gone.
“I can’t tell you what a will-
ing person he was to help peo-
ple, particularly at work here,”
she said. “He was willing to
share what he knew about
things, his knowledge.”
Much of his knowledge,
she added, is lost. Accord-
ing to Pettigrew, the city had
thought to connect Beyeler
with someone who could learn
from him and “capture” Beye-
ler’s knowledge. Sadly, she
said, that did not happen, and it
would have been tough to do,
she said.
Pettigrew pointed out that
Beyeler’s fi rst work was with
a private construction crew
several years ago, and he was
working on a public project.
It was later, she said, that he
started working with the city,
City of Boardman/
Contributed Photo
A photo of Barry Beyeler was on
the city of Boardman website
March 15, 2022. It ran alongside
a message announcing his
death on Feb. 15. He was a
longtime dedicated public
servant for the city and died at
the age of 65.
fi rst with the public works
department and then with com-
munity development.
Beyeler’s obituary states
that he started working for pub-
lic works in 1980.
“He always remembered
that hands-on work, which
made him so valuable,” Petti-
grew said.
She added that in the 1970s,
people were “not so good” at
as-built drawings. This being
the case, it was useful to have
Beyeler around, she said; he
understood the city and how
things had been built.
As the city was beginning
major new projects, she said,
Beyeler’s knowledge was use-
ful. Beyeler, she said, under-
stood how important he was
to these projects, and he was
planning on staying with the
city until the projects could be
fi nished.
Beyeler’s
commitment
to service extended beyond
Boardman’s borders.
He was a longtime mem-
ber of the American Water
Works Association and League
of Oregon Cities. He served
as a volunteer for the Ore-
gon Hanford Cleanup Board
2005-08, and that last year
he was appointed to the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Han-
ford Advisory Board. He also
served on the Oregon Energy
Facilities Siting Council 2010-
19, even serving as vice chair
2013-15 and as chair 2015-19.
The city manager empha-
sized Beyeler’s great worth in
Boardman. Projects or streets
could be named after him, she
said, and she stated that she has
some thoughts about naming
something after the man “in a
couple of years.”
BottleDrop announces fundraising to support Ukraine relief
Hermiston Herald
The Oregon Beverage
Recycling Cooperative, which
operates the BottleDrop net-
work, announced Mon-
day, March 21, it is engaging
its emergency fund to sup-
port humanitarian relief ser-
vices for Ukrainians through
the Portland-based nonprofi t
Mercy Corps.
Mercy Corps is a global
crisis response and humani-
tarian organization operating
in more than 40 countries and
has rapidly deployed teams
to help people in Ukraine,
Poland and Romania who
have been displaced by the
confl ict in Ukraine.
Between
now
and
April 10, BottleDrop is
encouraging its Green Bag
account holders — more than
810,000 — to make dona-
tions from their BottleDrop
accounts to support Mercy
Corps’ Ukraine relief eff orts,
according to the news release.
The company also announced
it will match those donations
with a $25,000 contribution
from the OBRC emergency
fund. BottleDrop account
holders can direct their dona-
To learn more, visit the
following sites:
BottleDrop at
BottleDropCenters.com,
including for location
information.
Oregon Beverage
Recycling Cooperative at
OBRC.com.
Mercy Corps at
mercycorps.org.
tions by visiting BottleDrop-
Centers.com/Ukraine and log-
ging in to their accounts.
“A devastating catastro-
phe is unfolding in Ukraine
and in the region, costing and
threatening lives and liveli-
hoods, driving families apart
and causing mass displace-
ment,” Mercy Corps commu-
nications director Lynn Hector
said in the news release. “We
are grateful for the immense
generosity we’re seeing from
people globally and here in
our hometown community
and across the State of Oregon
to support our eff orts to help
Ukrainians in urgent need of
assistance,” said Lynn Hector,
director of communications at
Mercy Corps.”
Oregonians also can donate
Oregon 10-cent redeemable
cans and bottles directly to this
eff ort (and have their funds
matched) by taking them to
any BottleDrop Redemption
Center and letting staff on-site
know they would like to
donate them to Mercy Corps’
Ukraine relief eff orts.
More than three million
people have fl ed Ukraine since
Feb. 24, leaving their homes,
possessions and livelihoods.
The United Nations estimated
that 10 million Ukrainians —
a quarter of their population
— could be displaced inside
and outside of the country.
“We are devastated by the
tragedy in Ukraine, and we
wanted to fi nd a way to engage
the BottleDrop network
and help Ukrainians seek-
ing safety, said Eric Cham-
bers, director of external rela-
tions at OBRC. “Oregonians
routinely put their bottles and
cans to great use supporting
nonprofi ts and community
organizations. Now we have
a chance to use our Bottle-
Drop funds and redeemable
containers to help our distant
neighbors in Ukraine during
this horrible crisis.”
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Hermiston Herald, File
The line at the Hermiston BottleDrop wraps around the front of the store and down the
depth of the building on June 12, 2020. Now through April 10, 2022, you can donate through
BottleDrop to support Mercy Corps’ Ukraine relief eff orts.
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