T HE S TATE OF S TATE
Urban
Renewal;
Before,
During,
After
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‘N EW Y EAR ’
O PENS
M IDWEEK E DITION
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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.
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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.