A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
NORPAC
continued from Page A1
Herald reported that more
than 3,000 people toured
the new $9 million facility
during the grand opening,
where NORPAC execu-
tives praised the Hermis-
ton Development Corpora-
tion, city of Hermiston and
other partners for working
together so quickly to get
the infrastructure in place
to allow NORPAC to lo-
cate there.
City Manager Byron
MELONS
continued from Page A1
at this stage, looks pret-
ty nice,” Walchli said. “I
expect the melons will be
just as good of quality as
ever.”
Watermelons are an
iconic crop for Hermis-
ton, thriving in the region’s
sandy soils and desert cli-
mate. Once summer rolls
around, the plants spend
all day soaking up the hot
sun, which they convert into
sugar as a source of energy.
Having chilly nights allows
the fruit to retain all that
sugary goodness.
Hermiston
watermel-
ons can be found all over
the Northwest, including
Portland and Seattle, and
have been shipped as far as
Maryland and Texas.
Given their immense
popularity, it is no surprise
that Scott Lukas has chosen
to include watermelons as
part of his research program
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017
FROM PAGE A1
BTW
Smith said it was unfor-
tunate to hear that one of
Hermiston’s large em-
ployers would be clos-
ing its doors. Hermiston
Foods is the city’s larg-
est water customer at
115,047,200 gallons per
year, which is more than
the next nine water cus-
tomers combined. How-
ever, Smith said there
were so many other users
on the system and that it
was still a small enough
percentage that the impact
would be felt but would
not be “huge.”
continued from Page A1
Kenya DeLa Fuente and
MaeAnn Stone.
Rocky Heights: Addison
McClure, third grade; fourth
graders Ruben Fernandez
and Jaziel Ramirez; and
fifth graders Dayana Pon-
ciano and Claire Anderson.
Sunset: Gabrielle Men-
doza, Bryanna Lopez and
Addisen Alder, third grad-
ers; Johnathan Avila-Mu-
noz, fourth grade; and Veera
Patel, fifth grade.
West Park: Alexa Bar-
reto and Fernando Varela
Lopez, third graders; Selene
Garibaldi, fourth grade; and
Cristal Santos and Stephen
Hofbauer, fifth graders.
The program creates a
high level of motivation
for students, said Kristi
Smalley, Hermiston School
District elementary librarian.
• • •
Local American Legion
at Oregon State University’s
Hermiston Agricultural Re-
search and Extension Cen-
ter south of town.
Lukas, who was hired as
the station horticulturist last
year, is experimenting with
different treatments for soil-
borne Fusarium and Verti-
cillium wilt that can infect
watermelon vines, causing
them wither and die.
Most growers use chem-
ical fumigants to keep the
diseases in check. For his
trial, Lukas is treating the
plants with a couple of al-
ternative products that, if
successful, could be cheaper
and more environmentally
friendly than traditional fu-
migants without impacting
yield, he said.
“That’s the idea, trying
different combinations of
green chemistries to solve a
common issue this region’s
watermelon growers face,”
Lukas said.
It is still too early to mea-
sure results, though Lukas is
optimistic.
veterans and their families
during times of need, pro-
vides scholarship oppor-
tunities and various other
events to give back to their
communities.
All honorably discharged
veterans are invited to be-
come active members. For
more information, call 800-
630-1203 or 503-685-5006
or visit www.orlegion.org.
• • •
A pair of deputies with
the Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Office were among
the recent graduates with
the Oregon Department of
Public Safety Standards and
Training.
Jacob Potter and Kash
Wrightson, along with oth-
er members of Basic Cor-
rections Local #BCL027,
participated in a gradua-
tion ceremony June 16 at
the Oregon Public Safety
Academy in Salem.
The academy is national-
ly recognized for its innova-
tive training programs and
members recently attended
state convention the 99th
annual Oregon State Con-
vention, held June 20-24 in
Florence.
Those attending include
Glenn Bradley of Herm-
iston, Post 37 Commander;
Bill Runion of Hermis-
ton, Post Historian; Dan
Seimer of Irrigon, member
of Post 37, Jody Frost of
Hermiston, Service Officer;
Ed Baker, of Lexington,
Heppner Post Commander;
Toni Cordell of Pendle-
ton, District 6 Commander;
and Andy Muller of Mil-
ton-Freewater, National Ex-
ecutive Committee;
The American Legion is
the nation’s largest veter-
an’s service organization.
It’s committed to mentoring
youth and sponsorship of
wholesome programs in our
communities, advocating
patriotism and honor, and
continued devotion to our
fellow service members and
veterans. The Legion helps
active stakeholder involve-
ment. It implements stan-
dards for the training and
certification of more than
40,000 city, tribal, county
and state law enforcement
officers, corrections offi-
cers, parole and probation
officers, fire service per-
sonnel, telecommunicators,
emergency medical dis-
patchers and private securi-
ty providers.
Eriks Gabliks serves as
director and Jason Myers
of the Marion County Sher-
iff’s Office is chairman of
the board. For more infor-
mation, visit www.oregon.
gov/dpsst.
• • •
You can submit items
for our weekly By The Way
column by emailing your
tips to editor@hermiston-
herald.com or share them
on social media using the
hashtag #HHBTW. Follow
the Hermiston Herald on
Twitter at @HermistonHer-
ald.
IN BRIEF
H&R Block to hosts
open house July 11
People interested in learn-
ing more about H&R Block’s
Income Tax Course are invit-
ed to an open house.
There is no tuition for the
classes, which provide new
skills. In addition to learning
to prepare taxes, people can
earn additional money.
The open house event is
Tuesday, July 11, from 10
a.m. to noon and 6-8 p.m. at
Hermiston Plaza, 860 High-
way 395, Hermiston. For
more information, call 509-
579-9976.
To enroll in the Income
Tax Course in Hermiston,
visit www.hrblock.com/class
or call 800-472-5625.
RDO employee gets
John Deere degree
Jamie Newton, a service
technician at RDO Equip-
ment Co. in Hermiston, re-
cently earned the master ser-
vice technician degree from
John Deere University.
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