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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2019)
DAWGS GRAB ROAD VICTORY OVER SOUTHRIDGE » PAGE A10 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 HermistonHerald.com $1.00 INSIDE BUSTED Local law enforcement targets drug traffi cking organizations across the county with dozens of arrests. PAGE A3 LOL WHAT’S THE HOLDUP? Comedians are headed to Hermiston this weekend for the annual Melonville comedy festival. PAGE A4 REROUTE Hermiston’s free public bus system expands its hours in the hopes of accommodating more workers. PAGE A6 BY THE WAY Legislature is in session The Oregon State Leg- islature convened Tuesday for the 2019 session. Gun control, carbon taxes, education funding, rent control and paid fam- ily leave are a few of the hot-button topics legisla- tors will discuss over the next fi ve months. Legislators will also be vying for state funding of local projects, such as the $1 million the Greater Hermiston Area Cham- ber of Commerce received last session to build a new workforce development center. This time around, Rep. Greg Smith (R-Hep- pner) has said a mental health-focused upgrade of the Umatilla County Jail is his top capital fund- ing priority. Although the jail, located in Pendleton, is outside Smith’s district, he said he recognizes that it provides vital services to Hermiston and other parts of District 57. • • • Tickets are now on sale for the 10th annual Beach & Beef fundraiser. Benefi t- ting the Hermiston Edu- cation Foundation, the dinner and auction is Satur- day, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.) at Eastern See BTW, Page A2 Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Union Club was originally envisioned opening in the summer of 2018 in the Roemark’s building in downtown Hermiston. By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR When someone announces a timeline for a large construction project, it’s not a bad idea to take the number of months and double it. Maybe triple it. It is possible, of course, to fi nish on time. But a look at many publicly announced proj- ects in the Hermiston area shows delays of six to 12 months have been common. Sometimes it’s a problem getting fi nanc- ing. Other times it’s a shortage of subcon- tractors, or an unexpectedly early start to winter weather. Often construction delays don’t come down to one specifi c problem. Allan Lam- bert of Affordable Family Eyewear said their remodel of a building on the corner of North- east Third Street and Gladys Avenue has been prolonged by a combination of “self-in- fl icted” problems and things out of their control. The sign on the building originally said “Coming in Summer.” Then it was changed to “Coming in Autumn.” Now Lambert said he thinks they might be done in April. “I guess we were a little optimistic,” he said. For Affordable Family Eyewear, there hasn’t been one major roadblock, just a series of smaller delays. Every time an Staff photo by E.J. Harris A sign advertising an Autumn 2018 opening sits in the window for the new location for the Aff ordable Family Eyewear on Tuesday in Hermiston. appraiser or contractor says they’ll be there in three weeks and it turns out to be eight, that adds up, Lambert said. New banking laws have also set up more hoops to jump through before getting fi nancing, stretching out the process. “It used to be once you got the appraisal, See CONSTRUCTION, Page A16 Hermiston march honors King’s legacy By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR 8 08805 93294 2 Of all the timeless lessons Mar- tin Luther King Jr. taught the world, an individual’s responsibility and power to make the world a bet- ter place was a focus of Monday’s annual march in Hermiston. “It’s amazing what we can do as people, as Americans,” keynote speaker Joe Whitfi eld said. Whitfi eld, who recently moved to Hermiston, was born in Mont- gomery, Alabama, four years after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for white passengers on a Montgomery bus. As a child, he helped his father bring water to civil rights marchers and attended segregated schools. After students from his school were integrated with students from predominately white schools, Whitfi eld said sports helped bridge the gap between students of both races as they learned to work as a team. Today, he said, people should still work patiently to fi nd common ground and understanding with those who are different than them. “Sit down and work it out,” he said. “You may not agree on every- thing, but you can still work through it, if you put in enough patience and time.” Whitfi eld shared King’s six prin- ciples of nonviolence. Nonviolence is built on love instead of hate, he See LEGACY, Page A16 Staff photo by E.J. Harris/East Oregonian John Witherspoon of Tri-Cities performs an original song titled “Lanes” about being true to yourself Monday during a service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Hermiston.