Teen contracts
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015
140 Year, No. 11
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Your Weekend
ODFW backs delisting wolves
Less than one percent chance species would go extinct over next 50 years
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
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•
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Halloween parties
and trick-or-treating
“Nosferatu” at the Vert
Auditorium, Friday
Fall Festival, Sunday, at
Hermiston Jr. Academy
For times and places
see Coming Events, 6A
Weekend Weather
Fri
Sat
Sun
65/59
69/52
60/42
Oregon’s wolf population has
recovered to the point where it
no longer needs protection under
the state endangered species act,
according to Oregon Department of
Fish & Wildlife.
In a staff report released
Thursday, the organization recom-
mends the Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission remove gray wolves
from the state endangered species
list Nov. 9 when the commission
meets in Salem.
Eastern Oregon ranchers have
anticipated delisting wolves for
months, though environmental
advocates say the agency’s recom-
mendation isn’t supported by
science, law or public opinion.
ODFW’s own staff scientists say
the wolf population should continue
to grow steadily, and there is less
than a 1 percent chance the species
would go extinct over the next 50
years. There are at least 81 wolves
and 16 groups or packs located
throughout the state.
Where do the children play?
35%
Hermiston residents
under age of 20
Watch a game
26%
vs.
Oregon residents
under age of 20
Hermiston vs. Pendleton
200
Friday, 7 p.m., at Pendleton
Round-Up Grounds
Increase in students
in school district
Journalist
sues Baker
City police
$300K
Money set aside for
park improvements,
eventual skate park
Pendleton court
will hear lawsuit
A group of teens hang out
in the gazebo in McKenzie
Park after school in May
in Hermiston.
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
A journalist ¿ led a lawsuit
against the Baker City Police
Department at the U.S.
District Court in Pendleton
Thursday, alleging the police
chief and his of¿ cers retal-
iated against him after he
wrote an editorial critical of
the department.
According to a complaint
¿ led by Portland law ¿ rm
Sussman Shank on behalf
of the plaintiff, the police
department
continually
harassed former (Baker City)
Record-Courier
reporter
Brian Addison and provided
false information that led to
his dismissal from a job he
took after he left the news-
paper.
Central to a lawsuit is
an editorial Addison wrote
on March 6, 2008 entitled
“How About a Favorable
Interpretation of the 4th
Amendment.”
In a copy of the op-ed
included with the complaint,
See LAWSUIT/8A
However, environmental groups
argue the ¿ ndings are based on
À awed modeling and have not been
reviewed by an outside independent
scienti¿ c panel as reTuired by law.
AmaroT Weiss, West Coast
wolf organizer with the Center
for Biological Diversity, said the
ODFW analysis paints an overly
optimistic picture of wolf survival
into the future without endangered
See WOLVES/8A
EO fi le photo
Young population drives growing need for programs
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The rest of the country may be
worried about a “silver tsunami” of
aging Baby Boomers. But in Hermiston,
it’s a À ood of young people who are
stretching some resources to the limit.
Thirty ¿ ve percent of Hermiston’s
population is under the age of 20, far
outpacing the state average of 26 percent,
according to data compiled for the city’s
new Livable Hermiston committee. The
group has been tasked with prioritizing
a list of livability projects for the city
to work on. And teenagers in town say
Hermiston’s adults should pay attention
to the needs of its younger population.
“Usually they just try to tell us ‘Oh,
there’s school activities,’ but that’s not
enough,” Hermiston High School senior
Cynthia Macias said.
Macias said she would like to see
some sort of youth center or other
“hangout” place for teenagers in Herm-
iston. Her friends agreed, noting that
now teenagers congregate at parks, the
“At the bowling alley
there’s always adults there,
too, so it’s awkward.”
— Sara Ortiz, sophomore at
Hermiston High School
movie theater or bowling alley, even
though the parks are weather-dependent
and movies can get expensive.
“At the bowling alley there’s always
adults there, too, so it’s awkward,”
sophomore Sara Ortiz said.
Other suggestions were an indoor
pool, more sports ¿ elds and a trampo-
line center.
Hermiston has increased funding for
its Parks and Recreation department
in recent years. For the current ¿ scal
year, the city set aside nearly $300,000
for park improvements and eventual
construction of a skate park.
Parks and Recreation director Larry
See YOUNG/10A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Cory Bowe, 10, and Jantzen Wrathall, 12, practice lines
Wednesday for Hermiston Park and Recreation’s “The Little
Town of Christmas.” The young cast will perform on Dec. 10
and 11 at Armand Larive Middle School.
HERMISTON
Woman dies after wreck on Highway 395
Traf¿ c volume down north
of Hermiston, but number
of crashes remains steady
By SEAN HART
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Sean Hart
Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services personnel extricate
Jacelyn Black, 36 from a vehicle involved in a wreck at the
intersection of Highway 395 and Baggett Lane north of Herm-
iston Oct. 19. Black died Oct. 25 from her injuries.
A stretch of Highway 395 that
was once a designated safety corridor
claimed another life this week. And
another person remains in serious
condition after an Oct. 19 collision
north of Hermiston.
Jacelyn Loyce Black, 36, Herm-
iston, died Oct. 25 in Richland. She
was the passenger in a 2003 Honda
Civic driven by Jami Lynne Masters,
52, Boardman, who remains in serious
condition after being transported by
air ambulance to Kadlec Regional
Medical Center in Richland. Masters
was a caregiver with the Eastern
Oregon Support Services Brokerage
who provided support to Black, who
had Down syndrome.
While traveling south on Highway
395, their vehicle collided with a
2010 Toyota Scion driven by Eliza-
beth Cervantes, 22, Hermiston, who
attempted to turn left onto Baggett
Lane, Oregon State Police Sgt. Seth
Cooney said. Cervantes was also trans-
ported to a hospital by ambulance.
Almost exactly one week later — at
5:30 p.m. Oct. 26 — it happened again.
Sonia Mota-Sotelo was traveling south
on the highway in a 2004 Ford Focus
when Ashley Brooks, 27, La Grande,
attempted to turn her 2001 Ford
Focus onto Baggett Lane from the
See CRASHES/10A