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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2020)
NEWS A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2020 We love our kids HH fi le photo The Department of Motor Vehicles offi ce in Hermiston shortly after its opening in 2018. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Plastic cups shoved into the fence at the tennis courts at Hermiston High School off er a message of encouragement from the school’s staff . Blueberry production in Eastern Oregon could get a boost from HAREC research By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR City slickers might think farming involves just stick- ing seeds in the ground and deciding how much to water them, but anyone who works in agriculture knows it’s a lot more com- plicated than that. “I wish it were that easy,” horticulturist Scott Lukas said. Lukas is one of many researchers at the Hermis- ton Agricultural Research and Extension Center who help area growers refi ne their craft. This spring, he started a three-year research project testing the most effi - cient way to acidify soil for organic blueberry crops. Eastern Oregon is ideal in most ways for growing blueberries, Lukas said, including its climate. How- ever, one of the big reasons Hermiston isn’t famous for its blueberries is that the plants need a pH of about 4.5 to 5, and local soils are more of a 7.5 on the scale (a seven is neutral). If farmers have a more cost-effective way to acidify their soil, it could mean more blue- berries grown in Eastern Oregon. “About 10% of the state’s (blueberry) acreage is on the east side, and I think there’s a lot of room to expand on that,” Lukas said. The research, which is funded by the United States Department of Agri- culture’s organic transi- tions program, could also be applied to other regions of the country with similar soil. HAREC, which is one of Oregon State University’s extension centers across the state, serves nearly half a million acres of farm- land in Eastern Oregon and Washington’s Columbia Basin. At any given time, the Hermiston station’s researchers are conducting Photo contributed by Scott Lukas Blueberry plants growing at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center will be used in a series of experiments on how to create the best soil conditions for their growth. Photo contributed by Scott Lukas Specialized irrigation systems at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center allow for very targeted watering regimes in diff erent parts of the experiments. a variety of experiments involving everything from preventing specifi c plant diseases to the best way to drip-irrigate onions. Lukas helps farmers fi nd the most cost-effec- tive ways to increase the yield and quality of high- value irrigated crops, while reducing negative envi- ronmental impacts. He has done research around reducing the amount of fertilizer running off into groundwater, for example, which helps farmers save money by wasting less fer- tilizer, while also protect- ing the critical groundwater management area. In order to facilitate research on many crops at once, each individual plot PET OF THE W EEK Little Meno is approx 1 1/2 years old, he is blind and weighs only 4.8 pounds. He needs a home with little to no stairs, and no small children due to his size. He does love to have a small dog companion to play with. He enjoys cuddling and being carried around. He needs someone who is experienced with blind dogs. MEET MENO Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA Small and Large Animal Care Mon: 8-6 Tue - Fri: 8-5 Sat: 8-12 Emergency Service 541.567.1138 80489 Hwy 395 N Hermiston www.oregontrailvet.com Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, animal shelters need our help more than ever. Please donate to your local shelter, or offer to foster an animal in need. If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application. If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838 at HAREC has the ability to have its own irrigation regime, with a dozen differ- ent options. While Lukas’s current blueberry research will go on for three years, the plot he is setting up will run other blueberry experi- ments for two decades. “Maybe in fi ve years, the needs of the blueberry growers will be something else,” he said. His current research is divided up into 12 different experiments with adjusting soil pH, each of which will be run four times, using dif- ferent rows in order to make sure the results of the exper- iment hold true through dif- ferent variables. “It’s a very intensive chemistry lesson,” he said. The lessons learned will be passed on to area grow- ers for their benefi t. If all goes well, it could mean more blueberry crops pop- ping up around the Colum- bia Basin in the future, and more success for current blueberry farmers. License reinstatement program helps Umatilla County residents By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR A Hermiston resident has her driving privileges back for the fi rst time in more than two decades, and she hopes her story can help oth- ers in similar situations. Sheena Tarvin said she is now enrolled in the state’s Driver’s License Reinstate- ment Program, which was created several years ago but only became available in Umatilla County in August. “My license is freed up, and that’s huge,” she said. “What a blessing.” Oregonians who had their license suspended for nonpayment of tick- ets can contact the Depart- ment of Motor Vehicles at 503-945-5000 to deter- mine which circuit courts have judgments against their license. They can then call the Oregon Department of Revenue’s Other Agency Accounts line at 503-945- 8199 to make a $200 down payment and set up a pay- ment plan to pay off the rest of the sanction against their license over time. Once they’re enrolled in the program, the Department of Revenue will notify the circuit court where the sanc- tions were applied, and the court can notify the DMV that those sanctions can be lifted, as long as the person doesn’t miss any payments. Tarvin was profi led in the Hermiston Herald in Feb- ruary as the Oregon Legis- lature discussed a bill that would prevent residents from losing their driver’s license over nonpayment of traffi c tickets. That bill was one of many that fell by the wayside when a walkout ended the session early. Tarvin owed a little more than $1,000 on what at one point had been a $9,000 debt. The debt started in 1998 at age 18, when she didn’t pay a ticket for not wearing a seat belt and it got sent to collections. Then she got another ticket for driving on a suspended license. High medical bills for the premature birth of her daughter, followed by a drug addiction, divorce, unem- ployment and homeless- ness, all got in the way of paying the growing debt. Tarvin eventually got clean and got housing, but she said not being able to drive her- self to places like counsel- ing appointments, support groups and court dates made that recovery process much more diffi cult. When she got her $1,200 stimulus check at the end of April, she said, she rushed to the DMV to pay off the last $1,100 of her debt, even though there were a lot of other things she also needed the money for. The DMV informed her that instead she could pay just $300 now, and then set up a $100-per- month payment plan to fi n- ish up the rest. “Once you sign up, they will free up your license, as long as I keep my payments up — and they are going to be kept up,” she said. Tarvin said she hopes by sharing her story, other people might be inspired to check if they are eligible for the Driver’s License Rein- statement Program, which applies to people whose license was suspended because they have a sanc- tioning debt from an Oregon circuit court. For more information, visit oregon.gov/DOR/pro- grams/gov-research/Pages/ license-reinstatement.aspx.
