Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2018)
INSIDE SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE RESCUERS Senior center volunteers Gary and Darlene Riesland saved a Hermiston woman after a fall PAGE A3 CELEBRATE Local schools and other organizations offer up events for Veterans Day weekend. PAGE A4 TRICK OR TREAT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018 | HermistonHerald.com | $1.00 See photos of children dressed up for Treats on Main. PAGE A15 BY THE WAY Election results online Tuesday night was election night, but unfor- tunately we had to go to press before election results were available (we know, we’re as dis- appointed about it as you are). The good news is, our reporters stayed late in the office on Tuesday, post- ing election results online. For election coverage on local and statewide races, visit www.hermistonher- ald.com, or if reading the news online isn’t your thing, you can pick up a copy of our sister paper the East Oregonian on newsstands. • • • The Community Fel- lowship Dinner board of directors is gearing up for its second holiday sea- son serving free meals at Hermiston High School. The free community dinners are planned on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The meal is open to anyone from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers are needed to assist with prepara- tion the day before each event and on the day of the meals. For more informa- tion, contact Gary Hum- phreys, CFD board chair- man, at cfdhermiston@ gmail.com, 541-371-9772 or search Facebook. In addition, financial con- tributions can be sent to Community Fellowship Dinner, P.O. Box 1551, Hermiston, OR 97838. • • • Highland Hills Ele- mentary School is in need of some help. Local churches, oper- ating through the city of Hermiston’s Faith Based Advisory Committee, adopt schools each year. The churches provide sup- port by donating items like school supplies and coats, bringing treats for the staff, volunteering in See BTW, Page A16 THE 16.8 % WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Navy veteran Tile Hamilton works as a as a special education assistant at Sandstone Middle School in Hermiston. By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER M any people bal- ance military ser- vice with parent- hood. But having to breastfeed while wearing a bul- letproof vest is an experience that belongs to a limited group of ser- vice members. Amber Randall, a Hermiston Child Protective Services worker, remembers doing that when she served in the Air Force as a new mom. Her daughter’s father deployed soon after the baby was born, and Randall had to go back into the field eight weeks later. She recalled one experience where she was on duty right after her maternity leave ended. “I’m out here pumping breast milk in a temper tent, with my M-15 vest,” she said. “And I had to go to a porta potty and dump all that breast milk down the drain.” According to a 2015 U.S. Depart- ment of Defense report, women make up 16.8 percent of the mili- tary, or about 357,276 members. Three local women shared sto- ries of their time in the U.S. Military. Though their service has spanned nearly 20 years and three different branches, they shared some chal- lenges, as well as skills that have shaped their lives post-military. Some experiences, they said, are unique to being a female service member, while others united all those in uniform. Randall enlisted when she was 17, in 2001. She said she joined the military to get out of a bad home situation. “I grew up in a really abusive household,” she said. “Drugs, vio- lence, domestic violence.” She spent most of her childhood raising her siblings, but didn’t have any plans or interest in school. As a senior in high school, she got a flyer from the Navy, and started thinking See MILITARY, Page A16 Tile Hamilton in a photo before her deployment on the aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson in 1993. Hermiston FFA brings home medals By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER Four Hermiston High School stu- dents attended the Future Farmers of America national convention, com- peting against students from 43 other states. The competition was in Indianap- olis, Indiana Oct. 22-27 and featured students from all around the nation, testing their skills in a variety of subjects. Hermiston’s Veterinary Sciences team consisted of Kennidy Baker, Adriann Stewart, Isel Tejeda Urenda and Jenna Wallace. Baker took home a gold medal, Stewart and Wal- lace got silvers, and Tejeda Urenda received a bronze medal. Overall, the group made the silver team. “With FFA, once you compete at the national level in a certain cate- gory, you’re never allowed to com- pete in it again,” said Baker, a junior. Tejeda Urenda, a senior, said each state’s competition is structured dif- ferently, and Oregon follows a lay- out similar to the national level. The challenge, she said, is that the state and national competitions are almost a year apart. Baker and Tejeda Urenda said there are many tasks and categories in which students have to compete. In the identification component, stu- dents have to be able to identify 43 parasites, around 130 tools, and 150 animal breeds, and will be quizzed on them at random. PHOTO COURTESY OF HERMISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT See FFA, A16 Kennidy Baker, Isel Tejeda Urenda, Adriann Stewart and Jenna Wallace won medals at the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis last week.
