HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS GUIDE INSIDE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 HermistonHerald.com $1.00 INSIDE BAZAAR TIME Shoppers looking for a unique local gift can find holiday bazaars throughout the next month. PAGE A4 FAMILY TIES Electrician Jeremy Kile’s son, wife and parents are also electricians. PAGE A8 HOLIDAY RUSH ON THE JOB Lamb Weston, Walmart and other local employers find ways to increase worker safety and health. PAGE A11 BY THE WAY Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving from the Hermiston Her- ald. We’re grateful for our subscribers, readers, advertisers, sources and others who make it pos- sible for us to provide local news coverage to the greater Hermiston area. In order to celebrate the holiday with our friends and family, our offices will be closed on Thursday and only open from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday. • • • The old BP station, which has been catch- ing eyes on Highway 395, is now gone. It was torn down on Thursday, and the lot is now empty. The building had been dam- aged by a semi truck in a hit-and-run a few months ago, which shattered the awning and broke some of the windows. The owner of the building is Ken Peterson. There is no word yet on how the site will be used. • • • Josh Goller, a Herm- iston School Board member received a state- wide award for complet- ing coursework through the Oregon School Board Association. Goller was one of nine board mem- bers around the state that received a gold award from the OSBA Lead- STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL. Darlene Clark, left, Wyatt Johnson, Randy Smith and Carla Hoyt of Smitty’s Ace Hardware in Hermiston stand under a banner at the store proclaiming Small Business Saturday. By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER A fter the pie is eaten and the turkey leftovers are in the refrigerator, a different holiday tradition begins: the biggest shopping season of the year. Over the past decade, Black Friday has been joined by Thanksgiving Day sales, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. This year retailers including Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy were offering “early Black Friday” sales before Thanksgiving week even began. Randy Smith, who owns Smitty’s Ace Hardware and Smitty’s Outpost in Hermiston with his wife Tammy, said the morning of Black Friday itself has taken on less significance in recent years as sales have been spread out over November and December. “It’s taking a different form,” he said. “The urgency isn’t what it once was, but the deals are as good as ever.” Ace Hardware has been running early “Black Friday” deals, but Smith said there will still be limited-time offers at the Out- post on Friday morning at 7 a.m. He said diluting the holiday shopping rush has pros and cons See BTW, Page A2 See RUSH, Page A16 STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL. A poster in downtown Hermiston advertises Small Business Saturday. Hermiston population passes 18,000 Umatilla County’s west side growing By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER Hermiston’s population has passed the 18,000 mark. Portland State University’s annual population estimate places Hermis- ton’s population at 18,200 — up 215 people from 2017. The number secures Hermiston’s title as the largest city in Eastern Ore- gon for another year. The city passed Pendleton in 2011, and the gap between the two cities continues to grow. Pendleton lost 80 people since last year, bringing its new population estimate to 16,810. The U.S. Census in 2020 will pro- vide a more complete picture of the population, but the PSU estimate includes births, deaths, employment numbers, school enrollment and voter registration. Hermiston Assistant City Man- ager Mark Morgan said Hermiston’s growth has been fairly steady and predictable in recent years, which helps business and housing develop- ers plan ahead. It also helps the city meet demand for infrastructure and services. “You don’t want to be overly ambitious on growth projections because then you overbuild and a smaller number of people are paying See POPULATION, A16 STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Late afternoon traffic begins to get heavy on Highway 395 on June 26, 2018 in Hermiston.