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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2020)
BUSINESS Wednesday, OctOber 28, 2020 HerMIstOnHeraLd.cOM • A7 Hermiston Farm Fair goes virtual during pandemic By GEORGE PLAVEN caPItaL Press Like many events in 2020, the annual Herm- iston Farm Fair is going virtual. Now in its 47th year, the farm fair is a signa- ture showcase for Oregon State University’s Hermis- ton Agricultural Research and Extension Center, or HAREC, which serves nearly 500,000 acres of irrigated agriculture across the Columbia Basin in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington. The three-day exposi- tion and trade show typ- ically draws hundreds of people to the Eastern Ore- gon Trade and Event Cen- ter in Hermiston. This year, however, with statewide restric- tions on large indoor gath- Hermiston Herald, File Juan Salamanca, left, and Antonio Echeverria, both of Hermiston, look at the front bucket on a Case tractor in 2017 at the Hermiston Farm Fair. This year’s farm fair will be held online. erings to slow the spread of COVID-19, research- ers will instead present their latest findings during a series of webinars sched- uled for Dec. 2-4. “Our goal is to try to reach the same audi- ence, and maybe many more,” said Silvia Ron- don, extension entomol- ogist at HAREC and one of the farm fair’s main organizers. “People are going to be able to listen to our seminars from any- where in the world. I think that’s going to be a cool experience.” The Hermiston Cham- ber of Commerce normally partners with OSU on the farm fair, helping to pro- vide a venue and spon- sorships. The chamber announced in September it would not be participating this year to focus on serv- ing its member businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. That left HAREC to organize virtual sessions largely on its own, which Rondon said has been a difficult transition. “All of us are learning about how to move from in-person to the virtual venue,” she said. “I am confident we are going to pull it off.” The virtual farm fair will feature talks from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each morning over the Zoom video conferencing app. Each speaker will have 30 minutes, covering a vari- ety of topics spanning the region’s diverse irrigated crops, Rondon said. Day 1, on Wednesday, Dec. 2, will kick off with the potato seminar pro- viding updates on breed- ing, diseases, pest man- agement and crop nutrition programs. HAREC is regarded as the flagship potato research station for OSU, and figures prominently in the Tri-State Potato Research and Breeding Program with Washington and Idaho. Day 2, on Thursday, Dec. 3, will cover soil health and modern preci- sion irrigation technology. Rondon said soil health has been one of the hot research topics at HAREC over the last several years. Day 3 on Dec. 4 will focus on hemp and other horticultural programs. Rondon said she expects the hemp session will be well-attended, as 2020 was the first full growing sea- son for OSU researchers to study the crop after it was decriminalized in the 2018 Farm Bill. Pesticide applicator cer- tification credits will also be offered online during the farm fair. There will be a fee for the Pesticide CORE Pro- gram presentations, but all other sessions are free. New subdivision planned for Boardman; Heppner complex gets upgrade By JADE MCDOWELL neWs edItOr A new housing develop- ment in Boardman will add 30 new stick-built homes to the city’s housing inventory. George Hale, CEO of Woodhill Homes based in Bend, said the development will be the third phase of the River Ridge subdivision off Wilson Lane, but the first for Woodhill Homes. “What drew us to Board- man was the abundance of jobs. ... What we heard is a lot of people who work in Boardman live in Hermis- ton,” he said. He described the new subdivision as 1,200-square- foot homes with three bed- rooms and two bathrooms, priced at about $229,000. He said after the 30-home phase is added, they have enough land there to build approximately 70 more in future phases. Woodhill Homes is cur- rently in the process of lay- ing roads and utilities for the project. For more information, visit woodhillhomes.net/ river-ridge-estates. In recent years Boardman has used a number of strat- egies to try to attract more housing to keep up with the booming workforce growth at the Port of Morrow. Those have included cash incen- tives, such as waiving sys- tem development charges for the first four homes a developer builds, or provid- ing gap lending for housing development through the Boardman Housing Devel- opment Fund. Heppner housing Boardman isn’t the only Morrow County city that could use more hous- ing. Heppner City Man- ager Kraig Cutsforth said like many Eastern Oregon communities, Heppner has a housing shortage that can make it difficult to attract people to the community. “I don’t think our vacancy rate is even 1%,” U.S. Cellular expands 5G to Umatilla County HerMIstOn HeraLd U.S. Cellular announced an expansion of 5G cover- age to Hermiston, Board- man, Irrigon and Umatilla. 5G — which stands for “fifth generation” — is the fastest data transmission technology housing units added, but the Mountain Glen Apart- ments in Heppner are get- ting a complete makeover thanks to a $7.2 million grant from the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture to sup- port affordable housing in four rural counties. The money will support a project by Glenhaven Park LLC to purchase four aging low-income apartment com- plexes, including Mountain Glen, and complete a top- to-bottom renovation. The project will include new siding, roofs, landscaping, windows, doors, lighting, floors, appliances and more. Shelly Cullin, develop- ment director for Chris- he said. “We have trouble finding a place for people coming in.” Cutsforth said current conditions — from lumber prices to the commute for construction firms — dis- courage housing developers from coming to Heppner. “The rents don’t cover the cost of construction,” he said. He said the Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group is working on solutions. One of the volunteer organiza- tion’s goals is encourag- ing economic development through improved housing opportunities. It won’t result in any new man Development Inc., said Chrisman will complete the renovations of the 24 units in Mountain Glen, a proj- ect with a $4.7 million total cost. She said the renovation will start in May 2021. A few tenants at a time will be moved out of their apart- ments for about three to five days to complete the inte- rior portion of their apart- ment, but Cullin said con- tractors can usually move furniture from room to room instead of requiring the apartment to be emp- tied, and the developer will pay for a place for the ten- ants to stay during their remodel. DRIVE-THRU FLU SHOTS mobile companies currently offer. According to a map at uscellular.com/coveragemap, the new speeds cover most of Hermiston and Boardman, part of Umatilla (excluding McNary), and part of south- ern Irrigon. It does not extend to Stanfield or Echo yet. to seniors over 65 100% Covered by Medicare Mon.-Thurs. 8am-5pm Friday 8am-3pm as long as supplies last Located at Space Age Travel Center & Comfort Suites, Exit 182 on I-84 PROTECT YOUR LOVED ONES WITH PROPER PLANNING We assist with: Wills and Estate Planning, Real Estate Transactions, Probate and more. BENDIXSEN LAW, P.C. 245 E. Main St., Suite E, Hermiston • 541-567-5564 Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:30am-5:00pm HERMISTON FAMILY MEDICINE & URGENT CARE Family Care • Minor Injuries Sports Physicals • Minor Surgeries We accept Medicare & some Advantage Medicare plans Dr. Bruce Carlson, M.D. 236 E. Newport., Hermiston (across from U.S. Bank) HOURS: Mon.-Thurs. 8am-5pm • Friday 8am-3pm 541-567-1137 NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY
