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SPORTS PAGE A11
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015
YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Grad rates Homeless dogs get new leash on life
up for area
schools
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
BY MAEGAN MURRAY
HERMISTON HERALD
High schools across
the region saw increases
in their graduation rates
from the class of 2013-14,
but none more so than the
smaller districts.
The Oregon Department
of Education released its
annual cohort graduation
rate and dropout report
this week, and many area
schools experienced suc-
cess that exceeded the state
averages. Unlike past years,
students who received mod-
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ed in the four-year gradua-
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which likely contributed to
the increases of some of the
schools.
Echo School District,
the smallest district in the
Hermiston region, saw the
largest jump of all the dis-
tricts in the area. Although
the high school did not
have any students who re-
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in the graduating in the
2013-14 graduating class,
about 94.7 percent of last
year’s seniors graduated on
time with a four-year di-
ploma compared with the
2012-13 graduating class
Some homeless dogs at the
shelter in Hermiston will soon
have a second chance to find a
new home.
Humane Society of East-
ern Oregon Pet Rescue Execu-
tive Director Beau Putnam an-
nounced Thursday the shelter
will begin transferring some
dogs that may have otherwise
been euthanized to the Oregon
Humane Society Second Chance
Program, which places the ani-
mals up for adoption.
Putnam said Pet Rescue has
transferred smaller dogs to OHS
in the past, but breed restrictions
prevented some larger dogs from
being accepted. He said he con-
tacted OHS Thursday and was
informed most dogs would now
be accepted, and he set up a time
to begin transferring dogs the
same day. He said he now plans
to transfer dogs on a monthly
basis and possibly more often.
“Beginning early February,
they’re going to make a special
trip for us, and they’re going to
take about five to 10 dogs for
us,” he said. “I’m totally ex-
SEE ANIMALS/A16
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Humane Society of Eastern Oregon Pet Rescue volunteer Saige Borrego, 14,
Hermiston, feeds the dogs at the shelter -an. 1. Pet Rescue announced Thurs
day it will begin transferring animals the shelter cannot house in February.
A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW
SEE GRADUATION/A7
TODAY’S WEATHER
Mostly sunny
High: 44º Low: 32º
OUTLOOK
• SUNDAY
Afternoon showers
High: 40º Low: 38º
• MONDAY
Morning light rain
High: 55º Low: 42º
Chinese Principal Dong Cai’an has a look at StanÀ eld junior Nathan Hurty’s tool belt this week while visiting the À rst studentbuilt home.
Chinese administrator impressed by
Hermiston homebuilding programs
A complete weather forecast is
featured on page A2.
BY MAEGAN MURRAY
HERMISTON HERALD
Find the Hermiston Herald on
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and join the conversation.
While Chinese Principal
Dong Cai’an traveled to
Hermiston Thursday to see
what a “large” school in
the United States is like, it
wasn’t the size of the high
school that he found most
interesting.
Because Cai’an’s school
in China, Shaanxi Shiquan
High School, enrolls about
3,000 students, about twice
the size of Hermiston High
School, HHS isn’t a large
school. Cai’an, however,
was most impressed with
the career and technical
education programs avail-
able to the high school stu-
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dents.
Cai’an said Chinese stu-
dents spend their school
days studying the tradition-
al subjects of math, writ-
ing, reading and science,
but that is all they do.
“They are all studying
to prepare for the college
entrance test,” he said.
Chinese students face
a good deal of pressure to
do well on their college
entrance exams because
those who do are admitted
into a good college. His
school, and many others
like it in China, Cai’an
said, do not have the op-
portunities for career and
technical training that they
do in Hermiston. The clos-
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
Chinese Principal Dong Cai’an looks at blue prints for the
Columbia %asin Student Homerbuilders À rst studentbuilt
house Thursday.
est thing they have to those
types of programs, he said,
are after-school clubs, but
none focus on the same
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Hermiston’s.
On Thursday, Cai’an
toured the school’s wood
and metal shops and other
career and technical class-
es with John Day School
Board member Mike Cos-
grove. At the end of their
day, they visited the home
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
students are building
through the Columbia Ba-
sin Student Homebuilders
Program.
During the tour of the
student home site, a couple
of students were working
on the siding and showing
Cai’an how they were con-
necting the wiring, heating
and air conditioning sys-
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ing the rest of the house.
Cai’an said he thought
the project was a great op-
portunity for students.
“This is really good,” he
said.
Cai’an also asked Curt
Berger, the teacher over-
seeing the project, a num-
ber of questions. Berger
explained to Cai’an the
students were involved
in every step of the proj-
SEE TOUR/A16
Committee considering landscaping regulations
Proposed ordinance
would require aesthetic
improvements in new
developments
BY SEAN HART
Hermiston Herald $1.00
8
08805 93294
© 2014 EO Media Group
HERMISTON HERALD
2
To help improve the aesthetics
in Hermiston, the city’s Commu-
nity Enhancement Committee has
been reviewing proposed land-
scaping rules for new develop-
ments.
Assistant City Manager Mark
Morgan said the committee is
working on a proposed ordinance
that would require certain por-
tions of land being developed be
devoted to features that would
make the community more visu-
ally attractive.
Hermiston Chamber of Com-
merce CEO and committee mem-
ber Debbie Pedro said the land-
scaping requirements would not
require “a large footprint,” but
they would have a large impact
on the city.
“Any nicer aesthetics on the
outside landscaping of buildings
is always really nice,” she said.
“It just adds a touch of class to
Hermiston. When you’re talking
about enhancing our industrial
and commercial zones within the
Hermiston boundaries, I think
that is just a part of beautifying
Hermiston. When that happens,
Hermiston becomes more and
more attractive to businesses and
industry that are looking to move
here.”
Morgan said the current docu-
ment is only a draft, but the com-
mittee members have reached
a consensus to recommend the
guidelines, which would only
apply to new businesses and
multi-family residential units.
Several minor details still need
WREH¿QDOL]HGKHVDLGEHIRUHWKH
committee solicits initial feed-
back from the Planning Commis-
sion.
Morgan said the Community
Enhancement Committee would
seek public comment before
SEE RULES/A16