CLOSE GAME HANDS HERMISTON FIRST LOSS OF THE YEAR
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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.