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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2019)
FROM A1 A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM DERAILED Continued from Page A1 ations will continue there, but stated the company would move some of Hin- kle’s operations to yards in Portland, Spokane, Ogden, Utah, Pocatello, Idaho and Nampa, Idaho. “The workforce reduc- tion is the result of acceler- ating (Union Pacifi c’s) con- tinuous improvement plan and implementing Preci- sion Scheduled Railroading principles,” he wrote in an email. Union Pacifi c announced its Unifi ed Plan 2020 last year to improve effi ciency. It announced record earn- ings in 2018 of more than $6 billion, and during a fi rst quarter earnings call with shareholders on April 18 announced record 2019 fi rst quarter net income and a 15% increase in earn- ings per share compared to 2018, despite the fact that total volume decreased by 2% compared to the previ- ous year. CITY Continued from Page A1 This year’s I Love My City cleanup was perfect timing for Riverfront Park, which was damaged by fl oodwaters after the Uma- tilla River overfl owed its banks in April. Much of the heavy lifting has already been completed, but Satur- day morning dozens of vol- unteers were at the park pull- ing weeds, sweeping dried mud off the trail and refi ll- ing the playground area with bark chips after the river washed all of them away. Judy Vogt stood under the swing set with a rake, spreading bark chips as they were dumped in by the wheelbarrow-load. She joined the event through Oasis Vineyard Church. “My church likes to help the community,” she said. “We’re not just a sit-at-home church.” WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 During the call, Chief Operating Offi cer Jim Vena said UP increased train length by 7% and was focused on reducing “touch points” where trains are han- dled. He said the company had “stopped humping cars at Hinkle and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and curtailed yard operations in Salt Lake City, the Kansas City complex and Butler Yard in Wiscon- sin, to name a few.” State Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, called the cuts at Hinkle “devastating” for the area. “These are good family wage jobs with benefi ts,” Smith said. “That job loss is going to have a signifi cant economic effect throughout the region.” State Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, said he found out about the job cuts Tuesday afternoon. Hansell questioned whether legislation such as the recent gross receipts tax is making neighbor- ing state’s more attractive to business. That’s been the talk in some circles at the Capitol, he said, and perhaps Union Pacifi c relocating operations from Hinkle to Idaho and Washington sig- nals that is happening. How- ever, Hansell cautioned, he does not know if that’s the case here. George Murdock, chair of the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners, said Union Pacifi c has long been a “major employer” in the county. “These are the kind of jobs people occupy for an entire career, so their loss is particularly acute,” he said. “I had heard rumors that it was a possibility but had hoped it was only a rumor.” Murdock said his under- standing was Union Pacifi c would continue to have a presence at Hinkle and the county will remain a major freight route. He said it will be important to work with the unions and affected employees in the coming months. While the jobs repre- sent a signifi cant loss for the area, Hermiston’s increas- ingly diversifi ed economy helps absorb the blow. Drot- zmann pointed to the clo- sure of the Simplot plant in 2004 and the closure of Hermiston Foods in 2017 as an example of times that Hermiston lost one of its largest employers but con- tinued to grow. “This community is really resilient,” he said. That might be small com- fort to the employees whose jobs have been cut in recent months. Locals took to com- munity Facebook forums on Tuesday to share that family members had been laid off or to share condolences with friends who had lost jobs. Oregon has designated CAPECO in Pendleton as the lead organization for when major job losses occur in Hermiston, and CAPECO will conduct trainings and job fairs for former Hinkle employees in June. In the meantime, some employ- ees will be eligible to apply for transfer to one of Union Pacifi c’s other rail yards. She said she was enjoy- ing meeting new people at the event and was happy to see all ages participating. Sharon Welsheimer said it was her fi rst time partici- pating in the I Love My City cleanup day because she has been out of town previous years. “We love our city, what can I say?” she said when asked what brought her out to the park that morning. Gina Castillo, who was weeding the landscaping around the park’s paths, echoed that sentiment. “The name says every- thing,” she said. “I love my city and I want to be a part of it.” On the other side of the park, Hermiston High School’s Eco Club was painting over the graffi ti covering the underside of the Highland Avenue bridge. Rachel Cairns, the club’s advisor, said they were hop- ing to persuade the city that the area needed to be cov- ered with a mural and a statue now that the new West Highland Trail travels underneath. “Research shows that once you beautify a public space in a more permanent way, graffi ti artists tend to leave it alone,” she said. Harrison Temple, who was using a roller to spread gray paint over names and swear words scrawled over the underside of the bridge, said most of the graffi ti wasn’t very family-friendly and he was glad to help get rid of it, but there were a few things that he was a little sad to paint over. “This is something we’ve been planning for a long time, but this is the city step- ping in and giving us some resources,” he said. “This is not the end of what we want to do here. We want to make it a family-friendly art space.” Saturday’s cleanup also included sending volunteers to wash cars for free and to show some “laundry love” by cleaning up laundromats and offering to pay for peo- ples’ laundry. Pastor Terry Haight said the event encompassed eight churches and 12 locations on Saturday. “I think we got a lot done,” he said. On Sunday those congre- gations met for a joint wor- ship service at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center. Haight said the ser- vice raised more than $6,000 toward the rebuilding of Funland Park, and participat- ing churches pledged to con- tinue collecting offerings. Residents who wish to participate in future I Love My City events can keep an eye on the website www. ilovehermiston.com for announcements. Contributed photo A student interviews for an internship in Morrow County. Morrow County works to connect students with jobs BY HERMISTON HERALD Students in Morrow County will soon have the opportunity to work right in their own back- yard through a new pro- gram, the Morrow County Student Internship Pro- gram. Several partners are involved in the program — Morrow County School District, Ione School Dis- trict, the Port of Morrow, the InterMountain Edu- cation Service District and multiple community businesses. The program is funded through the Morrow Edu- cation Foundation, which receives funds from CREZ 11. The internships are open to high school seniors and juniors who qualify. Students will be employees of the IMESD and will be paid mini- mum wage. Students can receive high school credit for their work experience, but must maintain 90% attendance at school and at their place of work. More than 25 busi- nesses are on board to hire interns, including Bank of Eastern Ore- gon, City of Boardman, Columbia River Health, Port of Morrow, Morrow County Grain Growers, Blue Mountain Manufac- turing, Boardman Foods and Lamb-Weston. Stu- dents will learn from med- ical providers, mechanics, analysts and IT profes- sionals representing multi- ple trades as they navigate potential career pathways. Students will start working this fall when school is back in session. Jobs are available for a semester or the entire school year. Students will work an average of 10 hours per week. The students applied for the jobs in April and went through the inter- viewing process on May 14 and 15. 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