WRESTLING » BULLDOGS PULL OFF BIG WIN AGAINST PENDLETON // SEE PAGE SPORTS,
A10
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
INSIDE
DEPOT DELAY
Frustrations rise as locals
wait for portion of former
Umatilla Chemical Depot
PAGE A3
SAFETY FIRST
Fire safety educator teaches
students to use their voice
PAGE A6
HERMISTON
HEARS
A WHO
TEACHERS ARRESTED
Two Morrow County
teachers charged with sex
abuse
PAGE A8
BY THE WAY
Breakin’ bricks for
cancer patient
Brick by brick, board
by board, students at East-
ern Oregon Family Tae-
kwondo raised $4,451
on Saturday to bene-
fit Maddy Thomas, an
11-year-old Echo girl with
a brain tumor.
The studio was packed
all afternoon as more than
200 bricks were shattered
in the marathon fundraiser.
Erwin Watson, owner
of the martial arts studio
and business, said they
also went through far more
boards than bricks.
Watson’s taekwondo
students solicited dona-
tions of $5 per board
and $10 per brick to help
cover the medical costs
for Thomas, who has pilo-
cytic astrocytoma, a brain
tumor. She had surgery in
October to remove part of
the tumor and is under-
going chemotherapy to
shrink the rest.
Home Depot donated
the boards and bricks, and
Watson said the bricks pro-
vided quite the workout.
Watson said the hard
work — and soreness —
were worth it, and he plans
to soon present Maddy
with the check. More
donations also could come
in, he said, so the final
tally could be even larger.
• • •
Umatilla County and
Good Shepherd Medi-
cal Center are offering a
series of suicide preven-
tion courses on Thursday,
February 22.
STAFF PHOTOS BY KATHY ANEY
Kyle Ketchersid, who plays the part of the Cat in the Hat, sings during a rehearsal of “Seussical” at Hermiston High School.
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
J
Horton (William Kern) studies a flower during a rehearsal of “Seussical”
at Hermiston High School.
ordan Bemrose-Rust’s face was animated as she stood
swaying to the music during a Friday night dress
rehearsal of “Seussical the Musical.”
The Hermiston High School choir director, who’s also
in charge of choreography, worked on a small-scale ver-
sion of the popular Dr. Seuss-themed musi-
cal several years ago while teaching in Ione. “Seussical
She convinced drama director Beth Ander-
son — although it didn’t take much convinc- the Musical”
ing — to take on the production.
•Feb. 9-10 and
“This has big dance numbers. I wanted to Feb. 16-17; 7 p.m.
go big,” Bemrose-Rust said. “When you do
•Sunday, Feb. 18; 2 p.m.
choreography with 30 people, it’s a lot more
•Hermiston High School
grand.”
It’s been a team effort to produce “Seus- •$10/adults, $8/senior
sical” — HHS band teacher Sean McClana- citizens,$5/students
han is directing the orchestra pit and Kathy
Vore is the technical director. And, the excitement is contagious
— from student performers to parents and community members
who have stepped up in lending a hand.
See WHO, A16
See BTW, A16
Military investing millions in Camp Umatilla
Former chemical depot will be National Guard training facility
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
The former Umatilla Chemical
Depot may not look like much now,
but the site manager for Camp Uma-
tilla thinks it can become the Oregon
Military Department’s premier train-
ing facility.
“We will stand this up to any facil-
ity in the state,” said retired Lt. Col.
Fritz McReynolds.
The Oregon Military Department
has spent $2 million on infrastructure
upgrades since the U.S. Army signed
over 7,500 acres of the former depot
for an Oregon National Guard Train-
ing Center known as Camp Umatilla
in November (the local Columbia
Development Authority is still wait-
ing for the Army to transfer their por-
tion, which will be used for private
economic development and a wildlife
preserve). The department plans to
spend another $25 million in the next
three years for remodels, demolitions
and new construction. After that, they
will build a $39 million infantry train-
ing schoolhouse.
They have their work cut out for
them. The chemical weapons may
be gone but asbestos, mold, broken
pipes and hantavirus-carrying mice
plague some of the 1940s-era build-
See CAMP, A16
PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The original Umatilla Depot post headquarters building at Camp Umatilla
is currently abandoned but plans are in the works to retrofit the old
building and reopen it. The Oregon Military Department plans to create
a representative “historical district” inside Camp Umatilla with about 12
buildings preserved with as much historical authenticity as possible.