100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 11, 1920

A fire in the basement of a dwelling at 617 Pine street at 7:30 last night did between $75 and $100 damage to the house. The blaze caught in a pile of rubbish under the basement steps, according to the fire chief’s report. It was the first alarm since May 11 for the department. There was no record broken, however, as once the department went without a call for 72 days.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 11, 1970

It is estimated a third of the adults in Hermiston have not earned a high school diploma. Jack Chapman, teaching a general equivalency diploma program at the Umatilla Army Depot this summer, said 259 of the nearly 800 UAD employees have not graduated from high school. He said UAD employees are showing an eagerness for the program that has 50 enrolled and meets three times a week. “They really work at it and it gives them incentive and pride,” Chapman commented. The GED program was established in Hermiston in 1966 and 250 have received GED diplomas as a result.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

July 11, 1995

It hit with jaw-dropping ferocity Sunday afternoon. Hail smashed windows and windshields, knocked birds from the sky, punched holes through vinyl siding, split watermelons open and shredded the flags flying over the National Guard armory. At the Hermiston Experiment Station, 70 mph wind and hail up to three inches in diameter destroyed potato plants. People injured by hailstones were treated in the emergency room, mostly for bumps and bruises. Virtually every one of the 140 cars on the Campbell Motors lot in Hermiston was damaged by hail, with preliminary estimates at more than $1 million. The Midwestern-style storm began to break apart as it drifted into Washington but not before it had wreaked considerable damage in any northeastern Oregon town that fell in its path. Hermiston, by most accounts, was hit hardest.