RAINBOW FAMILY
TO GATHER
NEAR SENECA
HEIMLICH WON’T
JOIN BEAVERS
IN OMAHA
NORTHWEST/2A
SPORTS/1B
Pendleton
Coffee Bean
shuts down
REGION/3A
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017
141st Year, No. 174
Your Weekend
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Learning from adversity
BMCC grad overcomes health challenges, addiction to fi nish college
•
•
•
Ural Thomas & The Pain
in Pendleton on Main
Inland Northwest
Musicians concert
Pendleton Men’s
Chorus Concert at BMCC
For times and places
see Coming Events, 5A
Catch a movie
Disney-Pixar via AP
In a world populated entirely
by anthropomorphic vehicles,
one car deals with the harsh
realities of getting old, in
Disney-Pixar’s “Cars 3.”
For showtime, Page 5A
Weekend Weather
Fri
67/49
Sat
74/55
Sun
84/57
HERMISTON
High school
looks at new
venues for
graduation
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Christopher Smith looked
out at a sea of fellow gradu-
ates, family and friends and
smiled a nervous smile.
Smith, a speaker at the
Blue Mountain Community
College
commencement
ceremony on Thursday night
at the Pendleton Convention
Center, had surmounted
some daunting barriers on
the way to this podium.
Now 38, he started
life with multiple health
challenges, including brittle
bone syndrome and an
autoimmune disease that
ate away the enamel on his
teeth, eventually requiring
all of them to be pulled. He
weathered dozens of ear and
knee surgeries. He endured
teasing from other kids.
“I was constantly bullied
and told that I was stupid,
dumb or even a freak of
nature,” Smith said. “There
was one thing that I always
dreamed about, and that was
having the opportunity to go
to college and to do some-
thing more with my life. I
used to fantasize about being
one of the few people with
the privilege to say something
inspirational at graduation.”
That moment had come.
The
Seaside
native
described how he struggled
with dependence on prescrip-
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
BMCC graduate Christopher Smith fi rst bumps fellow classmate Sydney Saxton-Siaki before a commencement
ceremony on Thursday at the Pendleton Convention Center.
tion drugs that progressed to
heroin addiction.
“Unfortunately, growing
up there was nothing positive
for me to look forward to,”
Smith said. “My mind was
stuck focusing on all the
negative things that I had
gone through and I could
never hold onto anything
positive long enough to
make a change. Eventually, I
just needed an outlet to stop
thinking.”
See BMCC/10A
“Anyone can change the course of
their life, anyone can achieve what
they set out to accomplish and
dreams can save lives.”
— Christopher Smith, BMCC graduate
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Hermiston High School
boasted a record number of
graduates this year — but
with that came unprecedented
crowds fi lling the gym,
auditorium and commons to
watch those students walk
across the stage.
In the coming months,
the
Hermiston
School
District will look at options
to better accommodate those
crowds, which will likely
keep growing. The district is
examining three new venues
in which graduation could
be held: the school’s Bulldog
Stadium at Kennison Field,
the rodeo grounds at the
new Eastern Oregon Trade
and Events Center, and the
Toyota Center in Kennewick.
Hermiston superintendent
Dr. Fred Maiocco said the
See HHS/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
BMCC graduate Samantha Ball wears the phrase “Follow Your
Heart” on top of her mortar board during the commencement
ceremony on Thursday in Pendleton.
Elainna Howland of Pilot Rock holds a cutout of her daughter, BMCC
graduate Megan Matthews, during the commencement ceremony
on Thursday in Pendleton.
HERMISTON
HERMISTON
Chamber turns down library space
City looks
for ways to
afford road
projects
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce is looking for
a new home after offi cially turning
down the city of Hermiston’s offer to
use the basement of the old Carnegie
Library on Gladys Avenue.
Board chair
“The fact
Josh Burns said
the
chamber
that the city
is hoping to
offered us
fi nd something
more visible.
any location
“We need
adequate space illustrated that
that says ‘We’re the city wants
a thriving busi- to keep work-
ness commu-
ing with the
nity.’” he said.
T
h
e
chamber.”
chamber must
— Josh Burns,
move out of
Greater Hermiston
the Hermiston
Area Chamber of
Conference
Commerce board
chair
Center, which
it has been
operating under a contract with the
city, by the end of the year after the
city council voted in April to turn
management of the center over to its
parks and recreation department. The
Considers increasing
fee for utility providers
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
New diagonal parking spaces have replaced parallel parking on the
north side of Gladys Avenue, including the front of the Carnegie Library.
city is planning to remodel the base-
ment of the former Carnegie Library
to create offi ces, a reception area and
a conference room and had offered
to let the chamber move in after the
remodel is complete.
Instead, the chamber is striking
out on its own. Burns said they’re
looking to lease something visible
from a main thoroughfare like Main
Street or Highway 395 that has offi ce
and storage space, a lobby and hope-
See CHAMBER/10A
As the Oregon legislature
looks to raise revenue for
transportation projects, the
city of Hermiston is working
on a plan of its own.
The city’s public infra-
structure committee has
been working to put together
a comprehensive capital
improvement plan, and
recently moved on to the
street department portion of
the project.
That could include a
plan to raise franchise fees
on providers of electricity,
See HERMISTON/10A