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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2018)
REGION Tuesday, February 20, 2018 East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Motorcycle rider flown to hospital after crash East Oregonian A motorcycle crash Sunday seriously injured a Hermiston resident. Daisy Burton, 50, was taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center and then transferred via air ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland after Hermiston Police Department and Umatilla County Fire District 1 responded at approximately 11:30 a.m. to a report of a crash in the area of West Harper Road near Highway 395. According to law enforcement, Burton was riding with a group of other motorcyclists when she struck the back of another motorcycle and was thrown Staff photo by Jade McDowell Photo contributed by Hermiston Police Department One motorcyclist was seriously injured Sunday in a wreck on West Harper Road in Hermiston. onto the roadway. A passenger from that motorcycle was transported by family members to Good Shepherd after complaining of pain. HERMISTON A tree limb crashed through the back window of a car on Page Avenue in Stanfield during a wind storm Saturday. Wind storm knocks out power East Oregonian Most of Hermiston was without power for nearly three hours on Saturday after a wind storm blew a tree into a transmission line. According to updates posted by Umatilla Electric Cooperative, about 12,600 customers served by eight different substations lost power before 3:30 p.m. Juniper Canyon substa- tion was restored at 5:38 p.m., with several other substations following in the next 25 minutes. The last of the Columbia District was restored at 7:05 p.m. A real-time map of outages, including estimates of when power will be restored, can be found online at www.umatillaelectric. com. Customers can call 1-888-465-5701 to report outages. Saturday’s wind storm also caused damage elsewhere, including Page Avenue in Stanfield, where one large tree fell over and blocked the road and another had a limb come crashing down on top of a car, breaking its back window. In downtown Hermiston, cars were having difficultly navigating Main Street and Gladys Avenue after traffic cones and traffic signs surrounding the festival street construction blew over. HERMISTON Yarn Club a tight-knit group By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian If there’s one thing the Yarn Club knows how to do, it’s keep people warm. Its members — a collec- tion of women who crochet and knit together in the Hermiston Public Library twice a week — are always on the lookout for who might need the next hat or blanket or scarf. “If I see a mother in the store, I ask her, ‘Do you have a blanket for that baby?’” Gladys Morrison said. “If she says no, I get her phone number and tell her I’ll make something ... It’s important that those babies are warm and covered.” Veterans, nursing home residents, new babies, hospi- talized children, victims of domestic violence, the homeless, hospice patients and the local animal shelter have all been recipients of regular donations from the Yarn Club over the seven- year course of its existence. Members of the club, which meets at the library Thurs- days at 5:30 p.m. and Satur- days at 10 a.m., can work on personal projects too, but when they’re not making gifts for family and friends they are often creating items for someone in need. “If people donate yarn to us, we make it all up into things we donate,” LaVera Sanchez said. She was working on a baby blanket in rainbow of neon colors Saturday, in preparation for an upcoming baby shower. While some women are solely knitters or crocheters, Sanchez does both, although she said knit- ting is her favorite. There are varying levels of skill and experience in the club, but they all help each other out. When Morrison was having difficulty figuring out a new stitch on Saturday, she showed Sanchez the pattern and asked for her advice on her “problem child” of an afghan. “We have to go through a lot of things, when we’re Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan A pickup truck and a semi (not pictured) were involved in a crash that blocked both southbound lanes of traffic on Highway 395 at the south end of Hermiston on Monday afternoon. Head-on crash snarls traffic, spills fuel By JAYATI RAMAKRISHAN East Oregonian Staff photo by Jade McDowell Pat Fergerson, left, and LaVera Sanchez, right, make blankets during Yarn Club at the Hermiston Public Library on Saturday. learning a new stitch, but we all put our heads together,” Morrison said. Kathleen McCall was also having a bit of difficulty with a pink blanket she was knitting to add to the bag of baby blankets she has ready to donate to Good Shepherd Medical Center, but she worked it out. Some days go smoothly, the group said, while others are “tear-out days” that call for some re-doing. As they worked around two tables in a back corner of the library, the women chatted about their lives and their families. They usually continue the conversation over lunch or dinner after leaving the library, and Donna Backan said they had a yarn-themed Christmas party together in December. When Morrison came in, she handed Backan a set of crocheted pot holders and sponges. “See? We love each other,” Backan said. “She just handed me a gift. We never know what our friend- ship will bring.” On Saturday there were eight women present, but on Thursdays, they said, it’s often closer to 20. One group member stopped by briefly “We never know what our friendship will bring.” — Donna Backan, Yarn Club member to say hello and apologize that she hadn’t been around recently due to juggling work and classes at Blue Mountain Community College. “Every time one of our sheep goes astray, we wonder what’s going on,” Morrison said. There are multiple moth- er-daughter pairs who attend the club, although none of them were present Saturday. The oldest of those pairs has been knitting 50 and 70 years, respectively. The club loves to add new members, and they’re always happy to give advice to anyone who stops by to ask a question about yarn-based projects or donate leftover yarn. “Yarn Club handles it all,” group member Helen Hauser said. 2/20 Cineplex Show Times $5 Classic Movie • 2/21 •12:00 PM Ghost Black Panther (Pg 13) 7:00 3D 4:00 10:00 Stop By and See Our New Garden Area! Plants & Home Decor Put a smile on the heart with the power of flowers. HWY 395, HERMISTON 541-567-4305 Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am www.cottagefl owersonline.com Early Man (PG) 4:30 6:40 8:50 Peter Rabbit (PG) 4:20 6:50 9:00 15:17 To Paris (PG13) 4:40 7:10 9:30 Fifty Shades Freed (R) 4:50 7:20 9:50 * Matinee Pricing wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 Traffic on Highway 395 at the south end of Hermiston was backed up on Monday afternoon after a collision between a semi and a pickup blocked both southbound lanes of traffic near the water tower. James Zimmerman, 68, of Hermiston was traveling northbound on Highway 395 near Southeast View Drive when his 1996 Chevrolet pick-up drifted into the oncoming southbound lane and struck a 2018 Peterbilt semi-truck, according to Hermiston Police Department. The commercial vehicle was driven by Ronald Grey, 58, of Coeur d-Alene, Idaho. Zimmerman was taken by ambulance to Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston, for “reported minor injuries” and Grey was not injured. Umatilla County Fire District 1 responded, including the district’s hazardous materials personnel who assisted with containment and clean-up of a large diesel fuel spill. “There were no signs of impairment from any of the parties involved, and is not believed to be a causing factor in this case,” Captain Scott Clark wrote on Hermiston Police Department’s Facebook page. The crash occurred around 2 p.m., blocking southbound lanes of traffic near New Hope Church, and by 2:20 p.m., police officers began directing one lane of southbound traffic into a northbound lane. ——— Reporter Jayati Ramakrishan can be reached at 541-564-4534 T UESDAY , F EBRUARY 20 TH • 2018 AT 7:00 P . M . B LUE M OUNTAIN C OMMUNITY (BMCC) • 2411 NW C ARDEN • P ENDLETON , OR S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY B UILDING • R OOM S T - 200 F OOD F ROM THE G ROUND U P - F ARM TO T ABLE F EATURING : H AL M C C UNE , C OLLEEN S ANDERS AND S HARON T HORNBERRY Hal McCune, Pendleton Farmers Market Association President Colleen Sanders, Umatilla County Master Gardener President Sharon Thornberry, Rural Communities Liaison Oregon Food Bank T HE COST FOR THIS SERIES OF 4 FORUMS IS $15 PER PERSON , $25 PER COUPLE OR $5 PER FORUM AT THE DOOR - S TUDENTS ARE FREE For more information about the EO Forum, please contact: Karen Parker at 541-966-3177. The EO Forum is a collaborative effort among leaders from the Blue Mountain Community College. InterMountain Education Service District; the East Oregonian; American Association of University Women; and Harriet Isom, a former United States ambassador who also serves on the committee. This EO Forum program is offered as part of Blue Mountain Community College’s annual Arts and Culture Festival. For more information on the festival go to www.bluecc.edu.