NEWS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2021
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
Ice skating and winter festival
Weather service
brings people to revamped Umatilla anticipates wet
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
The city of Umatilla on
Friday and Saturday, Dec.
3-4, opened its ice skat-
ing rink to the public as
part of the Umatilla Winter
Festival.
Hanna Keister, Umatilla
community development
coordinator, said the orig-
inal plan was to do some-
thing big in 2020, but coro-
navirus concerns created
a delay. There was not a
festival last year, so plans
changed, she said. Other-
wise, the city might have
had a big celebration with
another idea — live rein-
deers — as the center to the
event.
This year, too, may have
included reindeer, Keis-
ter said. Unfortunately, she
added, the animals were in
low supply and high demand
elsewhere, so the festival
had to go with another plan.
“We decided we’d get
an ice-skating rink,” she
said, “and the city manager,
David Stockdale, ran with
that idea, and thought we
should just buy one because
it would be a boon to the
community.”
The rink is 2,900 square
feet.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
People watch as the city of Umatilla’s Christmas tree is
illuminated Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at Village Square Park in
Umatilla.
So far, she said, a lot of
people have shown inter-
est, and the city had tried it
out before the festival. The
Monday before Thanks-
giving, staff members
skated on the rink, Keis-
ter said.
She added the rink is
available for rental during
the week, $150 for two
hours. On the weekends,
individuals can use it for
$3 per person.
She said she envisions
the rink being a perma-
nent fi xture in a festival
street, which could be built
in the near future. For now,
though, she said the rink
will stay where it is Decem-
ber through February.
“We’ll see how it goes,”
she said. She noted that
there is “a lot of buzz
around town” about the
rink. On the fi rst day of the
festival, though, just prior
to the start of the event,
she admitted to being a lit-
tle nervous whether people
would attend.
Skaters took to the rink
during the festival, which
had nine vendors. Head
Start also had a booth.
Keister said this was
a special event for Uma-
tilla, which has worked to
revamp this section of the
town.
“Sixth Street in the last
couple of years is com-
pletely diff erent,” Keister
said.
Esmeralda
Perches,
development and recreation
manager, also boasted of the
town. She said new recre-
ation activities will continue
occurring alongside revital-
ization projects. A resident
since 1995, Perches said
she is excited about these
projects. Improvements to
local businesses, made pos-
sible by development revi-
talization grants, have made
a diff erence, she said.
“We’ve funded about
$225,000 this year to help
them revitalize their build-
ings,” Perches said. She
pointed to nearby busi-
nesses, including Java
Junkies and The Bridge
Bistro & Brews, and said,
“We’re coming up.”
December to follow
warm November
Hermiston Herald
According to preliminary
data received by NOAA’s
National Weather Service
in Pendleton, temperatures
at the Hermiston airport
averaged warmer than nor-
mal during November.
The average temperature
was 45.2 degrees which
was 3.5 degrees above nor-
mal. High temperatures
averaged 54.1 degrees,
which was 3.6 degrees
above normal. The highest
was 71 degrees on Nov. 15.
Low temperatures averaged
36.2 degrees, which was 3.4
degrees above normal. The
lowest was 24 degrees, on
Nov. 17.
There were eight days
with the low temperature
below 32 degrees.
Precipitation
totaled
1.15 inches during Novem-
ber, which was 0.04 inches
below normal. Measurable
precipitation — at least .01
inch — was received on
12 days with the heaviest,
0.42 inches reported on the
Nov. 11.
Precipitation this year has
reached 4.93 inches, which
is 4.18 inches below normal.
Since October, the water
year precipitation at the
Hermiston Municipal Air-
port has been 2.40 inches,
which is 0.41 inches above
normal.
The highest wind gust
was 67 mph which occurred
on Nov. 15. There was one
day when the wind exceeded
50 mph.
The outlook for Decem-
ber from NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center calls for
near normal temperatures
and above normal precipi-
tation. Normal highs for the
Hermiston airport fall from
43.0 degrees at the start of
December to 40.0 degrees
at the end of December.
Normal lows fall from 28.0
degrees to 26.0 degrees. The
30-year normal precipitation
is 1.45 inches.
The National Weather
Service is an offi ce of the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration, an
agency of the U.S. Com-
merce Department.
Think Big Space draws Boardman
crowd for grand opening community comes
Hermiston Herald
The fi rst Amazon Web Ser-
vices Think Big Space on the
West Coast is ready for stu-
dents and more.
Thursday, Dec. 2, the Port
of Morrow, Morrow County
School District and AWS
hosted the grand opening of
the AWS Think Big Space at
the Port of Morrow’s SAGE
Center, Boardman.
The new Think Big Space is
a dedicated space for students,
educators and communities to
explore innovative and imag-
inative ideas through interac-
tive, hands-on technical edu-
cation and cloud computing
training. This new educational
space, funded by AWS and the
Port of Morrow, is intended to
inspire students to explore and
cultivate interests in science,
technology, engineering and
math using cloud computing
and various AWS technologies.
Morrow County Commis-
sioners Don Russell, Melissa
Lindsay and Jim Doherty, Port
of Morrow Commissioners
Rick Stokoe, Jerry Healy and
Joe Taylor, Morrow County
School District offi cials Erin
Stocker and Marie Shimer,
and Ryan Neal, CEO of Port
of Morrow, were among the
attendees.
Grand opening activities
included a ribbon-cutting, a
tour of the space led by Don
Walker, lead instructor of the
AWS Think Big Space at the
SAGE Center, and a show-
case of computer-aided design
drawings and robots pro-
grammed by students from
Ione, Irrigon and Windy River
elementary schools.
“This initiative wouldn’t
be possible without the part-
nerships and shared vision for
our youth,” Stokoe said at the
event. “STEM education plays
a vital role in preparing stu-
dents for their future. We know
the Think Big Space will cul-
tivate these learning opportu-
nities that inspire innovation.”
AWS selected the SAGE
Center as the fi rst location on
the West Coast to receive an
AWS Think Big Space. The
Morrow County School Dis-
trict will oversee the curricu-
lum, and a robust set of regional
collaborators that include
early childhood education and
post-secondary schools will
support programming.
“AWS is committed to
making a positive impact in
the communities where our
employees live and work,”
said Cornelia Robinson, global
leader of AWS InCommu-
nities. “We were incredibly
impressed by the vision of the
AWS Think Big Space at the
SAGE Center. We’re thrilled
to have the opportunity invest
in the students and residents of
Morrow County and provide
the tools and connections they
need to build, imagine, and
innovate their best future.”
out for tree lighting
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
A group of preschool students
sang and danced for a large gathering
of local residents. This was how the
Boardman Tree Lighting celebration
started, Saturday, Dec. 4. While the
youngsters performed, other attend-
ees stood, watched and smiled. They
talked about their enjoyment of the
event, their pleasure that they could
gather as a community, even on a
cold, dark December night.
The event was at the Sustain-
able Agriculture and Energy Cen-
ter in Boardman. Besides the per-
formance from the little ones, the
event included a visit from Santa
and Mrs. Claus and cookies and hot
cocoa from the Mid-Columbia Bus
Company.
Ariel Lissman, owner of The
Learning Adventure, was at the
event. She led the 15 children, who
were from her school, in their perfor-
mance. She said it was a warm-up for
a Christmas presentation, which will
take place later in the month for their
families, also at the SAGE Center.
The event had a good turnout,
according to Kelsey Salata, Board-
man Chamber of Commerce mem-
ber and events director. She cred-
ited the kids, refreshments and Santa
for much of the attendance, but men-
tioned also the SAGE Center light
show for attracting people.
The show, which started Dec. 4,
will continue through the rest of the
year, Lissman said. Hours are 5 p.m.
to 8 a.m., seven days a week. Music
accompanies the light show, and it
can be heard on 88.3 FM or on the
center’s outdoor speakers.
Torrie Griggs, SAGE Center
manager, said she was also pleased
with the event’s turnout. She added
that community gatherings like this
one are important, as they create
unity. These days, they are especially
important, she said, as people have
struggled many months through the
pandemic.
Man armed with knives loses to police armed with less-lethal rounds
By PHIL WRIGHT
Hermiston Herald
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston reported
offi cers early Tuesday, Dec.
7, used less-lethal rounds
to subdue and arrest a man
who refused to drop knives
and threatened to kill the
offi cers.
Police at about mid-
night responded to a resi-
dence on the 1000 block of
West Hermiston Avenue on
a report of a man, Matthew
Earns, 30, armed with a gun.
Offi cers found Earns in the
parking lot, but instead of
a gun, according to Edmis-
ton, Earns pulled out two
large hunting knives.
Four Hermiston offi cers
in all responded — and one
was still in fi eld training,
Edmiston said.
“Earns kept offi cers at
bay with the knives for
approximately one hour,”
according to Edmiston.
“During that time, Earns
threatened to kill each offi -
cer more than once. Earns
was highly intoxicated and
still drinking during the
encounter. At one point,
Earns stabbed a knife into
the Tonneau cover of a
department pickup.”
Edmiston also said police
repeatedly told Earns, who
jail records show is 6 feet
tall and weighs 230 pounds,
to drop the knives, but he
would not. And as he was
advancing on police, one
offi cer shot Earns with a
40mm less-lethal round.
Even then, Edmiston
said, Earns did not drop the
knives, so police shot him a
second time.
The
police
chief
explained given Earns’
state, the 40-mm rounds —
which are about 1.6 inches
diameter, have a plastic
body and a sponge nose
— were the best options.
The weapon is accurate,
he said, while a Taser stun
gun needs both prongs to
hit a person to be eff ective.
Edmiston said if one of the
Hermiston
Ranch & Home
Earns strangled his girl-
friend and threw her on the
fl oor and forced her mother
into a bedroom and threat-
ened to kill her if she came
out.
Earns is behind bars on
the following: one count
each of felony strangula-
tion, fi rst-degree kidnap-
ping and second-degree
criminal mischief, two
counts of misdemeanor
harassment and fi ve counts
of menacing. His prelimi-
nary bail is $55,000.
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prongs missed Earns, the
situation could have been
much worse.
Police took Earns to
the emergency department
at Good Shepherd Medi-
cal Center, Hermiston, for
X-rays, Edmiston said, and
once medical staff cleared
him, it was off to the Uma-
tilla County Jail, Pendleton.
After
taking
Earns
into custody, police ques-
tioned his girlfriend and
her elderly mother. Edmis-
ton reported offi cers found
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