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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2020)
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020 HermistonHerald.com EasternOregonMarketplace.com UPDATES Umatilla County records new COVID-19 deaths HERMISTON HERALD Umatilla County Pub- lic Health announced the county’s 50th and 51st COVID-19 deaths over the past week. According to a news release on Wednesday, Dec. 2, a 94-year-old man who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 27 died Nov. 12 at Avamere at Hermiston. The release said he had underlying medical conditions. A second news release on Tuesday, Dec. 8, reported that a 74-year- old man tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 24 and died Nov. 30 at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. He had underlying medical conditions. “Counseling and cri- sis support services can be accessed by calling Lifeways at 866-343- 4473. Interpretation ser- vices are available,” the news release stated. “We encourage everyone to be respectful as a family in our community grieves.” Umatilla County has reported 312 new cases of COVID-19 during the seven-day period of Dec. 2-8. The county has had a reported 4,713 cases since the pandemic began. Mor- row County has had 710 cases and seven deaths. Statewide, Oregon has reported 85,788 cases of COVID-19 and 1,045 deaths of individuals with COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Those numbers place Oregon at the 46th lowest cases per capita in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information about COVID-19 num- bers, visit covid.cdc.gov/ covid-data-tracker/#mo- bility, or for information from the Oregon Health Authority on Oregon’s hospitalizations, school metrics and other data, visit govstatus.egov.com/ OR-OHA-COVID-19. Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald New Agape House director Mark Gomolski, left, and outgoing interim director Cathy Putnam pose for a portrait outside of the nonprofi t’s Hermiston location on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. Familiar face Mark Gomolski named new Agape House director By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR After four and a half years as a volunteer at Agape House, Mark Gomolski is taking the helm of the nonprofi t. Gomolski replaces long- time director Dave Hughes, who retired in October 2019, and interim director Cathy Putnam. He started on Dec. 1 and will work 30 hours a week in the role. Agape House serves as Herm- iston’s food bank and provides other services for residents in need, including showers for homeless residents and bags of food each weekend for students who depend on their school dis- trict for meals on weekdays. It is run by Eastern Oregon Mis- sion, which also runs the shelter for families known as Martha’s House. Gomolski said the organi- zation has seen a signifi cant increase in need during the pandemic. “We try to help out as much as we can,” he said. He said they saw a large spike in people requesting food boxes Hermiston Herald, File Mark Gomolski loads food into a box while volunteering at the Agape House in Hermiston in 2018. “IT’S BEEN A GOOD EXPERIENCE, BUT I THINK MY HEART IS MORE HERE, WITH THIS KIND OF WORK.” — Mark Gomolski, new director of Agape House in the early spring, when the fi rst shutdown sparked the year’s largest round of layoffs. Things got better after the CARES Act was passed and people were able to get extra unemployment insur- ance money, Gomolski said, but the end of those extra ben- efi ts, combined with the end of local harvest jobs for the year, has pushed the number of people seeking services back up. According to a news release from Eastern Oregon Mission, through November Agape House handed out 9,286 food boxes and more than 11,000 weekend food backpacks for students so far this year. He said that level of service has been made possible by dona- tions from various local busi- nesses and individuals, includ- ing restaurants that donated their excess food during state-man- dated closures this year, and fresh produce from local farms. Gomolski takes over as direc- tor after retiring to Hermiston in 2012 from a career in county government in Chicago. Area See Agape, Page A12 Threemile Canyon Farms GM Marty Myers dies Myers served on the Oregon Board of Agriculture By GEORGE PLAVEN CAPITAL PRESS Contributed Photo/Capital Press Marty Myers, general manager of Threemile Canyon Farms in Boardman, died Dec. 1. INSIDE A3 ODOT to add new sidewalk, crossing to Southwest 11th Street in Hermiston A7 Dollar General considering a Umatilla location Marty Myers, general manager of Threemile Canyon Farms and a member of the Oregon Board of Agriculture, has died. He was 68. A spokeswoman for R.D. Offutt Co., which owns Threemile Can- yon Farms, said Myers died Dec. 1 at his home of natural causes. In a company statement, Offutt CEO Tim Curoe said Myers was the “visionary force” behind Threemile Canyon Farms, which includes Oregon’s largest dairy operation. “(Myers) had a vision for the farm to be a sustainable opera- A8 Local restaurants add out- door dining tion, which was well ahead of the times,” Curoe said. “He brought that idea into reality by creating a ‘closed loop’ system where noth- ing would be wasted, and that remains the foundation for the farm’s remarkable and continued success.” Myers began working with R.D. Offutt Co., based in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1994 as a business development manager focused on agribusiness in the western U.S. The company acquired Threemile Canyon Farms in 1998, and placed Myers in charge as general manager. See Myers, Page A12 A9 Echo Toy Run continues after founder’s death
