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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2015)
www.hoodrivernews.com Hood River News, Wednesday, January 7, 2015 A7 City, county elected officials start new year with oath of office Mayor announces next council meeting postponed in light of UO football game By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor The business of transi- t i o n i nvo l ve d h u g s a n d h a n d s h a ke s, c a ke, a n d checks to sign as city and county elected officials for- mally took office on Monday. T h e C o u n t y B o a rd o f Commissioners and Hood River City Council held 4:30 and 5 p.m. special meetings Monday for the sole busi- ness of swearing in new and returning electees. The City Council’s first regular meeting of the year has been postponed to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, to avoid a conflict with the Oregon- Ohio State National Cham- pionship football game on Jan. 12, announced new M ayo r Pa u l B l a ck bu r n , whose wife, Dr. Kristen Dil- lon, and daughters Althea and Rosalie also attended. Immediately after the meet- ing, he sequestered with city staff to sign checks. Said Peter Cor nelison, one of three new City Coun- cilors: “I feel a little more weight on my shoulders and I’m standing a little taller to compensate.” Municipal Judg e Will Carey administered the oath of office to City Councilors Susan Johnson, Becky Brun and Peter Cornelison after swearing in Blackburn. A half-hour earlier, Carey did the same honors with county elected of ficials, Chairman Ron Rivers and Commissioners Bob Benton and Karen Joplin. All three were re-elected in November without opposition. Present were Commis- sioner Les Perkins, Health Department officials Ellen S HOTS Continued from Page A1 Hood River County Fair- grounds. One bullet entered the home of Cord Adams on Ku- sisto Road and lodged in the microwave oven. Four people were in the room at the time, according to English. “Based on the investiga- tion, the deputies were able to determine that the shots were allegedly fired from Mr. Ha- zlett’s home,” in the 3000 block of Kusisto, English said. English said alcohol was in- volved, but both men com- plied with officers. They were arrested and taken to NOR- COR in The Dalles. Both are scheduled to appear in Hood River Circuit Court on Jan. 12. English said New Year’s Eve was “uneventful overall. I think the fact that it was on a weeknight and it was pretty darned cold were mitigating factors,” English said. Extra deputies were out on DUII patrol but made no ar- rests nor issued citations. The same was the case in the City of Hood River, ac- Photos by Kirby Neumann-Rea TAKING THE OATH: At top, Hood River County counsel Will Carey administers the oath of office to re-elected Commissioners Bob Benton, standing at left, and Karen Joplin, watched by County Chair Ron Rivers, center, and Commissioner Les Perkins. Not present was Commissioner Maui Meyer. At right, Rivers takes his turn. Above, City Council Members Susan Johnson, left, Peter Cornelison and Becky Brun take the oath of office at a separate ceremony at City Hall. Larson and Mike Matthews, emergency services coordi- nator Barb Ayers, and Cas- cade Locks City Administra- tor Gordon Zimmerman and his wife, Coral, along with City Administrator David Meriwether, legal counsel Lisa Davies, and adminis- trate assistant Sandi Lain. At City Hall, supporters including Susan Johnson’s father, Tom, visiting from Tucson, Ariz., and return- ing councilors K at e McBride and Mark Zan- miller watched as the new council members and mayor took the oath. (Councilor cording to Sgt. Don Cheli. A 31-year-old Hood River man was cited for DUII on the evening of Jan. 1, but that was the sole citation, Cheli said. “It was a little slow, which was good,”’ he said. The Jan. 1 arrest stemmed from a citizen reporting seeing an apparent- ly impaired man getting into his vehicle downtown on Co- lumbia. Officer Sal Rivera stopped and arrested the man in the 1300 block of Cascade. “We had extra cars out for ‘It was a little slow which was good ... we had extra cars out for DUII saturation and we made a lot of car stops but no arrests.’ — SGT. DON CHELI DUII saturation, and we made a lot of car stops but no ar- rests,” Cheli said. The New Year’s Day acci- Laurent Picard was not pre- sent.) “We had good energy on the last council, but I think we’ll have different energy,” Zanmiller said. “I’m really looking forward to the dis- cussions.’ Asked about what’s next in terms of challenges or chief tasks for City Council, the new officials answered this way: Becky Brun “The budget is the biggest thing looming. It’s going to be our biggest challenge in this next quarter,” Brun said. dent happened at about 7 p.m. at Oak and Second streets. According to witnesses, Maureen Vargas, 56, and her husband, Orlando, were cross- ing the street and were report- ed to be inside the crosswalk when a 76-year-old Mosier man allegedly struck Mau- reen Vargas and continued without stopping, after turn- ing right from Oak onto Sec- ond. Orlando Vargas was able to move out of the way without being hit, but his wife fell to the ground and suffered a bro- ken wrist and strained back, according to Cheli. Orlando Vargas chased the vehicle on foot and threw a soda bottle, striking it. The driver then stopped and Vargas confront- ed the man, who was later cited for Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver. Maureen Vargas was treat- ed and released at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospi- tal, and the case got somewhat confusing when officers con- tacted her there, according to Cheli. “Upon being released Var- gas was unsure if the truck had actually made contact with her or if she had sus- tained the injuries from jump- Hood River Weather Forecast Date Today Jan 7 Thurs. Jan 8 Forecast Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Daytime / Overnight High / Low (°F) 48° / 35° 47° / 35° Fri. Jan 9 Partly Cloudy 48° / 36° Sat. Jan 10 Partly Cloudy 49° / 37° Sun. Jan 11 AM Clouds PM Sun 45° / 38° “It feels good. I feel like I’ve been mentally preparing the last months, and clearing my plate of a few other things,” she said. Susan Johnson “We’re going to find out, we’ll be working on a few things. Well see, it’ll be a sur- prise,” Johnson said. “I’m really excited. You can tell by the look on my face,” she said. Peter Cornelison Cornelison said he enjoyed the council/staff goal-setting session in late 2014, attended ing out of the way,” Cheli said. “She said the whole incident happened very quickly.” Cheli said, “at this point, all we have to go by is the state- ments of several witnesses, who were certain that the ve- hicle had struck her, but the victim said she is unsure if that was what happened.” The case is under review by the Hood River County District Attorney’s office. ■ On Dec. 29, at 9:47 p.m., Hood River Police stopped a vehicle on Interstate 84 near milepost 66, for improper lane change violation. Of ficers contacted the drive, Kenneth Sitz, 54, from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and de- tected an odor of marijuana from inside the vehicle. Ac- cording to Cheili, Sitz admit- ted to having a small amount of marijuana inside his vehi- cle. He consented to a search, and more than eight pounds of marijuana and just under a quarter-pound of hashish were allegedly recovered, ac- cording to Cheli. Sitz was lodged at NORCOR on charges of Possession and Delivery of Marijuana and Possession, Delivery and Manufacturing of Hashish. by then-council and the electees, pointing to coopera- tion with the Port, community building, and additional help for the planning staff among the prime goals of the city. “Eighty percent of the city is stuff that can’t be changed, the ongoing work of the city, but it’s that 20 percent we can influence,” Cornelison said. Paul Blackburn “I’m excited to get going. It was such a long process of campaigning but this is what it’s all about. I’m excited to get going and do the work,” he said. L OLLEY Continued from Page A1 fending Lolley for his “grandfatherly” influence in their lives. But Deputy District Attor- ney Carrie Rasmussen pre- sented a far different picture of Lolley. Rasmussen read statements by three parents of the girls abused, and one mother, whose first name is Tabitha, spoke to Lolley and the judge. Tabitha was ac- companied by victims’ advo- cate Gloria Needham. “My daughter cries every time she hears your name,” Tabitha said. “I pray there are not children out there who even worse things hap- pened. I knew you for years and I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but I know now I was in denial about you. And I feel guilty for that. I thought that some old people just go about things differ- ently, they can be touchy- feely. But a trust that is bro- ken can’t be fixed. I just hope this helps protect other chil- dren.” Lolley initially faced 14 Oregon Weather Map Newport 53° | 50° Portland 52° | 47° Salem 54° | 48° Eugene 55° | 45° Pendleton 48° | 37° Bend 46° | 37° Ontario 37° | 28° Last Update on 05 Jan 7:00 am PST IDAHO North Bend 58° | 49° Medford 56° | 38° Klamath Falls 49° | 32° CALIF. © 2015 Wunderground.com Today’s Forecast Mon. Jan 12 Tues. Jan 13 Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy WINTER CHECKLIST 48° / 40° 44° / 36° counts of first-degree sexual abuse after allegedly touch- ing the private parts of three girls, ages 8, 10, and 11, on multiple occasions in 2013. He is the former owner of KV Pottery on Tucker Road in Hood River, where he taught pottery classes to chil- dren and adults before the business closed after his ar- rest. Lolley was originally scheduled to enter a plea in April, but his attorney last spring asked the court to push back the plea date to June 30, and it was pushed back again to August. When Lolley was arrested back in December 2013, he was origi- nally held in NORCOR on $300,000 bail, but Starns was able to get the bail reduced to $40,000 in February 2014, de- spite the objections of Ras- mussen. She noted at the time that Lolley had a 1989 conviction for public inde- cency after exposing his gen- itals to two young girls as they walked to school in front of his home in Hood River. Families of the alleged new victims also made im- passioned requests to the court to keep Lolley in jail. Humidity 85% Wind Speed WNW 8 G 22 MPH Barometer NA Dewpoint 47°F (8°C) Visibility NA WASH. Astoria 53° | 49° “It’s going to take us all a little awhile to get our feet wet and figure out how the process works,” said Black- burn, who alone among the new officials had served on council, 2004-08. “I hope we can move for- ward expeditiously on doing the work of the city,” Black- burn said. “I know many of the incoming folks have agenda items they’re hot to talk about and we’ll begin getting a sense of each other and where we want to go to- gether, because of course the staff runs the city, we give the guidance.” Actual High / Low AGRIMET HOOD RIVER OR Lat: 45.6842 Long: -121.5181 Elev: 510 http://uspest.org Dec Dec Dec Jan Jan Jan Jan 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 - - - - - - - 38/28 28/20 40/29 30/14 43/16 40/33 36/32 Partly sunny, with a high near 44. East wind around 6 mph. Updated Monday, Jan 5 at 9:00 a.m. PST Data from www.weather.com HOOD RIVER 3140 W. CASCADE •541-386-1123
