REGION
Friday, January 23, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Violent crime down, thefts tick up in 2014
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Violent assaults dropped
in Pendleton from 2013 to
2014, but property crime, es-
pecially auto thefts, trended
up.
Pendleton police Chief
Stuart Roberts released the
city’s annual crime statistics
earlier this week. Aggravated
assault plunged from 27 cases
to 9, a 67 percent drop and the
largest decrease among eight
categories of serious crime
the city collects for partici-
pation in the FBI’s Uniform
Crime Reporting Program,
which collects statistics from
law enforcement. Roberts said
one reason behind the steep
fall may be the referral of all
domestic assault cases to the
Umatilla County District At-
District Attorney Dan Pri-
mus assigned a single deputy
prosecutor to handle those
cases, which Roberts said
resulted in more prison sen-
tences and treatment. “With-
-
es, domestic abusers tend to
escalate from simple assault
to aggravated assault,” said
Roberts.
Roberts also said Pendle-
ton’s nine cases were below
the national averages of 13-
41 for cities with populations
of 10,000 to 24,999.
The tumble in aggravated
assaults also contributed to
total violent crime in Pend-
leton dropping from 47 inci-
dents to 31.
Pendleton, though, experi-
enced small increases in rob-
bery (12 cases to 13), and lar-
ceny/theft (673 cases to 683),
but auto thefts took off with a
25 percent hike (42 cases in
2013 to 56 last year). Roberts
said in most cases the victim
knew the suspect, and almost
10 percent of cases involved
drive-offs or failure to return
test drives or rental cars.
“All too many of these
cases are the result of keys
being left in the vehicle or
not needing a key to start,”
he said.
A 60-foot rock slide is
blocking the only road to
Hells Canyon Dam about
three miles north of Hells
Canyon National Recreation
Area on the Oregon-Idaho
border.
No one was injured in
the slide, which happened
Wednesday. The road could
be closed for a week while
crews with Idaho Power
work to clear boulders,
repair the road surface and
protect against the threat of
additional slides.
Cattlemen’s
Workshop boasts
national speakers
LA GRANDE — Guest
speakers from across
the country will discuss
challenges facing ranchers
during the 11th annual
Cattlemen’s Workshop
Saturday at the Blue
Mountain Conference Center
in La Grande.
The all-day conference
will feature presentations on
climate change, representing
agricultural interests in
Washington, D.C., and new
methods for sustainability
in the beef cattle industry.
Admission is free, and
lunch is provided by event
sponsors.
Tim DelCurto, professor
and program head at
New hearing set
for cop-killer
By SCOTTA CALLISTER
Blue Mountain Eagle
SALEM – Sidney Dean
Porter, who killed a John Day
ago, will get a new shot at
freedom next week in a hear-
ing before members of the Or-
egon Board of Parole.
Grant County District At-
torney Jim Carpenter said he
will travel to Salem to testify
at the Jan. 27 hearing, and he
has already submitted a pack-
age of materials about the
crime to the board.
“I will ask them not to re-
lease him,” Carpenter said,
noting he will underscore the
depravity of the crime.
“The facts of the crime are
unrefuted by anyone, except
Porter himself,” he said.
Porter, now 55, was sen-
tenced in 1992 for the blud-
Frank Ward, who had gone to
Porter’s home on a domestic
assault call.
This is the second time
Porter has come up for release.
The board ordered his release
in 2012, after a hearing missed
by then-DA Ryan Joslin.
The decision to release a
convicted killer of a police of-
enforcement input, sparked
protests across the state from
a legislative committee hear-
ing. The board reopened the
hearing in 2013, this time de-
ferring Porter’s release until at
least June 2015.
Next week’s hearing will
set the stage for release or up
to two more years of incarcer-
ation.
The hearing will be held at
the Oregon State Correctional
Institution in Salem, with pub-
lic attendance only by prior
arrangement with the Correc-
tions Department.
Described as an exit inter-
view, the hearing allows the
board to review psychological
or psychiatric evaluations, dis-
cuss the offender’s conduct in
prison, and examine his parole
plan.
Flu cancels M-F
council meeting
MILTON-FREEWATER
— Flu season spares no
one, including the Milton-
Freewater city government.
The Milton-Freewater
City Council had to cancel
its Jan. 12 meeting after
City Manager Linda Hall
began running a 103 degree
A rock slide blocked the
only road to Hells Canyon
Dam on Wednesday in
norteastern Oregon, and
the road could be closed
up to a week.
council meeting in 22 years.
“I was really, really,
really sick,” she said.
In addition to Hall being
set to present most of the
agenda items, she said
two other councilors were
Oregon State University’s
Eastern Oregon Agricultural
Research Center in Union,
said the workshop was
started in 2004 to address
concerns surrounding
mad cow disease in North
America. About 100 people
while Mayor Lewis Key
was out of town.
The city rescheduled
their meeting for Monday,
when they will decide who
will take the vacated seat
of former city councilman
Sam Hopkins-Hubbard.
and the workshop now
regularly draws between
400-500 people.
“This has been wildly
successful,” DelCurto said.
Frank Millar, retired crop
consultant for Wilbur-Ellis
Co.; Steven Patten, senior
environmental scientist
for the Walla Walla Basin
Watershed Council; and
Verl Pressnall, the former
maintenance director for the
now-defunct Ferndale and
Umapine school districts
and the president of the East
End Rod and Gun Club.
All three candidates were
interviewed at the Dec. 8
meeting.
The meeting will be held
Photo contributed by Idaho Power
They’re very innovative, and
very bright.”
Presentations will run
from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Local vendors will also be
on hand during a trade show
held at the conference center.
For more information,
contact DelCurto or Kim
McKague at 541-562-5129.
sponded to 44,706 calls for
service in 2014, a 35 percent
leap from 2013. Roberts at-
tributed the rise to the de-
partment switching to a new
records management system
May 21, 2014. The new sys-
tem is more comprehensive,
he said, and easier to search
to gather data.
Roberts cautioned the
picture of criminal activity
in Pendleton, but he stated
Pendleton is a safe place to
live.
PILOT ROCK
BRIEFLY
Rock slide blocks
road to Hells
Canyon Dam
Pendleton falls within na-
tional averages of 49-80 auto
thefts a year, and Roberts re-
ported eight of the robberies
in 2014 were the result of
combative shoplifters.
Rape investigation also
went up, from seven in 2013
to nine in 2014, but Roberts
said the rise is likely due to
the FBI expanding its re-
porting criteria of the crime.
There were no homicides in
2013 or 2014, and one case
of arson in each year.
Pendleton police also re-
at the Albee Room at the
Milton-Freewater Public
Library at 7 p.m.
Robotics team
nets 3D printer
Umatilla School District
has received a third three-
dimensional printer after
robotics students on an all-
girls team took the initiative
to write another grant.
Eighth graders Lauryn
Journot and Anna Lougee
of Clara Brownell Middle
School wrote the grant
that secured a $1,200
EKOCYCLE cube printer
from the company.
A 3D printer uses
computer designs to create
physical parts out of hard
plastic. The robotics teams
use it to create custom parts
for their robots or replicate
ones they don’t have time to
order more of online.
Team mentor Tammy
Fisher said having a
second CBMS team win
an EKOCYCLE grant
shows how ingenuity and
teamwork from some
students can lead to success
for all students.
“These young women are
leading the way for female
students in STEM and making
a big impact on their school
and community,” she said.
The other students on the
Jasmine Cardenas, Marlene
Rippy.
Richman to stay on
as part-time chief
Search begins for replacement
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Pilot Rock’s outgoing
police chief has agreed to
stay on part-time as the city
searches for a new police
Darren Richman has led
force since May 2008. He
said he is ready for a new
venture and plans to start
a garage door installation
business. His last day as
chief is Jan. 30.
Richman and the city
council Friday struck a deal
for him to work no more
than 16 hours per week at
$40 per hour without ben-
his replacement. Pilot Rock
Mayor Virginia Carnes
said Richman will handle
administrative duties, such
as scheduling, but will not
respond to calls for service.
The city council also
agreed to a deal Friday with
former Milton-Freewater
police chief Gary David to
conduct the search for Rich-
man’s successor. David
brought Richman to Pilot
Rock, Carnes said, and that
proved to be a good hire.
She said the city would re-
imburse David for mileage
and expenses but would not
pay him a fee for services.
Carnes also said she
wanted to spread the word
that the city plans to honor
Richman with a retirement
party Saturday, Jan. 31,
from 1-3 p.m. at the city
council chambers.
Pilot Rock is also hir-
eventually replace Greg
Stallings, who returned to
the force Wednesday on a
part-time basis. City record-
er Teri Porter said applica-
tions already are coming in
for position, and she con-
sidered that an encouraging
sign. Carnes said the city
-
cer that has graduated from
the Oregon Public Safety
Academy, Salem, otherwise
the city would have to pay
a new hire while he or she
completes the 16-week ba-
sic police training.
According to the Oregon
Department of Public Safe-
ty Standards and Training,
the next available course
begins June 15.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.