WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
LOCAL
Morrow County students learn about manufacturing jobs
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Chris Stirk had a
dilemma for a group of mid-
dle schoolers.
“I need you to help me
solve a problem,” he said.
“How do I get from this
—” he held up an unpeeled
onion in one hand — “to
this?” He held up a peeled
one in the other.
Stirk stopped by the
Port of Morrow’s inaugu-
ral “Nuts, Bolts and Thing-
amajigs” camp, a weeklong
program to help 18 Morrow
County middle school stu-
dents learn about careers in
manufacturing, processing
and technology.
Stirk, the Boardman
Foods director of operations,
talked to students about how
onions are processed, help-
ing them understand the pur-
pose of different machines,
production and waste.
Drawing diagrams on the
whiteboard, Stirk showed
students the devices they use
to make processing more
efficient.
He also talked to the stu-
dents about the rise of auto-
mated machines to do jobs
once performed by humans.
“What if the onion goes
the wrong way?” He said.
“Now, a person has to turn
it. What I want to do is have
a robot do it. Why?”
Students speculated —
it’s safer, you don’t have to
spend as much money —
both things that Stirk said
were factors.
He told kids that there
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Sunridge Middle School wood shop teacher Ken Jacobs gives instruction on how to assemble
a pallet tray Tuesday during the Port of Morrow Camp in Boardman.
Alexis Partlow, 13, of Boardman uses a nail gun to secure two
boards with help from OSU Extension outreach coordinator
Anna Browne while making pallet trays during the Port of
Morrow Camp in Boardman.
were many opportunities
right in their own city to
work in mathematics, sci-
ence and agriculture.
“Not everything in this
world has been invented
yet,” he said. “Guess what
we need to invent new and
better ways? Newer and bet-
ter people.”
The kids are spending
the week listening to sev-
eral speakers from Port of
Morrow businesses, includ-
ing Amazon Web Services
and Boardman Foods. They
spent time with Blue Moun-
tain Community College
instructor Jerry McMichael
learning about industrial
systems technology.
They took some aptitude
tests to find out what types
of careers they might be
interested in.
They also got a chance to
do some hands-on projects,
applying the concepts they
learned during the week.
Ken Jacobs, a woodshop
teacher at Pendleton’s Sun-
ridge Middle School, was
one of the instructors for the
camp. He led the students in
building two projects — a
pallet tray and a cell phone
speaker.
“We’re going to take
pieces of lumber that would
otherwise go to waste,”
Jacobs said.
Students used a comput-
er-aided drafting program
called “SolidWorks” to
design the cell phone speak-
ers, and got to use tools such
as a miter saw and a drill
press.
Alexis Partlow, an eighth
grader from Boardman, said
the most interesting part of
the camp for her was the
woodworking activity.
“I’m looking forward to
creating something new,”
she said.
Arianna Velasco said the
camp had piqued her interest
in some new things.
“I learned a bit about
hydraulics manufacturing,
and electronics manufactur-
ing,” she said.
1,700 tacos at a recent
patient appreciation party
for Dr. James West and
Columbia Orthodontics
at the Hermiston Family
Aquatic Center.
The orthodontist and his
staff welcomed more than
600 patients to the pool in
the 103 degree weather and
offered tacos, Yo Country
Yogurt and raffle drawings.
“Columbia Orthodontics
and Dr West are very thank-
ful to be part of this commu-
nity and are already making
plans for next years party,”
their office wrote to the
Hermiston Herald.
• • •
A new byline appeared
in the Hermiston Herald
last week as the paper wel-
comed Brett Kane as a
news intern covering sports.
Kane grew up in Hermiston
and returned to the commu-
nity after graduating from
the University of Oregon
with a bachelor’s degree in
journalism. You can read his
story “Sons of Speed” on
page A10, and look for him
at future sporting events
around the community or
email sports tips to him at
bkane@eastoregonian.com.
• • •
Hermiston
Police
Department has welcomed
three new reserve officers
to its force. Bryce Ken-
nedy, Shawnee Rodriguez
and Sterling Hall earned
their badges last week, the
department reported, after
completing the 2018 Multi-
Agency Police Reserve
Academy. To do so they had
to work 200 hours of train-
ing around their non-police
jobs over the course of the
last five months.
• • •
Good Shepherd Health
Care System has welcomed
pediatric gastroenterologist
and hepatologist Lina Cas-
tillo, M.D. to its staff.
Castillo said in a news
release that her parents are
both doctors and she felt
called to the profession.
“I observed how hard
they worked, the rela-
tionships they built with
patients, the long days and
sleepless nights, and the
deep sorrows that accom-
pany the burden of deliv-
ering a less than favorable
diagnosis,” she said. “It is
a sacred responsibility and
one that I am willing to
carry.”
She did her residency at
Miami Children’s Hospi-
tal and completed a fellow-
ship in gastroenterology and
hepatology at the Univer-
sity of Nebraska Medical
Center in Omaha.
She is welcoming new
patients at the Good Shep-
herd Pediatrics Clinic, 600
NW 11th Street in Hermis-
ton. To schedule an appoint-
ment call 541.667.3740.
• • •
Altrusa International
of Hermiston recently
added four new members to
its club.
Holly Woods, Marcy
Rosenberg, Cynthia Tra-
ner and Linda Monroe
were presented by their club
sponsors during the July 19
initiation meeting. Dawn
Long is the current club
president.
Altrusans work together
to create better communi-
ties. The name “Altrusa”
is derived from combining
altruism and USA.
To learn more about the
club, contact hermiston-
altrusa@gmail.com, visit
www.districttwelve.altrusa.
org or search Facebook.
———
You can submit items for
our weekly By The Way col-
umn by emailing your tips
to editor@hermistonher-
ald.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Wyatt Browne, 12, of Boardman watches as Ellie Sak, 10, of
Boardman takes a measurement on a piece of wood Tuesday
during the Port of Morrow Camp in Boardman.
BTW
BTW
Continued from Page A1
• • •
Medical bills are stack-
ing up for a recent Umatilla
High School graduate.
Dayra Ugarte, 22, a
paraprofessional at Desert
View Elementary in Herm-
iston, has undergone sev-
eral major surgeries in the
past six weeks, said Lynne
Hamblin, who also works
in the school district. A
community fundraiser has
been scheduled to help sup-
port Ugarte.
The event is Saturday
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the
parking lot at Smitty’s Ace
Hardware, 1845 N. Fist
St., Hermiston. A barbecue
lunch offers hot dogs, potato
chips, watermelon, cookies
and water for $4. The event
also features more than
$4,000 of donated raffle
items. Tickets are $1 each.
And, a dunk tank will offer
people a chance to send
lacrosse team coaches into
the water.
For more information,
contact Hamblin at lham-
blin@eotnet.net.
• • •
Tacos Xavi served up
Hermiston sets online student registration
The Hermiston School
District is preparing to assist
parents with online registra-
tion/renewal of information
now through Friday, Aug.
10. Elementary and middle
schools will have staff and
computers available from
8-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-3
p.m. Also, Hermiston High
School parents and students
may drop in Aug. 13-17
from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
to register and pay applica-
ble student fees.
Students returning to
Hermiston schools will
receive a letter in the mail.
It will include their “snap-
code” to login at www.
hermiston.k12.or.us/apps/
pages/registration/ to update
information.
New students and those
entering kindergarten need to
visit the website to begin the
registration process. In addi-
tion, they also must visit the
school to submit a record of
their birth, proof of address,
health record, and previous
report cards or transcripts.
The district’s open house
will take place Thursday,
Aug. 23. Elementary schools
will be open from 5:30-6:30
p.m., middle schools from
6:30-7:30 p.m. and the high
school from 7-8:30 p.m. The
district encourages students
and parents to attend and get
acquainted with their teach-
ers and school staff.
For more information,
parents can contact the
school their child attends.
The district office can be
reached at 541-667-6000.
Fighting Oregon wildfires have cost state $25.3m
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
CAPITAL BUREAU
SALEM — The state
has spent $25.3 million on
fighting wildfires this year,
according to the Oregon
Department of Forestry.
That figure came before
this week’s 10,250-acre
Lake Wallula Fire outside
Hermiston.
Those are gross costs.
The federal government
will reimburse the state for
some of that cost, but it can
take years for the reimburse-
ments to come through, a
spokesman for ODF says.
And that amount doesn’t
include the agency’s “base
budget” for fire protection,
which is about $48 million
for permanent personnel,
equipment, facilities and the
cost of fighting smaller fires.
As of Friday, about
20,800 acres were burning
in 585 fires across the state
on ODF-protected lands.
A spokesman cautioned
that those numbers should be
taken with a grain of salt, as
fires are dynamic by nature
and their more precise size
will take time to confirm.
The Oregon Department
of Forestry protects about 16
million acres of forestland
— both public and private
— from fires.
Over the past 10 years,
the average number of fires
on ODF-protected land on
July 27 has been 416 fires,
with 13,405 acres burning.
The state agency main-
tains a public information
site about the status of state
wildfires at wildfireoregon-
deptofforestry.blogspot.
com.
You can also check on
smoke conditions in your
community and throughout
the state at oregonsmoke.
blogspot.com.
Man fails at
armed robbery
in Hermiston
The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Office is looking
for the suspect that tried but
failed to pull off an armed
robbery.
Two employees of the
Short Stop Gas, 32553
E. Punkin Center Road,
Hermiston, were working
outside Sunday morning at
about 4:15 when an armed
man approached on foot
from the road. The sheriff’s
office in a written state-
ment reported the suspect
held a black rifle and cov-
ered his face in a dark green
bandanna.
“According to the
employees,” the sheriff’s
office reported, “the sus-
pect ordered one of them to
go inside the store. Instead,
both employees ran across
Highway 207 and called
911.”
They also told law
enforcement the suspect
tried to open the store’s
cash register, but it was
locked. When he could
not open the register, he
bolted from the store, tak-
ing nothing.
He ran west on East
Punkin Center and got into
a white four-door sedan.
The car headed west on
East Punkin Center, the
sheriff’s office reported.
The employees told the
sheriff’s office the suspect
was about 6 feet to 6 feet
2 inches tall and weighed
approximately
120-140
pounds. He wore a black
hooded sweatshirt, a black
baseball cap, dark-col-
ored gloves and white plaid
shorts with lime green and
navy stripes and white
socks that covered his
calves.
“We are reviewing video
footage from the store and
the investigation is con-
tinuing,” the sheriff’s office
also reported.
“Please contact the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office with any informa-
tion at 541-966-3651.”
POLICE LOG
TUESDAY, JULY 24
5:35 a.m. — A missing person
was reported at Southwest Sev-
enth Place.
1:42 p.m. — Child abuse or
neglect was reported at Northwest
11th Street.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25
2:11 a.m. — A prowler was
reported at South Highway 395.
8:21 a.m. — Someone at West
Tamarack Avenue reported that his
daughter was assaulted last night by
her boyfriend.
THURSDAY, JULY 26
4:39 p.m. — Police responded
to a death investigation on East
Main Street. A 45 year-old man died
in the parking lot of a car wash, of
what police suspected to be a heart
attack.
FRIDAY, JULY 27
8:28 a.m.— A caller said at Riv-
erfront Park on Southwest 23rd St.,
there has been a female at the park
every morning for several weeks,
approaching everyone and asking
them for money. The caller said she
is bothering everyone who is trying
to use the park.
SATURDAY, JULY 28
12:14 p.m. A caller reported a
dog in a car with the windows rolled
up at North First Street.
12:47 p.m. — Someone on East
Sunset Drive, reported that the back
window of her truck was broken out
last night, but nothing was taken.
6:57 p.m. — A man had been
down in the front yard on West
Madrona Avenue since 9:30 a.m.,
near the blue shop.
SUNDAY, JULY 29
8:16 p.m. — A caller said some-
one on East Beebe Avenue was out
of control, and pushed the caller.
MONDAY, JULY 30
9:30 p.m. — A man was lying on
the grass with an unknown medical
condition, near the main entrance of
a building on Southwest 11th Street.
All addresses are in Hermiston
unless otherwise noted.