As usual, it was a busy week at your Hermiston Herald.

Early in the week, we got a story from Michael Kane with Northeast Oregon Now about the Hermiston City Council passing an ordinance regarding camps for homeless people in the city. The city has addressed the time, place and manner in which people experiencing homelessness can stay or “rest” on public property.

Michael also shared his story with us stating that from a recent survey of 398 people living in Hermiston, 67% of them are satisfied living here, but concerns exist.

Staying with city news, Hermiston Herald contributor Laura Kostad gave us a piece on the city’s $700,000 budget shortfall and what officials are discussing to fix it. City Manager Byron Smith said that he and the city council are looking at general fund department budgets and current staffing to identify ways the city can trim costs and cash in on potential new revenue sources.

Reporter Daneli Atilano had a busy week, too. She shared with us the Umatilla County Fire District No. 1’s Resident Intern program, one of the three programs for which the UCFD1 was recently spotlighted at the Fire-Rescue International in Kansas City. The program allows college students to become resident interns at the UCFD1 to gain hands-on experience and work alongside professional personnel.

She also covered the Hermiston School District Board meeting in which members heard an update on a new grading system the district’s elementary schools implemented this school year. Sunset Elementary School Principal Erin Andreason told members that K-5 teachers are using a Standards Based Grading system to evaluate students.

But not all her stories were on the lighter side this week. Daneli covered several crime stories, including one of a man arrested by Hermiston police for first-degree assault for stabbing another man at an apartment complex. The victim was stabbed in the lower abdomen and taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center.

Another crime story of hers involved a gun-related altercation in Hermiston between the husband and brother of a local missing woman. According to police, the men got into an altercation in which both were shot. Later police learned that both men went separately to Good Shepherd Medical Center with gunshot wounds.

We also got to cover news from surrounding towns. Community Editor Tammy Malgesini shared a story about Heppner Elementary student Hadlie Duncan being inspired by a local canola crop to create a picture that was selected for an annual calendar art contest.

Laura also gave us a story that revolves around an Echo volunteer firefighter threatening to withhold emergency services from two women after a heated exchange on Facebook.

And I covered the Port of Morrow Board of Commissioners meeting and learned the board has no immediate plans to draft policy barring people from attending executive sessions virtually. The board had recently discussed creating a policy to prevent people, including the media, from attending the board’s executive sessions virtually because the board couldn’t control who might be listening to information that isn’t public.

It’s all part of the Hermiston Herald’s efforts, both in print and online, to keep you informed about the latest happenings throughout Umatilla and Morrow counties. As always, if you have a news tip to share or want to ask a question about our news coverage, drop a note to me at tsnell@hermistonherald.com.

And, finally, let me take this opportunity to thank our subscribers: We simply would be unable to do this vital work without your support. 

Travis Snell is the editor for the Hermiston Herald.