Merr y Chri stmas
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2019
HermistonHerald.com
$1.50
INSIDE
Spreading
holiday cheer
FIRE DAMAGE
Hermiston City Hall will remain
closed through the end of
January after a Dec. 17 fi re in
the HVAC system.
A3
NEW YEAR’S EVE
Area businesses off er options
for partying down on New
Year’s Eve.
A4
PLASTIC BAGS
Local markets prepare for a ban
on plastic grocery bags starting
Jan. 1.
A6
BY THE WAY
The Nickel
classifi ed ad
paper closes
Online
advertising
claimed another victim this
week when The Nickel
closed its doors Thursday.
The want ad newspaper,
based in Hermiston, pub-
lished classifi ed ads cov-
ering Umatilla, Morrow
and Gilliam counties for
42 years.
It announced on Thurs-
day that it was closing for
good, both in print and
online.
“We greatly appreciate
the support from hundreds
of the most loyal custom-
ers over those years,” the
staff wrote on Facebook.
“While we still have the
support of many, it is just
not enough to keep our
doors open.”
Newspapers
across
the country have seen
their classifi ed ad revenue
decline steeply over the
past two decades, as more
customers migrate to using
free online services, such
as Facebook and Craig-
slist, to advertise items for
sale.
• • •
Both Hermiston and
Pendleton recorded their
DHS delivers gifts to area
children in foster care
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
Santa Claus and his reindeer
ain’t got nothing on a dozen local
Department of Human Services
Child Welfare employees.
Caseworkers with the foster
care program recently hitched up
passenger vehicles to deliver car-
loads of gifts to foster children in
Umatilla and Morrow counties —
more than they have ever delivered
before.
Jaime Meakins, who works as
a case aide in the Hermiston DHS
offi ce, took the reins in “It Takes
A Village,” an effort to collect
Christmas gifts for area foster chil-
dren. In addition to specifi c items
from wish lists, toys were accepted
for kids and gift cards were sought
for teens in foster care.
Harley Swain Subaru got in
on the action by collecting win-
ter apparel, while Rogers Toyota
of Hermiston collected pajamas.
Meakins said Lamb Weston plants
in Boardman and Hermiston held
toy drives, and giving trees were
set up at the Heppner Les Schwab
Tire Center, the Hermiston Good-
will, the Walmart Distribution
Center and Walmart Transporta-
tion Division — which provided
each child with at least two gifts.
Also, the dairy co-op Tillamook
provided 100 coats.
“Our conference room was
completely full, and that was
before we had everything,” Meak-
ins said. “The amount of stuff was
amazing — we’ve never had a year
like this before.”
An unexpected partner in the
effort, Meakins said, was New
Hope Community Church. The
Hermiston congregation desig-
nated a different collection focus
for each week of advent.
Chris Hankel, the church’s exec-
utive pastor, said the congregation
had been looking at ways to build
a relationship with DHS as a way
See Gifts, Page A16
Contributed photo
Jaime Meakins and Jamie Bremner of the Hermiston Department of Human Services Child Welfare offi ce are
surrounded by gifts as part of “It Takes A Village,” an eff ort to provide a bright holiday season for foster children
in Umatilla and Morrow counties.
See BTW, Page A16
Potato dehydration plant to close
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
8
08805 93294
2
Two years ago Stanfi eld residents
were pushing hard to get the 3D Ida-
pro Solutions dehydration plant shut
down, but in the end it was market
forces that did the facility in.
The plant on Hoosier Road,
which dehydrates potato scraps to
create a base material for dog food,
will close at the end of the month,
laying off 33 people, according to
general manager Marty Gardner.
While the plant caused contro-
versy and garnered fi nes in years
past for the strong odors it produced,
Gardner said the plant’s closure had
nothing to do with that. Instead, he
said the company’s sale volume had
diminished considerably as more
businesses purchased the dehydrated
materials from foreign sources.
“It’s very assignable to market
conditions,” he said.
3D Idapro moved to Stanfi eld in
2016. In February 2017, the plant’s
scrubber, a device that helped reduce
the scent of rotting potatoes, burned
up in a fi re.
Stanfi eld residents showed up in
force to several city council meet-
ings later that year, asking the city
to shut down the plant. They said the
strong odor, which they described
using terms, such as “vomit” and
“dead fl esh,” was keeping them
from being able to spend time out-
doors or open their windows.
See Plant, Page A16
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The 3D Idapro Solutions plant in Stanfi eld, which dehydrates potato scraps to
create a base material for dog food, will close at the end of the month, laying
off 33 people, according to general manager Marty Gardner.