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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2020)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 HermistonHerald.com EasternOregonMarketplace.com UPDATES Hermiston Herald wins 2020 General Excellence award The Hermiston Herald was notifi ed shortly before its print deadline on Tues- day, Sept. 29, that the newspaper has won the 2020 Gen- eral Excellence Award for its category in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Associa- tion’s Better Newspa- per Contest. The Herald placed fi rst over newspapers in size category D, while the Hood River News came in sec- ond and the Newport News-Times came in third. The annual con- test for newspapers in Oregon looked at a sample of newspa- pers in February, July and November of 2019 to determine the winners. The Herald’s sis- ter paper, the East Oregonian, also won fi rst place for Gen- eral Excellence in its size category, beating out the Daily Astorian and Grants Pass Daily Courier. Newspapers also submitted samples of articles, photos, spe- cial sections and front page designs for judg- ing in individual cat- egories. The Herm- iston Herald placed third for Best Cover- age of Business and Economic Issues, plus second and third for Best Spot News Cov- erage. It was unknown as of deadline which articles qualifi ed the paper for those awards. The Oregon News- paper Publishers Association is a trade association of news- papers in Oregon, organized to promote issues of common interest to print media. For more informa- tion and results from the contest, see next week’s Hermiston Herald. Staff photo by Jade McDowell Volunteers pick up litter along the railroad tracks in Hermiston during the I Love My City event on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. Spreading the love ‘I Love My City’ event rallies volunteers for good deeds By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR GET INVOLVED It’s been a rough year, but mem- bers of several area churches were determined to make it a brighter one for Hermiston residents on Saturday, Sept. 26. “A lot of folks are just strug- gling mentally so much because of the quarantine, and this is just our small way to bring some sun- shine,” said New Hope Commu- nity Church Pastor Chris Hankel. Volunteers spread out across the city, doing good deeds as they went. Some cleared weeds out of the landscaping along High- way 395 or picked up litter along the railroad tracks through town. Others held a free car wash, set up drive-thru prayer booths, paid for peoples’ laundry at local laun- dromats or paid for meals in the McDonald’s drive-thru. The day of service was part of a larger movement called I Love My City, which local churches partnered to form in 2016 to bring hope to people after acts of vio- lence rocked the town. They have held several events since then, including free gift-wrapping out- To get information about future events or to sign up to participate, go to www.ilovehermiston.com. Staff photo by Jade McDowell Volunteers wash a car for free in the Ace Hardware parking lot in Hermiston during the I Love My City event on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. “PEOPLE HAVE BEEN GRATEFUL AND HAPPY AND THAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST BLESSING, SEEING PEOPLE HAPPY.” — Claudia Meza, who washed cars during the I Love My City event side of Walmart during the Christ- mas season and an annual spring cleanup. The spring cleanup was canceled due to the pandemic, but Hankel said they decided to bring back a smaller version of it this month. He didn’t know exactly how many people ended up volunteer- ing on Saturday, but said he knew there were about 100 that came from New Hope. Other involved churches included Hermiston Assembly of God, Faith Presbyterian, Rekin- dle, Hermiston Seventh-Day Adventist and Templo Fe Esper- anza Y Amor. “We love Hermiston and we want people to know God loves Hermiston,” Hankel said. On Sept. 26, while helping wash cars for free in the parking See Love, Page A10 ‘Not your typical 90-year-old’ Hermiston woman celebrates birthday with former students around the world By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Photo contributed by Kara Campbell Mary Doherty is pictured in her classroom in Bahrain during her tenure there. INSIDE A3 Hermiston School District breaks ground on a new softball complex A3 Distance learning brings challenges for schools’ support staff Teachers come and go through- out a student’s career, but many people have that one special edu- cator who shaped their life in a way they’ll never forget. Mary Doherty is one of those teachers. On Sept. 23, hundreds of Doherty’s former students living in more than 30 different countries A7 Umatilla Electric Cooperative moves to an independent model of power purchases joined a virtual party over Zoom for her 90th birthday. She spent two hours greeting students by name and reminiscing with them about their time in her classroom decades ago. “She remembered every stu- dent,” Yen Sullivan, a former stu- dent, said. “I was shocked.” Doherty was raised in Hermis- ton and returned after her retire- ment in 1995, but in between, she spent most of her time teach- ing overseas, in countries includ- ing Venezuela, France, Belgium, Japan, Spain and Bahrain. See Teacher, Page A10 A8 Hermiston City Council cre- ates a local improvement district for industrial park
