TWO BULLDOGS POST WINS AT KIWANIS INVITE
SEE PAGE A11
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
Hermiston’s Paige
Palzinski gets ready to
throw the shot put.
INSIDE
GROUND-
BREAKING
Tacos
The tastiest
Hermiston launched con-
struction on a new water
tower at the corner of
Northeast 10th Street and
Punkin Center last week.
PAGE A3
NEW HOUSES
A new 54-lot single family
subdivision is planned for
West Theater Lane across
from Kopacz Nursery.
PAGE A6
GOOD FRIDAY
Hundreds of Hermiston
Catholics celebrated Good
Friday with the annual
Way of the Cross pageant.
PAGE A9, A15
BY THE WAY
New food
trucks in
town
Hermiston’s new food
truck pod Third Street
Eats wasn’t offi cially set
to open until May, but a
few trucks have already
begun serving up food on
the site.
The pod is located in
the public parking lot
across Orchard Avenue
from McKenzie Park, and
includes picnic tables and
food from vendors such as
Southern Twain BBQ.
Look for more informa-
tion about the food pod’s
upcoming summer season
in next week’s Hermiston
Herald.
• • •
Hermiston
High
School hired Drew Pre-
uninger on Monday as as
the boys basketball coach.
Preuninger replaces Casey
Arstein, who stepped
down at the end of the sea-
son for personal reasons.
Preuninger, 29, grad-
uated from Camas High
School and played col-
legiately for Concordia
University. He is teach-
ing math at Zionsville
High School in Zionsville,
Ind., and coaching basket-
ball for a company called
Shoot360.
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Maria Castillo, Aaliyah Estrada, 2, and Elida Gutierrez wait to be served Monday night at Nookie’s Restaurant/
Hermiston Brewing Co. They are participating in the Tastiest Taco, a fundraiser for United Way of Umatilla &
Morrow Counties.
Local fundraiser serves Tastiest Tacos
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
or a handful of co-workers at Hermiston’s
Columbia Bank, it’s been “Taco Tuesday”
almost every day of the week.
Debra Wainwright, vice president/business bank-
ing relationship manager, shared about the Tasti-
est Taco fundraiser spearheaded by the United Way
of Umatilla & Morrow Counties. Wain-
wright, who also serves on the United
Way board, was thrilled with
the nearly universal positive
response.
“A taco is never a bad
thing,” personal banker
Elida Gutierrez said
with a laugh.
“Oh my god,
tacos — let’s go,”
added
Aracely
Urenda, a bank
teller.
Branch
man-
ager Chris Bet-
tencourt said in
F
addition to a contest between co-workers, there’s
a competition between the Hermiston and Pendle-
ton branches to see who can sell the most Tastiest
Taco stamp books. While the prize for the winner in
the Hermiston branch is still a surprise, the incentive
between the branches is pretty basic.
“It’s bragging rights,” said Angela Stanley,
branch supervisor. “It’s the Hermiston vs. Pendleton
thing of bragging rights.”
Beth Harrington, United Way’s resource devel-
opment coordinator, encourages people to have
fun with the contest. In addition to enjoying tacos
at 10 different area restaurants and food trucks, she
invites people to post about it on social media.
The Tastiest Taco fundraiser began April 12 and
continues through May 5. The stamp book, which
cost $10, provides one free featured taco at each
vendor.
After going to each place, participants are encour-
aged to vote for their favorite. Harrington said the
winner gets to display the Tastiest Taco plaque for a
year — until next year’s contest.
In addition to enjoying a variety of tacos, Guti-
errez said the fundraiser helps important causes
through the United Way. Unless designated oth-
erwise by the giver, a donation to the United Way
See TACOS, Page A14
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
See BTW, Page A2
A special prime rib taco is off ered at Nookie’s Restaurant/Hermiston Brewing
Co. for Tastiest Taco, a United Way of Umatilla & Morrow Counties fundraiser.
Ranch & Home opens in Hermiston
BY JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR
8
08805 93294
2
It may be one of Hermiston’s most
anticipated events of 2019: Ranch & Home
opened Friday.
The retailer announced plans for a
Hermiston store in early 2016, planning
to open by the end of 2017. But continued
delays plaguing the project made guessing
its timeline a running joke around town.
The company even got in on the joke for
April Fool’s Day this year, putting out a
video stating that the building would be
turned into a retirement home since that’s
what current Hermiston residents will need
by the time it opens.
In reality, a surprise soft opening kicked
off Friday. Marketing coordinator Morgan
Hunsaker said the store would hold an offi -
cial grand opening on May 31 when every-
thing was fully in place, but Hermiston
customers had been so patient they wanted
to open as soon as possible.
Ranch & Home also has locations in
Kennewick, Pasco and Milton-Freewater.
The Hermiston store, located at 2500 S.
Highway 395, boasts more than 100,000
square feet of retail space. Sections of mer-
chandise include a large selection of cloth-
ing, tools, automotive items, gardening
supplies, barbecue grills, fi shing gear, fi re-
arms, animal feed and more.
“It’s pretty similar to the Kennewick
store, just a little different layout,” Hunsa-
ker said.
Most sections of the store were fully
stocked on Friday — black and yellow
DeWalt tools took up a long row of shelves
in one area, while racks of Under Armour
clothing, 30% off, stood in another. But
there were also areas where staff were still
busy unpacking boxes.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
See OPENING, Page A14
Racks of clothing stretch down an aisle of Ranch & Home in
Hermiston during the fi rst day of its soft opening on Friday.