RUPMAG
17:RUP
INSIDE TODAY
MAG17
BITE INTO THE PENDLETON ROUND-UP
8/9/17
10:51
AM
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Hermiston
Herald
HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
$1.00
SENIOR CENTER CONSTRUCTION
SHAPE
taking
INSIDE
CELEBRATING 109
GENEVA EDDINGS CELEBRATES
A BIG BIRTHDAY SURROUNDED
BY FAMILY.
PAGE A3
STUDENT ART
ARTWORK OF LOCAL STUDENTS
CELEBRATING AG COMMODITIES
FEATURED ON CALENDAR.
PAGE A4
EXPANDING
DOWNTOWN
NEW BUSINESS DISTRICT
STARTING WEST OF
HIGHWAY 395.
PAGE A6
NEW UNIFORMS
KILKENNY FAMILY, NIKE OUTFIT
HEPPNER MUSTANGS IN NEW
GEAR.
PAGE A10
BY THE WAY
Event kicks off
new playground
installation
Hermiston’s senior citizens
are meeting at Our Lady of
Angels Catholic Church
until the Harkenrider
Center’s completion
By JADE McDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
ermiston’s seniors are making
do with a church basement after
losing their old senior center, but
construction is in full swing for
their new home downtown.
Parks and recreation director Larry Fet-
ter said construction is on track to wrap
up sometime in the spring, although it’s
too soon to say what month. Already, the
concrete for the Harkenrider Center’s day-
light basement is in place and crews from
G2 Construction are putting up beams for
walls on the main level.
“Trusses for the roof are scheduled to
arrive Sept. 18, and then things will really
be shaping up at that point,” Fetter said.
STAFF PHOTOS BY GARY L. WEST
(TOP) The crew from G2 Construction works in smoky conditions Tuesday while building
the new senior center building in Hermiston. (BOTTOM MIDDLE) The old Union High
School arch, all that remains of what was Armand Larive Middle School, is adjacent to
the Harkenrider Center now under construction. (BOTTOM RIGHT) Signs on the fence tell
passersby what is being built where Northeast Second Street bends onto East Ridgeway
Avenue. Workers from G2 Construction are currently building the new Harkenrider Center in
Hermiston.
The city’s senior citizens found them-
selves in need of a new gathering place
after the former fairgrounds in the middle
of town, which included the senior center
building, were sold to Hermiston School
District as part of the deal that resulted in
the new Eastern Oregon Trade and Event
Center. The school district has started de-
molishing the fairgrounds to make room
for more parking, ballfi elds and other im-
provements.
“The old building should be coming
down any time,” Fetter said.
After the seniors struggled to raise the
money needed to build a new center, the
city stepped in and procured a $2 million
federal community development block
grant and agreed to use money from its
own general fund to add a parking lot
and daylight basement. During the inter-
im leading up to the Harkenrider Center’s
completion, Our Lady of Angels Catholic
Church is allowing the seniors to serve
meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the
church and hold other activities there.
Fetter said the senior center board is
pitching in to help make the new senior
center a reality, most recently by working
to recruit a grant writer to help come up
with the money for furnishings and appli-
ances to stock the commercial kitchen, of-
fi ces, breakout rooms and a spacious main
room that will include a gas fi replace and
billiards.
“They’ve been pretty involved,” Fetter
said. “They’ve got their hands full with
See SENIOR, Page A16
Air quality alert in eff ect
HERMISTON HERALD
Residents can expect smoky
skies and low air quality all week
across northeast Oregon as wild-
fi res continue to rage in the Pa-
cifi c Northwest.
The Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality has is-
sued an air quality alert until noon
Friday for Umatilla and Morrow
counties as well as Union, Wal-
lowa, Gilliam, Wheeler, Grant,
Sherman, Wasco, Crook, De-
schutes and Jefferson counties.
Fine particles in smoke can
cause burning eyes, runny nose
and aggravate other serious
health problems, such as chron-
ic heart and lung disease. Smoke
can also limit visibility. People
should limit outdoor activity
while the alert is in effect, espe-
cially children, the elderly and
those with respiratory problems.
The air quality in Eastern
Oregon is still rated “very un-
healthy,” as smoke from fi res
across the region permeates the
area. The Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality said that
people with heart or lung disease,
older adults, and children should
avoid physical activity outside,
and all others should avoid un-
necessary exposure to the air.
The Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality has issued
See AIR, Page A16
STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST
Smoke from fi res in the region
are having a negative effect on
air quality and visibility. From
the south end of town, while it
is still possible to see the water
town from Highway 395, smoke
obscures the view of the rest of
the city from the top of the hill.
If your were hoping to
bump into Trail Blazers stars
like Damian Lillard or C.J.
McCollum, or event Coach
Terry Stotts this week in
Hermiston, you are out of
luck.
Hermiston won a contest
earlier this year sponsored by
Moda Health and the Port-
land Trail Blazers to go to-
ward new playground equip-
ment at Sunset Park, and
representatives of the Blazers
were expected to attend the
grand opening celebration on
Thursday, with the hope that
it would include some play-
ers. The Blazers are sending
a delegation, but as of press
time Tuesday no players or
coaches are expected to at-
tend Thursday’s event at 4
p.m. Thursday or the basket-
ball clinics from 3 to 5 p.m.
Attending the ceremony on
behalf of the Portland Trail
Blazers will be vice presi-
dent of social responsibility
Christa Stout and Moda
Health senior vice president
Robin Richardson.
• • •
Tad Farley, a student at
Rocky Heights Elementary
School, participated in the
Oregon Statewide Spelling
Championship, held this past
weekend at the Oregon State
Fair.
A fi fth-grader, Farley was
among a group of 63 star
spellers from 27 counties
across the state. KOIN 6’s
Andrew Dymburt served as
master of ceremonies for the
contest.
In its ninth year of coor-
dinating the contest, Oregon
Spellers is an all-volunteer
group funded by donations
and sponsored by the Or-
egon Association for Tal-
ented and Gifted. For more
information, contact oregon-
spellers@kaynor.net or visit
www.oregonspellers.org.
• • •
Michele Kietzke was
sworn in as president of The
Arc Umatilla County during
See PLAYGROUND, Page
A16