WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Forecast better than past 2 years
Oregon wildfire
prediction still above
normal for Bend
Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK
Early forecasts of Oregon’s wildfire
danger are milder than the last two sea-
sons, but it’s not a completely rosy pic-
ture as the state begins ramping up for
the 2022 fire season.
The western half of Oregon looks far
better than a year ago thanks to a wet
and snowy April, but wildfire danger is
projected to be above normal east of the
Cascade Range and eventually across
the length of southern Oregon, accord-
ing to the latest forecast issued by the
National Interagency Fire Center.
“April was obviously a big help — es-
pecially in the northwest — but it wasn’t
enough to break the longstanding
drought in most of the state,” said Eric
Wise, a predictive wildfire meteorolo-
gist at the Northwest Coordination Cen-
ter. “We have concern in particular
about Central Oregon in the early sea-
son and about southwest Oregon as we
get deeper into the summer.”
The projections, issued on the first of
every month, rely on a combination of
factors including drought, extended
weather forecasts, forest fuel moistures
and weather events like the monsoon
season, which can influence lightning
strikes in Oregon.
And while they’re far from perfect,
last year’s forecast correctly projected
an early wildfire season that brought
outbreaks in May and significant wild-
fires and evacuations by mid-June. The
MID-VALLEY’S HOMELESS CRISIS
‘Dealt a bad hand’
2020 projections also foretold above-
normal wildfire danger in Western Ore-
gon during a season that eventually saw
the devastating Labor Day Fires.
The latest forecast came out May 1
and projects elevated fire danger in Cen-
tral Oregon through May and June.
“The risk of fires in central Oregon in
May and June will mainly be associated
with dry and windy weather rather than
lightning,” the report said.
“I’d say we do expect an early start to
the season in that area, and even if we
See FORECAST, Page 4A
17-year-old
could be tried
as an adult
Murder case one of first under
state’s new juvenile reform law
Virginia Barreda
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
“There is a lot of youth that are
unfortunately in situations that I
have been in and they’re not
being accounted for.”
Kloi Spencer
President of the regional homeless youth
action board Backbone, and one who has
experienced homelessness
Homeless youth in Oregon have a plan to save themselves
Story by Dianne Lugo | Photos by Abigail Dollins
Salem Statesman Journal | USA TODAY NETWORK
D
avid Buntjer, 18, was “technically” homeless months before his father was killed in
2019. h “We were sleeping at my uncle’s house. I don’t really call that homelessness
because I was with my dad and at that point in time I believed that when I was with
my dad, I was at home. It didn’t really matter where I was,” Buntjer said. h After his
death, a friend of his father’s took him in. But three months later, she announced she was mov-
ing and there was no room for Buntjer or the friend’s two daughters.
See HOMELESS, Page 3A
By the numbers
1,540
10
Mid-Valley youth who are homeless.
Mid-Valley shelter beds for youth.
Willamette Valley
Vineyards opens
new location
Em Chan
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Willamette Valley Vineyards is opening a Lake Oswe-
go Tasting Room and Restaurant as the first of several
locations across the Portland Metro area.
“We are thrilled to join the Lake Oswego community
See VINEYARD, Page 4A
Wine by an outdoor fireplace of Lake Oswego's new
Willamette Valley Vineyards Tasting Room and
Restaurant.
A Marion County judge will determine this week if
a 17-year-old boy will be tried as an adult or juvenile
for an alleged murder committed last January during
a drug exchange in northeast Salem. The case is
among the first in Marion County and Oregon to be
charged under the state’s juvenile justice reform law.
Gerardo Trujillo-Torres faces allegations of sec-
ond-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree
assault and unlawful use of a weapon in the killing of
Joshua Steward, 24, on Jan. 16 in the parking lot by
Hoover Elementary School and Hoover School City
Park, according to Salem police and court records. A
22-year-old woman who was with Steward was shot
in the head.
The 2019 Youth Justice Reform Bill (Senate Bill
1008), enacts dramatic changes in how juveniles who
commit serious crimes are sentenced on or after Jan
1, 2020. The law, backed by multiple criminal justice
reform advocates such as the Youth Justice Project
and Criminal Justice Reform Clinic at Lewis & Clark
Law School, is intended to help reduce victimization
and increase positive outcomes for youth, according
to officials from Oregon Youth Authority. Youth au-
thority officials and advocates say youth are twice as
likely to recidivate when they serve time in adult
prison; the new law gives youth opportunities and
motivation to improve their behavior.
The law removes the requirement to charge 15-,
16-, and 17-year-olds as adults for Measure 11 crimes,
including murder and rape. Previously, children un-
der 18 who committed serious crimes were automat-
ically tried as adults.
According to the youth authority, the bill also:
h Gives youth a “second look” hearing for a pos-
sible release after serving half their sentence, if a
judge determines they have taken responsibility for
their crime and have been rehabilitated. If approved,
the youth would serve the rest of their sentence un-
der community-based supervision, instead of being
incarcerated.
h Prohibits youth from being sentenced to life
without parole. Anyone receiving a life sentence for a
crime they committed when they were under 18 must
have an opportunity for parole after 15 years of in-
carceration.
h Provides some youth with a transfer hearing be-
fore moving to adult prison. Youth convicted as
adults can stay in OYA facilities until age 25. At that
time, if they have less than two years left in their sen-
tence, they will receive a transfer hearing. A judge
will decide whether the youth should finish their sen-
tence in an adult prison or on community-based su-
pervision.
A weeklong waiver hearing for Trujillo-Torres be-
gan Monday at the Marion County Juvenile Depart-
ment on Center Street NE. Marion County Prosecu-
tors and Trujillo’s defense attorneys will present ar-
guments to Judge Lindsay Partridge who will deter-
mine whether Trujillo-Torres’s case will be
adjudicated in juvenile court or if he will be tried as
an adult.
Trujillo-Torres previously was adjudicated for as-
sault, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief, and
placed in Oregon Youth Authority custody, officials
said.
The state must prove whether Trujillo-Torres had
“adult-like sophistication and maturity” when he
committed the alleged crimes, defense attorney Eliz-
abeth Meuse said in opening statements. Meuse said
Trujillo-Torres had been on an Individual Education
Plan – a program through the Oregon Department of
Education to assist students with disabilities – since
elementary school. She added Trujillo-Torres was a
strong candidate for reformation.
Shooting, crash near
Hoover Elementary School
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Prosecutors from the Marion County District At-
torney’s Office began calling witnesses Monday, in-
cluding the 22-year-old woman who was shot and a
See TRIAL, Page 4A