2A — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
DAILY Enterprise school board begins planning bond measure
PLANNER
By Ellen Morris Bishop
EO Media Group
TODAY
Today is Tuesday, June
16, the 168th day of 2020.
There are 198 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On June 16, 1996,
Russian voters went to
the polls in their fi rst
independent presidential
election; the result was a
runoff between President
Boris Yeltsin (the eventual
winner) and Communist
challenger Gennady Zyu-
ganov.
ON THIS DATE
In 1567, Mary, Queen of
Scots, was imprisoned in
Lochleven Castle in Scot-
land. (She escaped almost
a year later but ended up
imprisoned again.)
In 1858, accepting the
Illinois Republican Party’s
nomination for the U.S.
Senate, Abraham Lincoln
said the slavery issue had
to be resolved, declaring,
“A house divided against
itself cannot stand.”
In 1883, baseball’s fi rst
“Ladies’ Day” took place
as the New York Gothams
offered women free admis-
sion to a game against the
Cleveland Spiders.
In 1911, IBM had its
beginnings as the Comput-
ing-Tabulating-Recording
Co. in New York State.
In 1933, the National
Industrial Recovery Act
became law with President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s
signature.
In 1963, the world’s fi rst
female space traveler,
Valentina Tereshkova, 26,
was launched into orbit by
the Soviet Union aboard
Vostok 6.
In 1970, Kenneth A.
Gibson of Newark, N.J.,
became the fi rst black
politician elected mayor of
a major Northeast city.
In 1987, a jury in New
York acquitted Bernhard
Goetz of attempted murder
in the subway shooting of
four youths he said were
going to rob him; however,
Goetz was convicted of il-
legal weapons possession.
(In 1996, a civil jury ordered
Goetz to pay $43 million to
one of the persons he had
shot.)
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
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TODAY’S QUOTE
“Our memories are card
indexes consulted and
then returned in disorder
by authorities whom we do
not control.”
— Cyril Connolly, British
critic (1903-1974)
ENTERPRISE — The
Enterprise School District
Board of Directors recently
made tentative plans for a
bond measure to appear on
the November ballot.
The board also learned
the city of Enterprise
received a grant to provide
a school resource offi cer,
discussed getting new LED
lighting throughout the
school and heard about pre-
liminary guidelines for
opening school in the fall.
The board on June 8
reviewed a recent public
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston man found dead
from a gunshot wound at
an East Francolin residence
on June 9 has been identi-
fi ed as Jesus Eli Lopez, 21,
according a press release
from the Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Offi ce.
The Umatilla/Morrow
Major Crime Team is inves-
tigating Lopez’s death as a
homicide, the release stated.
Hermiston police were
initially dispatched to a res-
idence on the 300 block of
East Francolin Avenue at
8:16 a.m. June 9 for a report
of an unresponsive male.
After arriving, offi cers
determined the man had
been killed by a gunshot.
board decided it provided
a helpful picture of public
opinion.
To make these improve-
ments, the school dis-
trict has been approved
for a matching grant of
up to $4 million from the
state, said Superintendent
Erika Pinkerton. The state
will match the amount of
funding the district can
raise through a bond. While
the total cost of recom-
mended improvements
(including the bleachers and
irrigation system) is esti-
mated at more than $9 mil-
lion, the board’s discussion
EOU honors grads in virtual ceremony
University confers
degrees to more
than 800 students
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity held its graduation cer-
emony virtually Saturday
at 10 a.m. A livestream of
speeches and the confer-
ring of degrees honored the
class of 2020, which due
to coronavirus restrictions
could not have a traditional
commencement.
About 15 minutes before
the livestream of the grad-
uation began, a slideshow
of videos and photos show-
casing the university and
Eastern Oregon played over
a piano version of “Pomp
& Circumstance.” Univer-
sity President Tom Insko
addressed the graduates.
“We have experienced
great disruption and chal-
lenge in the last few months
of the 2020 academic year,”
Insko said. “Graduates,
your perseverance and resil-
ience is a testament to the
Mountaineer spirit, and we
could not be prouder to call
you our own.”
Insko introduced 2020
President’s Scholar Mariah
Meyerholz. Her speech
addressed the effect the out-
break has had on people
directly and indirectly.
“Take today to refl ect
on the accomplishment of
graduating,” Meyerholz
said. “If someone had told
me fi ve years ago I would
be sitting here today in my
pajama pants, speaking
in front of my graduating
class, I would not have
believed them.”
Meyerholz acknowl-
edged the disappointment
over not being able to grad-
uate together in person, and
she encouraged the grad-
uates to continue to work
hard as they face future
challenges.
During the speeches, the
names of the more than 800
graduates were displayed,
noting where each graduate
is from and the degree he or
she earned.
Deans and faculty from
each department con-
gratulated their gradu-
ates. Professor of music
Paul Wordelman sang the
EOU anthem, professor of
English and writing Nancy
Knowles sang the name of
the graduates in her depart-
ment, and others across
departments and colleges
wished students the best
and offered bits of wisdom.
Sheriff ’s offi ce rescues woman
stuck on cliff at Harris Park
EO Media Group
MILTON-FREEWATER
— The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Offi ce rescued
a Walla Walla woman the
night of June 10 after she
got stuck on a 40-foot cliff
while hiking at Harris
Park near Milton-Free-
water, according to a press
release from the sheriff’s
offi ce.
Sheriff’s deputy John
Reitz and fi ve search
and rescue volunteers
responded to the park
around 9:30 p.m. after
Eduardo Hazleton, of Port-
land, reported his sister,
Alana Riggle, 29, hadn’t
returned from a hike.
According to the
release, Hazleton told
authorities he and two
friends were hiking with
Riggle that morning to
a scenic overlook of the
park when they decided
to return to their campsite
around 11 a.m.
Police ID Hermiston
gunshot victim, homicide
investigation underway
EO Media Group
opinion survey of school
facilities improvements
recommended through the
TAP grant consultants. The
survey indicated that repair
of the roof, eliminating
storm water damage to
buildings and foundations,
and upgrade of middle
school science labs were
among the public’s highest
priorities.
Replacing the circa-
1953 bleachers in the gym
and improving the ath-
letic fi eld irrigation system
were among the lowest.
While the survey only
had 54 respondents, the
“There is little informa-
tion available concerning
the motive or the identity of
the person(s) responsible for
the shooting,” a June 9 press
release about the incident
stated. The release added
that there will be no addi-
tional updates at this time.
La GRANDE
AUTO REPAIR
Photo courtesy of the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Offi ce
The Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce rescues Walla
Walla resident Alana Rig-
gle, foreground, after she
did not return to a campsite
June 10 at Harris Park near
Milton-Freewater after hik-
ing with friends.
Riggle opted to stay
on the trail, but the group
couldn’t fi nd her after
returning to and searching
MOST
ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
AVAILABLE
Joe Horst
ACDelcoTSS
state funds to match Energy
Trust funds in an Energy
Trust program that would
provide new LED lights
throughout the building.
Specifi c costs were not yet
available.
Pinkerton announced
the city of Enterprise had
been awarded a grant of
$125,000 from the Com-
munity Oriented Policing
Services Offi ce, the Cops
Hiring Program grant. The
funds will provide a school
resource offi cer. The grant
would allow Enterprise to
hire the offi cer for three
years.
Judge restrains Ontario
city councilor from
contacting woman after
she reports threats
By Les Zaitz
Malheur Enterprise via AP
StoryShare
ONTARIO — Ontario
City Councilor Freddy
Rodriguez is a “cred-
ible threat” to an Ontario
woman and faces bail of
up to $50,000 if he vio-
lates an order to stay away
from her, according to
court records.
Malheur Circuit Judge
Erin Landis on June 4
issued a restraining order
directing Rodriguez to
have no contact with a
woman who said in court
fi lings that Rodriguez
“made me fear that I was
about to be physically
injured.” The Enterprise
does not identify victims
of abuse.
Rodriguez, 38, has
served as a councilor since
January 2019.
“I was very fearful of
him as he has said that
he could harm me and
others and would get
away with it,” the victim
wrote in petitioning for
the restraining order. She
said Rodriguez has a “past
domestic violence history.”
The woman and Rodri-
guez had an intimate rela-
tionship in recent months,
according to the court
fi lings.
Landis granted the
restraining order the same
day the woman requested
it. The order form sets
a standard $5,000 secu-
rity amount “for viola-
tion of any provision of
this order.” Landis mod-
ifi ed that to $50,000 for
Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has 30 days
to request a hearing on the
order and said by email to
the Enterprise last week
that he intends to do so.
“I plan to contest these
atrocious false accusa-
tions,” Rodriguez said.
He said Landis’ fi ndings
were “based on ZERO
evidence.”
He said the allegations
wouldn’t affect his role on
the Ontario City Council.
“I intend to continue
my service,” he said.
In her petition, the
victim said Rodriguez
made threats to her against
one of her employees and
Pat Caldwell, a reporter
at the Enterprise who had
dated the victim. The
victim said Rodriguez told
her “he was going to kill
them.”
She recounted an inci-
dent from February when
she was a passenger when
Rodriguez was stopped by
an Ontario Police Depart-
ment offi cer. She said
Rodriguez “started telling
the offi cer about hanging
out with the mayor and
Cliff Bentz, then offered
up a coin saying it will get
him out of trouble – no
ticket issued.”
She said Rodriguez
has said Ontario police
offi cers are “my pals”
and that he had nothing
to fear from Police Chief
Steven Romero. She
said Rodriguez told her
that “Romero is a new
chief and his offi cers
don’t respect him and
is an [expletive] from
California.”
Romero couldn’t be
reached for comment.
She said she sought
the petition because of
a string of emails from
Rodriguez last week
demanding money and
threatening to expose
details of her personal
life.
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the area of the overlook.
The group found a
blanket but Hazleton called
911 after the sun began to
set and there was no sign
of his sister.
Around 11 p.m., Daniel
Androes, a Walla Walla
search and rescue volun-
teer, heard yelling. He
followed the sound and
spotted Riggle “at the top
of an approximate 40-foot
vertical cliff directly below
a rock escarpment,” the
release stated.
By free climbing up
and then rappelling down
to Riggle, the search and
rescue team secured a rope
around her, and then safely
brought her up the slope of
the rock escarpment.
Riggle was cold but
uninjured and declined
medical aid at the scene,
the release stated.
She was returned to her
family’s campsite around
1 a.m.
focused on optimizing their
matching funds.
“I think a $4 million
bond to match the $4 mil-
lion from the state would
be the best way to go,”
said board member Adrian
Harguess.
Most board members
agreed with him. The board
will make a fi nal decision
in July regarding specifi c
improvements, the amount
of a bond needed and
whether to put a bond mea-
sure on the November 2020
ballot.
In other developments,
the board agreed to use
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