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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2015)
SILVER ANNIVERSARY PREP SOFTBALL HERMISTON FOODS CELEBRATES 25 YEARS BULLDOGS CLAIM FIRST CRC WIN IN OVER A SEASON PAGE A4 SPORTS PAGE A6 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015 District to sell first student- built home BY JESSICA KELLER HERMISTON HERALD The Hermiston School 'LVWULFW ZLOO VHOO WKH ¿UVW student-built home current- ly under construction this summer after the School Board unanimously ap- proved the action plan at its special meeting Monday. Students in the Colum- bia Basin Student Home- EXLOGHU3URJUDPDUH¿QLVK- LQJ XS EXLOGLQJ WKH ¿UVW RI 11 homes planned for con- struction on West Angus Avenue. Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith said Tuesday, the 2,050-square-foot cus- tom home will be about 90 percent complete in time for an open house June 1 to give community members opportunity to see it before it is put up for sale. On June 2, the school district will open up the process for in- terested buyers to submit sealed bids to buy the house through 4 p.m. June 19. On June 22, the district will an- nounce the highest bidder, who will have the opportu- YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER HERMISTONHERALD.COM City selects new senior center site Facility to be named the Harkenrider Center BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD Although the location of the new senior center was contested, Hermiston City Council members unanimously agreed Monday night the building should be named after long-time city leader Frank Harken- rider. After more than an hour of public testimony at the regular City Coun- cil meeting, the council voted 6-2 to locate the new senior center on a 3.3-acre vacant site behind Wal- Mart on Northeast Aspen Drive and Northeast Fourth Street. Hermiston Parks and Recreation Director Larry Fetter said the city received a $2 million Community Development Block Grant to ac- quire property and build the new 8,000-square-foot facility, and, while the city will own the build- ing, the grant only permits uses for VHQLRUV GXULQJ WKH ¿UVW ¿YH \HDUV After that, the facility could be used for other activities when the seniors were not using it, he said. Fetter said an advisory group comprised of senior center and com- munity members narrowed the list of possible locations to two prima- ry sites: the Aspen site and another behind the Hermiston Municipal Li- brary on East Ridgeway Avenue and Northeast Second Street. The Aspen site is a private, vacant lot, whereas the Ridgeway location is comprised of about an acre of city-owned prop- erty and potentially about another acre of land the Hermiston School District offered to the senior center after the district acquired the proper- ty housing the current facility. In March, eight of the 11 group members voted for the Aspen site, while two voted for the Ridgeway SEE CENTER/A10 A SMUGGLER FOR GOD SEE HOME/A3 TODAY’S WEATHER SEAN HART PHOTO Hermiston’s Living Faith Church pastor Dr. F. Dean Hackett stands in front of the cross in the worship room of the church. Hackett and his wife once snuck into the Kremlin to pray. Hackett describes sneaking medical supplies into war-torn country Partly cloudy High: 69º Low: 40º OUTLOOK • THURSDAY Sunny High: 75º Low: 44º • FRIDAY Mostly sunny High: 81º Low: 46º Hackett steps down from city Faith-Based Advisory Committee Pastor continues his ministry BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD A complete weather forecast is featured on page A2. Dr. F. Dean Hackett fought back tears as he recalled smuggling med- ical supplies into Croatia during its war for indepen- dence. “Excuse me,” the Herm- iston pastor said, more than 20 years after the experi- ence. “This is not easy to talk about.” ,Q KLV RI¿FH DW /LYLQJ Faith Church, Hackett explained how he got in- volved. Back in 1991-92, he was planning on con- ducting leadership training for a group of churches Find the Hermiston Herald on Facebook and Twitter and join the conversation. FOR LOCAL BREAKING NEWS www.HermistonHerald.com SEAN HART PHOTO Dr. F. Dean Hackett and his wife, Wanda, pose at Living Faith Church in Hermiston. Working in full-time Christian ministry for more than 45 years, the couple had many adventurous experiences, including smuggling Bibles into eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain. in the former Yugoslavia during the “middle of the war,” when the mission changed. “When Croatia had de- clared her independence from the former Yugosla- via, and Serbia laid siege, I got a phone call (asking) if I would be able to help them get some medical supplies,” he said. “Under siege, they were taking care of their war victims with no sutures, no gloves, no anesthesia. It was just SEE SMUGGLER/A3 BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD Dr. F. Dean Hack- ett recently resigned from Hermiston’s Faith-Based Advisory Committee for health reasons, but he plans to continue his Christian ministry in other ways. Hackett served as chairman of the com- mittee since its incep- tion three years ago. The 66-year-old from Spokane, Washington, traveled a long road before returning to the Northwest and settling in Hermiston as pastor of Living Faith Church almost nine years ago. “I didn’t have the privilege of growing up in a Christian home,” he said. “It was a very bro- ken home. By the time I was 13, I was very angry and bitter and violent. I had failed every grade up to that time. All my family and teachers that NQHZPH¿JXUHG,ZRXOG be in prison, and I proba- SEE HACKETT/A2 Loving what she does School secretary enjoys being on front lines BY JESSICA KELLER HERMISTON HERALD Hermiston Herald $1.00 © 2015 EO Media Group When she was offered a secretary position at Desert View Elementary School seven years ago, DiAna Al- lison said she was a little hesitant to WDNHWKHMREDW¿UVW She enjoyed working with the children as an English language learner teaching assistant and thought she was going to miss helping her students learn and playing with the children. “I thought I would miss the inter- action of being in the class with the kids,” Allison said. Allison liked Desert View Ele- mentary School, however, and knew by taking the position she would be less likely to get transferred to another school. She also had done secretarial work before becoming a stay-at-home mom while her son was young, so she was familiar with what some of her responsibilities would be and was excited to take on the other challenges. “It’s a different way of being with the kids,” she said. Allison said being a school secre- tary is a job like no other. One of the best parts of it, she said, is the variety. “Every day is different,” Allison said. “You never know what you’re going to be experiencing, what you’re going to see.” One of the most important aspects to the secretaries’ jobs, Allison said, SEE ALLISON/A10 JESSICA KELLER PHOTO Desert View Elementary School secretary DiAna Allison shares a message with a teacher about a student’s after-school routine last week. Allison said she has never regretted moving from the classroom as an ELL assistant to WKHIURQWRIWKHVFKRROZRUNLQJLQWKHRIÀFH