WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
NEW IN
TOWN
Entrepreneurs regaining their
confi dence in restaurant industry
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The state of Oregon still con-
siders Umatilla County high risk
for COVID-19, but some business
owners see the county’s economy
as less risky.
After a tough year for OMG!
Burgers and Brews in Pendle-
ton, business is now booming for
the three-year-old burger joint —
so much so, that owners Rodney
and Kimberly Burt are opening up
a new OMG! Burgers location in
Hermiston.
Rodney Burt said the new loca-
tion will look the same as the
Pendleton one, featuring a menu
of appetizers, salads, hot dogs,
chicken sandwiches, alcoholic
beverages and “about 20 diff erent
types of crazy hamburgers.” The
restaurant is set to open sometime
in mid-July, in the former Union
Club building at 201 E Main St.
“I think what will set us apart is
that we use the best beef you can
get, all local from around Pendle-
ton and Hermiston — fresh, never
frozen, no antibiotics — with
fresh-baked buns, and produce as
fresh as we can get them,” he said.
Pandemic restrictions took their
toll on OMG! Burgers in Pendle-
ton like everywhere else, Burt said.
The couple were planning to open
a grilled cheese shop in Pendleton
in 2020, but COVID-19 scrapped
those plans. Lately, however, Burt
said OMG! Burgers has had its
busiest time ever, helping them
feel confi dent in taking the plunge
in Hermiston.
‘It’s defi nitely scary’
The Burts aren’t the only ones
opening new eateries in Herm-
iston. In late March, Daily Fix
Nutrition opened, off ering protein
shakes, teas and coff ee.
Diana Pena, who opened the
shop with her husband, Felipe
Pena, said they were looking at
the 11th Street location they set-
tled in before the pandemic started,
but the shutdowns and uncertainty
caused them to pull back for a
while before fi nally “taking a leap
of faith” this spring.
“It’s defi nitely scary, because
you see so many businesses strug-
gling,” she said.
Pena graduated from Umatilla
and her husband graduated from
Stanfi eld, so they “met in the mid-
dle” to live in Hermiston after get-
ting married. She said she has been
using Herbalife Nutrition products
for about seven years, and eventu-
ally started selling them to other
people. Now, Daily Fix Nutrition
sells all Herbalife products, includ-
ing meal replacement shakes.
“We wanted to bring something
healthy and new to the commu-
nity,” she said.
Hermiston has a few more
new developments in the restau-
rant industry coming up, including
“new and exciting changes” prom-
ised by Ye Olde Pizza Shoppe,
which has used the pandemic shut-
downs to renovate its space on
North First Street.
Area residents can also expect
more food truck options soon after
a renovation of the city’s Orchard
Avenue food truck pod that will
take place next month, adding util-
ity hookups for truck owners who
have said they would be happy
to join the pod if they could have
access to water and sewer.
See Restaurants, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Elizabeth Stuart-Ramirez pours a drink Thursday, June 17, 2021, at the newly opened Daily Fix Nutrition in
Hermiston.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
The upstairs dining room at the former Union Club building in Hermiston sits empty Thursday, June 17, 2021, as
OMG! Burgers & Brew prepares to convert the space to a new location for the Pendleton-based eatery.
Hermiston sets sights on new east-west corridor
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The city of Hermiston is hop-
ing to leverage some of its Ameri-
can Rescue Plan dollars to push the
timeline up for a road project that
would create a new east-west cor-
ridor through town.
Dubbed GRATE, which stands
for Gettman Road/Railway Alter-
native Transportation Enhance-
ment, the project is divided into
four phases totaling $8.6 million.
The fi rst phase would pave the
existing portion of Gettman Road,
which runs along the southwestern
edge of town near Armand Larive
Middle School.
The second phase would
extend Gettman to Highway
395, creating a new connection
between highways 395 and 207.
The third phase would replace
and widen a bridge on Southeast
10th Street, and the fourth would
rebuild and widen Northeast 10th
Street, creating a better route
north to Highway 730.
The GRATE project has been
listed in the city’s capital improve-
ment plan as a wish list item with-
out a defi ned timeline, but Assis-
tant City Manager Mark Morgan
said the city is seeing an opportu-
nity to tap into several new fund-
ing sources, including American
Rescue Plan stimulus funding from
the state and the Community Proj-
INSIDE
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
A street sign marks the intersection of Gettman Road and First Street in Hermiston on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The
city of Hermiston is hoping to use some of its American Rescue Plan funds to create a new paved east-west corridor
along Gettman Road.
ect Funding that will allow mem-
bers of Congress to earmark funds
for local projects.
Congressional delegates and
state legislators have been reaching
out to cities in their districts, Mor-
gan said, and “this is one we’ve
been pressing as our top priority.”
A3 Hermiston residents cele-
brate the fi rst federally recognized
Juneteenth
The Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners, Hermiston School
District leaders and the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation have written letters
of support for the project, noting
it will relieve congestion in town.
The CTUIR wrote that extending
A3 The city of Hermiston is ask-
ing residents to help conserve water
in the face of a chlorine shortage
Gettman Road would make it eas-
ier to plan effi cient routes for the
HART bus system run by Kayak
Public Transit in Hermiston.
For the school district, Armand
Larive Middle School and Des-
ert View Elementary School are
right off Gettman Road. But a pro-
A7 A record-breaking heat wave
will keep Hermiston in triple-digit
temperatures for more than a week
vision of building Armand Larive
was that the district could not send
school buses down Gettman Road
until it is paved, which sends buses
on a long detour that increases traf-
fi c near Hermiston High School at
its busiest times of day.
“Not only does this additional
mileage increase greenhouse gas
emissions, but the crossing which
they must utilize routes them
through the heavily congested
intersection of (South First Street
and Highland Avenue),” Superin-
tendent Tricia Mooney wrote.
Paving and extending Gettman
would create a straight shot from
the Mid Columbia Bus company
barn on Airport Road to the two
schools.
Morgan said the southeast area
where Gettman Road is located
continues to grow, and has capac-
ity for 300 to 400 more single-fam-
ily homes, without counting a large
acreage off Highway 207 and Feed-
ville Road that developers through
the years have expressed interest in
turning into a subdivision of up to
1,000 homes.
“There’s a pretty signifi cant
potential for housing growth
there,” he said.
The GRATE project could help
support that growth, he said, and
relieve congestion on Highland
Avenue and Elm Avenue, the city’s
other east-west corridors that run
the length of town.
A7 Energy Trust of Oregon off ers
help to businesses reopening build-
ings after the pandemic