BURNS
DANCES TO
VICTORY
48/37
MINNESOTA
MIRACLE
SPORTS/1B
REGION/3A
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2018
142nd Year, No. 64
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A procession of marchers makes the turn onto Main Street during a Martin Luther King Day march on Monday in Hermiston. More than 100 people took part
in the annual march commemorating the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr.
LONG LIVE KING
Martin Luther King Jr. remembered through march, service and music
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN,
ANTONIO SIERRA
and KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
The mood at Hermiston’s
Martin Luther King Jr. Day march
Monday morning was positive,
but carried a clear message that
the fi ght for social justice is far
from over.
“When you come to a small
town like Hermiston and still
have people watching and
marching, it’s just amazing,” said
Don Rome.
Rome was the keynote speaker
at the annual celebration of social
justice and civil rights, which
has taken place in Hermiston for
18 years. More than 100 people
from the Hermiston area, as well
as Portland and the Tri-Cities,
gathered in front of Hermiston’s
“He was interested
in changing the
world non-violently
— without shouting,
without creating
disunity.”
— Sarah Woodbury,
MLK Day event organizer
Methodist Church to walk, listen
to speeches, and discuss what
King’s message continues to
mean today.
After a walk around Herm-
iston’s downtown blocks and a
speech on City Hall steps from
City Councilor Doug Primmer,
Rome took the stage, talking
about his own experiences
growing up black in Hermiston.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Rev. Robert Eadie of Kennewick sings along to the song “This
Little Light of Mine” during a service at the First United Method-
ist Church for Martin Luther King Day on Monday in Hermiston.
Though some of his stories
were lighthearted and had the
it’s not obviously hostile.
“The pro was that I always got
picked for sports,” he said with a
grin. “The con was — I sucked!”
He told a story of when he
was a small child, a teacher had
refused to call him by his name,
instead calling him a derogatory
term.
“I asked her why she called me
that, and she said, ‘Because that’s
all you’re ever going to be,’”
Rome recalled.
He also told a story acknowl-
edging his own insecurities. He
remembered a trip to the grocery
store last year, where an elderly
couple was walking toward him.
He smiled, but they didn’t recip-
rocate.
“He looked me up and down
in disgust, and walked off,” Rome
audience laughing, he described
how prejudice can occur, even if
See MLK/8A
Panic in paradise
Locals experience
Hawaiian missile alert
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Contributed photo
Herman Hull poses for a photo with his three grandsons, Ke’omakani,
Hailionaona and Haloa, shortly after the false missile alert Saturday on
the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
There’s nothing like impending
nuclear attack to mess up a vaca-
tion.
Kim Puzey, of Hermiston,
drove along a highway on Maui on
Saturday morning with two friends,
chatting about an upcoming bike
ride when suddenly all their phones
chirped in unison.
“It sounded like an amber alert,”
said Puzey, who manages the Port
of Umatilla. “The screen said,
‘Ballistic missile threat inbound to
Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter.
This is not a drill.’”
The men stared at each other in
disbelief. Traffi c slowed.
“People pulled over to the side
of the road,” Puzey said. “I saw
confusion, but not panic.”
Everyone contemplated this
freakish news. Should they take
cover or just carry on?
If it was real, Puzey surmised,
he expected the missile to be inter-
cepted, but just in case things went
awry, he decided to call his family
back in Oregon.
“If it’s true, I wanted you to
know how much I love you,” Puzey
remembers telling his wife, Julie.
Another Hermiston resident,
Herman Hull, got the alert on the
See MISSLE/8A