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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2015)
Hermiston Herald WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 HermistonHerald.com REAL LIFE TEACHING EARLY HURDLE UMATILLA SQUARES OFF WITH IRRIGON IN TOUGH EARLY TEST $1.00 ABOUT TOWN REMEMBERING 9-11 GATHERING HONORS FALLEN WITH PRAYER, MUSIC PAGE 16 LIFE EXPERIENCE LEADS TO TEACHING JOBS PAGE A3 DANCES WITH BULLS STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS %XOOÀJKWHU'RQQLH*ULJJVRI+HUPLVWRQUXQVEHWZHHQ&RG\.HKURI.LOOGHHU1RUWK'DNRWDDQGDEXOOQDPHG0LNH·V7KH%RVVDIWHU.HKUZDVEXFNHGRII 0RQGD\GXULQJWKH3%5&ODVVLFRQDWWKH+DSS\&DQ\RQ$UHQDLQ3HQGOHWRQ +HUPLVWRQEXOO¿JKWHUUHWXUQVWR5RXQG8S M By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer ost people would see 2,000 pounds of angry, horned bull charging them as a moment gone horribly wrong, but for Donnie Griggs it’s just another day at the of- ¿FH “It’s a job that you enjoy,” the Hermiston EXOO¿JKWHUVDLG³,W¶VDQDGUHQDOLQHUXVKRQ one hand, but you’ve got to be calm and mellow and cool.” *ULJJVKDVEHHQD¿[WXUHRIWKH3HQGOH ton Round-Up for eight years and the Farm- City Pro Rodeo for nine. Keeping rodeo bulls from trampling cowboys may not be for everyone, but for Griggs professional EXOO¿JKWLQJZDVDQDWXUDOSURJUHVVLRQIURP riding steers as a kid and bulls as a teenager. Not just anybody can become a bull- ¿JKWHU ,W WDNHV VSHFLDO WUDLQLQJ:RXOGEH EXOO¿JKWHUV KDYH WR JR WKURXJK D ULJRURXV approval process by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and be scouted out at conventions. Griggs studied under Loyd Ketchum, generally considered one of the best bull- ¿JKWHUV LQ WKH 35&$ DQG JRW KLV ³ELJ Cowboy lifesavers Bullfi ghters Donnie Griggs and Dusty Tuckness and Round-Up barrelman Justin Rumsford will be meeting with fans and signing autographs from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Pendleton Walmart, 2203 S.W. Court Ave., Pendleton. break” when he was invited to team up with Ketchum during the 2002 rodeo season. The job keeps him on his toes, even more than a decade later. “There’s never two wrecks the same,” he said. That’s what happens when you’re work- ing with animals as unpredictable as rodeo bulls. Certain animals get a reputation for being a handful, but Griggs said any bull FDQWXUQRQDEXOO¿JKWHURUDFRZER\ “You try to treat all bulls the same,” he said. “There’s that one bull that you’ve seen 50 times, and it’s never hooked anyone and then one day it has a cranky day.” Most of the time everyone gets out of the way, but sometimes bull and man col- lide in painful ways. Griggs broke his tib- See GRIGGS, A18 STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL 'RQQLH*ULJJVRI+HUPLVWRQKDVEHHQDÀ[WXUH SURWHFWLQJFRZER\VIRUWKHODVWGHFDGHDW WKHDUHD·VWZRSUHPLHUURGHRVWKH3HQGOHWRQ 5RXQG8SDQG)DUP&LW\3UR5RGHR*ULJJVLV EDFNLQWKHDUHQDWKLVZHHNLQ3HQGOHWRQDIWHU UHFRYHULQJIURPDQLQMXU\HDUOLHULQWKH\HDU EOTEC event center construction in motion By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer Construction at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center KDV¿QDOO\JRQHYHUWLFDO The metal skeleton of the pre- fabricated event center and exhi- bition hall can now be seen from Southeast Airport Road, provid- ing a visible marker of things to come. John Frew, president and CEO of project manager Frew Devel- opment Group, was on site for a visit Tuesday. He called the beginning of vertical construc- tion an important milestone, but said there was a huge amount of ground-level work done already to prepare the site. “There is so much under- See EOTEC, A18 STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL &RQVWUXFWLRQRIWKHHYHQWFHQWHUDQGH[KLELWLRQKDOOKDVEHJXQDWWKH(DVWHUQ 2UHJRQ7UDGHDQG(YHQW&HQWHU Hermiston enrollment up more than 200 students Hermiston School District enrollment numbers continue to rise at a fast pace. After students who did not show up for the year were re- moved from the rolls, the dis- trict still grew by 213 students to a total of 5,531, Deputy Su- perintendent Wade Smith told the school board Monday, ac- cording to a district press re- lease. The district expected an in- crease of about 100 students based on the mid-range growth forecast from a recent Portland State University Population Research Study, but this year’s increase was higher than the study’s high-range growth fore- cast. Because of the record enroll- ment, the district has capped multiple classrooms in its five elementary schools and has shuttled students to other schools that can accommodate the new students, according to the release. “The district currently uses 24 modular classrooms to ac- commodate recent student growth; this is four more than were being utilized prior to our last bond measure,” Smith said in the release. “If we continue at this pace, we will need a to- tal of 81 portable classrooms in the next eight years, where over 1,600 students will be housed. Although portables are appro- priate for short-term enrollment surges, they are not efficient nor cost effective to address long- term community needs.” Desert View Elementary School, which was designed for 427 students, now has a popu- lation of more than 600, the re- lease states. The PSU population study predicts in eight years the high school will grow to 2,000 students — nearly double the at- tendance when the last addition was completed 13 years ago — and the total district population will grow to almost 7,000, ac- cording to the release. Smith urged the board to evaluate the recommendations from the Facility Master Plan- ning Committee and to quickly address the multiple campus ca- pacity concerns. ¡Viva Mexico! Event celebrates Mexican Independence Day Live music, bouncy houses, a beer garden and food are all part of a Mexican Independence Day celebration at Yo Country Frozen Yogurt. Although people sometimes confuse Cinco de Mayo as Mexico’s Independence Day, the actual date is Sept. 16, 1810, which is a national holiday in Mexico that commemorates the country’s independence from Spain. The event is Wednesday from 3-10 p.m. at 1725 N. First St., Hermiston. There is no admission charge. In addition, those who attend are encouraged to make donations of non-perishable food items, such as canned foods, peanut butter and macaroni and cheese. The food will be distributed through Agape House for the backpack program that provides weekend food items for needy students. For more information, call 541-289-9611.