A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Umatilla house fire displaces 2
HERMISTON HERALD
A Umatilla house fire
displaced two women on
Wednesday, Jan. 3, and sent
huge clouds of black smoke
into the air above a small
neighborhood on Cherry
Street.
Engines responded from
Umatilla Fire Department,
Umatilla County Fire Dis-
trict, Boardman Fire Depart-
ment and Irrigon Rural Fire
Department to the home at
1913 Cherry St.
Scott Goff, Umatilla
County Fire District fire
marshal, said the depart-
ment has not yet been able
to identify a cause for the
fire. Contacted Tuesday for
an update, he said the base-
ment of the home was still
flooded, preventing fire per-
sonnel from getting down
there to investigate.
Goff identified the resi-
dents of the house as owner
Carolyn McCall and her
daughter Annette.
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
A house on fire on Cherry Street in Umatilla on Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters from
Umatilla, Umatilla County Fire District 1, Irrigon and Boardman responded to the blaze.
HERMISTON HERALD
Ryan Bounds
gone through a bi-partisan
review process. Senators
have the ability to withhold
“blue slips,” a Senate rule
that essentially allows the
minority party veto power
over judicial nominees.
The committee is now
reviewing Bounds’ applica-
tion, as well as other candi-
dates according to Merkley’s
office.
If his nomination is
approved this time around,
Bounds would require a con-
firmation hearing from the
Senate Judiciary Commit-
tee before joining the Circuit
Court.
Merkley and Wyden
didn’t dispute Bounds’ cre-
dentials, however, and he
has support from Rep. Greg
Walden and attorney associ-
ations down to local mayors.
Walden, a Republican,
wrote in September that
Bounds would represent a
conservative, rurally-rooted
voice on the court which
holds great power on federal
decisions in the Second Con-
gressional district.
Letters of support were
sent to Merkley and Wyden
from 15 Oregon senators
including Bill Hansell, the
Oregon Criminal Defense
Bar, the Oregon Wheat
Growers League and both
Hermiston Mayor Dave
Drotzmann and Pendleton
Mayor John Turner.
Bounds has been a federal
prosecutor for the District of
Columbia, an assistant to
the president on domestic
policy and a deputy assis-
tant attorney general in the
U.S. Department of Justice’s
Office of Legal Policy.
Earlier in his career
Bounds was a law clerk
for O’Scannlain, one of the
most conservative judges on
the 29-member Ninth Circuit
court. Bounds has a B.A. in
psychology and political sci-
ence from Stanford Univer-
sity and a J.D. from Yale
Law School.
Oregon has tradition-
ally had two seats on the cir-
cuit court, which is directly
beneath the U.S. Supreme
Court. It guides federal law
in nine Western states.
Hermiston High student to attend to Brown University
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
This fall, Heidy Mejia-
Puerta will wake up for her
first day of school on the
opposite coastline. Mejia-
Puerta, a Hermiston High
School senior, was recently
accepted to Brown Univer-
sity as an early-decision
applicant. The terms of the
application state that Mejia-
Puerta is now committed to
attending the Ivy League
school — an exciting pros-
pect for her.
“Looking at the curricu-
lum, the location and the stu-
dent body, I found [Brown]
to be the one for me,” she
said. “I knew if I did early
decision, I’d be happy with
attending Brown.”
Though she has not yet
visited the campus, Mejia-
Puerta said one of the things
that attracted her about
Desert View school
principal resigns
trict since 2008, focusing
on curriculum and instruc-
tion. She previously served
as the superintendent/prin-
Families of students at cipal of Ione School Dis-
Desert View Elementary trict and Ione Community
School were informed on School for four years. She
Jan. 2 that the school’s prin- has taught first and fourth
cipal, Laura Jacob-
grade, and worked
sma, resigned over
as an elementary
winter break.
school
reading
specialist.
Assistant super-
intendent
Bryn
Browning also
Browning
told
acted as an interim
families in a let-
principal at West
ter sent home with
Park Elementary
students that she
after Shane Pratt
would serve as the Jacobsma
left in October of
school’s interim
2012 for personal
reasons.
principal for the
District com-
remainder of the
munications offi-
2017-2018 school
cer Maria Duron
year.
said
Jacobsma
Jacobsma was
gave notice of her
hired for the Des-
ert View job in
resignation
on
May 2017 and
Dec. 29, but did
not give a spe-
moved
from Browning
cific reason for her
Oakridge School
departure.
District, where she
Duron said district
worked as an instructional
coach and taught multiple administrators do not yet
grades. She said she was know when they will post
leaving the position for the position, but the search
for a new principal will be
personal reasons.
Browning has been the conducted during spring,
assistant superintendent the regular hiring season
for Hermiston School Dis- for school districts.
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Bounds nominated to Ninth Circuit Court
Ryan Bounds, an assis-
tant U.S. Attorney for Ore-
gon and a Hermiston native,
has been nominated for a
second time by President
Donald Trump for a seat on
the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals.
The
White
House
announced the nomination
of Bounds and 20 other jus-
tices on Friday in states it
said are “suffering from
judicial emergencies.”
Bounds was first nomi-
nated by Trump in September
to replace Appellate Judge
Diarmuid O’Scannlain, who
took semi-retirement senior
status Jan. 1, 2017.
Bounds’ nomination was
effectively blocked at the
time by Oregon Sens. Jeff
Merkley and Ron Wyden,
both Democrats, because
they said Bounds had not
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018
NEWS
Heidy Mejia-Puerta
Brown is the school’s open
curriculum, which does not
bind students to general
education requirements, but
allows them more flexibil-
ity in the early classes they
take, before settling on a
course of study. A first-gen-
eration college student, she
said she is unsure of what
she’ll study, but is interested
in law and political science.
She is also the recipi-
ent of the Brown Univer-
sity Scholarship, which will
cover a significant portion
of her tuition.
She credited her admis-
sion to the school to tak-
ing advantage of resources
available to her, as well
as help from teachers and
staff.
A member of the LEDA
(Leadership Enterprise for
a Diverse America) schol-
ars program, Mejia-Puerta
spent several weeks last
summer at Princeton Uni-
versity, learning about
how to prepare for college
applications.
“I think the application
process, for me, was much
simpler than for a lot of my
classmates,” she said. “I had
a lot of resources and peo-
ple helping me. But as facil-
itated as it was, it was still
daunting.”
She said being involved
with LEDA helped, with
people from the program
continuing to check on her
and helping her with the pro-
cess even after she returned
from Princeton.
She also credited her
involvement with the Gen-
eration College program,
run locally by HHS staff
Melody Bustillos and Roger
Berger.
BRIEFS
call Sylvia Smith at
Dinner, auction set tion,
541-720-0040.
Jan. 20 to help local Nonprofit center
man fight cancer
aids people with
A benefit dinner and
silent auction will help vision impairments
raise money for John
Parker of Hermiston, who
is being treated for pancre-
atic cancer.
A small group that meets
regularly at Oasis Vineyard
Church with Parker’s wife,
Vanda, are organizing the
event to help offset costs
due to medical treatment.
The event is Saturday,
Jan 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the
church, 1255 S. Highway
395, Hermiston. The cost
is $20 per person or $120
for a table of eight.
The meal includes pork
chops, potatoes, a vegeta-
ble, rolls and dessert.
Items up for bid include
a guided goose hunt and
gift baskets from Lucky
Endz Gifts and Bell-
inger Farms and Gourmet
Shoppe.
For more informa-
tion or to make a dona-
The Edith Bishel Cen-
ter for the Blind and Visu-
ally Impaired provides
assistance to people who
are blind and visually
impaired.
A nonprofit organi-
zation, the center offers
vision examinations, inde-
pendent living aids, skills
training, social activities,
support groups and work-
shops for family members.
Located at 628 N.
Arthur St., Kennewick, the
Edith Bishel Center is ded-
icated to serving the blind
and visually impaired in
southeastern Washington
and northeastern Oregon.
Donations assist with its
mission.
For more information,
contact
509-735-0699,
info@edithbishelcenter.
org or visit www.edith-
bishelcenter.org.
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