HERMISTON GRADUATION • HIGH SCHOOL’S HISTORIC CLASS OF 2017 RECEIVES 332 DIPLOMAS | INSIDE • A8
Hermiston
Herald
erald
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017
INSIDE
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HermistonHerald.com
REPAIRS BEGIN ON
60-YEAR OLD BRIDGE
3 MINUTES WITH
MEET TOM HUXOLL, OWNER
OF CASCADE AUTO REPAIR.
PAGE 2A
SUSPECT
ARRAIGNED
THE SUSPECT IN A FATAL
HERMISTON SHOOTING WAS
ARRAIGNED TUESDAY IN
CIRCUIT COURT.
PAGE 3A
INJURY CRASH
TWO PEOPLE WERE INJURED
MONDAY IN A THREE-VEHICLE
CRASH SOUTH OF HERMISTON.
PAGE 3A
ARRESTED
UMATILLA POLICE ARREST
2 BROTHERS ON ASSAULT
CHARGES OVER WEEKEND.
PAGE 5A
STAFF PHOTOS BY E.J. HARRIS
South bound traffi c is reduced to one lane at the Umatilla bridge over the Columbia River on Monday in Umatilla. Below: The year-long
construction project on the Oregon-bound bridge spanning the Columbia River has began in Umatilla.
Project will funnel 2-way traffi c onto single span
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
I
nterstate 82’s Oregon-bound
bridge into Umatilla will be
closed for more than a year for
construction.
Travel over the Columbia River
will be reduced to the newer Wash-
ington-bound bridge, which will
have one lane dedicated to eastbound
traffi c and one lane for westbound
traffi c starting on or shortly after
July 4. Work on creating the detour
for eastbound travelers started Mon-
day, reducing the Oregon-bound
bridge to one lane of travel for the
remainder of the month before full
closure.
The Washington State Depart-
ment of Transportation plans to re-
place the patch-fi lled deck of the
steel truss bridge, built in 1955, and
do small upgrades to lighting and
drainage. The bridge is expected to
re-open sometime in the fall of 2018.
See BRIDGE, A14
School librarian will take Appalachian
trip to create lessons for students
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Staff Writer
Hermiston High School doesn’t
have a dedicated geography class,
but its students can still become
global citizens.
So says librarian Delia Wallis,
who hopes to encourage that pro-
cess via a trip she and several other
Oregon educators will make this
summer.
Wallis will be taking a three-
week trip to Pennsylvania, Mary-
land and West Virginia with a group
of teachers from Oregon, learning
about the geography of the Appa-
lachian Mountains, and comparing
it to the geography of Oregon’s
mountains.
After the trip, Wallis hopes to
use that information to work with
Hermiston teachers to create specif-
ic geography lesson plans.
The trip is entirely funded by the
Gray Family Foundation and run
through Portland State University’s
Center for Geography Education in
Oregon.
The group will visit major cit-
ies, small towns, historical sites and
geographical regions, and will stop
at several sites to discuss both the
physical and human geography of
each location.
“We’ve already met a couple of
times prior to going,” said Wallis,
who leaves for the trip on Monday,
June 19. “A pair of us will be an
‘expert’ at each stop along the way.”
Wallis, along with a teacher from
See WALLIS, A14
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
Hermiston schools librarian Delia
Wallis will be traveling with a group
of teachers to the Appalachian
Mountains this month, and hopes to
apply what she learns to lessons for
Hermiston students.
Road to Omaha goes
through Hermiston
Oregon State University
L and ocal
Beavers super fans Steve
Janet Williams are off
to Omaha for the College
World Series. The Williamses
have been regular attendees
of Beaver Baseball games
in Corvallis, including the
Regional and Super Regional
Rounds and are taking their son
Jason and grandson Cooper
along for the adventure. They
are only going
to be able to
stay for the fi rst
two days of
action, but are
hoping to return
home to watch
the
Beavers
win
their
third national
championship on TV, and
share memories of their Omaha
experience with the rest of us
relegated to watching all the
action on TV.
• • •
We heard a rumor that
Yoke’s Fresh Markets might
be joining Ranch & Home in
expanding from the Tri-Cities
into Hermiston on South High-
way 395, but the grocery chain
says that while it does continue
to monitor growing markets in
the area, there are no current
plans for Yoke’s Fresh Markets
to open a Hermiston location in
the near future.
• • •
The winners of the Jeremy
Howard “For the Love of the
Game” Scholarships for 2017
were announced last week.
This year’s recipients are Jose
Manuel Lopez Jr. and Ellery
Jones. Proceeds from the an-
nual memorial tournament
have contributed to more than
$49,000 in scholarships to
Hermiston High School ath-
letes. This year’s eighth annual
tournament, which raises mon-
ey and awareness about skin
cancer prevention, kicks off on
Friday. Former local resident
Fred Widman, who now lives
in Colorado, who has been a
supporter of the tournament
since its inception, is partic-
ipating as a sponsor with his
business Reliant Services and
has a team in this year’s tour-
nament. Fred will also be here,
BY
THE
WAY
See BTW, A6