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HERMISTON
HERMISTON
Students get down and dirty
during homecoming week
Free health insurance
enrollment help available
By SEAN HART
East Oregonian
Open enrollment is
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By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
After a week of dressing
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attire and togas, Hermiston
high schoolers donned their
mud gear for a homecoming
tug-of-war battle at the Farm-
City Pro Rodeo grounds.
In the end, Team
Harshberger,
comprised
of members of the boys
soccer team, was the last
left standing on dry ground.
Senior John Mejia from the
team said their cohesiveness
propelled them to victory.
“We worked together, and
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“We were pretty focused on
getting them tired after we
pulled and keeping it going
after that.”
Mejia said the best part of
the homecoming festivities
was having more fans than
usual at the home soccer
game against Hood River
Valley Tuesday. With the
added cheering section, the
Bulldogs played to a 2-2
draw with the defending 5A
state champions.
Another senior, Victoria
Montez, said homecoming
week was fun.
“I think it’s really cool
looking at everybody being
so creative with everything:
the dress-ups and the time
that people put into their
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Staff photo by Sean Hart
Hermiston High School students compete in a tug-of-war Thursday at the Farm-
City Pro Rodeo grounds.
came up with,” she said.
“This year, they actually
involved a lot of people in
everything, which was pretty
cool.”
Junior Payton Staker said
the week was interesting.
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dress-up day.
Freshman Madi Botti
said she dressed up all week.
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for Friday’s football game
against Hood River Valley.
“I’m going to be out
there cheering,” she said.
Staff photo by Sean Hart
“We’re going to win. Go Hermiston High School students compete in a tug-of-
war Thursday as part of Homecoming festivities.
Hermiston!”
When open enrollment
for the Oregon Health Insur-
ance Marketplace opens on
Nov. 1 Hermiston will be
one of 15 communities in
Oregon with a free enroll-
ment center to help people
sign up.
Simmons
Insurance
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was selected by the state
as a “drop-in center” and
given a grant to provide free
one-on-one help for people
shopping for health insur-
ance, enrolling in health
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cial aid through HealthCare.
gov. The business will also
help people sign up for the
Oregon Health Plan.
Josh Goller of Simmons
Insurance Group said in an
email that compared to the
rest of the state, Umatilla
County has a particularly
high number of people who
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with their insurance costs
but are not taking advantage
of it. Three out of every
four Oregonians who signed
up for insurance through
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Goller said coming in for
free professional assistance
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plan for them.
“While price is certainly
an important consideration,
it is important to look
beyond price to be sure the
plan will provide appro-
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a family,” he said.
Goller said the grant will
allow Simmons Insurance
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hours on some evenings and
weekends, and potentially
hire more staff during the
enrollment period.
Open enrollment for
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period is over anyone
wishing to purchase health
insurance
through
the
government health insur-
ance marketplace will have
to wait another year and
could pay a penalty on their
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Anyone who wants help
navigating the health insur-
ance website can walk in to
Simmons insurance Monday
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appointment. Evening and
weekend help is available
on an appointment basis.
Those who want to enroll
without help or shop for
a better plan than the one
they already have can visit
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at OregonHealthCare.gov.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
BRIEFLY
Livable Hermiston Committee
looking for feedback
HERMISTON — The city of Hermiston
is looking for feedback on increasing the
community’s livability factor.
A four-question survey on will be online
at www.surveymonkey.com/r/livableherm-
iston and on the city’s website until Nov. 12.
One question asks survey-takers to imagine
Hermiston was given a $1 million gift to
enhance the city’s livability and asks what
residents’ top spending priority would be.
The answers, collected and analyzed by an
independent consultant, will be shared with
the city’s new Livable Hermiston Committee.
According to a city news release the
committee came about because community
members often come to the city with ideas
for adding assets to the community, ranging
from an indoor swimming pool to a museum.
“The common thread among all of these
requests is that they all would be great assets
which help improve the quality of life and
livability of the community, but they also
require an immense amount of resources
and community support,” the release
states. “That’s why the city of Hermiston
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and what missing assets truly have enough
broad-based community support to be able to
become viable projects for the community to
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Survey participants are eligible for a
drawing for a $25 gift card.
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school facility forum
HERMISTON — No Hermiston resident
who does not work for the school district
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forum Thursday about capacity needs and a
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Administrators showed a slide show
available on the facilities planning section of
the district website, hermiston.k12.or.us.
Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith said
student growth, aging infrastructure and
safety and security risks have led to the need
for additional capital funding.
He said the facilities master planning
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and a citizens review committee has been
created to make a recommendation to the
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The members of the citizens review
committee are Dennis Barnett, Greg Juul,
Benny Medelez, Jeff Snell, Joe Thompson,
Blaine Hendrickson, Eddie De La Cruz,
Dave Drotzmann, Phil Hamm, Angela Pursel,
Tiah Devin, Dave Rademacher, Bob Barton,
Sally Anderson-Hansell, school board
members Ginny Holthus and Dave Smith and
Wade Smith as the district liaison.
At the school board work session at
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School, Smith said the board will discuss the
possibility of procuring an additional four to
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Umatilla County, BMCC
announce partnership
PENDLETON — The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday
to join Blue Mountain Community College in
developing a skilled workforce in the area.
The partnership will include working
with Susan Bower, owner of Eastern Oregon
Business Source, to conduct a thorough study
DON’T MISS OUT!
Celebrate Your
Loved Ones in Our
Veterans Day
SALUTE
Staff Sergeant
Joel Davis
US Marines
Veteran
Honoring those who have served and those
that are currently serving our country!
Example
Bring us a picture of your servicemen or servicewomen or veteran by November 5 th
along with the form below and we will include them in our “Veterans Day Salute”
on November 11 th in the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald at no charge.
For more information, call Paula at 1-800-522-0255 or Hermiston Herald at 541-564-4530.
Service Person’s Name
Military Branch
Your Name
Your Address
Your Phone Number
Military Rank
Currently Serving Veteran (Check One)
Deliver to:
East Oregonian
211 SE Byers Ave.
• Pendleton, OR
Hermiston Herald
333 E. Main.
• Hermiston, OR
or e-mail to classifieds@eastoregonian.com
of workforce needs in the area.
Commissioner Bill Elfering said in a news
release that the need for skilled workers is
second only to the need for more housing in
Umatilla County.
“The demand for skilled workforce and
skilled workforce training is a high priority in
the private sector,” Elfering said. “We believe
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and recruitment for family wage jobs.”
According to the release, Elfering has
been meeting with industry leaders and state
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Commissioner George Murdock said
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increase workforce development, including
recent efforts by BMCC to add programs
to strengthen public sector leadership and
customer service. He said the county wasn’t
interested in duplicating those efforts, but
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have a selection of skilled workers to hire for
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Anyone interested in providing industry
information for the study can contact Bower
at 541-215-9252.
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Bowl of the season
STANFIELD — High school students
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the top two spots. Teams from Echo and
Umatilla were tied for third, with Umatilla
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After a four-year hiatus, Heppner
returned to the competition this year, and
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competitions are planned in Umatilla,
Hermiston and Echo.
Wildhorse hosts event
planning seminar
MISSION — A special workshop on
event planning is offered at Wildhorse Resort
& Casino.
Ingalls and Associates will discuss
planning, sponsorship development and
event marketing that is appropriate for
festivals, fairs and other events. The
presenters have been producing and
managing events for more than 25 years —
from wine festivals to fairs and Oregon’s
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The seminar is Wednesday, Oct. 28 from
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5RRPORFDWHGRII+LJKZD\0LVVLRQ
The cost is $25.
For more information or to register,
contact the Pendleton Chamber of
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pendletonchamber.com or visit www.
pendletonchamber.com.