A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
ATTENDANCE:
COURTESY UMATILLA SCHOOL DISTRICT
continued from page A1
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od.
Depew also said more
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sent fewer than 10 days this
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who missed less than 10
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od last year, meaning more
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er days than before.
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who missed fewer than 10
days averaged a GPA of 3.0.
Those who missed between
10 and 20 percent of school
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dents who were absent more
than 20 percent averaged a
1.69 GPA.
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dents made the Dean’s List
and Honor Roll, which is al-
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at least 3.5, and for the honor
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Vice Principal Ryan Fer-
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more, we know that they are
learning,” he said. “I do think
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piece.”
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REAL ESTATE:
continued from page A1
FROST:
an area, look for a rental and
then choose their own home
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Parsons said, whether a per-
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locally than other areas.
“I believe Hermiston and
Umatilla
moderate-priced
homes, the $150,000 range,
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to some of the areas in the
state where a $150,000 home
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Umatilla homes cost an aver-
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and Hermiston homes cost
$97.70, which were among
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the lowest cost of $61.39 in
Nyssa.
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ket health index score, which
is based on how soon homes
generally sell when placed on
the market, compared to 8.89
in Hermiston.
“If they are in good con-
dition and priced fairly with
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ly,” Parsons said.
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or selling a home, people
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tate broker, who can provide
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all steps in the process are
done correctly.
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at nerdwallet.com/cities.
moved to Hermiston in the middle
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Frost said he was told it was
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beginning to wonder if everyone
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said, overall, the weather has
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noticed similarities between the
two locations.
“There’s fewer trees than what
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it looks pretty similar,” he said.
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same sort of central-pivot irriga-
tion going on (and) a lot of the
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ple are similar, as well, and he is
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“I’m trying to sit down and talk
to as many people here that are as-
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ing to see what they think the need
is here,” he said. “Basically, what I
want to try to do is integrate some
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gens and deliver that information
to growers and other stakeholders
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age their crops better.”
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started by retiring plant pathol-
ogist Phil Hamm, who will still
maintain his role as station direc-
tor. Frost said he is still determin-
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himself.
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PRIOR:
continued from page A1
he attended the University
of Idaho to earn a degree
in mechanical engineer-
ing. Afterward, he worked
for two years for Sperry
Corporation in El Paso,
Texas, and in Denver, Col-
orado, before he realized
that farming was a better
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work for the family farm. In
1975, he decided to make
the move to Hermiston.
Since Prior moved to the
region, he has owned and op-
erated his farm, Eagle Ranch,
in Echo, where he grew a va-
riety of crops with sons Art
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search & Extension Center
Director Phil Hamm came to
know him.
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experiment station,” he said.
“He was highly involved
with the experiment station in
the past, serving on advisory
committees. He is also a (Or-
egon State University) Col-
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Hall of Fame award winner.”
Hamm said Prior and late
agronomist Don Horneck
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search at the facility.
“It was really innovative
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search facilities that had cen-
ter pivot irrigation systems,”
he said. “In 1989-1990, Chet
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Carter personally deliver let-
ters to their home stating that
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immediately. On their home
visits, they also speak with
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“Honestly, most of the
conversations have been posi-
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been big.”
If attendance still does not
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tendance has not improved
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ter that meeting. If attendance
still doesn’t improve, he said
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lice Department, and parents
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the Umatilla Police Depart-
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are probably now closer to
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said, have positively impact-
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kids are now here and coming
to school,” he said.
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school’s attendance rate is
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cials were certain the new at-
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He said the effort does re-
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been worth it.
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he said. “It is still kind of new,
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good. Any time we can pick
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good thing, and the police
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awesome.”
continued from page A1
and Don were people that
spearheaded that effort. They
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kind of growing conditions
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nity.”
Prior’s efforts, howev-
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Hamm said. In addition to
promoting and providing for
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or was also a strong advocate
for the region in general, he
said.
Prior served on the board
for the Eastern Oregon Trade
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his death. He also served as
the president of the Herm-
iston Development Corpo-
ration for many years, and
was a board member for
the Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce, the Northwest
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it Association, the Port of
Umatilla, Good Shepherd
Medical Center and a mem-
ber of the Hermiston Airport
Advisory Committee.
Prior was also active with
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perintendent Raymon Smith
said Prior was always will-
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“He basically was a role
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Additionally, Prior served
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an experiment was testing how different wheat varieties fared during the winter.
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he will also manage research trials
at HAREC and possibly on local
farms once he establishes relation-
ships with growers.
As a plant pathologist, Frost
will also manage the diagnostics
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“The clinic is essentially a labo-
ratory where growers or any mem-
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a sample for disease diagnosis,” he
said. “If they have a problem with
a plant growing in the yard, or a
grower has a problem with a plant
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soil diagnostics done, then we pro-
member of the Hermiston
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headed the Echo Food Pan-
try, which provides food for
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who may not be able to af-
ford it.
Prior also lobbied for lo-
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in addition to being a mem-
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area. Piercy said Prior was
the go-to person for many
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gion.
Oregon State Rep. Greg
Smith described Prior as
someone who was an eco-
nomic development leader
for not only the Hermiston
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“He was one of the orig-
inal pioneers of trying to
bring water to the region and
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said.
Smith said what many
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Prior was.
“He was always looking
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nity,” he said. “I have had
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him off and on for the last 16
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proved himself to be states-
man and a strong advocate
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Smith said Prior was one
vide fee-for-service diagnostics
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on with the plant or the soil.”
The extension position is a part
of the OSU Department of Botany,
and Frost recently traveled to the
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orientation.
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75 percent extension and 25 per-
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biology and ecology, and my goal
is to take what I learn from those
experiments and then extend that
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hope that it will help them grow a
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what they’re doing.”
to always listen and observe
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his wisdom,” he said.
Smith also said Prior was
a character.
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once the work was done, to
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ing to be missed.”
Friend and former Herm-
iston City Manager Ed
Brookshier said he worked
SEAN HART PHOTO
Ken Frost, who recently replaced
Phil Hamm as the plant pathologist at
the Hermiston Agricultural Research
& Extension Center, examines a
tobacco plant, which can be used to
remove harmful substances from soil.
with Prior in a variety of ca-
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and the region won’t be the
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“He did so many positive
things,” he said. “He has been
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involved in the economic de-
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him to. I considered him a
good friend.”
Brookshier said Prior was
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which he described as a good
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whatever he was engaged in,
it was always representative
of the interest of the com-
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Brookshier said. “I am really
going to miss him.”
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Submit Y
The East
Oregonian and
Hermiston Herald
are looking for
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publishes
March 7, 2015.
Deadline
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