WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
PANDEMIC
ADJUSTMENTS
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Signs featuring the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce advise shoppers that businesses are open on Friday, Nov. 20.
Businesses not deterred as they prepare for holiday shopping season
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
L
ike everything else, the holiday shop-
ping season will look a little different
this year.
Despite the challenges of oper-
ating during a pandemic, however,
local businesses say they’re still gearing
up to serve customers on Black Friday and
Small Business Saturday.
Julie Lara, who co-owns JB Brick Com-
pany in Hermiston with her husband, said
their LEGO store had its best sales days of
the year on Black Friday and Small Busi-
ness Saturday last year after opening a few
months prior. They will be offering holi-
day deals again this year, while sticking to
rules the state has in place about masking,
sanitizing and keeping stores at 75% capac-
ity during the current two-week, statewide
“freeze” to crack down on the spread of
COVID-19.
She said the store has been popular during
the pandemic, as kids have been “cooped up
and bored.” Some customers have told her
they are using LEGOs purchased at the store
as rewards for their children doing well in
their online schooling.
“I don’t want to say we’re essentially,
exactly, but for parents’ sanity we might be
essential,” she said.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
See Shopping, Page A10
Signs for the Hermiston Downtown District thank shoppers for shopping at small businesses on Friday, Nov. 20.
Population estimates show Hermiston is still growing
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Hermiston continues to expand
its lead as Eastern Oregon’s larg-
est city, adding an estimated 360
new residents between July 2019
and July 2020, according to Port-
land State University’s Population
Research Center.
It now stands at 18,775 inside
city limits.
The center released its prelimi-
nary estimates for the year on Nov.
15. They showed Umatilla County
as a whole gained an estimated 335
people, bumping the population up
to about 81,495 residents.
As Hermiston’s population has
grown, its housing stock has too.
According to a news release from
the city of Hermiston, the city
INSIDE
issued permits for 83 new homes
inside city limits in 2020 through
the end of October. Assistant City
Manager Mark Morgan said the
city has worked to promote addi-
tional housing development in sev-
eral ways, including the invest-
ment in a new water tower and
other infrastructure to bring down
the cost of developing housing in
the northeast part of the city.
“Hermiston, Umatilla, and Stan-
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neighborhoods in a larger west-
end real estate market,” he said in
a statement. “Our hope with these
targeted public investments was
certainly to drive housing in north-
east Hermiston, but also to allow
private developers to negotiate bet-
ter prices for land region-wide.”
Hermiston’s neighbors also saw
A3 Hermiston car rebuild
gets national attention
growth in the past year, accord-
ing to PSU’s estimates. Umatilla
added 135 residents for a total of
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for a total of 2,280. Echo added 10
residents for a total of 720.
To the east, Pendleton added
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To the west, Boardman added 75
for a total of 4,580 and Irrigon
added 10 for a total of 2,040. Mor-
row County as a whole grew by
an estimated 145 residents, up to
12,825.
More housing is on the way in
the region. Umatilla has been build-
ing about 100 new homes a year,
and City Manager David Stockdale
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
told the Hermiston Herald in July
that the city was continuing to work From July 2019 to July 2020 the city of Hermiston added an estimated
See Population, Page A10
A6 Theater company presents
‘A Christmas Carol’
360 new residents, according to Portland State University’s Population
Research Center.
A7 Club 24 stays open despite
gym closure mandate
A8 Hermiston High School
cooking class has tasty homework
