ISAAC SANCHEZ,
of Hermiston,
leads the first lap
of the 1500-meter
run at the Kiwanis
Invitational at
Kennison Field.
33ND ANNUAL KIWANIS INVITE • CHECK THE RESULTS » PAGE B1
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
INSIDE
FEELING THE LOVE
HOMEGROWN
Micro-dairy mixes,
matches for small batches
PAGES A7-A9
DRUG TAKEBACK
Clear the pills from your
medicine cabinet.
PAGE A3
YOUNG MUSICIANS
Orchestra coming to
Hermiston.
PAGE A4
BY THE WAY
Cinco de Mayo
goes all-in for
two-day party
There’s lots to look for-
ward to at the Hermis-
ton Cinco de Mayo cele-
bration next Saturday and
Sunday.
Two of the three court
members, Itzy Uriarte
and Lizet Romo, visited
the city council on Mon-
day to invite the public to
the free event, which will
take place in a new venue,
EOTEC, on May 5-6.
It will feature events
like a dance, a carnival
and watermelon and cake
eating contests.
The festival has been
Hermiston’s fastest-grow-
ing event of the last
decade, and we look for-
ward to seeing where it
goes from here.
• • •
People
interested
in volunteering for the
Domestic Violence Ser-
vices crisis line are invited
See BTW, Page A12
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Members of the Hermiston Assembly of God give free car washes at Les Schwab Tire as part of Saturday’s I Love My City event.
Annual “I Love My City” service day gets to work
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
T
here are many reasons to love
Hermiston, according to the peo-
ple who live there. On Saturday,
an estimated 400 turned out for the
annual “I Love My City” event. Several
churches and civic organizations sent
volunteers to pick up trash, plant flowers
and wash cars — all in the name of lov-
ing the place where they live.
The event is spearheaded by sev-
eral local churches including Hermis-
ton Christian Center, Hermiston Assem-
bly of God, and New Hope Community
Church.
Groups of people worked to clean up
McKenzie Park, Hodge Park, the rail-
road tracks, and residents’ yards. There
were free car washes in the parking lots
of Les Schwab and Tacos Y Mas. Vol-
unteers planted flowers and laid bark
chips at McKenzie Park, and members
of Rotary Club pulled weeds on the foot-
path along Highway 395.
See LOVE, A12
Ty Arritt, 10, pulls weeds at McKenzie
Park Saturday.
WHY DO YOU LOVE HERMISTON? SEE WHAT PEOPLE SAY » PAGE A11
Hermiston gets faster access to Dynes plant
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
EAST OREGONIAN
The Hermiston City Council
on Monday settled on a new way
to handle the odor coming from a
fruit and vegetable storage facil-
ity off Highway 207 that has been
the source of complaints in the past
few months.
The agreement will allow the
city to inspect the property more
quickly, and dismisses the existing
case against the company.
After an executive session to
discuss a settlement, the council
voted unanimously to enter a judg-
ment with the Hermiston com-
pany Carter and Wyatt Holdings,
and Luke Dynes, a member of the
company and owner of the plant.
Dynes said in November 2017 that
the plant keeps around 1.6 million
tons of food out of landfills each
year, taking fruit and vegetable
byproduct and selling it to dairies
and feedlots around the U.S.
The plant, located at 78227
Highway 207, has faced fines for
violating Hermiston’s nuisance
code. According to the judgment,
the defendants will have until July
20 to remove certain agricultural
materials that have been causing
odors. Products including carrots,
potatoes, grape pomace, onions
and other organic materials, cannot
be on the property for more than
12 hours, and must stay in a truck.
The judgment also lists the mate-
rials that are allowed on the prop-
erty, which include hay, straw, dry
seed, grain and corn silage.
If the company does not com-
ply with those rules, the city can
inspect the property with only a
12-hour notice, and can fine the
company $8,000 per day.
“It just allows the city another
tool to deal with routine odor vio-
See DYNES, Page A12
VFW/AMERICAN LEGION’S SPRING SWAP MEET
APRIL 28 & 29 • 8AM • 45 W. CHERRY AVE. HERMISTON
NEXT TO PIZZA HUT. NO FEES FOR SELLERS NOR SHOPPERS.