Hermiston
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Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016
$1.00
ABOUT TOWN
SAIF off ers ag
worker safety
seminars
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL
&onstruction equipment sits at the site oI the a planned Holiday Inn E[press, located two blocks Irom &ity Hall.
AFTER NEW HOTEL, CITY SETS
SIGHTS ON NEW BUSINESSES
.
Ave
ton
W. Orchard Ave.
E. Main Street
S.E. Fifth St.
Hermiston
High School
W. Highland Ave.
N
E. Highland Ave.
Hodge
Park
500 feet
Source: City of Hermiston
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
tion recently put together by
the city touts the new hotel,
which based on traditional oc-
cupancy rates for Holiday Inn
Express as well as for Herm-
iston is expected to host be-
tween 56 and 112 out-of-town
guests a night. It also points
out projects that are currently
bringing in visitors, such as
5
d
oa
l R
na
o
g
Dia
Kennison Field, and ones that
are expected to boost travel
to Hermiston soon, such as
the Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center.
Morgan said the informa-
tion was sent out to local busi-
nesses and the Chamber of
Commerce ¿ rst. City staff are
also sending the information
Planned improvements
1. Holiday Inn Express
2. Welcome to Main
Street signage
3. Festival Street
4. Street lighting
5. Facade grants
6. Downtown gateway
7. New Hermiston
senior center
to wineries, coffee chains and
other businesses in the region.
“The city constantly gets
comments from people in
the community about, ‘what
downtown needs,’ and they’re
generally recommendations
like coffee shops, wine tast-
See BUILD, A12
2UR]FR¿UVWEDE\RIERUQLQ+HUPLVWRQ
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
Hermiston’s ¿ rst baby of
2016 was Edgar Orozco II,
born Sunday, Jan. 3, at 2:51
a.m. to Jaqueline Maya and Ed-
gar Orozco at Good Shepherd
Health Care System’s Family
Birthing Center.
He weighed ¿ ve pounds, 10
ounces and was 19 inches long.
He is the couple’s ¿ rst child.
For their ¿ rst baby of 2016,
Good Shepherd staff put to-
gether a special gift basket for
the family that included toys,
wipes and other useful baby
items, plus mementos that in-
cluded a free professional pho-
to shoot.
Edgar didn’t make the list
of top baby names in Umatilla
County for 2015, although they
could prove to be trend setters
for the new year.
The list of baby names gen-
erated by the 443 new parents
who signed a media release at
St. Anthony Hospital or Good
Shepherd Medical Center in
2015 showed a wide range
of unique names and creative
spellings. According to the list,
¿ ve girls were named Brook-
lyn and four boys were named
Henry, making those the top
two baby names of Umatilla
County in 2015.
CONTRIBUTED BY GOOD SHEPHERD
MEDICAL CENTER
Edgar Orozco II, was welcomed by
his parents, Jaqueline Maya and
Edgar Orozco on Jan.y 3 at 2:51
a.m. as +ermiston·s À rst baby oI
the new year.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY
HERMISTON FIRE & EMERGENCY
SERVICES
Hermiston Fire &
Emergency Services’ new
ambulance has a diIIerent
look than its predecessors.
E. Hurlburt Ave.
Newport
Park
S.E. Fourth St.
6
4
S.E. Third St.
McKenzie
Park
E. Gladys Ave.
3
S.E. Second St.
2
E. Ridgeway Ave.
S.E. Seventh St.
W. H ermi s
N. First St.
1
St.
W
ith construction
of a 93-room ho-
tel underway and
plans for a $2 mil-
lion senior center
in the works, the
future of Hermiston’s down-
town is looking bright.
“If you’ve ever thought
downtown needs x, y, or z
you’re never going to see a
better opportunity than in the
next two years,” assistant city
manager Mark Morgan said.
The city set its sights on
reeling in a new hotel two
years ago. Now that ground
has been broken on a new
Holiday Inn Express on the
corner of Hermiston Avenue
and Highway 395, the next
goal is to bring in more busi-
nesses to help entice hotel
guests to venture downtown.
A package of informa-
7
W. Ridgeway Ave.
urth
Staff Writer
Urban Renewal Area
. Fo
S.W
By JADE McDOWELL
Projects planned for Downtown Hermiston
S.W. Sixth St.
New year, new
opportunities
for downtown
development,
renovation
SAIF Corporation will
present free, half-day agri-
cultural safety seminars in
English and Spanish next
week in Hermiston. The
focus of the seminars is to
reduce the number of inju-
ries in agriculture.
The English-language
session will be held Tues-
day, Jan. 12, and a Spanish
language seminar will be
held Wednesday, Jan 13.
Both sessions will be held at
the Hermiston Conference
Center from 9:30 a.m. to
2:30 p.m. and include lunch.
The seminars are designed
primarily for people working
in agriculture, but anyone
with an interest in agricultural
safety can attend. Employ-
ers with small agricultural
businesses who attend the
seminar will meet OSHA’s
instructional
requirement,
one of four requirements that
exempt small agricultural es-
tablishments from random
OSHA inspections.
Seating is limited and
registration is required. You
may register online at saif.
com/agseminar or by call-
ing 800-285-8525.
SAIF Corporation is a
state-chartered, non-for-
pro¿ t workers’ compensa-
tion insurance company.
New style
ambulance
comes to town
Residents who spot
Hermiston Fire &
Emergency Services’
newest ambulance on the
road might not recognize
it as such. The red vehicle
looks more like a large
van than a typical “big
box” model of ambulance
people are used to seeing
on the streets, but if the
lights are À ashing drivers
still need to pull over and
give it the right of way.
According to Hermiston
Fire, the model cost 30
percent less than the
district’s last ambulance
purchased in 2013 and is
expected to get twice the
miles per gallon as the big
box model it is replacing.
Agape House
hosts indoor sale
Clothing, knick-knacks
and furniture are among
the items available during
an indoor sale at the Agape
House. Clothes are three
items for $1, furniture is as
marked and knick-knacks
are you name the price. The
sale is Saturday from 8:30-
11 a.m. at 500 Harper Road,
Hermiston. Donations are
accepted through Friday.
Agape House serves the
needs of low-income res-
idents in the community.
For more information, call
541-567-8774.