WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2021
HermistonHerald.com
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UPDATES
UMATILLA COUNTY
TO CHANGE
MENTAL HEALTH
PROVIDERS
HERMISTON HERALD
Umatilla County’s mental
health services will undergo
a signifi cant change this
year as the county brings
in a new provider to
handle mental health and
addiction treatment.
In an administrative
meeting on Wednesday,
May 26, Umatilla County
commissioners voted in
agreement with a unanimous
recommendation from a fi ve-
person committee to award
a contract to Community
Counseling Solutions as
its new mental health and
addiction services provider.
“For somebody in crisis,
whether they’re struggling
with mental health,
or if they’re under the
infl uence of intoxicants,
or both, which is usually
the case, they’re going to
get the service they need
immediately,” said Umatilla
County Commissioner
John Shafer, the county’s
liaison for mental health.
The committee was
composed of an educator,
law enforcement staff
and county employees.
They recommended CCS, a
behavioral health provider
based in Heppner, over
Lifeways, an Ontario-
based mental health
provider that has served
the county for 14 years.
Lifeways plans to
protest the county’s
decision, according to Liz
Johnsen, chief operating
offi cer for Lifeways.
The county’s own alcohol
and drug treatment services
cover substance abuse, while
Lifeways handled mental
health care for the county.
But patients in crisis often
fall under both categories
at once, offi cials say, at
times leaving it unclear
which entity should respond
to someone in need.
Community Counseling
Solutions is going to handle
both, starting in September
for addiction services and
December for mental health.
For more coverage on
the decision, see www.
hermistonherald.com or
www.eastoregonian.com.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Graduates parade down West Highland Avenue in Hermiston for the Hermiston High School Honor Walk on Thursday, May 27, 2021.
End of an unusual year
Graduating seniors celebrate with Honor Walk through town
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
As Hermiston High School
seniors lined up in their bright
purple graduation robes for a
class photo on Thursday, May 27,
strong winds whipped through
the group, sending some students
scrambling for caps or tassels
caught in the breeze.
The windy weather was less
than ideal for an outdoor event,
but if there is one thing the Class
of 2021 knows, it is persevering
in less-than-ideal circumstances.
Francisco Dinis said he was
glad to be graduating after a
challenging year. Like his class-
mates, he had his junior year
ended abruptly during the initial
COVID-19 shutdowns of March
2020, and when he returned
in the fall for his senior year, it
was for “comprehensive distance
learning” from home for the fi rst
semester, before eventually tran-
sitioning to hybrid learning in the
spring.
“It was hard,” he said of dis-
tance learning. “Most of my
classes I was failing, but once we
got back in person I did better.”
Despite the tough year, he was
able to line up with the rest of his
class for the May 27 Honor Walk,
a new tradition started the previ-
ous year to celebrate graduating
seniors in the week before gradu-
ation. Students crowded together
for a class photo on Kennison
Field before heading out for a
parade of sorts around the school.
Friends, family and other com-
munity members cheered them
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A band member plays the trumpet as the Hermiston High School Marching Band leads the school’s Honor Walk
through the streets of Hermiston on Thursday, May 27, 2021.
on, sometime holding signs or
throwing candy, as they walked
down the street in their caps and
gowns, led by the marching band.
After graduation, Dinis said
he plans to move to California to
attend a junior college there.
With Dinis was PricillaMarie
Lang, who is planning to pursue a
nursing degree at Blue Mountain
Community College. She said she
was looking forward to spending
more time with her family this
summer once she was done with
classes.
She said this year it was hard
to miss cheerleading, participat-
ing in Spirit Week and attending
basketball and football games —
all activities she loved before the
pandemic. Some students actu-
ally did better online, because it
was easier to manage social anx-
iety or other problems, she said.
So she hopes that for those stu-
dents, online learning will still
be an option. But Lang disliked
online learning and was glad to
return to the classroom.
As students showed up for
the class photo before the Honor
Walk, they were invited to sign
their name to a set of posters sit-
ting on tables, with titles like
“trade school” or “military,” to
let people know what their plans
were.
See Honor, Page A8
Volunteers get preview of
new Funland Playground
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
The sun shines through a new entrance sign at the Funland Playground in Hermiston on Thursday, May 27, 2021.
INSIDE
A3  The Avenue of Flags returns
to Hermiston Cemetery for
Memorial Day
A6  Our Lady of Angels Catholic
Church will host relics from the
Vatican
Hermiston’s shiny new play-
ground got a little shinier last week.
Volunteers from local service
clubs and churches descended on
Funland Playground on Thurs-
day, May 27, to scrub the construc-
tion grime off the play equipment
before contractors pour the color-
ful, rubberized play surface that
will run underneath. Once the fi nal
touches are added, the playground
is expected to have a soft open-
ing sometime in mid-June, with a
grand opening celebration on the
Fourth of July.
“This is a magical place, and I
hope you have fun getting in there
A7  Heller & Sons is changing
hands after more than 60 years in
Hermiston
and cleaning everything,” Parks
and Recreation Director Larry Fet-
ter told volunteers.
Tom Ditton got straight to work
scrubbing the giant vegetables that
children will be able to climb on
in the farming section of the play-
ground. The section also includes
a set of tall plastic slides leading
from a tower built to look like a
silo, and a tunnel and pipes meant
to mimic irrigation infrastructure.
“I’ve started cleaning this giant
hot pepper here, indicating, appar-
ently, that people grow peppers
here,” Ditton said. “I wasn’t sure if
they did.”
See Funland, Page A8
A7  The Maxwell Market opens
for the 2021 season with new
booths and familiar faces