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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2019)
SHERIFF’S OFFICE GOING TO THE DOGS HEPPNER’S SYDNEY WILSON JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB REGION, A3 SPORTS, B1 E O AST 144th year, No. 51 REGONIAN Friday, december 27, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend • CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL SERVICE, Hermiston Christian Center • INDIAN TACO FUNDRAISER, Nixyaawii Community School • LA SANTA EUCARISTIA, Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Pendleton FOR TIMES AND LOCATIONS CHECK COMING EVENTS, A5 Weekend Weather FRI SAT SUN Staff photo by Ben Lonergan 41/28 38/32 37/31 OUR NEW NEIGHBORS New doctor finds right fit in Hermiston Editor’s Note: This story is part of an annual series by the East Oregonian called “Our New Neighbors,” which introduces the community to people who have moved here in the past year. By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian HermiSTON — Orthopedic surgeon James Whittum studied medicine in Ohio, completed his res- idency in chi- cago and worked at hospitals in New england, but when he decided to look for new employ- Whittum ment this year he turned his attention west. “i was looking for an area that was growing, that was a little more economically vibrant, but still a smaller, more rural community,” Kelly Meharry adjusts the volume of the carousel in the miniature winter village that she constructs in her living room each year. Me- harry has been adding to and perfecting the village each year for more than two decades, and it has grown from a windowsill display to cover two grand pianos. It makes a village Hermiston family’s miniature village grows from small collection to about 50 buildings, people, trees and other smaller pieces By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian H ermiSTON — if the min- iature village that springs up each winter at the meharry house in Hermiston were a real city, it would function quite well. There are schools and churches, stores and houses. an ice skating rink and a fountain with real running water sit near the center of town. most of the businesses lining the streets repre- sent a hobby or a profession for Kelly Meharry’s family — a dentist’s office for her dentist husband, a book store for her book-loving son, a veterinar- ian’s office for her daughter who is a vet. “most things are more personal to our family, and things we enjoy ... that’s what drives the choices of build- ings,” she said. The intricate setup spans the top of two large grand pianos pushed back to back, plus “hills” made of boxes sur- rounding them. an electric train runs Staff photo by Ben Lonergan See Village, Page A8 A miniature candy shop is one of the more than 50 buildings on display in this year’s village. See Neighbor, Page A8 airbus ends Pendleton UaS testing Project Vahana created four to six full-time jobs in Pendleton By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian PeNdLeTON — One of the Pendleton Unmanned aerial Sys- tems range’s most prominent cus- tomers is bidding adieu to eastern Oregon. Steve chrisman, Pendleton’s airport manager and economic development director, confirmed a dec. 17 Northwest News Net- work report that acubed, the Sil- icon Valley subsidiary of French aviation company airbus, had wrapped up testing on its drone and was moving out of town. besides its name recognition, airbus received a great deal of attention because of Project Vah- ana, its unmanned air taxi con- cept that the company said would change the way people traverse urban areas. acubed did not respond to an email requesting comment, but Zach Lovering, the compa- ny’s vice president of urban air mobility systems, wrote in a dec. 16 blog post the group achieved everything it set out to do since it started testing the aircraft in Jan- uary 2018. Lovering told the North- west News Network that Project Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File See Airbus, Page A8 Airbus’ Project Vahana sits in a hanger at the Pendleton Army Airfield during the AUVSI Cascade Chapter Fall Symposium in October.
