COMMUNITY
A2 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
THREE MINUTES WITH ...
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
HERMISTON HISTORY
JOSEPH FRANELL
CEO of Eastern Oregon Telecom
When and why did you move to Hermiston?
I moved to Hermiston in October of 2009 to work
for Eastern Oregon Telecom as their General
Manager.
HH fi le photo
Where is your favorite place to eat in
Hermiston?
Delish Bistro
Evelyn Reece, Pat O’Neil and Doris Corey show off elaborate Easter bonnets at a luncheon sponsored by the Eastern Star
Queen’s Esther chapter in Hermiston in 1995.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Spare time? What’s that?
Taverns closed in honor of president’s death
What surprises you about Hermiston?
As the son of an Air Force offi cer, and then as a
former Army offi cer myself, I have lived in and
traveled to a lot of places. So, I have a lot to com-
pare Hermiston to. The people of Hermiston are
by far the friendliest and most generous I have
encountered anywhere.
What was the last book you read?
“The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the
American Tragedy in Vietnam,” by Max Boot.
What website or app do you use most other
than Facebook?
LinkedIn
If you could travel anywhere, where would
you go?
Back to Ireland, but with my wife this time.
What is the funniest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to you?
Years ago, I traveled to Chicago as part of a
team to meet with the executives of another com-
pany who turned out to all be Italian and looked
like they were connected to the mob. When I pre-
sented my card to the man in charge, he misread
my last name. Instead of Franell, he saw Franeli.
He responded by stepping forward, grabbing my
by both shoulders, and exclaiming in a thick Ital-
ian accent, “Franeli! Ah, you FAMALEE!” After
which he promptly kissed me on both cheeks. So,
for just a few hours, I was Italian and a member
of the family. By the way, the meeting went very
well.
What is one of your goals for the next 12
months?
Much like we just did in Weston, Athena, and
Adams, my team hopes to build fi ber to the home
internet and telephone networks in six to eight
more communities in rural Eastern Oregon and
Eastern Washington.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Without question, my proudest accomplishment is
having been and continuing to be a good husband
and father.
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 15
25 YEARS AGO
April 18, 1995
The city of Hermiston decided to
reject all heating equipment bids for
the community center in a special
meeting Friday.
The original method the city
used to purchase the equipment is
the subject of a $255,000 lawsuit
against the city brought by a local
heating contractor.
A week ago, the council accepted
a $19,371 bid from Road Runner
Sheetmetal for the installation of
heating, ventilation and air condi-
tioning equipment. Mull Tin Shop,
Inc., came in with a bid of $30,987.
The lawsuit brought by Mull Tin
Shop against the city contends the
manner in which the city bought the
equipment — fi ve Carrier brand heat
pumps valued at $28,885 — violated
state competitive bid statutes.
City attorney Rustin Brewer
said the city has already purchased
the equipment and completed the
transaction.
“The bids cannot be accepted with-
out compounding the situation,” he
said.
50 YEARS AGO
April 16, 1970
The Hermiston City Council
passed a resolution Monday night to
execute an agreement with the state
for improvement of Highway 32 from
the north to south city limits.
City Manager Tom Harper said
the estimated $400,000 job would be
completed on the same time of agree-
ment with the state as was Hermiston
Avenue.
Plans call for a four lane highway,
72 feet in width, portions of which
will contain parallel parking, curbs,
gutters and sidewalks the length of the
project.
The state would pay about 75% of
the costs, and abutting property own-
ers would make up 25% of the costs
under a local improvement district
project
Harper told the council the inter-
section at Jennie Avenue might have
to be signalized, and other intersec-
tions would be studied to see if signal
HH fi le photo
A 30-year-old man escaped injury during a rollover crash outside Hermiston in
1995, but was arrested for driving under the infl uence of intoxicants. Police could
not identify him to the paper because he had no identifi cation and wouldn’t
reveal his name.
lights were warranted.
75 YEARS AGO
April 19, 1945
This little community was shocked
to hear of the death of President Frank-
lin Delano Roosevelt last Thursday
afternoon and fl ags were fl ying at half
mast soon after the announcement.
All business houses closed volun-
tarily from noon until 3 o’clock Satur-
day, with the beer taverns closed from
noon Saturday until Monday morning.
This is the fi rst time in many years
that taverns have closed for an all day
period.
2) Stockmen from Morrow and
other outside counties ran into dif-
fi culty here last Friday when state
police rounded up a total of eight cat-
tlemen who had brought stock to the
local auction yards without proper
inspection brands. The state law
reads that stock must be inspected for
proper brands before it can be trans-
ported over a county line.
Those arrested claimed that they
were aware of the law but no facilities
were available. They appeared before
Justice of the Peace E.P. Dodd.
Special effort is being made to
locate a brand inspector in Hermiston
or other convenient locality.
100 YEARS AGO
April 17, 1920
This community was shocked
Tuesday morning upon learning of the
sudden death of their esteemed towns-
man, Col. H.G. Newport.
Death came to him in the early
hours of the morning, the discov-
ery of his death not being made until
about 6 a.m., when physicians were
called and pronounced that death had
occurred some hours previous. The
cause of death is believed to have
been acute indigestion. Mr. Newport
was apparently in good health previ-
ously and was about town last week
looking after his various interests.
Mr. Newport was one of the earli-
est settlers and a large owner of farm
lands under the project until recently
when he disposed of his ranch prop-
erty but retained considerable city
holdings.
2) After confessing to Sheriff Til
Taylor of Umatilla County and State
Fire Warden H. Pomeroy that he had
set fi re to his grocery store at Board-
man, W.M. Haskins was taken to Hep-
pner Tuesday evening.
Mr. Haskins was bound over to the
grand jury and released after putting
up $1,000 bail.
Chris Rush | Publisher • crush@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2669
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Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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CORRECTIONS
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as soon as they are
discovered. Incorrect information will be corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on
the Opinion page will be corrected on that page. Corrections also are noted in the
online versions of our stories.
Please contact the editor at editor@hermistonherald.com
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longer letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. The Hermiston Herald
reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content.
Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers. Anonymous letters
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published.
BTW
Continued from Page A1
• • •
AgriNorthwest
and
River Point Farms, in
conjunction with The
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, are
offering free onions and
potatoes to area residents
on Friday.
The drive-thru dis-
tribution will happen
at noon at the church’s
building on 1035 South-
east Ninth Street in Herm-
iston, for as long as sup-
plies last.
For questions, email
justservetc@gmail.com.
• • •
As “social distancing”
can provoke feelings of
isolation, Hermiston resi-
dents are coming up with
creative ways to lift the
mood.
Laura Tucker of
Hermiston is offering her
neighbors a different view
each day by displaying a
different handmade quilt
each day at her home on
Sandpiper Avenue.
She said when social
distancing guidelines were
fi rst put in place, she had
a dozen different quilt tops
in need of quilting. As
she works through them
she hangs them up on her
porch for her neighbors
to see when they head to
work in the morning, or
chooses one she has com-
pleted in the past.
“I thought it would
maybe brighten someone’s
day in the neighborhood,”
she said.
• • •
Area businesses and
individuals continue to
show their support for
Good Shepherd Health
Care System.
This week the hospi-
tal thanked River Point
Farms, especially Mor-
gan Pedro and Traci
Jensen, for donating
sandwiches from USA
Subs & Grill for the hos-
pital’s respiratory ther-
apists, critical care unit
staff and emergency room
staff.
Photo contributed by Laura Tucker
A quilt hangs on Laura Tucker’s porch. The Hermiston resident
is displaying a diff erent quilt every day.