REGION
Friday, July 24, 2015
East Oregonian
West Nile virus
detected in
Umatilla County
PENDLETON
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Stunt rider Michael “Mad Mike” Tindall, of Titusville, Florida, rides a wheelie between the Pendleton Bike Week
girls during a performance of the Xtreme Fury Stunterz on Thursday in Pendleton.
The fast and the ‘Fury’-ous
Stunt riders perform
wheelies, stoppies,
burnouts, and more
West Nile virus has been
found in Umatilla County
for the ¿rst time this year.
Health of¿cials say
mosquitoes trapped along
Bensel Road east of
Highway 395 in Hermiston
tested positive for the virus.
Con¿rmation testing will
take place later this week at
the Oregon State University
Veterinary Diagnostic Labo-
ratory in Corvallis.
Residents can expect to
see an increase in mosquito
control based on the sample.
Workers will use truck-
mounted sprayers to apply
insecticides, which is done
typically after sunset when
mosquitoes are most active.
West Nile is primarily a
bird disease. Magpies, blue
jays and crows are especially
susceptible.
Mosquitoes
become infected by feeding
on an infected bird and can
spread the virus to humans,
horses and other hosts when
they bite.
The risk of West Nile
is low, but people should
take precautions to protect
themselves against mosquito
bites.
Most people infected
with West Nile do not
become sick, though some
may develop mild Àu-like
symptoms, such as fever,
headache and body aches.
In rare cases, the virus
may cause encephalitis, or
inÀammation of the brain.
Anyone experiencing rare
or unusual headaches should
contact their doctor as soon
as possible.
Because horses are also
at risk for West Nile, health
of¿cials encourage horse
owners to check with their
veterinarians for vaccina-
tion.
To report dead birds or
mosquito infestations, call
the West Umatilla Mosquito
Control District at 541-567-
5201. For more information
about West Nile, call
Umatilla County Public
Health at 541-278-5432.
Housing Authority awarded
vouchers for homeless vets
About 50 homeless
veterans in the four
eastern counties
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Although it is open to
all bikers, Pendleton Bike
Week has cultivated a
certain image — Harley
Davidson, country-western
and classic rock and long
highway rides.
In contrast, the Xtreme
Fury Stunterz mostly ride
lightweight Kawasakis, play
dubstep during their shows
and spend a lot of their time
in parking lots.
Despite not ¿tting into
the traditional image of a
motorcycle
enthusiasts,
Xtreme Fury will play a
prominent role in Pendleton
Bike Week.
By the time Pendleton
Bike Week rolls out of
town Sunday, Xtreme Fury
members Jeremy Block,
Mike Tindall and Nate
Krosser will have performed
roughly a dozen times at
the Pendleton Convention
Center parking lot.
While the term “stunt
riding” may remind people
of Evel Knievel and his ilk,
Xtreme Fury stages a very
different type of show.
With tire marks evidence
of previous performances,
Xtreme Fury performed a
series of wheelies, stoppies
and burnouts in front of a
small but curious crowd
Thursday afternoon.
Block, the owner of
Xtreme Fury, said this is
his team¶s ¿rst trip to the
Page 3A
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Jeremy “J-Block” Block, of Arcadia, Florida, performs a trick called the chainsaw
with his motorcycle on Thursday during a performance of the Xtreme Fury Stunterz
in Pendleton.
“If it moves your soul, it’s like
‘Wow, I want to do that.”
— Jeremy “J-Block” Block,
stunt rider for Xtreme Fury Stunterz
west after mostly sticking to
their home base in Orlando,
Florida.
Block
hopes
the
increased exposure and
media coverage will help
Xtreme Fury take off. The
team hopes to parlay their
gig in Pendleton into a
performance at the Sturgis
Motorcycle Rally in South
Dakota, one of the biggest
motorcycle events in the
world.
Block has been stunt
riding for 11 years and has
been performing profession-
ally for eight. Tindall has
been performing for just as
long while Krosser joined
just a year ago.
Block said he wanted to
start stunt riding as a young
child when he saw someone
in the neighborhood doing
wheelies.
“If it moves your soul,
it’s like ‘Wow, I want to do
that,” he said.
The 2,800-mile trip to
Oregon hasn’t been without
its challenges — when the
38-foot long Xtreme Fury
tour bus became unavailable
at the last minute, Block had
to scramble to buy a new
truck.
Xtreme Fury members
also have to sometimes
convince skeptics that their
sport is legitimate, with
Block saying that every
performance
promotes
stunt riding as much as it
promotes the Xtreme Fury
brand.
That’s not to say they
don’t have a taste for the
traditional. Among the many
bikes Xtreme Fury brought
on the trip was a Harley
Davidson.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Thanks to a grant from the
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development,
a handful of homeless
veterans in Eastern Oregon
will have new homes.
According to a Monday
press release, HUD granted
the
Umatilla
County
Housing Authority 10
vouchers that will cover
vets in Umatilla, Morrow,
Gilliam and Wheeler coun-
ties.
HUD spokesman Lee
Jones said the VA Supporting
Housing vouchers work
similarly to the Housing
Choice Voucher Program,
better known as Section 8
— veterans gain access to a
subsidy they can then use in
the open rental market.
Eligible veterans in the
four counties will be recom-
mended for a voucher by a
case worker at the Walla
Walla VA Medical Center,
who will have assessed the
length of their homelessness
and their need for housing.
The 10 vouchers are
valued at $44,578, which
means each veteran would
receive roughly $372 a
month if the total subsidy
was divided evenly.
Jones said individual
subsidy amounts will vary
depending on how much
a veteran can contribute,
which can go as high as 30
percent of the rental cost.
While 10 vouchers may
not seem suf¿cient, they
could make a signi¿cant
dent in the homeless veteran
population if fully utilized.
Jones said there are
about 50 homeless veterans
between the four Eastern
Oregon counties, with most
of them residing in Umatilla
County.
The Umatilla County
Housing Authority joins
Portland, Bend, Corvallis,
Medford,
Roseburg,
Klamath Falls, Coos Bay,
St. Helens and Clackamas
and Washington counties
as HUD VA voucher
recipients, providing a total
of 217 vouchers to Oregon
veterans.
“Today’s award to the
Umatilla Housing Authority
as well as those awarded
to other Oregon housing
authorities in April 2015
are part of more than $65
million has awarded in ¿scal
year 2015 to help more than
9,300 homeless veterans
¿nd a home,” the release
states.
HUD has awarded
79,000 vouchers and served
approximately
90,000
veterans through the VA
voucher program since
2008.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
PENDLETON
DA puts Aryan gang member’s lawyer on notice Irrigon man dies in
Last core member of
United Aryan Empire
without a plea deal
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
A core member of a
Pendleton white supremacist
gang remains in jail without
a plea deal or trial dates.
And his attorney received a
stern warning Thursday to
get to work.
Robert
Klahn
told
Umatilla County Circuit
Judge Christopher Brauer
during a pre-trial hearing
Thursday in Pendleton that
he continues to wait for tran-
scripts of police interviews
of his client, 35-year-old
Warren Gerald Browning,
who faces multiple felony
counts, including for rack-
eteering and conspiracy to
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Browning
murder.
Browning appeared via
video from the county jail.
He is the last core member
of the United Aryan Empire
without a plea deal. Pend-
leton police dismantled the
gang in January. There are
23 discs containing record-
ings of police interviews
Browning.
Klahn also said the
complexity of the case and
number of co-defendants
prompted the state to
approve of an investigator
to help him with the case,
but that agent has a main
of¿ce is in Vancouver,
Washington, so he needs
more time. Klahn also said
the district attorney’s of¿ce
is threatening to go to trial
if he ¿les any pre-trial
motions.
He asked Brauer to give
him 30 more days to get the
transcripts and wrap up his
investigation.
But Umatilla County
District Attorney
Dan
Primus objected to giving
the defense more time. He
said Klahn made the same
claims about the transcripts
at a hearing in May and
again in June. Primus
said the case needs to get
moving.
Brauer agreed to give
Klahn his 30 days but
said he was concerned his
investigation is on-going.
The judge told the public
defender he better have
some work to show at the
next court date and to bring
his calendar to set dates for
motions hearings and a trial.
Klahn and Browning go
before Brauer again on Aug.
27.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
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motorcycle crash
East Oregonian
STARBUCK, Wash. —
An Irrigon motorcyclist
died Thursday afternoon
in an Eastern Washington
crash.
William S. Hill V, 65,
was pronounced dead at
the scene of a crash about
8 miles north of Starbuck,
Washington on Highway
261 in Columbia County.
According
to
a
news release from the
Washington State Patrol,
Hill was driving a 2004
Harley Davidson SE2 and
attempted to pass another
northbound vehicle when
he drove off the roadway
and over a 30-foot
embankment, coming to
rest on a gravel access
road.
Hill was wearing his
helmet and police are
investigating the exact
cause of the crash. It is not
known whether drugs or
alcohol were involved.
Morrow County Sher-
iff’s Of¿ce noti¿ed Hill’s
next of kin.