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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2015)
T HE S TATE OF S TATE Urban Renewal; Before, During, After B1 ‘N EW Y EAR ’ O PENS M IDWEEK E DITION B3 Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County HOOD RIVER, OREGON ■ Vol. 109, No. 2 75 cents 2 Sections, 20 Pages WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015 www.hoodrivernews.com Lolly sentenced to 54 months Taking the Oath Former shop owner guilty on 3 felony sex abuse charges involving children As family and friends watch, County and City elected officials formally pledge to serve public By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor The case came close to trial, but Kenneth Gordon Lolley, 74, was sentenced to jail Tuesday for multi- ple sex abuse charges against girls aged 8-11, following a plea agree- ment. Lolley, who with his wife owned a ceramics shop on Hood River Heights where he also taught adult and child classes, was sentenced by Circuit Judge John Wolf to 54 months in the Northern Oregon Re- gional Correctional Facility begin- ning March 1. Lolley is now a life- long Sex Offender, a designation he must register for immediately upon finishing his jail time. Lolley also faces restitution charges including $15,000 to each of the three families, and $3,000 to the Columbia Gorge Child Advocacy Center, which is working with the victims and participated in the Dec. 18 settlement conference that MAYOR PAUL BLACKBURN takes the oath of office Monday at City Hall, with municipal judge Will Carey doing the honors, while Blackburn’s daughters, Althea and Rosalie, take photos. At top, Dist. 1 County Commissioner Karen Joplin enjoys cake with her daughter, Vada, a sixth grader, at the county’s swearing-in celebration; Joplin’s husband, Todd Clay, was also present, and they have a daughter, Sonja, an eighth grader. City Councilor Susan Johnson, far left, shares a laugh with her father, Tom, visiting from Tucson, Ariz., for the city’s swearing-in, along with Chamber of Commerce executive director Mike Glover, next to Susan, City Manager Steve Wheeler, Carey, and City Councilor Becky Brun. Johnson and two new council members Becky Brun and Peter Cornelison were sworn in Monday. Turn to page A7 for more photos and a story. led to the plea agreement. Lolley is guilty of three Attempt- ed Sex Abuse in the First Degree, a Class C felony, and three charges of Sex Abuse in the Third degree, a misdemeanor. The plea agreement, Wolf noted, means the children and their families will not have to en- dure the “damage and impact of a trial — which can be difficult for both sides.” Wolf told Lolley, “You were effec- tively in a position to positively influ- ence children, but yet you chose to abuse that for your own purposes, and you caused damage to the children, their families, and the community, that Gordon Lolley is going to be felt long into the future for them, prob- ably for years to come.” Lolley will remain under house arrest, his status since being charged in December 2013. Lolley, represented by attorney Brian Starnes, declined to make a state- ment in court Tuesday. Starnes noted that his office has numerous statements of former students de- Please see LOLLEY, Page A7 Shots fired, strike Odell home Jan. 1 Two men charged in what was otherwise a quiet holiday By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor Two men face multiple charges for a New Year’s Eve celebration that went too far — as in a bullet in the neighbor’s microwave. The Odell shooting was the one incident the stood out on what Hood River law enforcement officials said was an otherwise quiet New Year’s Eve in the county. Hood River Police responded to a New Year’s Day incident that start- ed as a hit-and-run after a woman was injured in an Oak Street cross- walk, and on Dec. 29 officers made an arrest on the freeway, seizing marijuana and hashish and arrest- ing an Idaho man. No one was injured in the Odell shooting on Kusisto Road. Arrested were homeowner Tyson Hazlett, 31, and William Broderick, Jr., 22, on the charges of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Reckless Endangering, and Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree “They were celebrating, and the celebration got out of hand,” Sheriff Matt English said. Deputies and an Oregon State Trooper responded after midnight to two reports of multiple gunshots heard in the Wy’east Road area, near Wy’east Middle School and the Please see SHOTS, Page A7 Roman Ortega arrives first in 2015 RIO means river, giving brother a say in the naming year’s first baby By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor First Baby Roman Isaac Ortega edged the second baby of the new year by one hour on Jan. 1 at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital. After about five hours of “kind of tough” labor, Alexis Davila of The Dalles gave birth to Roman, the first child born in Hood River in 2015. Roman’s father is Fernan- do Ortega, and the day was doubly special as Fernando’s father, Ar- mando Ortega of The Dalles was also born on Jan. 1. “He said, ‘that’s better than a present,” Fernando said when he informed his father of Roman’s b i r t h . Fe r n a n d o ’s m o t h e r i s Martha, and Alexis’ parents are Jorge Davila and Sandra Jones, who both live out of state. Roman has a big brother, Fernando, 5. “It’s pretty exciting. We feel honored. We didn’t expect it,” Alexis said of having the year’s first baby. Roman arrived at 12:57 p.m., and weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 22 inches long. “A good start,” is how Roman’s father described the feeling of having the first child born in the new year. Alexis felt contractions on the night of Dec. 31 but things settled down and she was able to sleep, but at 6 a.m. Roman was active again and she knew the time was imminent. “I said, ‘we need to get (Fernando) to Grandma’s.’ He was there by 7 and we came right to the hospital.” “It was kind of tough, but it was all natural, and everyone is doing good,” Alexis said on Jan. 1. The family got to go home the next day. Roman’s brother, Fernando, 5, lent a hand in choosing Roman’s name. “We knew we wanted a name that started with ‘R’ and Fernando suggested River,” Fernando said. “We chose Roman, and Isaac be- cause it’s a Biblical name which we wanted because I have a Biblical middle name, Isaiah. So his initials are RIO, Spanish for river, so Fer- nando had his part in it.” Three To Go LOOK INSIDE ‘Sense of Place’ features Native art Jan. 7 A2 — Greater Gorge, and Dirthugger A3 — Entertainment A4 — Viewpoint A6 — Obituaries A10 — Sports B1 — Kaleidoscope B2 — Neighbors B3 — Happenings B4 — Medical Directory B5 — Yesteryears B7 — Classifieds, legals 7 05105 97630 Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea FIRST BABY Roman Isaac Ortega rests in the arms of his mother, Alexis Davila. With her are Fernando Ortega and the couple’s older son, Fernando, at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital. 3 Learn forgotten moments in Oregon’s Native American his- tory and how Oregon’s Native art differs from that of British Columbia and Alaska. Gorge Owned (GO!) welcomes Dr. Tracy Prince, a Scholar in Residence at PSU’s Portland Center for Public Humanities. Prince will speak on Jan. 7, at Columbia Center for the Arts. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the lecture be- gins at 7 p.m. She will explain the history of tribal decimations faced by Oregon and Columbia Gorge tribes and how Native American cultural and artistic expressions have survived via basketry, ca- noes, longhouses, burial platforms, rock art, beadwork, and contemporary artists whose sculptures and paintings are inter- nationally renown. Prince is the author of Portland’s “Goose Hollow and Cul- ture Wars in British Literature”, and co-author of Portland’s “Slabtown”. She has travelled throughout the state as a fea- tured speaker for both Oregon Humanities and Oregon Parks. Parkdale Grange starts breakfast Jan. 11 Glow in the Dark mini-golf returns Jan. 9-10 The Parkdale Grange, on Clear Creek Road, will be holding its first monthly breakfast of 2015 on Sunday, Jan. 11 at the Grange Hall from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. A hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes and/or bis- cuits and gravy, apple- sauce and beverage is just $6 for adults, $4 for children 5-12 and under 4 eat free. Hood River’s only full-size indoor “Glow in the Dark” 18 hole mini-golf course is back. Introduced in October, the neon-lit mini-golf course offers 18 unique holes in a fun challenge for all ages, at Immanuel Lutheran Church (9th & YOUNG GO LFER glows State Street). All proceeds in the da rk in the Novem go towards Immanuel’s be - r go-round. middle school and senior high youth ministries. Hours are Jan. 9, starting at 5:30 p.m. and Jan. 10 starting at 2 p.m. Cost is $5 per person for 18 holes.
