Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current, January 01, 2020, Image 6

Hermiston herald., January 01, 2020, Page 6, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TextFEATURES/NEWS A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020 Hermiston family ‘makes a village’ every year By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR If the miniature village that springs up each winter at the Meharry house in Hermiston were a real city, it would function quite well. There are schools and churches, stores and houses. An ice skating rink and a fountain with real running water sit near the center of town. Most of the businesses lining the streets represent a hobby or a pro- fession for Kelly Meharry’s fam- ily — a dentist’s ofﬁ ce for her den- tist husband, a book store for her book-loving son, a veterinarian’s ofﬁ ce for her daughter who is a vet. “Most things are more per- sonal to our family, and things we enjoy ... that’s what drives the choices of buildings,” she said. The intricate setup spans the top of two large grand pianos pushed back to back, plus “hills” made of boxes surrounding them. An electric train runs on a track around them. Meharry said it takes her fam- ily about a week to set up the ceramic village, which has grown to about 50 buildings plus many more people, trees, vehicles and other smaller pieces. They start the week of Thanksgiving, and leave up the display through the end of January. She started with a small col- lection in the late 1990s when her kids were small. One of the ﬁ rst pieces she got was a small, work- ing carousel, which remains one of her favorite pieces. “It’s just kind of grown gradu- ally over the years,” she said. The layout of the village dif- fers from year to year, as new fea- tures are added. Just like a real town, they must take into account infrastructure as they carefully Staﬀ photo by Ben Lonergan A miniature candy shop is one of the more than 50 buildings on display in this year’s village. Staﬀ photo by Ben Lonergan Kelly Meharry adjusts the volume of the carousel in the miniature winter village that she constructs in her living room each year. Meharry has been adding to and perfecting the village each year for more than two decades, and it has grown from a windowsill display to cover two grand pianos. hide a maze of electric cords under the fake snow so that each building lights up. Meharry said her children have helped set up the growing village since they were small. “They used to drink out of the fountain, but they don’t do that any more,” she said. Her son Brad Meharry helped with a lot of the setup this year after recently moving back to the area. The train is one of his favorite parts, but he said he doesn’t necessarily have a favor- ite building. “I get the most joy out of just building it,” he said. He said he and his siblings talked about improvements for the wiring next year, and they hope to switch out the electric train for a steam locomotive that would put out actual steam as it chugged around the track. Kelly Meharry said the fam- ily is always “ﬁ ne-tuning” the display, and they loved to invite friends over to see it. She is always on the lookout for new pieces, and collected seven new ones this year. One thing the town is still missing is an ofﬁ cial name. “We haven’t really come up with that,” she said. “It’s just a little village — city, I should say now.” Staﬀ photo by Ben Lonergan Kelly Meharry’s winter village includes dozens of trees, buildings and tiny ﬁ gurines. New laws to know for 2020: It’s not just plastic bags By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR When a new year starts, it can be easy to miss the memo on changes to the law. Ignorance of the law is not a defense for break- ing it, however, so here are a few handy guidelines for 2020: Plastic bags Starting Jan. 1, stores will no longer be able to give out sin- gle-use plastic bags at check-out, although bags used for meat and produce will be exempt. They will also be required to charge at least 5 cents per bag for paper, reusable bags or other alternatives. Sales tax In July, Washington stopped granting Oregonians an exemp- tion to sales tax at the register. But as of Jan. 1, Oregon residents who have been saving their receipts can ﬁ le a tax return for the amount of sales tax they paid to Washington in 2019. To qualify, applicants must be a resident of a state that does not have sales tax, must have pur- chased the items for use outside of Washington, and must be request- ing reimbursement for more than $25 in taxes paid (at 6.5% state sales tax, that means spending at least $384.62 on qualifying items). They will have to submit receipts and information about the time and place of each purchase, in addition to proof of residency. Each person is only allowed to apply for reimbursement once per calendar year, for taxes paid in the previous year. According to the Washington Department of Rev- enue’s media relations ofﬁ ce, the necessary forms will go online in January under the “general public” heading on their home page. For now, what information is avail- able can be found at dor.wa.gov/ find-taxes-rates/retail-sales-tax/ sales-nonresidents. Real ID As of Oct. 1, 2020, regular Ore- gon driver’s licenses will no lon- ger be valid to board a commercial ﬂ ight, enter a secure federal facil- ity such as a military base or do other activities where a federally approved form of identiﬁ cation is required. After Oct. 1, Oregonians who want to take a ﬂ ight will have to use another form of approved identiﬁ - cation, such as a passport, or apply for a new type of driver’s license called a Real ID. The state hopes to have the federally approved Real IDs available through the Depart- ment of Motor Vehicles starting in July after ﬁ nishing a “major IT overhaul,” according to the depart- ment’s website. Real IDs will be optional, and people getting them will be required to pay the DMV’s fee for replacement of a driver’s license, plus a yet-to-be-determined addi- tional Real ID fee. The newly issued Real ID will have the same expiration date as the person’s current driver’s license, so peo- ple whose licenses expire soon after the Real IDs are available are advised they may want to wait until it is time to renew their license. Should someone choose not to upgrade to a Real ID, a standard Oregon driver’s licenses will still be good for activities such as driv- ing, purchasing alcohol, register- ing to vote or applying for beneﬁ ts. Voting In 2020 Oregon will continue its quest to make voting as convenient as possible by not charging for postage to mail in ballots. During the next election Oregonians will simply be able to drop their ballot in the mail without a stamp. Bicycling Starting Jan. 1, bicyclists are allowed to proceed through an intersection with a stop sign or trafﬁ c signal without stopping, providing they proceed at a safe speed and yield to vehicles and pedestrians. Revenge porn As of 2020 it will be a crime in Oregon to distribute intimate pho- tos or videos of a person without their consent. The photos or videos qualify as revenge porn under the law if they show a person’s “inti- mate parts” or show them engag- ing in a sex act, the subject is identiﬁ able, they did not give per- mission and could reasonably be expected to be “harassed, humili- ated or injured by the disclosure.” Previously, the law only cov- ered posting such content to a website, but now adds any other methods of dissemination such as text message, email, private messaging in apps or handing out physical copies. It also allows victims to sue for up to $5,000 in damages. The crime is a Class A misdemeanor for a ﬁ rst offense and Class C felony if the perpe- trator has a prior record of such offenses. Calling 911 475B.301, the offense happened before July 1, 2015, and the person fully complied with the require- ments of their sentence. Using the police as a weapon to harass someone will be a risky move starting Jan. 1, as a law takes effect allowing people to seek civil damages from someone who sum- moned police with the intent to infringe on the person’s rights, dis- criminate against them, cause them to feel harassed or embarrassed, expel them from a place where they are legally allowed to be or damage their reputation or ﬁ nan- cial standing. The law was put in place to address reports of incidents in which white callers called 911 on people of color for legal activities such as holding a barbecue. Employment Employees in Oregon will receive a variety of new protec- tions in January. Pregnant workers will be among those who receive new protections under the law. Employers will be required to provide reasonable accommodations, such as assis- tance with manual labor or more frequent bathroom breaks, to preg- nant employees. They will also be prohibited from denying some- one employment, requiring them to take a leave of absence or oth- erwise retaliating or discriminating against them for requesting accom- modations for their pregnancy. Employers will be required to create anti-harassment policies for their workplace, and will no lon- ger be allowed to force employees to sign nondisclosure agreements restricting them from talking about harassment or discrimination they experienced at the company. Marijuana convictions Starting in January, the aptly named Senate Bill 420 will allow people with past marijuana con- victions to petition to clear their record. The bill was passed in recogni- tion that while Oregon legalized possession of user amounts of rec- reational marijuana in 2015, many people have criminal records based on possession pre-2015. Those convictions, for something that is now legal, can hold them back from obtaining jobs and housing. After Jan. 1 people who have “qualifying marijuana convictions” can petition the court to set aside their conviction and seal the record, making it as if it never happened. As long as the conviction ﬁ ts under the deﬁ nition laid out by the law, the court must grant the motion. A qualifying conviction means the person was found to possess less than one ounce of marijuana or other behavior described in ORS Minimum Wage Minimum wage will increase once again in July, as part of a law passed by the legislature in 2016 that set up regular increases through 2022. 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