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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2015)
Hermiston WINTER SP PREVIEW ORTS 2014-15 Herald WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015 HermistonHerald.com INSIDE Winter sports Staff photo by E.J. Sam Colbray of Hermiston is looking for his fourth wrestling state title. preview 2014-15 $1.00 ABOUT TOWN Free event provides Medicare information FILLING THE FOOD GAP Medicare counseling and information is avail- able just in time for the end of open enrollment. Free Friday Medicare Madness is Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Confer- HQFH 5RRPV E\ WKH cafeteria) at Good Shep- herd Medical Center, 610 1: WK 6W 7UDLQHG volunteers from the Se- nior Health Insurance %HQH¿WV$VVLVWDQFHRI¿FH will be on hand to answer questions. They also are available throughout the year for questions. Those attending should bring a list of medications they take. For more information, FRQWDFW RU shiba@gshealth.org. Fair extends court application deadline Program provides food to take home when students don’t have access to school meal options By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer H eading home from school for the weekend is a happy break from classes for most elemen- tary school students, but for some children in the commu- nity it means two days of not knowing where their next meal will come from. “Children don’t have control over their own lives,” Agape House director Dave +XJKHVVDLG³:HKDYHFKLOGUHQZLWKSDU ents who can’t provide, and some who choose not to.” That’s where the Agape House’s back- pack program comes into play. The pro- gram provides a bag of easily-prepared food to the area’s neediest elementary school students to take home for the week- HQG¿OOLQJWKHJDSEHWZHHQIUHHEUHDNIDVW and lunch at school during the week. The students are chosen by councilors at the elementary schools in Hermiston, 6WDQ¿HOG(FKR8PDWLOODDQG,UULJRQ Hughes said the program started about six years ago when a local principal ap- proached the Agape House with tales of students who would wrap up part of their school lunch on Friday to take home for the weekend, then arrive on Monday and ravenously devour their breakfast. “Teachers and counselors say it’s amaz- ing how much better of a student kids are when they have adequate food over the weekend,” Hughes said. The program used to use backpacks, but Hughes said it got too expensive to keep replacing the ones that didn’t make it back to the schools, so now plastic gro- cery sacks are used. Volunteers from Al- trusa International and Faith Presbyterian Church pack the bags every Thursday morning and deliver them to the schools. At one point the program was serving VWXGHQWVDZHHNEXWWKDWQXPEHUKDV JRQH GRZQ VLJQL¿FDQWO\ GXH WR IXQGLQJ shortages. Hughes said each child gets DERXW ZRUWK RI IRRG SHU ZHHNHQG See FOOD, A16 City lights Christmas tree Thursday By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS The city of Hermiston has planted a Christmas tree in the middle of Northeast Second Street near City Hall in Hermiston. A tree is blocking the street next to Hermiston’s city hall, but it’s no accident. 7KHIRRW&KULVWPDVWUHHGRQDW HGE\5'2(TXLSPHQWZDV³SODQWHG´ in the middle of Northeast Second Street by the city after workers used a jackhammer to create a three-foot deep hole in the road. The display is part of a larger vi- sion that includes a nightly light show set to music on the side of the former RoeMarks building. The block of downtown where the tree and light show are located will remain closed to vehicles during the month of De- cember. :KHQ3DUNVDQG5HFUHDWLRQGLUHF See TREE, A16 The Umatilla Coun- ty Fair has extended the 2016 fair court applica- tion deadline. It also was announced the program is open to all high school age stu- dents residing in Umatilla County. Previously it was open only to 10th through 12th grade students. Ap- plications are due by Fri- day, Dec. 11. Applications are avail- able at www.umatilla- county.net/fair, the fair RI¿FH : 2UFKDUG Ave., Hermiston, all Umatilla County high schools and 4-H Exten- VLRQ RI¿FHV )DLU VWDII will contact all accepted applicants to schedule in- terviews. For more information, FRQWDFW WKH IDLU RI¿FH DW RU RU DQJLHPF nalley@umatillacounty. net. Bomb hoax leads to arrest of man By SEAN HART Staff Writer A Hermiston man was arrested Monday morn- ing after an investigation into a bomb hoax. Hermiston Police De- SDUWPHQW RI¿FHUV DUUHVW HG 'DYLG 8 3RQFH Hermiston, and charged him with possession of a hoax destructive device DQG ¿UVWGHJUHH GLVRU derly conduct. He was lodged in the Umatilla County Jail on $10,000 bail. $W DERXW DP Hermiston Police De- SDUWPHQW RI¿FHUV ZHUH GLVSDWFKHG WR (DVW Beebe Avenue for a re- port of a purported bomb inside a garbage can, ac- cording to a press release from Police Chief Jason Edmiston. 2I¿FHUV DUULYHG RQ scene and met with an employee from Sanitary Disposal who found a cardboard box with the words “this is a bomb” written on it inside an open garbage can that was scheduled for collec- tion, the release states.