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
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Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am
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4:30 6:40 8:50
Peter Rabbit (PG)
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4:40 7:10 9:30
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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.