UMATILLA LANDING DAYS BRINGS 3 ON 3 BASKETBALL ACTION >> SEE PAGE A13
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2018
HermistonHerald.com
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INSIDE
CAUGHT
Naythan Olney, accused
of multiple car thefts and
eluding police in Eastern
Oregon, was arrested in
Clackamas County.
PAGE A3
BIG TIME
Brewer’s Grade, fronted by
Hermiston’s Zac Grooms,
wins a major music award.
PAGE A4
NORTH FIR ST PL ACE PROJ EC T COU L D RELIE V E HIGH WAY 395
CONGESTION
SUMMER SPORTS
Ariel Gummer is hosting
rides for women who want
to get into cycling.
PAGE A9
BY THE WAY
By the way: Herald
to come a day early
next week
Due to the Fourth of
July holiday, next week’s
Hermiston Herald will
be delivered Tuesday,
July 3. Be sure to read it
for information about area
Fourth of July activities
(information will also be
available at www.herm-
istonherald.com later this
week). The Herald office
will also be closed on July
4 so our staff may enjoy
the holiday with family
and friends.
• • •
Hermiston’s
festival
street is now open. Drive
by city hall on Northeast
Second Street to check it
out, or attend a ribbon-cut-
ting for the new street at
1 p.m. on July 14 during
Funfest.
• • •
Get ready to party
before Stanfield’s Inde-
pendence Day celebra-
tion. Tickets are on sale
for the annual Stanfield
Fourth of July Steak
Feed fundraiser.
The event, which fea-
tures music by Hired
Guns, is Tuesday, July
3 from 6-9 p.m. at Bard
Park. The cost is $20 for
adults or $10 for a child’s
hamburger meal. Tick-
ets are available at Main
Street Market, 225 S.
Main St., Stanfield. In
addition, beverages will
See BTW, A6
The City of Hermiston would like to move more in town traffic on Highway 395 to streets like North First Place.
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
As
traffic
congestion
increases on Highway 395,
Hermiston city officials are hop-
ing to drive more local traffic to
alternate routes.
On Monday the city council
signed an agreement with the
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation for a $4.5 million proj-
ect to improve North First Place,
which runs parallel to the high-
way. The project will be paid
for by state funds after it was
included as an earmark in the
2017 transportation package.
“We as a community need to
find alternative routes to 395,
and I think this will help,” said
Mayor David Drotzmann.
According to the agree-
ment approved by the coun-
cil Monday, the city can spend
the $4.5 million to widen North
First Place and put in center
turn lanes, plus add a sidewalk,
curbs, gutters, street lights and
a bike-ped trail running paral-
lel to the road on the east side.
It can also include upgrades to
the intersection of North First
Place and Elm Avenue, allowing
signalized left turns onto First
Place from Elm.
“People recognize that’s a lot
of the reason people don’t use
First,” assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said. “I know I’ve
sat through a couple of cycles (of
the traffic signal) while someone
was waiting to turn left.”
The sidewalk will also help
See PROJECT, Page A14
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Late afternoon traffic begins to get heavy on Highway 395 on Monday
in Hermiston. The Oregon Department of Transportation and the City of
Hermiston have agreed to work together to help alleviate traffic on the
busy highway.
Brazilian farmers learn U.S. irrigation practices
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Fred Ziari of IRZ Consulting and
most of the 30 Brazilian farmers he
hosted in Hermiston last week don’t
speak the same language — but they
do share a common goal.
“We are blessed because we have
food,” Ziari said, gesturing to nearby
trays of fruit and pastries laid out for
the guests from Brazil. “But I travel
to Africa and other places every year
where people are extremely hungry.
As well, our state of Oregon looks
beautiful but we have hunger here,
too. All of us, Brazilian and Ameri-
can, need to play a vital role in feed-
ing the world.”
IRZ Consulting, one of multiple
businesses that Ziari has founded,
helps farmers around the world
increase their efficiency and yield
through high-tech irrigation. Ziari
said the Hermiston-based busi-
ness hosts visiting farmers from
other countries for an “international
exchange of ideas.”
Leonel Olivira, a soybean farmer
from the Brazilian state of Bahia,
said he was most impressed by “how
you can remote control your farms.”
“You can rule your farm with
your cell phone,” he said. “It’s quite
different here.”
He said he was also interested to
see how integrated farms and suppli-
ers are in the United States.
Marcos Pooter, who grows soy-
beans, corn, wheat and sorghum,
said he admired the “amazing” infra-
structure in the country.
See FARMERS, Page A14
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY FRED ZIARI
Fred Ziari and Preston Winn give a group of Brazilian farmers a tour of the
Precision Irrigated Agriculture Facility in Hermiston.