REGION
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
MILTON-FREEWATER
Police chase ends with arrests
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
A police chase Monday
morning in Milton-Freewater
reached 100 mph and ended
with an arrest in Washington.
Milton-Freewater Police
Chief Doug Boedigheimer
reported the driver, Tyler
Jonathan Hays, 18, of College
Place, is awaiting e[tradition
to Oregon for local charges.
Umatilla County Circuit
Court records show Hays is
already serving 18 months
probation after pleading guilty
earlier this month to possession
of a separate stolen vehicle.
A
Milton-Freewater
police of¿cer at 9:17 a.m. saw
a maroon Subaru Forester
“come dangerously close to
hitting a juvenile pedestrian
who was crossing the road,”
according to a written state-
ment from Boedigheimer.
The of¿cer turned around to
contact the Subaru’s driver
“due to the clear violation,”
the chief stated, but the
compact sport utility vehicle
did not stop and sped to
about 30-0 mph westbound
toward Lamb Street.
The of¿cer followed the
Subaru northbound on Lamb,
Boedigheimer reported, which
transitions into Highway
339. That’s where the Subaru
driver stepped on the gas, with
the of¿cer in hot pursuit at
about 100 mph.
The car chase continued
across Stateline Road and
ended about a mile into Wash-
ington on private property
on the cul-de-sac-capped
Ella-Quintino Lane, Walla
Walla County, Boedigheimer
stated, where two males and a
female bailed from the Subaru.
An of¿cer “subdued
and detained the female,”
according to chief, and
backup was coming from the
Walla Walla County Sheriff’s
Of¿ce, the Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Of¿ce and College
Place Police Department. The
two males beat feet toward a
nearby wooded creek to the
north.
Of¿cers established a
containment perimeter, and
Walla Walla County sheriff’s
deputies found Hays in the
wooded area, Boedigheimer
reported. But the passenger,
Cesar Ruiz, 30, of College
Place, evaded of¿cers and a
tracking police dog.
Ruiz has warrants from
the Washington Department
of Corrections, Walla Walla.
Of¿cers questioned the other
passenger, Lucia Victoria
Rodriguez, 28, of Idaho, then
let her go.
Police booked Hays into
the Walla Walla County Jail
to await e[tradition to Oregon
for local charges, according to
Boedigheimer, “pursuant to
the local interstate agreement
between local Oregon police
agencies and neighboring
Washington agencies.”
Boedigheimer said there
are no local charges for Ruiz
or Rodriguez, but Hays faces
charges from Milton-Free-
water police of reckless
driving, multiple counts
of recklessly endangering
another person and felony
attempt to elude a police
of¿cer.
Milton-Freewater police
on May 6 arrested Hays and
another suspect for unau-
thorized use of a vehicle,
unauthorized entry into a
motor vehicle and possession
of a stolen vehicle. Hays
took a plea deal on Aug. 3
to the possession charge and
received a sentence of proba-
tion. Court records also show
the judge issued a warrant
for his arrest 10 days later for
violating that probation.
PENDLETON
Symphony crescendos with youth programs
East Oregonian
With school now in session, the
Oregon East Symphony is preparing to
begin its educational programming.
Playing for Keeps, a unique and
comprehensive music education project
initiated in 2001, reaches 1,500 regional
youth. Programs are available for
various age groups and ability levels:
•Starting Strings Sooner, a begin-
ning Suzuki Method string course for
preschool through early elementary
age. The program is currently accepting
students.
•Symphony Strings, an after-school
strings program for fourth and ¿fth
graders begins Tuesday, Sept. 29. The
registration fee is $35. An orientation
session is set for Monday, Sept. 21 at
6:30 p.m. at the symphony of¿ce, 35
S.W. Fourth St., Pendleton.
•Preludes Orchestra, a beginners
level preparatory string orchestra,
will meet Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30
p.m., beginning Sept. 22, in the music
department at Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College, 211 1.W. Carden Ave.,
Pendleton. Registration is $60 for the
year.
•A Sharp Players is an intermediate
level preparatory orchestra for wind
and string players of all ages. It meets
weekly starting Tuesday, Sept. 1 from
6:30-7:30 p.m. in the music room at
Pendleton +igh School, 100 1.W.
Carden Ave. Registration is $120.
Photo contributed by Ric Walters
Playing for Keeps, Oregon East Symphony’s youth classical music educa-
tion program, begins for the year.
•Raising the Bar is the symphony’s
mentoring program for advanced high
school string players who perform as
part of the Oregon East Symphony.
Auditions are Monday, Aug. 31.
Requirements are outlined on the
symphony’s website. Contact the
symphony of¿ce for an audition time.
Students participating in Playing
For Keeps who can’t afford to purchase
or rent string instruments can utilize the
symphony’s Instrument Loan program.
Also, a Private Lesson Financial Assis-
tance program is available for students
who would like to study privately with
symphony-approved string teachers.
For more information about the
Oregon East Symphony, including
registration forms for its educational
programs, call 51-276-0320 or visit
www.oregoneastsymphony.org, click
on “Education.” For the Starting
Strings Sooner program or Preludes
Orchestra, contact teacher/conductor
Lisa Robertson at 51-910-099 or
lroberston978@gmail.com.
PENDLETON
City, ODOT discuss Eighth Street bridge replacement
East Oregonian
*overnment
of¿cials
will hold another open
house Wednesday to discuss
alternatives to upcoming
improvements to the Eighth
Street bridge in Pendleton.
According to a city press
release, employees from the
city, the Oregon Department
of Transportation and the
Oregon Bridge Engineering
Consultants will “describe the
history of the bridge in greater
detail, discuss the purpose and
need of the proposed project,
and review the alternatives
that have been considered.”
Public Works Director
Bob Patterson said the alter-
native analysis is a procedural
part of the process to obtain
money from the state to
replace the bridge.
The bridge was deemed
eligible for the 1ational
Register of Historic Places
in 1985, meaning that the
city must give any potential
buyers time to potentially
purchase the historically
signi¿cant bridge and repur-
pose it.
“The e[isting Lee Street
Grade Road/Eighth Street
Bridge was constructed
in 1909 by the Columbia
Bridge Company in Walla
Walla, Washington,” the
release states. “It is the only
remaining member of si[
similar bridges that were built
to replace timber structures
that had been destroyed by
the Àood.”
Patterson said the bridge
will be stored by the city for
¿ve years while its up for
sale, after which the bridge
can be disposed of.
The
state’s
Local
Highway Bridge Program in
May 2013 awarded the city
$7.2 million to replace the
100-plus-years-old bridge as
long as the city could come
up with a local match of
10.27 percent, or $762,03.
The city and Umatilla
County co-own the bridge
and agreed to split that down
the middle, about $381,017
each.
The meeting will be held
at 7 p.m. at Knights of Pythias
Lodge, 11 S.E. Eighth St.,
Pendleton.
East Oregonian
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Landscape ordinance
draws opposition
from local businesses
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A proposed landscaping
requirement drew opposi-
tion from business owners
at Hermiston’s city council
meeting Monday.
The council held a
public
hearing,
then
continued the issue to its
Sept. 1 meeting to give
city staff time to consider
amendments to the ordi-
nance recommended by
the public and the planning
commission.
The
ordinance
as
written requires the owners
of new developments to
get a landscaping permit
from the city and then
cover a certain percentage
of their development
in landscaping. It also
requires trash cans and
mechanical items like air
conditioning units to be
screened from view.
Debbie Pedro, director
of the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce, said the
chamber sent out a survey
to its members and 71
percent of the 69 business
owners who responded
said they thought a land-
scaping ordinance was a
good idea, because a more
attractive commercial area
would help with recruiting
new
employees
and
clients. However, many
of them also thought the
ordinance needed to be
more Àe[ible.
“There is signi¿cant
concern with the structure
of the ordinance,” Pedro
said.
Diana Ables said the
city should be focusing on
getting property owners
who neglect their space
to clean it up, instead of
punishing business owners
who might not have room
for much green space but
do keep up their buildings
and parking lots.
“With more regulations
comes more fees, more
costs and more time,” she
said.
Don Skeen said he had
a concern about a number
of wording issues with
the ordinance, such as the
mandate to try to preserve
as much “natural vegeta-
tion” as possible.
“In our area natural
vegetation is goatheads,”
he said.
Kari Christiansen said
she supported the idea of
a landscaping ordinance
but thought it should allow
for more personal taste.
The ordinance states that
features such as benches
and
planters
“shall
contain decorative and/or
ornamental features,” for
e[ample, but Christiansen
said she would prefer to
implement simple, non-or-
namental planters into a
design.
Karen
Zacharias,
who serves on the city’s
Community Enhancement
Committee, said she
supported the ordinance.
Hermiston just isn’t a very
attractive city, she said,
and the city needs to start
doing something about that
if it wants to encourage
people and businesses to
move there.
“There are other cities
of our size that are just
more visually appealing.
... How many of you go to
a city that is unattractive
to spend your tourism
dollars?” she said.
City planner Clint
Spencer said when he
began e[amining the
percentage of landscaped
ground at various busi-
nesses it was clear that
requiring 6 percent or 3
percent (depending on
the zone) of a new devel-
opment to be landscaped
really wasn’t that much.
Lifetime Vision has 25
percent of its property
landscaped, Fiesta Foods
has 9 percent, Severson
Accounting has 20 percent
and the developer of the
new Holiday Inn E[press
on Highway 395 plans to
landscape 22 percent of
the property.
Spencer said after
its own public hearing
the planning commis-
sion recommended the
following changes be
made to the ordinance:
create incentives, make
the required percentage
of ground cover a goal
rather than a requirement,
create a landscape review
committee and waiver
process, allow for more
non-plant ground cover
like bark and allow for
designs that don’t need
irrigation.
The council voted to
continue the hearing to
Sept. 1 to leave time to
implement at least some of
the suggestions.
“We’ve had a lot of
people make some good
points and we need to
consider them,” councilor
Jackie Myers said.
The
city
council
meeting also included
an e[ecutive session to
review the performance
of city manager Byron
Smith after his ¿rst year
on the job. After the closed
session, the council voted
to increase his salary by
$5,250 and e[tend his
contract through 2017.
Smith was hired in Aug.
201 on a two-year
contract at a base salary of
$115,000.
Councilor John Kirwan
said Smith had “met or
e[ceeded all our e[pecta-
tions” so far.
———
Contact
Jade
McDowell at jmcdowell@
eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4536.
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To schedule appointments,
please call 509-525-3720.
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