100 Years Ago

June 10, 1921

Several suggestions for a new name for Cabbage Hill have been received by the East Oregonian. One suggestion made by a prominent business man is that whatever name be chosen that the “Hill” be dropped and the boulevard substituted. Mrs. Susan Darr of Adams writes suggesting the names “Meeker Heights”; “Meeker View”; “Meeker Observatory” or “Meeker Hill.” Her desire is to honor the name of Ezra Meeker who aided in remarking the Old Oregon trail. C.P. Strain, now in California, writes that since the hill overlooks a mighty empire that it have a name in keeping with the importance of the view. He suggests “Empire Crest,” “Crest Lookout,” “Golden Empire Crest,” “Empire Gate” or “Threshold of the Golden Empire.”

50 Years Ago

June 10, 1971

James (Jim) Ross, 21, Hermiston, a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army, will never forget March 24, 1971. That’s the date his helicopter was shot down in Laos 15 miles northeast of Khe Sanh. The other two members of his crew lost their lives and Ross suffered several major injuries. Ross is visiting his parents, Mr. ad Mrs. Robert Ross, on Butter Creek highway near Hermiston. He is scheduled to return to Madigan Hospital, Tacoma, Wash., for more treatment. The 1968 Hermiston High School graduate was shot down the first time on the Laotian border in October 1970. In this action, Ross was awarded the Silver Star for bravery. He helped his crew get away from the disabled aircraft and then remained by himself with the helicopter.

25 Years Ago

June 10, 1996

Work on the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program’s alert notification system has halted because, at least for now, it doesn’t work. For starters, the system is unable to send data between the program’s three operations centers. CSEPP spokesman Tom Groat said the local area network linking emergency operations centers in Pendleton, Heppner, and at the Umatilla Army Depot overloads when attempting to convey both meteorological information and other data, information that needs to be exchanged continually. Development of the $7 million system of sirens, reader boards and computer equipment has been at an impasse since January, Groat said.