Columnists

It’s hard to believe school is out for the summer or soon will be. There was no in-person schooling all year in some places, and others had all different modes of learning happening.

A year ago this week, the front page of the Hermiston Herald featured the headline “Hermiston’s Black Lives Matter protests continue.”

On May 8 the Umatilla Museum reopened its doors to the public, Thursday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., each day.

Dear graduating seniors,

Understanding the world around us is the goal we want all our children to achieve. We want them to understand and explain what they see, hear, and read.

Northeast Oregon is home to some of the most rich and fertile farmland in the state, producing products like potatoes, onion, carrots, peas and numerous other variety of crops for consumption …

Remember at the beginning of quarantine, when we used to talk about what we would do when “this is all over,” as if one day we would be in complete lockdown and the next we would be throwing a…

There wasn’t any fanfare, no balloons and no banging of cymbals — much like when I left EO Media Group a little more than a year ago.

In 2020, so many more people died in the United States than would be expected in a typical year that the average life expectancy here declined by more than a year. While it was an unusually la…

Recently about 200 volunteers spread out over Hermiston to cheerfully weed flower beds, sweep sidewalks, wash cars and do other chores. The activity was one of many “I Love My City” events hos…

Some of you may have seen a picture that made the rounds online recently, of a sign at a restaurant asking people to be patient with how short-staffed they were, sadly proclaiming that “No one…

Election season is upon us once again, this time for local taxing districts.

In the past year, the Hermiston School District has had a singular focus: providing the best possible educational and extracurricular opportunities to our students in the face of unprecedented…

During the 2010 Super Bowl, Snickers aired the first of its iconic “You’re not you when you’re hungry” advertisements, featuring Betty White standing in as a football player who simply needed …

Four hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds — that’s how long I was on the phone recently with the State of Oregon Employment Department.

Testing has become quite controversial in education. We often hear about students’ test scores or teachers reporting test results. Then in social groups, you might experience people discussing…

In early January, I wrote a column explaining the reasons I planned to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as I was able.

When the word “environment” comes up in mixed company (and in this case, I mean Republicans and Democrats), it generally doesn’t take long for the conversation to devolve into an argument abou…

When I was in middle school, I thought Mulan was the coolest Disney princess, but I related most to Belle. I felt a kinship with the woman more delighted by a castle’s giant library than its w…

One harsh reality of the pandemic often goes unnoticed: the continued need for foster parents.

In 1962, our community took on the courageous challenge of opening one of the first community colleges in Oregon. In the nearly 60 years since Blue Mountain Community College first opened its …

Over the last several months, we have witnessed history happening in our country that has not happened since the Civil War. It is United States history in the making.

In America’s culture wars, words are the weapons of choice.

In a year like this, we have learned to celebrate the small milestones.

As I interviewed Hermiston School District’s band and choir teachers last week about the challenges of teaching such an interactive subject virtually, I asked what it had been like to have suc…

Four new paws have been padding around our house recently. Biko, an almost 6-month-old German shepherd/Siberian husky mix, made the Malgesini pack whole again this past weekend.

A few days ago, I wrote about what I believe is the foreseeable and inevitable insolvency of Blue Mountain Community College under the present model of operations and funding.

One of the annual events I enjoy covering for the newspaper is the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Citizens Awards.

In 1962, when Wallace McCrae was selected as the first president of Blue Mountain Community College, John F. Kennedy was president of the United States. Fertility rates were high and Baby Boom…

As I logged onto Twitter last week there were Texans dying of hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning as millions of people were without power in a winter storm, but it was just one of the s…

Businesses that have not yet applied for the first or second draw of the Paycheck Protection Program need to do so before March 31.

The inventions of internet and cable television have been bad for newspapers’ financial health, but they have also been bad for news consumers’ mental health.

They say things happen in threes.

A week and a half ago, as I wandered up and down the line of vehicles at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in the Hermiston High School parking lot, a driver exiting the line rolled down his window an…

Writing is a lifelong skill.

As a descendant of the Emerald Isle, I am always open to a raucous donnybrook. So, last week when the state unceremoniously diverted the 600 doses of life-saving COVID-19 vaccine away from my …

This coming weekend, on Feb. 6, is the one-year anniversary of Umatilla County’s worst flood in living memory.

Lost in the news surrounding a new presidential administration last week was the first day of the 2021 Oregon Legislative Session.

With the United States bringing in a new administration, one of a different political party, some changes in trade policy and strategy could be expected. As the Biden administration takes shap…

With the development of vaccines for the coronavirus and distribution underway, there may be an end to distance learning just around the corner. This said, there are still many children strugg…

As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins to put a post-pandemic world within our reach, it is time to start giving some thought to what that world should look like.

As images emerged from the U.S. Capitol being overrun by a mob on Wednesday Jan. 6, many sparked a sense of horror among those watching.

As the dust is still settling on my 2020 calendar, I recently reflected on the year that was. Many people have described the events of last year as “unprecedented times.”

As the first vaccines for COVID-19 are distributed to those at the front of the line, Americans are — rightly so — being given a choice about whether to receive the vaccine themselves.

For the third time since March 2020, Hermiston School District teachers and staff are preparing to launch a new educational system for our students.

What a year it has been.

It’s been a tough year.

School this year looks like something we might have seen on the cartoon show “The Jetsons” from the 1960s. Students of all ages are spending hours on electronics.

This month, as people of many faith traditions celebrate holidays focused on peace and love, it feels particularly important to fully embrace the ideals those holidays have come to stand for.

Each year, Time Magazine famously dubs a particularly influential person or group of people as its “Person of the Year.” While Time went with president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect…

One gig I would never want to do is serve as Santa Claus.

Anyone who has had children, younger siblings or nieces and nephews has probably witnessed some variation of this scene before: A toddler tears the wrapping paper off a Christmas present and, …