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FALL SPORTS
PREVIEW
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017
141st Year, No. 227
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Community
likes EOTEC
best for HHS
graduation
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton School District Superintendent Chris Fritsch looks in on a sixth-grade math class while touring Sunridge Middle
School on the fi rst day of class Tuesday in Pendleton.
SUPER BUSY
New superintendent spends first day of school on tours
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
When Wendy Phillips, a fi rst
grade teacher at McKay Creek
Elementary School, asked her
students if they were nervous
for the fi rst day of school, Chris
Fritsch’s hand shot up.
While Fritsch isn’t a student,
Tuesday marked his fi rst day of
school as the Pendleton School
District superintendent.
McKay Creek was his fi rst
stop as a part of a day-long tour of
every school in the district.
InterMountain
Education
Service District spokeswoman
Michele Madril was snapping
photos of students posing with a
welcome banner before school
started.
Madril pulled Fritsch into one
of the photos, and before she took
a few shots, he asked the kids if
they were excited for the fi rst day
of school.
“Sort of!” one of the kids
responded.
A longtime school adminis-
trator in Longview, Washington,
Fritsch took the reins in July but
used the fi rst day to greet teachers
and interact with students.
Driving from school to school
Community members have chosen the
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center as
their top choice for a high school gradua-
tion venue, but Hermiston School District
is still weighing its options.
At a school board work session Monday,
director of operations Brad Wayland
presented the board with the results of a
community survey as well as the pros,
cons and price tag associated with each of
four options for future graduations. The
school board will likely put the decision to
a vote at its next meeting.
“Whatever the choice is, we need to get
that information out so that plans can be
made,” board chair Karen Sherman said.
Here is an overview of the four options:
Hermiston High School gym
About 54 percent of community
members said they are “very dissatisfi ed”
with the district’s current practice of
holding graduation in the Hermiston High
School gym, which only holds 2,200
people including graduates and staff.
Hermiston’s growing student popula-
tion has limited each student to fi ve tickets
See GRADUATION/10A
UmCo supports
plan to boost
data centers
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
presence in the schools if he was
going to be involved in district
conversations with teachers and
The Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners approved a plan to exempt
data centers near the city of Umatilla from
property taxes. County tax assessor Paul
Chalmers said the move is about attracting
business and development.
The exemptions would apply to Vadata
Inc., which operates a server farm for
Amazon. The company also has centers
near Hermiston and in Morrow County.
Oregon’s strategic investment program
provides tax exemptions for projects that
cost at least $25 million in rural areas. Per
the agreement, the exemption goes into
effect when the Vadata property reaches a
real market value of $25 million. Chalmers
said the exemption lasts for 15 years, and
the $25 million value is subject to an annual
increase of 3 percent per year.
When the exemption expires, Chalmers
said, all developments on the site come
onto the tax rolls in one fell swoop.
Vadata also will pay an annual commu-
nity service fee that cannot exceed $500,000
a year. The county and city would split the
fee because Vadata’s project is on property
of each local government. Chalmers said
the city of Umatilla has yet to approve
See SCHOOL/10A
See DATA/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Science teacher Nichole Erwin shakes hands with Pendleton School District Superintendent
Chris Fritsch during a tour of Sunridge Middle School on Tuesday in Pendleton.
in his pick-up truck with New
England Patriot fl oor mats (“It
provides for a healthy conversation
on Sundays,” Fritsch said of him
and his wife, who is a Seahawks
fan), the man elementary teachers
described to their students as “the
boss of all the bosses” and “the big
guy on campus” explained that it
was important for him to have a
HERMISTON
Early season spuds
ship off to market
Acreage reduction means market crop. Harvest is now
and what he sees
better prices for growers underway,
are spuds that are just the right
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hillary Fernandez of Stanfi eld releases a gate on the back of a potato truck
as Estella Dueñez of Hermiston sorts Russet potatoes as they move down a
conveyor belt on Tuesday outside of Hermiston.
The spring weather may not
have been ideal, but Tony Amstad
is still pleasantly surprised with
the size and quality of his early
season potatoes.
While an abundance of rain
and snow pushed back planting
by about a week in March,
Amstad said the delay doesn’t
seem to be affecting his fresh
shape, color and consistency for
supermarket shelves.
“It’s going to be a decent
year,” said Amstad, owner of
Amstad Farms. “It started out
bad and ended up good.”
Amstad Farms grows 2,250
acres of potatoes, mostly
around Hermiston and Echo.
On Tuesday, Amstad watched
as crews sifted through a stream
of Russets that were loaded up
See POTATOES/10A