INSIDE SPORTS
BMCC HOSTING RODEO REGIONAL FINALS LATER THIS MONTH
Hermiston
Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017
$1.00
LEADERSHIP
HERMISTON
GOES TO
SALEM
INSIDE
HERMISTON
HISTORY
SIGHTING OF UFO REPORTED
NEAR HERMISTON, BUT THEN
AGAIN, IT WAS THE ’60S.
PAGE A2
HARDWARE
WITH A HUG
THERE WILL BE ‘HUG
SPECIALS’ THROUGH THE
STORE IN HONOR OF RETIRING
‘ACE’ AT SMITTY’S.
PAGE A4
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
ermiston business leaders were
a visible presence in the state
capitol last week as Leadership
Hermiston’s Class 20 met with the gov-
ernor and other state political leaders.
Fifteen of the class’s 18 members
— who range from business owners to
nonprofi t directors — spent April 10-11
in Salem and were recognized as special
guests of Rep. Greg Smith and Sen. Bill
Hansell during fl oor sessions for the
House of Representatives and Senate.
See LEADERSHIP, A16
YOU DID WHAT?
YOU DON’T SEE THOSE
SKILLS ON A COLUMNIST’S
RESUME EVERY DAY. SEE
WHAT TAMMY MALGESINI USED
TO DO TO EARN A PAYCHECK.
PAGE A6
UMATILLA
ROCKETS TO
HOUSTON
UMATILLA ROBOTICS
RETURNS TO WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT.
PAGE A6
MORE ON
FRAN RICE
ADERSHIP HERMISTON
LEARN MORE ABOUT LE THIS WEEK’S “THREE
IN
FACILITATOR FRAN RICE ON PAGE 2A.
ILE
OF
MINUTES WITH...” PR
BRIEFLY
BMCC hosts Arts
& Culture Week
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY THE OFFICE OF REP. GREG SMITH
The Leadership Hermiston Class 20 stands in front of the state capitol building in Salem during a recent tour.
Fallen Umatilla airman remembered at service
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
Sgt. Austin Bieren was honored
Saturday at a memorial service at
Umatilla High School, the school
where he graduated seven years ago.
Bieren, 25, an air-
man for the U.S. Air
Force, died March 28
in Syria, in a non-com-
bat related incident of
natural causes. He was
there as part of Opera-
tion Inherent Resolve
Bieren
against the terrorist
group ISIS.
According to Rose Gudex, a pub-
lic affairs offi cer with the Petersen
Air Force Base where Bieren was
stationed, Bieren collapsed while
exercising, and was given immedi-
See BIEREN, A16
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Two servicemen, carrying a fl ag and the ashes of Sgt. Austin Bieren, lead
Bieren’s family into the Umatilla High School gym for his memorial service
Saturday.
A multidisciplinary per-
forming artist, a Holocaust
survivor and a Bosnian war
refugee are among the pre-
senters during 2017 Arts &
Culture Week in Hermis-
ton.
The event, which in-
cluded activities earlier in
the week on the Pendleton
campus of Blue Mountain
Community College, are
free of charge — including
a barbecue today from 11
a.m. to 1 p.m. All Hermis-
ton presentations take place
in Room 134 at 980 S.E.
Columbia Drive.
In addition to her musi-
cal talents, Deletta Gilles-
pie, a native of Tulsa, Okla-
homa, is a teaching artist.
She shares what it was like
growing up black, learning
her fi rst painful lesson in
racism at the age of 5. She
is the artist-in-residence
and is featured today at 1
p.m. and Thursday at noon.
Selena Hutchins, a ref-
ugee from Bosnia, will
make a presentation today
at 2 p.m. At 5 p.m., for-
mer BMCC student Helday
de la Cruz will discuss his
work as an artist and activ-
ist in Portland.
Manny Taiblum, author
of “With G-d at My Side:
A Child’s Story of Surviv-
al,” will share his experi-
ences as a Holocaust sur-
vivor Thursday at 11 a.m.
An eye-opening account of
the German invasion of Po-
land, as a 12-year-old boy
he returned to his home one
day in 1941 to fi nd his en-
tire family gone.
Also, the Rotary presen-
tation on The Peace Pole
Project is Thursday at 2
p.m., with installation of
the Peace Pole at 3 p.m.
For a full schedule of
events, visit www.bluecc.
edu.