02.26.2011 1A

MASCOT HELPGOOD SHEPHERD

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERSPAGE A7

VIKES AT HOMEUMATILLA GIRLS TOHOST PLAYOFF TILTPAGE B1

HermistonHeraldSATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2011 YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER HERMISTONHERALD.COM

8 08805 93294 2

Hermiston Herald $1.00

© 2010 East Oregonian Publishing Co.

MMoossttllyy ssuunnnnyyHHiigghh:: 3388˚̊ LLooww:: 2244˚̊

•• FFuullll rreeppoorrtt oonn HHeerrmmiissttoonn’’ss qquueesstt ffoorrffiifftthh--ssttrraaiigghhtt ssttaattee ttiittllee

COMINGIN WEDNESDAY’S HERALD

•• SSUUNNDDAAYYCloudyHigh: 51˚ Low: 33˚

•• MMOONNDDAAYYShowersHigh: 52˚ Low: 36˚

A complete weather forecast isfeatured on page AA22..

TODAY’S WEATHER

OUTLOOK

FOR LOCAL BREAKING NEWSwww.HermistonHerald.com

NEILL WOELKHERMISTON HERALDEditor

Census figuresconfirm

inevitableOK, it’s official.Not

that anyone shouldbe surprised, but

Hermiston is now thebiggest city in UmatillaCounty.According to 2010 U.S.

Census statistics releasedearlier this week, Hermistonchecked in with a popula-tion of 16,745 while Pendle-ton had 16,612 on thebooks.Again, no big surprise.

While Hermiston’s popula-tion has been growingsteadily, Pendleton’s hasbeen stagnant now for atleast a decade. Given the ac-tivity and economies of bothcities, it has been only amatter of time before Her-miston surpassed Pendleton.Still, there were some

who thought Pendletonwould hold onto the “title”for at least another fewyears. After all, 10 yearsago, census numbers hadPendleton with 16,354 resi-dents and Hermiston with13,154. That was enough ofa difference that some re-cent projections had Pendle-ton maintaining its lead forthe near future.But since 2000, Hermis-

ton has added 3,591 peopleto its population whilePendleton increased by just258 in that same period oftime.Other tidbits?• Umatilla County grew

by 5,341 people in the last10 years, meaning Hermis-ton absorbed more than

SEE EDITORIAL/A4

2000 Population 2010 PopulationHermiston takes leadU.S. Census data released

this week confirmed whatmany thought was in-

evitable:Hermiston has surpassed

Pendleton as the largest cityin Umatilla County.The 2010 figures showed

Hermiston with 16,745 resi-dents while Pendleton’spopulation is listed as16,612.That is a significant

change from the 2000

2010 CENSUS

CITYPendletonHermistonUmatillaBoardmanStanfieldIrrigonEcho

200016,35413,1544,9782,8551,9791,702650

CITYHermistonPendletonUmatillaBoardmanStanfieldIrrigonEcho

200016,74516,6126,9063,2202,0431,826699

Census shows city passes PendletonHERMISTON HERALD

And the winner is...

JENNIFER COLTON PHOTOStudents help DiAna Allison and Paula Thompson demonstrate their live auction prize — Date Night Babysitting Services — onTuesday evening during Desert View Elementary’s fourth annual Auction and Raffle. See story, Page A4.

SEE CENSUS/A6

The government is not offering cashrebates for those who paid propertytaxes early and scammers do not dis-criminate — even when they’re tryingto pull a fast one on the county tax of-fice.The latter became evident Tuesday

morning, when Umatilla County tax as-sessor Paul Chalmers was contacted byan individual claiming to be fromPennsylvania. When Chalmers re-ceived the message and called the num-ber back, a man with a Middle Easternaccent named “Chris Jones” told himhe owned money for legal fees from awebsite, CashNetUSA.“Basically, they said I owed them

$490 and some change, but if I paidthem today with Western Union, Iwould only have to pay $370,”Chalmers said. “He even mentionedverifying that I was a legitimate Amer-ican citizen, asking if he could get mySocial Security number to verify that.”Chalmers contacted the FBI to report

the call and learned it is a common typeof scam. CashnetUSA.com is a legiti-mate payday loan business, and thecompany has become aware of thescam and offers tips to recognize fakecallers.“Our in-house collectors follow strict

policies and procedures, industry bestpractices, and comply with the law.These fraudulent collectors do not,” the

website states. The company also notesthat people should be suspicious if:• They have never received a cash

advance from the company.• They have received a loan but paid

it back in full.• The caller threatens violence or

uses foul language.• The caller threatens arrest.•The caller is unable to provide loan

agreement information or payment his-tory when you ask for it.The website also said people who

have reported the scam said the callershad a strong Indian, Asian or MiddleEastern accent, poor English-speakingskills and attempt to show legitimacy

Knerr Const.wins bid forpump station

The City of Hermistonawarded Knerr Construc-tion of Hermiston with acontract for just more than$500,000 for the construc-tion of the Joseph PumpStation.The contract bid in-

cludes bonuses if the proj-ect is finished ahead ofschedule.Knerr Construction was

the only bidder for theproject, which is sched-uled to be finished byearly August.The water pressure

boost station is designedto be a prefabricated struc-ture that will ensure ade-quate water pressure forthe residential neighbor-hood around W. JosephAvenue and S.W. 11thStreet when the new Ar-mand Larive MiddleSchool opens in the fall.The new pump station

will boost residentialwater pressure to 65pounds per square inch.State law requires at least20 psi for residential waterduring high-flow usage.City officials said the

new station is designed inanticipation of residentialgrowth.According to John Eck-

hardt, project manager for

BY LUKE HEDGALHERMISTON HERALD

Scam artist can’t fool county tax officeChalmers contactsFBI after callBY JENNIFER COLTONHERMISTON HERALD

“He even mentioned verifying that I was a legitimateAmerican citizen.”

—Paul Chalmers

Jennifer Spurlock startedher SUV to let it warm upwhile she went back into theLast Chance Tavern in Her-miston, where she works.A few minutes later the

Lincoln Navigator was gone.Richard Dare parked his

soft-top Jeep in front of hishouse and discoveredthieves had taken a pair ofbinoculars and speakers, and

then jabbed a hole in hisplastic window.Jackie Wheelhouse re-

turned home after work tofind her front door (solidoak) kicked in, glass scat-tered across the floor and allher jewelry gone.In all, there were 22 re-

ports of break-ins and thefts,including attempted burgla-ries, and two assault reportsin Hermiston in the first 22days of February. Accordingto Hermiston Police, thenumbers are pretty typicalfor winter months. Spurlock and her husband,

Nat, did find their vehicleagain, thanks to Jennifer

Spurlock’s insistence thatthey drive around and lookfor it.“We found it about four

blocks away,” Nat Spurlocksaid. “It was just pure luckthat I happened to see it.”Despite recovering the ve-

hicle, the Spurlocks reportedseveral important itemsmissing, including birth cer-tificates, insurance informa-tion and a bottle of perfumeNat had purchased as aChristmas present for hiswife.“They just ransacked the

vehicle,” Nat Spurlock said.Dare and the Wheelhouses

also claim extensive dam-

ages to their property, aswell as having items stolen.For Dare, the largest cost

to him was the damage to hisJeep’s cloth top. He willhave to replace the wholetop, which costs about$1,000 new, according toDare.“They didn’t have to dam-

age the top,” Dare said. “It’sthe kind of thing you’d liketo catch somebody doingand beat them with a stick.”Mike Wheelhouse said

that in addition to the loss of30 years worth of jewelry,their solid oak door wassmashed in violently.

Break-ins, thefts top February crime chartFirst 22 daysproduced 22theft reportsBY LUKE HEGDALHERMISTON HERALD

SEE SCAM/A6

SEE CRIME/A6

Project to befinished by fall

SEE PUMP/A6