HH file photo. Hermiston's off-street non-metered parking lots downtown were described as one of the city's outstanding accomplishments by city manager Tom Harper in Jan. 1968.

25 Years Ago

Jan. 12, 1993

Stanfield police chief Al Humphrey is crediting the quick thinking of a convenience store clerk at the Jackpot market in helping police nab three Lakeside runaways. About 4:30 a.m. Sunday three teenage boys entered the store begging for food and shelter. The clerk, Camie Wilson, called police who responded after discovering the three were wanted for possession of stolen weapons and a stolen vehicle. Police discovered the three freezing and penniless after having sold the weapons for food and gas.

27-year-old Francis Sims remains in serious condition at Emanuel Hospital in Portland with a collapsed lung after allegedly being stabbed in the chest by an angry girlfriend late Tuesday night. Sims told police, “My woman stuck me,” as medical crews attended to him. Allegedly Sims and his girlfriend Shirley Gettman, 38, were arguing when she stabbed him in the chest at his residence. He ran to Grainary Inn and handed the knife to a bystander. No charges have been filed against Gettman, however the incident is still under investigation.

50 Years Ago

Jan. 11, 1968

Hermiston was termed “one of the fastest growing cities in Oregon” by city manager Tom Harper at a chamber of commerce meeting, in connection with a progress report on the city. To point out operating costs for the city he said it could be assumed that the city’s residents would spend approximately $145,125 in a year for cigarettes. The city’s budget is $125,000, he reminded members.

The Columbia River Regional Red Cross Blood Center in Yakima has reported facing a 100 pint shortage of blood, even though most common types, O Positive and O Negative. As a result area hospitals and doctors, including Good Shepherd, are asked to economize on the use of blood and postpone non-essential surgeries requiring transfusions. Mrs. S. R. Ralston, chairman of the Red Cross program in Hermiston, said residents of Umatilla County have received the highest praise from Yakima for their consistency in making blood donations.

75 Years Ago

Jan. 14, 1943

Miss Mable Marsh, a missionary of the Women’s Society of Christian Service of the Methodist Church to Malaya, gave an account of the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the battle of Singapore during the morning worship service at the Methodist church. She reported that on Dec. 8, 1941 about 4 a.m. they were awakened in Singapore by the bombing and soon learned that Pearl Harbor and Manila were being bombed and that the Japanese invasion, which had been expected but not so soon, had arrived. Miss March evacuated from Singapore just before its fall to Java, and from thence to Australian and then to San Francisco. She described how the Japanese attempted to bomb the boats as they left the harbor, and how the boat she and the other missionaries were on miraculously escaped destruction.

The Hermiston American Legion auxiliary has launched a campaign to gather all available worn out silk hosiery which is vital for war purposes. Needed items include silk, rayon and nylon hosiery and the only requisite is that this material should be clean.

100 Years Ago

Jan. 12, 1918

Work on the Columbia highway which runs through Hermiston will soon be under way, according to Oscar Cutler of the state highway department. The gentleman is now overseeing surveying of the road from Morrow County to Pendleton. He expects to reach here early next week with his crew of engineers.

Advice for women motorists: The good driver of a motorcar never applies brakes swiftly except in an emergency. When drawing up at a street side she cuts off the ignition early and allows momentum to carry the car to the stopping place, using the service brake gradually. The good driver thus saves gasoline and wear upon brakes. The good driver never uses the emergency brake, because she never has emergencies. She sees and avoids the emergency before it arrives.