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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2019)
NEWS A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019 Purchase of Observer, Herald becomes fi nal By ANDREW CUTLER STAFF WRITER For the staffs of the Baker City Herald and The Observer in La Grande, Thursday’s news that Bankruptcy Judge Trish M. Brown authorized the sale of the two papers to the EO Media Group was a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. For the EO Media Group, the news continues the com- pany’s push to strengthen its position as a leading regional media presence. “We’re very pleased to have La Grande and Baker City as part of the EO Media Group. We’re excited about the many possibilities this affords us in Eastern Ore- gon,” said Heidi Wright, the EO Media Group chief oper- ations offi cer. “The purchase of these papers gives our company a greater ability to serve the region in a more effec- tive way. This will grow EO Media Group’s presence in Eastern Oregon from four newspapers to six.” On Monday the two new acquisitions offi cially joined the East Oregonian, Hermis- ton Herald, Wallowa County Chieftain and Blue Moun- tain Eagle as the EO Media Group’s properties in East- ern Oregon. “The joining together of these outstanding news and advertising operations, with four of them located along the I-84 corridor, will mean greater resources and opportunities for both local and regional news report- ing. And that’s a good thing for readers in all markets,” EO Media Group Regional Publisher Chris Rush said. Western Communica- tions, which also owns the Bend Bulletin, fi led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy pro- tection in January. The company fi rst sought to restructure, then decided to liquidate its assets. This was La Grande Observer Photo/Ronald Bond The EO Media Group’s purchase of The Observer and Baker City Herald from Western Communications was authorized Thursday. The sale became fi nal July 1. the second bankruptcy for Western Communications in the past 10 years. It emerged from another bankruptcy in 2012. The Observer and Baker City Herald Publisher Kar- rine Brogoitti said to fi nally reach this milestone was something she couldn’t fathom a year ago. “When things were their toughest or looked incred- ibly bleak, the thing that kept me, and everyone else, going was that commitment to what we do,” she said. “The pride and passion that these staffs have for their papers, their commu- nities, their readers and their advertisers is something that I continue to be amazed at. It’s that unyielding passion that got us through some incredibly stressful days,” Brogoitti said. Brogoitti said she believes there are brighter days ahead with new owner- ship in place and a renewed sense of optimism in both locations. “Now, we get to reap the benefi ts of that hard work,” she said. “The EO Media Group saw a smart and prof- itable investment and a ded- icated, loyal staff.” According to court docu- ments, the EO Media Group bought the two commu- nity newspapers from West- ern Communications for $775,000. Rush said EO Media Group is only buying the newspapers and business equipment, not the real estate in La Grande. The Herald is in a leased space in downtown Baker City. The Observer will likely be relocating from their current home on Fifth Street to new offi ce space in La Grande sometime this summer. Rush, who will add La Grande and Baker City to his role as regional pub- lisher of the Eastern Oregon group, said for the near term there are no signifi cant oper- ational changes planned. “The EO Media Group is hiring all current employees in both the La Grande and Baker City operations,” he said. “Readers and adver- tisers will have the same printing, publishing and delivery schedule for both newspapers.” Brogoitti will remain in charge of day-to-day opera- tions in both locations as the publisher. The papers offi cially became part of the EO Media Group July 1. We Hear You! You deserve total audiological care. Professional. Experienced. Local. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Hermiston School District librarian Delia Fields will travel to Greece this summer through an educational program at Porland State Univeristy’s Center for Geography Education. Hermiston School District librarian is headed to Greece Delia Fields hopes trip will spark ideas By JESSICA POLLARD STAFF WRITER From the cliff top mon- asteries of Meteora, to the narrow Gates of the Samariá Gorge on the island of Crete, one of Hermiston’s own is going to see it all in Greece this month. Delia Fields, the second- ary school librarian at the Hermiston School District, has been selected to be part of a group of 14 educators from across Oregon for the trip, organized by Center for Geography Education in Oregon, based out of Port- land State University. The C-GEO works to “improve and sustain” geography education in Oregon. In addition to pro- viding instructional materi- als and other resources, the organization has sent teach- ers on trips within Oregon, across the nation and to other countries. “Their most basic point is you’re more able to teach about a place when you’ve been there and you can share fi rsthand experience about it,” Fields said. Ancient Greece, some- times known as the Cradle of Western Civilization, is a key component of world history. The educators will be visiting Athens, Delphi, and Crete, where they will have the opportunity to take a local cooking class. The C-GEO gave each of the program participants a handful of gifts to give out to people they meet during the trip as “goodwill ges- tures”, including copies of an Oregon atlas. Fields will be the only educator from the Eastern Oregon area to attend this trip, which was funded by the John and Betty Gray Geography Foundation, through the Oregon Com- munity Foundation. “We’ve been doing this for a few years now and it really has been impactful for teachers to have these opportunities to really learn geography education in the process of the trip,” said Nancy Bales, executive director of the Gray Family Foundation. Through the same pro- gram, Fields was able to visit the Appalachian region of the U.S. a few summers ago. She said the trip helped her create some of the most involved lesson plans she’s ever designed. All of the educators, Field included, will return to Oregon after 17 days to create different K-12 lesson plans, including ones which incorporate Oregon’s geog- raphy with Greece’s. “This reaches the stu- dents and the students’ fam- ilies. You’ve got to be lit- erate in geography just to operate in our world,” Fields said, “Just because it’s important, regrettably, doesn’t mean we can fi nd the time for it. So you have to be creative.” Fields is working on imagining how Greek edu- cators express the rich ancient culture of Greece to their students, and how those approaches might translate to regional history and geography. “When kids go to Whit- man Mission and all there is is just some rubble, some outlines, they have to imag- ine Marcus and Narcissa’s cabin,” Fields said. Participants will also be giving presentations on dif- ferent regions of Greece during the trip. Fields will be presenting information on Delphi, which Ancient Greeks believed to be the center of the world. For now, Fields is brush- ing up on her Greek and looking forward to view- ing the Acropolis of Ath- ens through her hotel win- dow when the group makes their fi rst stop in the Greek capital. “Some of it looks like not much,” Fields said of the ancient sites of Greece she will soon visit. “But I can only imagine what came before.” Thank you to the following businesses for supporting Newspapers in Education Their generous support of the Hermiston Herald NIE program helps provide copies of the newspaper and unlimited access to HermistonHerald.com and the e-Edition to to schools schools throughout throughout the the community. community. Renata Anderson, MA Pam Wagenaar, Administrative Assistant 1090 W. Hermiston Ave. Hermiston, OR 2237 SW Court, Pendleton 541-567-8229 JeremyJLarsonDMD.com 541-276-5053 www.renataanderson.com 1739 N. First St. Hermiston, OR 541-564-0264 OldWestFCU.org The Office will be CLOSED TH JULY 12 for the whole day. We apologize for any inconveniences. Thank You Delgado’s Delgado’s Beauty Beauty Salon Salon & & Medical Medical Massage Massage 1150 W. Hartley Ave. #D Hermiston, OR 97838 541-571-3629 Our patients are the very heart of our practice 541-276-1260 BLUECC.EDU YOUR BUSINESS HERE: 2411 NW Carden Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 Call Today & Donate! 800-522-0255 Bert's Auto Salvage & Towing Rick’s Car Wash 620 E. Main St. Hermiston, OR 541-567-3908 Umatilla Electric Cooperative 750 W. Elm Ave. Hermiston, OR 97838 541-567-6414 • UmatillaElectric.com DuPont Pioneer Hermiston 541-567-1860 pioneer.com 2212 SE 9th St. Hermiston, OR 07838 BertsAutoSalvage.com 30775 Baggett Ln. Hermiston, OR 97838 541-567-1042 541-567-5050 541-567-5050 QUIZNOS.COM QUIZNOS.COM 1565 1565 N. N. FIRST FIRST ST. ST. #9 #9 HERMISTON, HERMISTON, OR OR 97838 97838 Starvation Ridge Starvation Ridge Farming Farming 79937 79937 S. S. Edwards Edwards Rd. Rd. Hermiston, Hermiston, OR OR 97838 97838 541-567-5842 541-567-5842 YOUR BUSINESS HERE: Call Today & Donate! 800-522-0255 1705 E. Airport Rd. Hermiston, OR 97838 541-289-9800 541-289-9800 eotechermiston.com eotechermiston.com For more information on the NIE Program, visit HermistonHerald.com/hh/nie. To make make a a donation, donation, call call 800-522-0255. 800-522-0255.