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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2019)
FROM A1 A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2019 Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan A girl speeds down the hill on her sled on Tuesday. BTW Continued from Page A1 Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan Richard Pierce drove his Traxxas remote control car on the snow on Tuesday. SNOWDAY Continued from Page A1 commutes. “If you do not have to drive in these conditions, please don’t,” he stated. “If you are not comfortable driving in these conditions, please don’t. It requires a bit of practice and experience.” Even four-wheel drive vehicles might provide bet- ter going on snow-packed roads, but Eynon advised they do not stop any better than other vehicles. Use it if you have it, he stated, “but drive it sensibly.” The police captain also reminded drivers of the dan- BUSINESS Continued from Page A1 long ago, who said the street his business is on gets pretty dark, and gets broken into.” Lopez said the man requested some assistance with getting some bet- ter outside lighting for his business. According to numbers from a U.S. Census survey of Umatilla County busi- ness owners in 2012, there were 4,648 businesses in the county. Of those, 339 — about 7 percent — were Hispanic-owned. According to a 2017 Census population estimate, 26.8 percent of the county’s residents are His- panic or Latino. Another organization based in Salem, the Latino Business Alliance, provides similar services — network- ing and education for busi- ness owners. The group’s website stated that while the number of Latino business owners is growing through- out the state, many of those owners aren’t versed in fi ling business taxes or employment law, and don’t take advantage of — or are unaware of — resources to help them grow their businesses. “These knowledge gaps not only put Latino small business owners in a vulner- able position, but threatened the future health and pros- perity of the Latino commu- nity,” the website stated. Roy Barron, a Herm- iston city councilor, said he wasn’t surprised by the disparity. “It tends to go all the way up,” he said. “Especially in business, with permits, it creates bigger obstacles.” Barron said he hasn’t heard directly from any business owners, but he has observed some that he feels could use more assistance. gers of intersections. “They tend to get the ici- est and therefore the slick- est,” he stated. “Plan ahead for intersections and slow your vehicle far in advance of the intersection so when you do use your brakes for the fi nal stop, you can actually stop rather than slide through the intersec- tion and/or hit a vehicle for pedestrian.” Eynon suggested drivers pack extra food and water, extra medications, a snow shovel, broom, jumper cables, blankets and a cell- phone charger. Jeremy Gierke, a lieu- tenant with the Boardman Rural Fire Protection Dis- trict, said since Monday, they had responded to 12 weather-related crashes, both on Boardman roads and on nearby highways. But he said there had been no major injuries from those crashes. Hermiston is expected to get more snow on Fri- day, Saturday, Sunday and into next week. The Oregon Department of Transporta- tion recommends anyone planning travel during the inclement weather check www.tripcheck.com or call 511 (inside Oregon) or 800- 977-6368 to get an update on closures and conditions. “If they knew a little bit more about resources — part of it is that they may not be very familiar,” he said. The network’s biggest project has been the annual career and resource fair, which the group has orga- nized for the last four years. “The goal was really to help agricultural workers on the front end,” said Debbie Pedro, former director of the Chamber of Commerce. But the fair has since expanded to be a more general job fair, open to any vendor or potential employee. The group, too, has expanded to include more than just Latino busi- ness owners. “Anyone that works for a business or organization can participate in the Latino Business Network,” Pedro said. Martin Villanueva, owner of El Rodeo Club restaurant and Quality Inn Hotel, both in Umatilla, has been a part of the Latino Business Net- work for a couple of years. He said the group has been helpful to both Latino and non-Latino businesses. “It’s a liaison to Latino business owners or any immigrant business own- ers,” he said. He added that while peo- ple from immigrant com- munities often have thriv- ing businesses, it doesn’t always translate to civic participation. “Sometimes, the police department or the fi re depart- ment might have a meet- ing,” he said. “Latinos don’t show up because there’s no information, no organization for them. Some Latinos are afraid or don’t feel welcome sometimes.” The knowledge that there will be Latino leadership, he said, may encourage more participation. “The community is one,” he said. “I think American businesses should embrace it — it’s a connection to the Latino market for them.” He said the network is a connection to resources and a chance to share ideas and events with other businesses. “It’s very positive,” he said. “It can show the Latino community and other immigrant communi- ties that there’s programs to help them. Jobs, things they might not know about.” He said that as it devel- ops, he sees the potential to serve as a model for other local communities. “Boardman, Stanfi eld, Hermiston, Umatilla — all these little cities, we all ben- efi t from each other,” he said. The city of Umatilla does not have a specifi c group for Latino business owners, but Umatilla Chamber of Com- merce treasurer Salud Cam- pos said some business own- ers, like those at restaurants Novedades Cruz and Frute- ria Piqui, would like to have more communication about what resources are available. She said the owner of Novedades Cruz, who has owned the business for 15 years, did not have any prob- lems opening a business, but said she’d like more help from the city with promo- tion or advertising. The owner of Fruteria Piqui, she said, would have benefi ted from knowing if there were programs that would help new businesses fi nancially. Villanueva said he would like to see the net- work expand to have some more focused business train- ing about safety in the agri- cultural industry, as well as training about good business practices. “It would be helpful to everyone to know where there are federal funds for small businesses,” he said. featured during their trip to Oregon this spring. Information on inter- esting collections can be phoned in to 1-855-OLD- RUST (653-7878), or emailed to AmericanPick- ers@cinefl ix.com. • • • The city of Hermis- ton is doing maintenance work on a pump system that serves the area south of Highland Avenue and east of South First Street. Water customers may expe- rience some temporary fl uc- tuations in their water pres- sure during the work period. Work is expected to wrap up by March 31. For more information call city hall at 541-567-5521. • • • The March 1 deadline is approaching for more than 600 privately-funded schol- arships listed through the state’s Offi ce of Student Access and Completion. Scholarships include options for high school stu- dents, undergraduate col- lege students, graduate stu- dents, vocational school students and more. Students can browse available schol- arships at oregonstudentaid. gov, and in some cases apply for up to 40 scholarships with a single application. • • • Hermiston’s pile of recycled Christmas trees at Butte Park is no more. RDO Equipment provided a wood chipper and vol- unteers to turn hundreds of trees into mulch last week, which Hermiston’s parks and recreation department will use in landscaping at city parks. Parks and Recreation director Larry Fetter said RDO is a great community partner that has helped the city provide the free dis- posal option to the commu- nity for several years. • • • People with library over- due fees at the Hermiston Public Library can have their debt forgiven. Food for Fines will for- give $1 in fi nes for each non-perishable food item donated, up to $5. Dona- tions will waive library fi nes, not fees for lost or damaged books. People can stop by the library between Feb. 1-16 to take advantage of the pro- gram. Food collected will be donated to the local food bank to be distributed to those in need in the commu- nity. Food must be in orig- inal, undamaged packaging. Also, donations must not include food items beyond the expiration date. COMING FEBRUARY 13 Exclusively in the Wednesday East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald Your weekly guide to onscreen listings for movies, sports, entertainment, TV series and much more! To advertise, contact our Media Sales Department PENDLETON OFFICE: 1.800.522.0255 HERMISTON OFFICE: 541.567.6457
