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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2018)
CLOSE GAME HANDS HERMISTON FIRST LOSS OF THE YEAR » PAGES A7, A13 Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez catches the ball in the end zone in front of Kennewick’s Gabe Cervantes in the Bulldogs’ 26-25 loss to the Lions on Friday in Hermiston. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 HermistonHerald.com $1.00 INSIDE MEASURE 105 Umatilla County Sheriff Rowan explained his support of a repeal of Oregon’s sanctuary state law to Hermiston’s Hispanic Advisory Committee. PAGE A3 FREE FOOD Projects delayed as contractors scarce Hermiston School District students benefit from free breakfast at school. PAGE A6 Construction stalls when subcontractors get busy 1,000 MILES By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER Charles Clupny trekked across France and Spain to raise money for CASA. PAGE A9 BY THE WAY New bleachers increase seating at Kennison Field Kennison Field is open to even more football fans now, thanks to col- lections by the Hermis- ton Sports Boosters and a donation from a local fam- ily. There are now some new bleachers at the sta- dium, which seat 657 peo- ple. Paul Barnett, one of the Boosters board mem- bers, said the bleachers cost $110,000, and about half of that came from a donation from the O’Gor- man family. “The project was mainly due to the fact that we felt like we were at capacity,” Barnett said. “We hope to see an uptick of people traveling from Tri-Cities,” Barnett said the dona- tion from the O’Gorman family allowed the Boost- ers to save some of their funds for the next major project. • • • Fresh off a trip to Washington, D.C. to dis- STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Blue Chavez, of Challis Concrete Construction in La Grande, sweeps some freshly dried concrete Tuesday near the intersection of 11th and Orchard in Hermiston. Hermiston residents are looking forward to construc- tion wrapping up on new traf- fic signals on Northwest 11th Street after months of navigating through an ever-changing pat- tern of orange traffic cones sur- rounding two intersections. The new signals should have been up and running already. But the project was delayed after no one bid on it during the sum- mer of 2017, and the Oregon Department of Transportation had to wait until fall before try- ing again. It’s a common tale in Eastern Oregon: Shortages of general contractors and subcontractors like electricians can delay proj- ects big and small. Perhaps the most obvi- ous example in Hermiston is a long-anticipated Ranch & Home store south of town. Nine months after the store was orig- inally slated to open, speculat- ing on its real opening date has become a favorite local pastime. The store has stayed mum on that date (calls over the past few months by the East Orego- nian haven’t been returned) but when the business asked the city of Hermiston for an exten- sion on incentives the city had offered at the beginning of the year, it blamed not being able to find electrical subcontractors for the delay. An August survey by the Associated General Contrac- tors of America showed it’s a nationwide trend. The associ- ation found 70 percent of the 1,600 construction firms sur- veyed reported having difficulty See DELAY, A14 See BTW, A6 Hermiston School District sued for $38.9 million Family claims district did not follow protocol after football injury By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER A Hermiston family is suing the Hermiston School District, several coaches and an athletic trainer for $38.9 million, claiming district ath- letics staff in 2016 allowed their son to play a football game after sustain- ing a head injury, leading to long- term damage. Todd and Dawna Martin filed a lawsuit last Wednesday in Umatilla County Circuit Court, asking for a jury trial and alleging that their son, Connor, sustained permanent injuries to his head, back and neck, and now has difficulty participating in regular activities. The suit states that Connor was injured when playing football as a member of Hermiston’s junior var- sity team in September and Octo- ber 2016. The lawsuit says Hermis- ton athletic staff did not inform his parents about their son’s injuries, nor did they conduct the proper tests to determine Connor’s readiness to return to football. In addition to the district, the fam- ily is suing athletic director Larry Usher, athletic trainer Dan Emery, head football coach David Faeeteete, and junior varsity football coach Matthew Bruck in their personal capacities. The family is asking for $25 million in damages for Connor’s bodily injury, anxiety and impaired See LAWSUIT, A14 HH FILE PHOTO A Hermiston couple claims their son, Connor Martin, sustained a concussion during a game that was not handled properly by Hermiston School District. They are suing the Hermiston School District and personnel in the athletics department for nearly $39 million.
