INSIDE SPORTS
BULLDOGS FOOTBALL: HERMISTON WANTS TO LEAVE LEGACY
Hermiston
Herald
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2017
The
HermistonHerald.com
97
$1.00
INSIDE
THREE MINUTES WITH
percenters
MEET RODEWAY INN OWNER
NAKULA BUTTA
PAGE A2
SAFE IN SPAIN
FORMER IRRIGON BASKETBALL
COACH MITCH THOMPSON WAS
WITH OREGON STATE TEAM IN
BARCELONA WHERE A TERROR
ATTACK OCCURRED LAST WEEK
PAGE A3
COUNTY TO CITY
TAMRA MABBOTT IS LEAVING
COUNTY JOB FOR CITY OF
UMATILLA POST.
PAGE A3
FAIR RESULTS
RESULTS FROM UMATILLA COUNTY
FAIR JUDGED ENTRIES INCLUDED
INSIDE IN A SPECIAL TWO-PAGE
SPREAD OF WINNERS.
PAGES A8, A9
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
Susie Bendixsen, Cameron Bendixsen and Tara Bendixsen look at the eclipsed sun as it nears its peak Monday on Main Street in Hermiston in front of
the Bendixsen Law offi ces.
Stanfi eld turns eclipse
into fi rst-day lesson
Hermiston residents catch
97.7 percent of total eclipse
By JADE McDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
See 97 percent, Page A16
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
Nancy Mejia, Doreen Quick, Jissell Lopez and
Blanca Urenda check out the eclipse from an
east-facing window at Washington Federal on
Main Street in Hermiston.
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE McDOWELL
“The interior doors will have a
buzzer. The secretaries can have
visibility, and talk to people to
see what they want.”
Wayland said if people just
need to do quick business, there
is an opening that they can pass
papers through. If someone needs
to come into the building, secre-
taries will let them in.
Two new doors will be in-
stalled in one of the interior hall-
ways of each building, which
will provide extra security. Those
double doors are typically open,
but a second set will be added.
If an alarm goes off, those doors
can be automatically shut.
“It helps to partition off the
facility for a fi re or a lockdown,”
See SECURITY, Page A16
See BTW, Page A16
Stanfi eld students’ fi rst day of school co-
incided with the total solar eclipse, but that
didn’t mean the students had to miss it.
Rather, teachers at the Stanfi eld Second-
ary School used the opportunity to spend the
morning teaching astronomy, playing games,
doing science projects and making eclipse-re-
lated art.
Secondary school science teacher Devin
Bailey and math teacher Tyler Davis put to-
gether a series of activities that helped stu-
dents understand the way the sun works,
and how it has been studied throughout his-
tory. Students participated in seven different
sessions, switching every 15 to 20 minutes,
before ending the morning out on the track,
watching the eclipse itself.
Teachers urged students to be careful even
though they were all given eclipse glasses.
“The glasses don’t make it OK for you to
just look at the sun as long as you want,” said
science teacher Lucas Tynkila. “It’s best to
only do three minutes or less.”
Tynkila and Language Arts teacher Ash-
ley Snow led activities that helped students
understand the relationship between the sun
and the earth. Tynkila had students create a
scale model of the distance between the sun
and the earth using cutouts of each. Snow had
students trace each others’ shadows on the
Eclipse-watchers congregate on the Hermiston
Butte as the sky grows dim.
See FIRST day, Page A16
Two schools make security upgrades
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Two Hermiston elementary
schools will start the school year
with some new security features
and work has begun to expand
the parking lot at the high school.
West Park and Sunset elemen-
tary schools, the district’s two
newest buildings, are under mi-
nor construction to get some safe-
ty upgrades that will limit outside
access to the building.
The identical buildings will
now have a window from the en-
trance area into the main offi ce
and a second set of entry doors
that will be locked to avoid unau-
thorized entry.
“We’re installing a window in
the vestibule area, so secretaries
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Jaime Montez with Knerr
Construction out of Hermiston
takes a measurement while
working on installing a security
window in the front offi ce of West
Park Elementary on Wednesday in
Hermiston.
from the offi ce can do any busi-
ness prior to people entering,”
said Brad Wayland, Hermiston
School District facilities director.
Business moves
and tax changes
in the works
The Stanfi eld School Dis-
trict sent out fl iers last week
to alert residents within their
boundaries of an adjustment
in their property taxes this
year. The district was notifi ed
this year that they were not
levying enough property tax-
es to cover bond payments for
Stanfi eld Elementary School,
so starting this fall, residents’
tax statements will include the
difference of what they should
have been paying for the past
two years. Some residents
were concerned the fl ier was
a scam, but district offi cials
confi rmed that the fl ier is from
Stanfi eld School District. The
increase will be implemented
this fall on property tax state-
ments. For questions, contact
the Stanfi eld School District
offi ce at 541-449-8766.
• • •
Salad shop Veg Out opened
in Hermiston last week at 319
W. Locust Avenue. The shop,
which is carry-out only, offers
a selection of gourmet salads
ranging from $7 to $13, a fruit
bowl and Brazilian cheese
bread. It is open 11 a.m. to 6
p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday-Sat-
urday. Look for a full story
about Veg Out and other busi-
nesses in the neighborhood
in next week’s Herald. In the
meantime you can fi nd more
information on the VEG OUT
Facebook page.
• • •
Golfers teed-off for the
club championships of the
2017 season this past weekend
at Big River Golf Course.
On the men’s side, Zac Ad-
ams was fi rst place gross, fol-
lowed by Sergio Rodriguez
in second and in a tie for third
were Rick Jewett and Darren
McNamee. A three-way tie
for net included Josh Brown-
ing, Dick Snyder and Karl
Adams. The ladies’ champi-
ons are Sandy Obrist (gross)
and Stacey Lerten (net).
For more about club mem-
berships, contact Megan Ol-
sen at megan@golfbigriver.
com or 541-922-3006.
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
There were plenty of oohs and aahs around
Hermiston on Monday morning as young and
old gathered to watch the solar eclipse.
Some eclipse-watchers set up chairs in the
back of pick-up trucks, while others spread
out picnic blankets or hiked up to the top of
the Hermiston Butte. There was even a group
doing yoga under the slowly-disappearing
sun.
Vivian Sullivan, Alexis Sullivan and Ser-
gio Rangel were hurrying down the butte trail
about 15 minutes before the eclipse’s peak.
“We’ve got to go back and get our lawn
chairs. We were just too excited,” Vivian
said, laughing.
Alexis was busy viewing the eclipse’s
path through her protective eclipse glasses,
and noted that she was surprised the eclipse
wasn’t more obvious to anyone walking
around without the special eyegear.
“I thought you would actually be able to
see it just looking,” she said.
Taelor Cruz, Katelyn Johnson and Cara
Arbogast were lying on a blanket on the
hill above the Butte Park playground as the
eclipse began. Cruz said they thought the
park might be the best vantage point in town.
“You can’t even see the sun from my house
— too many trees,” he said.
Afterward, Johnson said she had fun but
the eclipse was different than she thought
BY THE WAY