REGION
Thursday, October 22, 2020
East Oregonian
A3
LOCAL BRIEFING
staff. The ban had been in
effect since July 2 due to
dry summer conditions and
risks of wildfi re.
“We believe conditions
have improved enough, and
with snow and rain in the
forecast we thought it was
time to lift the burn ban,”
said Bob Waldher, Umatilla
County planning director.
Boadman teen
reported missing
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Participants wander aisles of vendor exhibits during the 2019 Hermiston Farm Fair at the
Eastern Oregon Trade & Event Center. This year’s Hermiston Farm Fair will be online, or-
ganizers say.
Hermiston Farm Fair goes
virtual during pandemic
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
HERMISTON — Like
many events in 2020, the
annual Hermiston Farm
Fair is going virtual.
Now, in its 47th year,
the farm fair is a signa-
ture showcase for Oregon
State University’s Hermis-
ton Agricultural Research
and Extension Center, or
HAREC, which serves
nearly 500,000 acres of irri-
gated agriculture across the
Columbia Basin in North-
east Oregon and Southeast
Washington.
The three-day exposi-
tion and trade show typ-
ically draws hundreds of
people to the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Cen-
ter in Hermiston.
This year, however, with
statewide restrictions on
large indoor gatherings to
slow the spread of COVID-
19, researchers will instead
present their latest fi ndings
during a series of webinars
scheduled for Dec. 2-4.
“Our goal is to try
to reach the same audi-
ence, and maybe many
more,” said Silvia Rondon,
extension entomologist at
HAREC and one of the
farm fair’s main organiz-
ers. “People are going to be
able to listen to our semi-
nars from anywhere in the
world. I think that’s going
to be a cool experience.”
The Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce normally
partners with OSU on the
farm fair, helping to pro-
vide a venue and spon-
sorships. The chamber
announced in September it
would not be participating
this year to focus on serv-
ing its member businesses
affected by the coronavirus
pandemic.
That left HAREC to
organize virtual sessions
largely on its own, which
Rondon said has been a dif-
fi cult transition.
“All of us are learn-
ing about how to move
from in-person to the vir-
tual venue,” she said. “I am
confi dent we are going to
pull it off.”
The virtual farm fair
will feature talks from
8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each
morning over the Zoom
video conferencing app.
Each speaker will have 30
minutes, covering a vari-
ety of topics spanning the
region’s diverse irrigated
crops, Rondon said.
Day 1, on Wednesday,
Dec. 2, will kick off with
the potato seminar pro-
viding updates on breed-
ing, diseases, pest man-
agement and crop nutrition
programs. HAREC is
regarded as the fl ag-
ship potato research sta-
tion for OSU, and fi gures
prominently in the Tri-
State Potato Research and
Breeding Program with
Washington and Idaho.
Day 2, on Thursday,
Dec. 3, will cover soil
health and modern preci-
sion irrigation technology.
Rondon said soil health has
been one of the hot research
topics at HAREC over the
last several years.
Day 3 on Dec. 4 will
focus on hemp and other
horticultural
programs.
Rondon said she expects
the hemp session will be
well attended, as 2020 was
the fi rst full growing sea-
son for OSU researchers to
study the crop after it was
decriminalized in the 2018
Farm Bill.
Pesticide applicator cer-
tifi cation credits will also
be offered online during
the farm fair. There will
be a fee for the Pesticide
CORE Program presenta-
tions, but all other sessions
are free of charge.
While Rondon said
she will miss the face-to-
face interactions and net-
working normally associ-
ated with the farm fair, the
online event will ensure
everyone can remain
safe and still get them the
information they need to
improve their farming
operations.
“I cannot tell you how
much infl uence this has in
all our clientele around the
Columbia Basin, and the
Pacifi c Northwest in gen-
eral,” she said. “This is
what we continue to thrive
doing, providing informa-
tion about all the irrigated
crops we grow in the area.”
A full program schedule
will be released sometime
next week, Rondon said.
For more information or to
register, visit https://agsci.
oregonst ate.edu / harec/
farm-fair.
BOARDMAN — The
Oregon Department of
Human Services, Child
Welfare Division, is asking
for the public’s assistance in
fi nding a teenager who went
missing from the Boardman
area, according to a press
release.
Mya Miranda, 16, is a
foster child who went miss-
ing on Saturday, Oct. 17,
the release said. Authorities
suspect she is traveling to
Milton-Freewater and is in
danger.
Miranda is 5-foot-1, 140
pounds with blue-green eyes
and long blonde hair with
dark roots. She is approxi-
mately 25 weeks pregnant
and has a tattoo on her left
hand.
Anyone with informa-
tion about Miranda’s loca-
tion should call 911 or con-
tact local law enforcement.
OCCA names
communciations
director
SALEM — The Oregon
Community Colleges Asso-
ciation has hired a familiar
face to lead its communica-
tions department.
In an Oct. 19 press
release, the association
announced it was hiring
Casey White-Zollman as
its communications direc-
tor. The move will reunite
White-Zollman with asso-
ciation Executive Director
Cam Preus, a former Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege president who hired
White-Zollman for a similar
role in 2015.
“We’re so excited to
have Casey join our OCCA
team,” Preus said in a state-
ment. “Casey brings the
background, skills and drive
that we need to bring aware-
ness to the value and impor-
tance of Oregon’s commu-
nity colleges statewide.”
White-Zollman began her
new role the same day as the
announcement, and she’ll be
in charge of managing the
group’s
communications,
marketing, website and
social media. She will con-
tinue to be based in Pendle-
ton, where she lives with her
husband and 4-year-old son.
The Oregon Community
Colleges Association rep-
resents the state’s 17 com-
munity colleges and advo-
cates on their behalf in front
of lawmakers and other
partners.
After fi ve years as
BMCC’s vice president
of college relations and
Fourth person
dies at EOCI with
COVID-19
Oregon Department of Human
Services/Contributed Photo
The Oregon Department of
Human Services is asking
for the public’s assistance in
fi nding Mya Miranda, who
went missing from Boardman
on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.
advancement, White-Zoll-
man was laid off in July due
to budget cuts. She came to
BMCC after a decade at the
InterMountain
Education
Service District, where she
was also a communications
director.
County burn ban
concludes Oct. 22
UMATILLA COUNTY
— The temporary ban on
nonagricultural
burning
in unincorporated parts of
Umatilla County will offi -
cially by lifted at noon on
Thursday, Oct. 22.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
voted to lift the ban at its
Wednesday, Oct. 21, meet-
ing at the request of county
PENDLETON — A
fourth person who tested
positive for COVID-19
while incarcerated at East-
ern Oregon Correctional
Institution in Pendleton died
Monday, Oct. 19, accord-
ing to a press release from
the Oregon Department of
Corrections.
The man was between 50
and 60 years old, the release
said, and is the 16th person
to die with COVID-19 while
in custody of the Oregon
Department of Corrections.
Because the inmate was
positive for COVID-19, the
department is withholding
usually reported informa-
tion following the death of
an inmate, such as the per-
son’s name, county of con-
viction, sentence length,
and date of death.
According to an email
from Ron Miles, an EOCI
spokesman, there are 385
people incarcerated at the
prison who have tested posi-
tive for the virus as of Tues-
day, Oct. 20. Another 41
staff members have tested
positive, he stated in the
email, 35 of whom have
since returned to work.
— EO Media Group
10/16-10/22
10/23-10/29
Cineplex Show Times
Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
The Empty Man (R)
12:40p 3:50p 7:00p
Honest Thief (PG-13)
1:20p 4:20p 7:20p
Love and Monsters (PG-13)
2:00p 5:00p 8:00p
The War With Grandpa (PG)
1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
Halloween (R)
5:40p 8:10p
The Nightmare
Before Christmas (PG)
1:00p 3:20p
Tenet (PG-13)
12:40p 6:40p
Hocus Pocus (PG)
4:00p
Honest Thief (PG-13)
1:20p 4:20p 7:20p
Love and
Monsters (PG-13)
2:00p 5:00p 8:00p
The War with
Grandpa (PG)
1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
Monster, Inc. (G)
1:00p 3:30p
Tenet (PG-13)
6:40p
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
PUBLIC LECTURE:
Dead but Dangerous Dinosaurs?
Saturday, October 24 • 11am
Hermiston Seventh-Day
Adventist Church
855 West Highland Ave, Hermiston, OR
Questions:
Do fossilized dinosaur bones
disprove the Bible’s account of
a recent creation?
If you knew that many dinosaur bones,
upon being unearthed, exude a rotten
odor, what might that tell you?
Documentation provided to each attendee
Presenter: Kent Knight
(M. Div., B.A. Behavioral Science with emphasis in anthropology)
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 24 TH
9AM
Hermiston Ranch & Home OR NOON
CLASS
2500 S Hwy 395
Multi-State $ 80
Oregon Included No Fee
Oregon Only $ 45
MULTI-STATE
Valid 35-States, including Washington
Shaun
Shaun Curtain
Curtain 360-921-2071
360-921-2071
or or email:
email: ShaunCurtain@gmail.com
ShaunCurtain@gmail.com | www.ShaunCurtain.com.com
| www.ShaunCurtain.com.com
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Noon to 4:00PM