OUR NEW NEIGHBORS: MEET THE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO MOVED TO HERMISTON IN 2018. » PAGE A6
HermistonHerald.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
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INSIDE
DRIVEN TO SUCCEED
FREE SPEECH
Panhandlers can be a
nuisance but are protected
by the First Amendment.
PAGE A3
WINTER CUP
Irrigon’s Miranda-Walls
takes home the prize in
wrestling.
PAGE A8
395 Quick stop
owner found
niche in serving
Hermiston
customers on
the go
XMAS DINNER
The Hermiston Community
Fellowship Dinner provid-
ed food and friendship for
the holidays.
PAGE A11
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
A
nyone who pulls into
the 395 Quick Stop
can travel the nation
in a matter of sec-
onds, running their eyes over a
rainbow of license plates from
every state covering the wall of
the shop — but the drive-thru
convenience store’s roots are
planted firmly in Hermiston.
“I came across the license
plates a few years back, and I’ve
had customers bring them to
me,” said owner Junior Ortega.
“That Florida plate, a customer
brought it for me.”
Such camaraderie has become
normal between Ortega and his
customers since the Hermis-
ton native opened his drive-thru
convenience store, 395 Quick
Stop, five years ago on Christ-
mas Day. As he patched up a
hole in the driveway recently, he
kept pausing to wave as drivers
waved and honked at him.
Three employees, includ-
ing Ortega, keep the store run-
ning, making snacks and drinks
or bringing packaged goods like
sodas and candy out to guests,
who don’t have to leave their
cars. Open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Monday-Saturday,
Ortega
spends most of his time at the
store. He recently started clos-
ing the shop on Sundays so he
can spend more time with his
family, which includes four
sons.
With a background in sales,
Ortega said he has always
enjoyed thinking of new ideas
and ways to provide a service.
The store started out as a simple
convenience store, selling pack-
aged snacks and sodas, as well
as beer and items like bags of ice
— but allowing people to stay in
their cars while employees bring
the items right to their windows.
Ortega has added new things,
some at the request of customers
and others his own ideas.
“Like gallons of milk,” he
said. “That was the suggestion
of a customer. We do things
like ‘build your own six-pack’
BY THE WAY
staff photo by Jayati ramakrishnan
Hermiston native Junior Ortega owns the 395 Quick Stop, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary on
Christmas Day.
“We keep it pretty
simple. You take care
of the people who
take care of you.”
Junior Ortega, 395 Quick Stop
store owner
of beer. I try to keep an open
mind.”
Tostilocos, fruit cups with
chamoy, cups of corn and bion-
icos, Mexican snacks and des-
serts, have been added to the
menu, as are some specialty
lemonades and Red Bull drinks.
Come spring, he hopes to
expand the menu even further,
adding street tacos and burritos.
Though some of the specialty
items, like the flavored lemon-
ades, have become especially
popular with customers, Ortega
said he believes the atmosphere
of the store is what keeps people
coming back.
“We get all kinds of different
customers,” he said. “The easi-
est way to tell if they’re new is
when they come in the drive-
thru the wrong way.”
Though the interactions are
short, with hundreds of custom-
ers driving through each day,
Ortega said he tries to make
everyone who comes through
feel welcome.
Jordan Sharp, who came
through the drive-thru on Dec.
20, said she’s been coming to
the Quick Stop since it opened.
“We were really excited,” she
See QUICK STOP, Page A12
The city of Hermiston
is once again offering free
Christmas tree recycling.
Hermiston
residents
can drop off their old (real
wood) Christmas trees
next to the south parking
lot at Butte Park until Jan.
28. Trees should be free of
tinsel, ornaments and other
objects.
After the drop-off dead-
line the city, in partnership
with RDO Equipment
and Vermeer, will turn the
trees into mulch to be used
in city parks.
• • •
The Hermiston Public
Library is expanding its
hours in the new year.
Starting Jan. 2, the
library will open at 10 a.m.
instead of 11 a.m. on Mon-
day through Thursday.
The library will continue
to close at 7 p.m., and Fri-
day and Saturday hours
will remain from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Library director Mark
announced
the
Rose
change in an email, stating
it reflected one of the goals
that the library had put
together after a communi-
ty-based strategic planning
process this year.
“With our growing
community we see this as
a benefit to families with
small children and those
needing access to the inter-
net for work, housing and
other needs,” he wrote.
In addition to the earlier
opening time, the library
is also moving its Friday
story time for children to
Thursday at 10:15 a.m.
See BTW, Page A2
Winter brings more demand for temp jobs
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
Low unemployment numbers in
Oregon and around the nation can
mean a change of pace for those that
help others find work — employment
and staffing agencies.
According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Oregon’s unemployment
rate was 3.8 percent as of October
2018, about the same as the national
rate.
Temp services in agricultural areas
like Hermiston are affected somewhat
by those rates, but their activity tends
to be more cyclical.
Kristin Connell, manager at
Express Employment Professionals in
Hermiston, said low unemployment
rates have stemmed the flow of people
8
08805 93294
2
using their services to find jobs com-
pared to the numbers they saw about
four years ago.
But she said their business tends
to depend more seasonal job trends,
specific to the economy of Eastern
Oregon.
During summer and fall, they
tend to see more employers looking
to fill positions than they have avail-
able employees, especially in agricul-
tural jobs. In winter, when harvest sea-
son ends, few places are hiring and
there tend to be more job-seekers than
openings.
Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers
from 2017 state that out of a workforce
of 36,924 in Umatilla County, 35,139
people were employed.
See TEMP, Page A12
staff photo by e.J. Harris
Maintenance supervisor David Pichcuskie works on rekeying locks for an
apartment while working at the Castle Rock Apartments on Thursday in
Boardman.