WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
HermistonHerald.com
EasternOregonMarketplace.com
Old house given
NEW LIFE
Hermiston comes
together to
renovate a home
By ERICK PETERSON • Hermiston Herald
A
s Heather
Spinden
stepped
out onto her lawn and
looked at her Hermiston
home, she said she felt
overwhelmed.
“It’s just so beautiful,” she
said.
Heather Spinden lives with
her youngest son. She said she
has multiple health problems
and her son, a full-time Burger
King employee, has autism.
Built in 1907, her home has
four bedrooms, two baths and
1,164 square feet of space. It is
a couple of doors down from the
Hermiston Public Library and is
a stone’s throw away from the
Hermiston City Hall, currently
under construction.
The place did not look quite
so attractive until recently,
according to its owner. Spinden
said kind and generous members
of her community stepped up to
make it into the place it is today.
Holly Woods and Josh Ross,
an engaged couple, residents of
Hermiston, told the rest of the
story.
Ross explained he attended
school with Heather Spinden’s
son, Ben Spinden, starting in
elementary school and continu-
ing to high school graduation.
After graduation, Ross left town.
He did not stay gone, how-
ever. Ross returned, and one
winter he saw his old classmate
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
Heather Spinden stands in front of her home on May 11, 2022. A group of residents came together to make improvements to the dilapidated
house, businesses donated services and more than $100,000 was raised for the project.
“WE’RE SO HAPPY THAT THEY’VE MADE IT SO WE CAN
ENJOY THIS HOME, AND WE’RE GOING TO ENJOY IT, ONE
DAY AT A TIME.”
— Heather Spinden, homeowner.
walking down the street. He
picked Ben Spinden up, drove
him to his home and met his
mom.
Josh Ross said he recalls
looking around the home. It
needed repair, he said, and this
family could benefi t from a little
assistance. He passed this infor-
mation onto Woods, who he was
dating.
“We needed to do something,
and it kind of snowballed from
there,” Ross said.
Ross and Woods explained
they started by giving the Spin-
dens a Christmas basket. But
they felt they needed to do more.
That is when they had an idea to
paint the exterior of the house.
They brought a contractor to
the home, though, and learned
the siding was not good enough
to paint. And new siding was
just the start of a laundry list of
needs. The house needed roof-
ing, a new chimney, fl ooring and
more.
Fortunately, Ross and Woods
were in a position to help. Woods
brought the project up to her
workplace, Academy Mortgage
in Hermiston. It has, she said,
helped people through service
programs, and her boss thought
Academy could help improve
the Spindens’ home.
This came at a good time for
See, Home/Page A9
Local schools bucking trend of rising COVID-19 cases
Coronavirus concerns
trending down in schools
in Umatilla, Morrow
counties
By ERICK PETERSON
and JOHN TILLMAN
Hermiston Herald
Oregon’s
COVID-19
case rate is rising again, and
that has state health and edu-
cation offi cials worried.
The state issued a health
advisory Friday, May 13,
eff ective through Aug. 31,
recommending that schools
require face masks again in
counties where the federal-
ly-defi ned risk level is high.
No Oregon counties have
reached this level yet, but
six are classifi ed as medium.
These six, according to Ore-
gon Public Broadcasting, are
Multnomah, Washington,
Clackamas, Columbia, Ben-
ton and Deschutes counties.
The other 30 counties in
INSIDE
Kathy Aney/Hermiston Herald
A sign at McNary Heights Elementary School in Umatilla instructs proper mask use on Monday,
May 16, 2022. As COVID-19 restrictions relaxed in response to lower case numbers, fewer of
the students and teachers are wearing masks.
the state, including Uma-
tilla and Morrow counties,
are low, according to federal
ratings, which are based on
hospitalization data.
The state’s warning
A3  Hermiston plans to take over
EOTEC management
comes amid rising coronavi-
rus cases, a previously pre-
dicted bump brought on by
A4  Columnist visits ‘another
Hermiston’ in Scotland
the highly infectious omi-
cron BA.2 subvariant and
the lifting of mask restric-
tions. Hospitalizations are
rising, too, and are predicted
to peak at around 320 within
about a month.
According to OHA data,
pediatric COVID-19 cases
have been increasing since
the middle of March, similar
to cases statewide. Hospital-
izations remain low but are
on the rise. Health offi cials
have called it “a mild virus”
in most cases.
The advisory also recom-
mends that schools moni-
tor for high absentee rates
and notify their local public
health authority if absences
reach a certain level, or if
they see an “unusual spread
of disease.”
ODE said schools lead-
ers should tell their county
health offi cials if absences
exceed certain benchmarks,
such as if absences reach
30% or more, with at least
10 students or staff absent at
A6  Echo Car Show & Concert
coming to town
the school level, and if class-
room absences reach 20% or
more, with at least three stu-
dents or staff absent.
Some precautions still in
place, others optional
Masks are optional in the
Umatilla School District,
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
reported.
She referred to a March
11 district press release
that asks for “respect for
others” when it comes to
mask wearing, and an addi-
tional learning guide states
social distancing remains
in eff ect, as well as regu-
lar cleaning and sanitizing
of high-touch areas and free
COVID-19 testing is avail-
able at the school for symp-
tomatic students with a par-
ent’s permission.
Sipe said the district
tracks cases weekly. On
May 16, she said the dis-
trict’s last case was April 22.
See, Schools/Page A9
A8  Hermiston bazaar shown in
photos