Columnists

A pet peeve among journalists is when people ask, “Why isn’t the media covering this?” about a topic that every major media outlet in the country has, indeed, covered with multiple articles.

On May 7, 1955, Reverend George Lee was shot and killed by an unidentified assailant while driving his car.

While the Hermiston Herald does not write endorsements for political candidates each election, I will offer up an endorsement of what doctors and public health officials around the world are b…

For the better part of the past six months, I haven’t even set an alarm clock. That all changed last month, as I was asked to fill in for a couple of weeks while one of my former colleagues wa…

What is the difference between bookkeepers, accountants, and certified public accountants (known as CPAs)?

While I was watching the news events of last week unfold, I was thinking of a song that I grew up singing in church when I was a young child. It went:

Election Day isn’t until Nov. 3, but another deadline looms nearer: The deadline to register to vote in Oregon is Oct. 13.

Each new school year is a learning experience. Teachers and students join together to create a positive environment out of a new mix of personalities, skill sets and abilities. Educators intro…

In all the time I’ve worked as a journalist covering Hermiston, I think 2020 is the first year I haven’t had a single person call to tell me they had heard from a very credible source that Cos…

Today, let’s talk about trust.

I’m sure no one in the world would have expected something so small that you cannot even see it to turn everything in the world upside down, but COVID–19 did. School does not look anything lik…

This Friday, Sept. 11, marks the 19th anniversary of the terror attacks that toppled the World Trade Center and left one side of the Pentagon in smoking ruins.

One thing the novel coronavirus has given me is time — an abundance of time.

If there is one thing 2020 has taught us, it is that you never know when disaster will strike. I don’t think any of us in January thought Umatilla County would be underwater in February and lo…

One of the biggest challenges many employers are facing is getting their workforce back on the job during the continuing COVID-19 environment. There are many obstacles, including the fact thos…

The evils of human trafficking and child abuse have seen increased attention in recent weeks, including a march in Hermiston last weekend to raise awareness of the issue.

Have you seen the preschooler or kindergartner who reads without a problem?

Let’s talk about the U.S. Postal Service.

If you have received an invitation from the U.S. Census Bureau to fill out the 2020 Census and have not yet done so, stop what you’re doing and go do that now.

I recently had a déjà vu moment with my soda of choice.

When I first arrived in Hermiston three months ago as an eager Snowden intern, I didn’t know what working as a reporter for the Hermiston Herald and the East Oregonian would look like amid a p…

I felt a strong sense of déjà vu last week when I had to scramble to post information about a sudden, late-night announcement from Gov. Kate Brown about Umatilla County being sent back to the …

Before I moved to Hermiston, while I was working for The Dalles Chronicle, a co-worker told me an anecdote about a homeless man with an apparent mental illness.

There are still a lot of questions about what school will look like when it resumes in the fall, but one thing is clear: It won’t look anything like what the rest of us experienced when we wer…

When I’m asked what the 2020-21 school year will look like, there are a lot of possible answers.

I’m starting to come down with something. Don’t worry, it’s not the ‘rona — I have a severe case of cabin fever.

Someone once said that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.

More than 35 years ago, Oregon’s rural communities experienced an economic downturn of epic proportions when the timber economy collapsed. While state and federal governments responded with si…

As we’ve lived through a global pandemic together these past few months, the strange new situations it has created have prompted us to think more deeply about some aspects of our society.

One of the side effects of being a reporter is you get to know a lot of politicians.

I would like to write my fellow non-Black East Oregonians as to why I feel we must engage in difficult conversations regarding race in America. No longer can small towns be tucked away only en…

The answer to the above question is, quite a lot, actually.

Hermiston is at its best when people are working together. In the school district, we value any opportunity for our students to better understand how this community works, and what role they p…

When someone submits an idea for a story to us, they often preface it with, “I’m not sure if this is newsworthy, but ...”

Homelessness is one of those perennial topics in the newspaper that we cover decade after decade, often with not much news to report beyond “Locals say something needs to be done.”

Looking for work during a pandemic isn’t an easy job. Not only have there been limited opportunities, but my age and an underlying health condition limit my options.

I’m not usually someone who is at a loss for words, but it took me more time to decide what the first sentence of this column should be than it takes me to write an entire column some weeks.

The federal agencies that operate 14 dams in the Columbia River Basin just spent more than three years and a lot of money to look at dam breaching as a possible solution to salmon recovery. Th…

Dear graduating seniors,

Many business owners have applied for or received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and/or Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). We have received the following questions and wan…

Local retailers, salons and bars rejoiced Friday after reopening for the first time in 67 days.

As I have written dozens of stories about COVID-19 over the past two months, I’ve heard a wide variety of opinions on the pandemic during my interviews.

Who are senior citizens? There is no clearly defined age when an American becomes a “senior.”

Dear readers,

The Hermiston School District has an excellent track record of planning for the future. But as we have learned in the last eight weeks, even the best-laid plans can go awry.

It’s been nearly a decade since my husband and I had internet at home.

The first 13-year-old has died two days prior to me writing this. With no overall health conditions, while being young and healthy, COVID-19 caught up to her and she passed away in Panama, Sou…

Growing up in a small town, you look forward to big exciting events and new things happening.