Cool Rides car show cruises into Hermiston, see page 13
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
$1.00
INSIDE
WATER RATES
Conservation tips, water
app can help Hermiston
residents lower their water
bills.
PAGE A3
ICE VISIT
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officers
were in Hermiston this
weekend.
PAGE A7
BIG FINISH
Two Hermiston trap
shooters are ranked in
the top 100 in the nation.
PAGE A8
BY THE WAY
West Nile
virus detected
in Umatilla
West Nile virus, a
flu-like disease spread
by mosquitoes, has been
detected in mosquitoes at
a testing site in Umatilla
County.
Oregon Public Health
officials say the the mos-
quitoes, found in Uma-
tilla, are the first to test
positive for the disease in
Oregon in 2019. The mos-
quitoes were collected last
week by the West Uma-
tilla Mosquito Control
District. The Oregon
State University Veter-
inary Diagnostic Labo-
ratory in Corvallis con-
firmed the discovery.
West Nile virus spreads
to humans via the bite
of an infected mos-
quito. About one in five
infected people may show
signs of the virus. Peo-
ple at risk of serious ill-
ness include individuals
50 and older, and people
with immune-compromis-
ing conditions, such as
diabetes and high blood
pressure.
Symptoms
include
fever above 100 degrees
and severe headache, stiff
neck, mental confusion,
muscle weakness, shak-
ing, paralysis and rash.
People should contact
their health care provider
if experiencing any of
these symptoms.
See BTW, Page A2
staff photo by Ben lonergan
Becky Conant purchases Hermiston watermelons at the Bellinger Farms shop on Highway 395 in Hermiston. Conant is bringing the watermelons
to a family reunion in Florence as a remembrance of growing up in Hermiston.
First Hermiston watermelons
of the season roll off the vine
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
ermiston’s
most
famous crop is shaping
up nicely this year.
Bellinger
Farms
started selling their first batch of
watermelons last week and Jack
Bellinger said he was pleased
with the sugar content and
weight.
“All indications suggest that
it’s going to be a good year, qual-
ity-wise,” he said.
He said he was surprised
with how much the early mel-
ons weighed this year, making
him cautiously optimistic about
the season.
Heavy snow in February
had put the crop behind sched-
H
staff photo by Ben lonergan
Hermiston seedless watermelons sit in cartons outside of the Bellinger
Farms store on Highway 395 in Hermiston.
ule, Bellinger said, and he had
expected to see a gap between
when his early fields and late
fields were ready. Instead, ideal
weather in June helped speed
things up and will help keep
watermelons rolling into the
store.
“I would have guessed we
wouldn’t start until July 15 or
so,” he said.
Watermelons are already
available for purchase, how-
ever, and the farm started ship-
ping them out of Hermiston on
Friday.
Walchli Farms watermelons
are not quite ready yet, but Pat-
rick Walchli said last week that
they are looking good and will
be here “shortly.” The large fam-
ily-owned farm sells its mel-
ons out of a warehouse on Loop
Road.
See FRUIT, Page A14
STEM Sports Camp provides space for at-risk youth
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
8
08805 93294
2
In the middle of summer, Sand-
stone Middle School is the last place
many kids would want to be. The
exception stood for the 48 kids par-
ticipating in Skyhawks STEM Sports
Camp last week.
“In our program, sports is the hook.
But there is confidence building and
character building, those are compo-
nents that we really drive by,” said
Tim Sullivan, who owns Skyhawks
in the Tri-Cities, a sports academy for
children ages 4-12 of all skill levels.
Sullivan said the camp incorporates
components of science, technology,
engineering and math.
Kids dissected soccer balls to learn
more about how they’re made before
shooting goals, and tested basketballs
to see how high they bounce on differ-
ent surfaces.
“No matter what grade they’re in,
when they return back to school, if
they’re doing anything with STEM,
they’re going to have an automatic
connection,” Sullivan said.
The weeklong camp was open for
children ages 6 to 12 who receive ser-
vices from Made to Thrive, a nonprofit
organization that provides funding,
transportation, equipment and mento-
ring for at-risk and foster youth to par-
ticipate in extracurricular activities.
Kriss Dammeyer, who founded
Made to Thrive, said she appreciated
the STEM components of the camp.
“I’d not seen that in action before.
These kids were measuring and work-
ing together. The teamwork that it
required, that was awesome,” Dam-
meyer said.
staff photo by Jessica Pollard
See STEM, Page A14
Skyhawks STEM Sports Camp participants play an icebreaker game with
the coaches at Sandstone Middle School.