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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2019)
HERMISTON TAKES HOME DISTRICT 8 TITLE, PAGE A9 Wednesday, May 15, 2019 HermistonHerald.com $1.00 INSIDE CITY LOVE Hermiston residents invit- ed to provide community service on Saturday for I Love My City event. PAGE A4 ELECTIONS Ballot returns stand at less than 9% so far in the May 21 election. PAGE A6 DANGER A Umatilla County detec- tive is teaching parents about keeping their children safe online. PAGE A7 BY THE WAY National Police Week is May 12-18 This week is National Police Week, and Herm- iston-area residents have a chance to show their appreciation. They can pick up a blue ribbon at city hall, the police station or many area businesses. The rib- bons can be placed in vehicles or rolled up in the window to show support for local law enforcement. According to a proc- lamation read Monday at city hall, more than 21,000 members of law enforce- ment have been killed in the line of duty in the United States. Hermiston Police Department lost an officer of its own, Ron- ald G. Kilby, in 1959. • • • Swimming lesson reg- istration is beginning for the Hermiston Family Aquatic Center. Parents can register their children online (or adults can register them- selves for the adult class) beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Visit bit.ly/ hermistonrecreation to register. For a list of les- son schedules through- out the summer, visit bit. ly/2019hermistonsummer- guide. • • • The taste buds have all been tallied — Tri- See BTW, Page A2 staff photo by Kathy aney/east Oregonian Fire destroyed a play structure early Friday morning at Hermiston’s Funland Park. Hermiston pledges to rebuild Funland By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR staff photo by Kathy aney/east Oregonian Fire destroyed a play structure early Friday morning at Hermiston’s Funland Park, melting this slide. It was heartbreak all over again for Herm- iston on Friday. Mayor David Drotzmann stood in front of the blackened Funland playground at Butte Park, hours after a fire tore through the wooden structure that was rebuilt in 2001 after fire destroyed the original playground built in 1996. It was the saddest day of his career as mayor, Drotzmann said in a video message he posted to Twitter. “One thing’s for sure,” he said. “Hermis- ton’s a great community. We’ve rebuilt this before. We will rebuild it again. You can’t slow down our spirit. You can’t squelch our pride. We’re a great community, we care about our kids. This park is important to us and we will once again rebuild it from the ashes.” The mixture of grief and resilience matched responses from the rest of the com- munity. On Monday night, Hermiston resi- dents showed up in full force to let the city know in no uncertain terms that they were willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild. Sue Daggett volunteered the help of the Altrusa Club. Tami Rebman of the Colum- bia Basin Board of Realtors said they were on board to help however they could. Phil- lip Spicerkuhn, president of the Lions Club, said the Lions were “passionate about helping make sure this resource continues to be a part of the community.” David McCarthy, pres- ident of the Hermiston noon Kiwanis Club, offered similar assurances. “This is the kind of project both our money and our work likes to go to,” McCarthy said. He shared a story of when he first began dating his wife, before he lived in Hermiston. When he visited her, one of the first things she showed him about the community was her family’s name engraved on a wooden slat at Funland in recognition of their contributions toward the project. Tony Garber of the Rotary Club said Rotar- ians were ready to help as well. He shared See FUNLAND, Page A14 Former Hermiston Foods plant to be used for hemp processing By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR 8 08805 93294 2 The former Hermiston Foods plant has a buyer. Alan Cleaver, who owns Columbia Basin Onion and related companies in Herm- iston, has a purchase agree- ment for the facility on South Highway 395. He plans to use it to extract CBD oil from industrial hemp for pharmaceutical purposes. Cleaver said he has already heard concerns from people who associ- ate hemp with recreational drug use or think he is pro- cessing marijuana. The strain of hemp he is grow- ing, however, has no THC — the component that causes the high associated with marijuana use. Instead, the CBD (short for canna- bidiol) oil from the hemp is used to treat epilepsy with- out producing any sort of intoxication. Industrial hemp was legalized across the United States last year, and Cleaver said his plant, which will operate under the name of Columbia Basin Extraction, will help lead the way in creating large-scale pro- cessing infrastructure for the hemp industry. “We’re excited about the potential,” he said. “There’s a lot of hope and energy staff photo by Kathy aney See HEMP, Page A14 Hermiston Foods is changing hands. Cleaver Farms plans to use the facility to extract CBD oil from industrial hemp for pharmaceutical purposes.