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BULLDOGS GET LATE SEASON WIN AGAINST HOOD RIVER
Hermiston
Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017
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MEET LELA LOFTUS OF
HERMISTON DRUG IN THIS
WEEK’S PROFILE.
PAGE A2
WORTH
THE WAIT
IT’S NEVER TOO LAKE TO TAKE
YOUR SPECIAL SOMEONE TO
THE PROM, JUST ASK THIS
YEAR’S KING AND QUEEN OF
THE HERMISTON PROM.
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‘ ODD’ CASTING
HERMISTON GRAD RILEY
MULVIHILL TAKES TO THE STAGE
IN NEIL SIMON PLAY THIS
WEEKEND.
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CHEESE
SMUGGLING
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Sergio Barreto of Umatilla takes his horse through the paces during the dancing horse competition at Saturday’s Hermiston Cinco de Mayo
celebration at Butte Park.
Festival expands to two days
to celebrate Cinco de Mayo
on seis y siete de Mayo
BRIEFLY
It’s Teacher
Appreciation
Week in
Hermiston
By PHIL WRIGHT
and JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writers
Another Cinco de Mayo cel-
ebration is in the books, and or-
ganizer Clara Beas Fitzgerald is
calling it Hermiston’s most suc-
cessful one yet.
“I think it went amazingly
well,” she said.
Beas Fitzgerald said it is hard to know
exactly how many people were in Butte
Park over the two-day event, but it was
defi nitely in the thousands — more than
the city could have possibly fi t into its for-
mer location along Second Street in front
of City Hall.
The celebration’s parade and opening
ceremonies on Saturday were graced by
the presence of Francisco Maass Peña,
Mexico’s consul general for Oregon.
Saturday he donned the sash noting he
was the parade’s grand marshal and led
the parade on its short route down Elm
Avenue.
Jose Garcia, chair of Hermiston’s His-
panic Advisory Committee, and Beas Fitz-
gerald walked beside Peña as he led the pa-
rade to Butte Park. Hermiston Mayor Dave
Drotzmann, Umatilla County Sheriff Terry
Rowan and county commissioners Bill
Elfering and George Murdock also helped
kick off the celebration.
See FIESTA, A16
COMMUNITY EDITOR TAMMY
MALGESINI PROVIDES
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF
HOW NOT TO PACK FOR
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL.
PAGE A7
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Tony Estrada chows down during the watermelon
eating contest at Saturday’s Hermiston Cinco de Mayo
festival at Butte Park. The Hermiston man placed
second in the contest.
Three sisters, Ina, Elsa and Kalista
Lemus, watch the Hermiston Cinco
de Mayo parade Saturday afternoon
across from Butte Park. Ina was
dressed up for her fi rst communion.
STAFF PHOTO BY TAMMY MALGESINI
Ivan Cardenas of Hermiston, center, eyes the competition in the watermelon eating contest as
Fiesta Foods dairy manager Baltazar Villlanueva, far left, counts down the start of the event
during Saturday’s Hermiston Cinco de Mayo festival at Butte Park.
The Hermiston School
District declared May 8 through
12 as Teacher Appreciation
Week at Monday’s school
board meeting.
The board encouraged
students, parents and
community members to
thank teachers for their
dedication to their jobs.
“Each of us can look
back in our lives to see the
infl uence of teachers who
shaped and molded us,”
said Superintendent Fred
Maiocco. “Please take time
to recognize their incredible
work.”
The Hermiston School
District has about 314
licensed staff members,
including classroom
teachers, specialists,
instructional coaches and
librarians.
Army, scientists train at Umatilla Army Depot
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
Hundreds of military personnel
descended on the Umatilla Army
Depot this weekend to participate
in a training most hope they’ll nev-
er have to use. The exercise, called
“Dragon Fire,” involves troops
from several CBRNE (Chemical,
Biological, Radiological, Nuclear
and Explosives) battalions, all of
whom are trying to learn how to
decontaminate an area that may be
threatened by weapons of mass de-
struction.
“If called upon, we have to be
able to identify and understand a
nation’s WMD infrastructure, dis-
able it and render it inoperable to
some extent,” said Col. Christo-
pher Cox. “Umatilla is on a former
chemical weapons site. Should we
need to go somewhere, that pro-
vides us the maximum realism. You
can’t replicate that anywhere in the
U.S.”
The exercise took months to
plan. About 350 troops started the
10-day exercise in Yakima, Wash-
ington, then they deployed to Sat-
sop, Washington, the site of a nev-
er-completed nuclear power plant
in western Washington. At Satsop,
the troops were provided scenarios
that mimicked potential chemical
or nuclear target situations they
might encounter. Troops had to col-
lect information at the site, some
of which sent them to the Umatil-
la Army Depot. There, they had to
confi rm or deny what they found at
other sites.
In several of the bunkers at
Umatilla that used to store chem-
ical weapons, decoy targets were
set up. Troops had to navigate their
way through, analyzing what they
saw and determining whether they
needed to come back, or send the
information to higher authorities.
Along with troops from various
U.S. Army facilities, including Fort
Bliss in Texas and Aberdeen Prov-
ing Grounds in Maryland, about
See TRAINING, A16
Hermiston Offi ce:
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Veteran’s Service Offi cer • 17 SW Frazer
Ph: 541.667.3125 • Cell: 541.848.8120
Ph.541.278.5482
glenn.scott@umatillacounty.net
jennifer.olson@umatillacounty.net
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