COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH ...
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017
HERMISTON HISTORY
Residents urged to support location of new freeway near Hermiston
25 YEARS AGO
FEBRUARY 25, 1992
DR. JOHN
SPOMER
Dentist
When did you come to the area and what
brought you here?
Janet and I moved to Hermiston in 1974 to start
a dental practice. The agricultural base of the
economy was a prime factor, combined with the
overall growth.
What is your favorite local place to eat?
Depends on our mood. No one place stands out.
What is your favorite activity in your free
time?
Reading and running.
What’s the last book you read? Would you
recommend it?
“The Rivalry of Art,” and yes if you are interest-
ed in art history.
What is your favorite website or app (other
than Facebook)?
Google — it works.
What surprises you about Hermiston?
The rate of growth of our school population.
Describe your perfect travel destination.
I guess I would have to say Honduras, as I go
there several times a year for volunteer projects.
What’s the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
Difficult to pick one thing, but maybe celebrat-
ing Christmas in the East African nation of Ma-
lawi in 1973.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
To help the dental health NGO “Cadena de Amor”
to be more self-sufficient in the coming year.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Hard to say one thing. I feel good about the
years I served on the school board, the care I
provided my patients, the positive relationship
developed with the young women on the high
school running teams, my current work in Hon-
duras, and finally watching and assisting the
growth of our daughter, Abbie.
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS!
Thank you to my loyal customers.
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Mom has always been so patient, but now
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IT’S NOT LIKE HER.
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OREGON DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAM
• The city of Hermiston
could be held liable if the
city’s water supply is con-
taminated by a backflow of
hazardous materials. John
Huffman, from the State
Health Division, told the
Hermiston City Council
that other towns have been
sued for millions of dollars
because of backflow con-
tamination. For this reason,
Oregon has enacted new
laws which require cities to
use some form of backflow
prevention. The new law
requires water suppliers
to “discontinue service to
those premises (where) an
existing or potential cross
connection is located on
the user’s premises, until an
appropriate backflow de-
tention device assembly is
installed or until the hazard
is eliminated.” Councilors
raised concerns that costs
would be prohibitive for
the city to install backflow
prevention devices in every
home. Huffman said the
prevention device would go
between the meter and the
house, and it would be the
responsibility of the owner
to have it installed and in-
spected yearly. He added
that any cost incurred by
the city would still be lower
than any lawsuits the city
may face is a backflow oc-
curs.
• Video poker machines
are coming back to Hermis-
ton bars. The entertainment
devices, which had come
under fire for being used
all-too-often for gambling,
were removed from area
bars last year. Oregon’s
Lottery Commission, how-
ever, is bringing the ma-
chines back, complete with
payoffs as high as $600 on
a 25-cent bet. The Pheasant
Cafe and Lounge and The
Grainary Inn in downtown
Hermiston both received
video poker machines last
week, but the machines
won’t be operational until
March 30, according to lot-
tery spokeswoman Marlene
HERALD ARCHIVES
A map showing four possible alignments of Interstate 82
being considered in 1967.
Meissner. It will take until
March for the machines,
along
with
hundreds
throughout the state, to be
tested and hooked up to a
computer in Salem that will
keep track of how much
money is paid into the ma-
chines and how much mon-
ey bar owners pay out.
50 YEARS AGO
FEBRUARY 23, 1967
• A virtual caravan of
people from the west end
of Umatilla County was
expected to travel to Pend-
leton to demonstrate their
support for the Umatilla
Bridge route proposed for
Interstate 82N at the Or-
egon State Highway De-
partment hearing at Vert
Auditorium.
Residents
from neighboring Morrow
County were also expected
to attend. Spearheaded by
Hermiston City Manager
Tom Harper, plans have
been completed for a large
local delegation to appear
at the hearing on behalf of
the Umatilla Bridge route
connecting with Interstate
80 (now Interstate 84) near
Stanfield Junction.
• Umatilla Speedway
is expected to be delayed
about two weeks from the
April 1 opening date set
earlier, according to Charles
Kik. Construction crews
have hit a rock formation
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which will require an unex-
pected amount of blasting,
Kik said, and this is going
to force the opening date to
around the middle of April.
The asphalt oval will be
200 feet over a quarter mile
and will be eight feet high-
er on the outside, which
will allow for some excep-
tionally high speed races.
It will feature stock cars,
hard tops, and jalopies. An
elevated grandstand on the
south side of the track will
accommodate 2,500 specta-
tors and a large parking area
will be provided. The pres-
ent schedule calls for Sun-
day racing until hot weather
begins. The events will then
be switched to Saturday
nights under the lights. The
Blue Mountain Racing As-
sociation, whose president
is Bill Jones of Pendleton,
will be in charge of staging
the races. “This track will
be on par with any track of
comparable size in Eastern
Oregon,” Kik said. “You’re
going to see some mighty
fast times run here.”
75 YEARS AGO
FEBRUARY 26, 1942
• Sam Moore, Standard
oil distributor here, has been
appointed as a member of the
county civil defense council,
replacing James Todd who re-
signed. Mr. Moore’s position
as head of the volunteer po-
lice department will be taken
by Charles Hodge, Chevrolet
dealer.
• Beginning with the
March 2, 1942 issue, the
Hermiston Herald will be 15
cents per copy at all news-
stands and from paper boys.
• Hermiston, normally
a town of 800 inhabitants,
mushroomed almost over-
night into a young city of
more than 10 times that
number of people during
the year 1941, when a vast
United States Army Ord-
nance Depot and ammuni-
tion dump was constructed.
That detail is included in the
historical sketch of Umatilla
County, in the Inventory of
the County Archives of Or-
egon series of books.
• A new ruling for acqui-
sition of automobiles has
placed farmers on the eligi-
bility list for the purchase of
new automobiles. The fol-
lowing is the complete rule:
“Persons requiring automo-
biles for the transportation
of produce and supplies to
and from a farm if the appli-
cant does not own or possess
a truck or other practicable
means of transportation”
shall be qualified. The rules
are part of war rationing.
100 YEARS AGO
FEBRUARY 24, 1917
• The Secretary of the
Interior announces the
opening to entry on March
6, of approximately 1,300
acres in the second unit of
the west extension unit of
the Umatilla, Oregon rec-
lamation project. Persons
desiring to acquire any
of this land must execute
a homestead application
subject to the provisions
of the reclamation law
which, with the required
fees commissions accom-
panied by a certificate of
the Project Manager at
Hermiston as to the fil-
ing of water right appli-
cations and payment of
water right charges, may
be presented to the proper
local land office.
When they say “You need a hearing test!”
and you say “I have a hairy chest?”
Photo, Left to right:
Verna Taylor, HAS
Ric Jones, BC-HIS
Forrest Cahill, HAS
541-567-4063 • 405 N. 1st St., Suite #107, Hermiston
541-215-1888 • 246 SW Dorion, Pendleton