Hermiston herald., March 20, 2019, Image 1

GET READY FOR THE SPRING SPORTS SEASON
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
INSIDE
A DARK DAY FOR
BIG PROBLEM
Umatilla County’s obesity
rate continues to rise.
PAGE A3
HERMISTON
NEW BUSINESSES
A video gaming lounge
opens Thursday in Herm-
iston and an art studio
opens March 30 in Stan-
fi eld.
PAGE A7
LONELY ROAD
OSP troopers from the
Hermiston work site lobby
for more funds to give
them backup while on
duty.
PAGE A11
BY THE WAY
Water and
sewer rates
went up
We reported on a
planned water and sewer
rate increase in October,
but here’s a reminder: the
city of Hermiston raised
its rates March 1.
The rate increase is
expected to raise about $2
million for needed mainte-
nance and improvements
to the city’s water and
sewer systems.
The new structure
charges $35 a month for
sewer service plus $3 for
each 1,000 gallons of use,
based on usage during
winter months. Water
users will pay a base
charge of $30 per month,
plus 50 cents per 1,000
gallons up to 15,000 gal-
lons and $3.50 per 1,000
gallons thereafter.
For questions, contact
city hall at 541-567-5521.
• • •
The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Offi ce in April
rolls out a program to
help drivers make minor
vehicle repairs and avoid
equipment violations.
The local law enforce-
ment agency announced
deputies will be able to
issue an “Oregon Car
Care” voucher to drivers
of vehicles with defective
See BTW, Page A2
Photo courtesy the U.S. Army
Workers examine the remains of Igloo 1014 at the Umatilla Ordnance Depot after it was leveled in an explosion on March 21, 1944.
Thursday marks 75th anniversary
of depot explosion
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
I
Photo courtesy the U.S. Army
t was a cool spring night March 21, 1944 when
Kenneth Fraser took a crew of civilians out to
igloo B-1014 at the Umatilla County Ordnance
Depot just outside Hermiston.
Fraser, age 40, had a wife and four children waiting
for him at home in Irrigon. He had moved the family
there from Idaho two years earlier, switching careers
from logging to crew foreman at the Depot.
That night 75 years ago, Fraser was accompanied
by Alice Wolgamott, 20; Lance A. Stulz, 40; Hiram
Cook, 26; William Sanders, 30 and Harry Sever, 33 as
they unloaded 500-pound bombs into the igloo. Two
other members of his crew, Glenn Long and Cecil
Workers stack bombs inside an igloo at the Umatilla Ordnance Depot
during the 1940s.
See DARK DAY, Page A14
Walden questioned on border wall vote at Hermiston town hall
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
8
08805 93294
2
Hours after President Donald
Trump signed his fi rst veto, Rep.
Greg Walden’s vote in favor of the
vetoed bill was on a lot of minds in
Hermiston.
During a town hall at the East-
ern Oregon Trade and Event Center
on Friday afternoon, Walden fi elded
several questions about his deci-
sion to vote for a resolution block-
ing Trump’s declaration of a national
emergency to get more funding for
a border wall. Trump vetoed the
resolution Friday, and Congress is
not expected to be able to rally the
needed two-thirds majority to over-
turn the veto.
Patricia Maier of Hermiston
pressed Walden on why he didn’t
“stand with our president” as Trump
faces opposition in enacting his
vision for the country.
“I’ve seen the deceitfulness and
hatefulness through the media,
through the Democrats and now
through 15 or 16 Republicans, you
being one of them,” she said.
She accused Walden of doing a
poor job of supporting Trump.
Walden said on almost every
issue he has voted with the pres-
ident. He pointed out that he had
voted in favor of a previous bill that
would have given $25 billion over
fi ve years for a wall and increased
judges, agents and other resources at
the border. He said he believed bor-
der security was essential to national
security.
In this case, however, Walden
said he had never seen a president
See WALDEN, Page A14
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden congratulates Pendleton High School senior Kirk
Liscom on being accepted into the United States Naval Academy during a
town hall meeting Friday in Hermiston.