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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2016)
REGION Thursday, January 14, 2016 East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Violent crime dips, total crime unchanged 35 percent drop from the city’s 10-year average. Violent crime — homicide, +HUPLVWRQ SROLFH RI¿FHUV rape, robbery and aggravated initiated more actions on their assault — fell from 24 incidents own in 2015 as calls for service in 2014 to 21 in 2015, yet the city fell to a 10-year-low. And violent KDGLWV¿UVWKRPLFLGHVLQFH crime shifted down from the and assaults jumped from eight year before, but crime overall to 12. Assaults are 56 percent remained stagnant through lower than the 10-year-average, but after a low of four in 2013 2015. Hermiston police Chief are trending up. Edmiston in Jason Edmiston this week the report stated the department released his department’s annual will monitor that for causation crime statistics, which measure purposes. Burglaries hit 53 last year, crime across eight categories. While individual types varied, 22 fewer than in 2014 and the Hermiston had 524 reported lowest in the city in a decade. crimes in 2015, just one more Edmiston stated curbing that than in 2014. Still, that was a crime has been a focus since he By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian PENDLETON No filings for city council seats Chuck Wood won’t seek reelection East Oregonian As of Wednesday, no one has committed to running IRUWKH¿YH3HQGOHWRQ&LW\ Council seats that are up for election in May. Among the incumbents, two councilors intend to leave their seats while the other three say they haven’t yet made a decision. With less than two months before WKH ¿OLQJ GHDGOLQH QR challengers have submitted SDSHUZRUNWR¿OHIRURI¿FH either. Following three years on the council, Ward 2 Coun- cilor Chuck Wood said he won’t seek reelection and will leave the council when his term expires at the end of the year. A retiree since 2008, Wood said he commits 30 hours per week to council business, a time commit- ment he didn’t want to sustain for another four years. Although he’ll turn 70 E\WKHWLPHKHOHDYHVRI¿FH Wood said he plans to stay involved with the city in some form. Wood won his seat in 2012 by beating then-in- cumbent Bryan Branstetter in a landslide. His Ward 2 seat covers North Hill, Westgate and the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. Wood won’t be the RQO\ ¿UVWWHUP FRXQFLORU to decline a reelection campaign. At-large Councilor Jane Hill announced in December that she would resign her seat to seek a job with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Because Hill intends to resign before the end of her term, her appointed replacement would have WR ¿OH IRU HOHFWLRQ LI WKH\ wanted to stay beyond 2016. The other three members of the council facing election — Ward 1 Councilor Becky Marks, Ward 3 Councilor Tom Young and Mayor Phillip Houk have yet to make a decision. “You have to weigh wanting to serve with the time commitment,” Young said, echoing the senti- ments expressed by Houk and Marks. Houk said he expects to make a decision around Feb. 1 while Marks is aiming for mid-February to render her verdict. Young didn’t commit to a timeline for his decision. City Recorder Andrea Denton said no one has ¿OHG \HW DQG WKH GHDGOLQH to submit a candidacy petition is March 8. $OWKRXJK WKH ¿OLQJ period has been open since September, Denton said FDQGLGDWHVWHQGWR¿OHDIWHU Jan. 1, with some waiting until the last minute to submit a petition. became chief in 2012. Property crime ticked up 1 percent in 2015, primarily due to an increase in larceny from 388 incidents to 413. Hermiston police took 10,032 calls for service in 2015, almost 2,100 fewer than in 2014. Edmiston in the report stated that was concerning to him, but KH ZDV FRQ¿GHQW VRPH RI WKH decline has to do with tracking information that comes into the police department compared to when the city had its own dispatch center. The drop in calls also corre- sponds to police taking more initiative. Edmiston reported Hermiston police experienced an Long talked about but never acted on, Pendleton City Council heartily endorsed the idea of hiring a spokesperson for the city at a workshop Tuesday. The proposal was one of several recommendations made in a communications plan, a draft of which was presented at the workshop. After the council expressed interest in improving city commu- nication, City Manager Robb Corbett approached InterMountain Education Service District spokes- woman Michele Madril about creating a communi- cation plan. Madril said the IMESD offers communications services as part of its entrepreneurial division. The city is paying the IMESD up to $1,500 for Madril’s services. Using feedback from six department heads, Corbett and Madril produced an eight-page document detailing ways the city can improve internal and external communication. The proposal that seemed to draw the most support from the council was the recommendation to hire a designated communications employee. “We need a communica- tion-focused department,” Councilor Chuck Wood said. “One or two people, Calls for service Ofi cer initiated activity Total violent Homicide Rape Robbery Aggravated assault Total property Burglary Larceny Auto theft Arson Total crime 2014 12,129 10,970 24 0 2 14 8 499 75 388 34 2 523 2015 10,032 13,205 21 1 4 4 12 503 53 413 36 1 524 East Oregonian A pair of local events in Hermiston and Pendleton are planned to commem- orate Martin Luther King Day. In its 16th year, citizens of Hermiston and the surrounding area are invited to the Community Walk. The Black International Awareness Club is hosting the event, which is Monday from noon to 2:30 p.m. at the Hermiston United Methodist Church, 191 E. Gladys Ave., Hermiston. The gathering will include a march, special speakers, music, prayer, the Polynesian Dancers, an open mic time and refreshments. For more information, call Virginia Rome at 541-720-6895 or search Facebook for “Hermiston Martin Luther King Peace Walk.” “It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect with other community members and celebrate our unique and diverse community,” said Jesus Rome. A musical celebration is planned in Pendleton featuring an evening of folk songs and protest songs in honor of King and in recognition of the progress we’ve made as a nation. Sponsored by the Pendleton Baha’i EO i le photo Marchers gather in front of Hermiston City Hall to listen to city govern- ment ofi cials speak during a past Martin Luther King Day celebration in Hermiston. community, everyone is invited to attend. The music begins at 6 p.m. at *UHDW3DFL¿F:LQH&RIIHH&R6 Main St., Pendleton. The gathering will include local musicians singing their favorite songs from the civil rights era. Those attending are encouraged to be prepared to sing along. For more information, call 541-276- 9360. PENDLETON Wtechlink owners mum on settlement deal By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian The owners of Wtechlink in Pendleton are resolving their dispute for control of the company outside the courtroom. Jordan McDonald, the minority owner of the Pendleton Internet company, dropped his lawsuit late last year against his business partner and majority owner Byron Wysocki, according to Umatilla County Circuit Court Records. Wysocki did not return a call seeking comment. McDonald declined to comment. McDonald sued Wysocki in 2013 for control of the company. A source familiar with the situation reported Wysocki is buying out McDonald’s share of Wtech- link. Wysocki and another business partner also reached a civil deal and avoided pros- ecution for theft in a separate case. Wysocki and Mason Murphy own the Pendleton bar 40 Taps. The pair faced ¿UVWGHJUHH WKHIW FKDUJHV IRU taking doors from the old St. Anthony Hospital demolition site on Southeast Court Avenue at the beginning of October 2014 and installing them at their bar at 337 S.W. Emigrant Ave., on the block next to Pendleton City Hall. The doors were worth about $4,600, according to Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts. Attorney Dean Gushwa of Pendleton represented the two entre- SUHQHXUV DQG FRQ¿UPHG Tuesday his clients and the demolition company with an interest in the doors reached a civil compromise in late December 2015. “We gave them some money for the trouble,” Gushwa said, and the court agreed to that and dismissed the criminal case. Gushwa said courts tend to go along with the parties in those situations. “The doors are back [at the bar],” he said, “and everyone’s happy.” Pilot Rock helicopter pilot injured in crash City council communicates GHVLUHIRUFRPPXQLFDWLRQRI¿FHU somewhere in the city, that’s their job. Whether its a full- time job or a part-time job, I don’t know.” Although many coun- cilors were excited to hire someone who could share their side of the story, the plan also advised the council against directing all lines of communication through a spokesman. “(The) very nature of city organization makes it necessary for direct communication to happen EHWZHHQ HOHFWHG RI¿FLDOV FLW\ GHSDUWPHQWVFLW\ employees and citizens,” the plan states. “It is not feasible to funnel all communication through a central point of contact or department.” Citing letters to the editor and editorials in the East Oregonian, Councilor John Brenne asked if a designated person should respond to criticism the council feels is factually incorrect. Although the city should respond if its a particularly egregious disagreement, Madril said responding sometimes exacerbates the issue rather than quells it. “My big thing that I go by is that I can control my message, I can control what I put out there,” she said. “I cannot control what other people are going to say, but I can consistently keep saying my message and I think that’s important.” Madril said that a plan Hermiston crime stats Gatherings celebrate MLK Day PENDLETON By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian LQFUHDVHRISHUFHQWLQRI¿FHU initiated activity, including a 26 SHUFHQWLQFUHDVHLQWUDI¿FVWRSV That work also bumped up total reports 9 percent, arrests 6 percent and citations 11 percent. Edmiston also reported Hermiston police from Dec. 21, 2015, to Jan. 4 arrested eight people for driving under the LQÀXHQFHRILQWR[LFDQWVFLWHG people driving while suspended and handed out 26 citations for hazardous crash-causing viola- tions (not equipment-related violations). A grant provided the funds for the crackdown. Edmiston also plans to release juvenile crime numbers later this month. and a communications RI¿FHU FRXOG OHVVHQ EDFN lash, but it won’t eliminate it completely. Councilor McKennon McDonald agreed with Madril. “People are going to have their own thoughts about everything and we’re all going to have differing thoughts about it, so the people should be able to write those letters too ... As long as we have our piece along with it, then people can make up their minds in a more educated way,” McDonald said. Discussion of a public LQIRUPDWLRQ RI¿FHU VSLOOHG over into other topics. The council reached a consensus that the city shouldn’t seek another ballot measure in 2016, with some councilors reasoning that the extra time could be used to get a spokesman to help communicate the city’s perspective on tax proposals. 6RPH FLW\ RI¿FLDOV FLWHG a lack of communication in the demise of a proposed 5-cent gas tax on the ballot last November. Corbett said he would take the feedback on the draft from the council and come back with a more VSHFL¿F UHFRPPHQGDWLRQ on how to hire a communi- cations specialist. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. GRANT COUNTY (AP) — Authorities say one man was injured and another walked away after a helicopter crash in Grant County. Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said 60-year-old Cliff Hoeft, RI 3LORW 5RFN ZDV À\LQJ a 1988 Enstrom helicopter when it crashed just after 10 a.m. Tuesday. Palmer said the heli- copter ran out of fuel and crash landed among juniper trees and a rock outcropping near Ritter Butte Lookout. Palmer says Hoeft was injured and transferred by aircraft to a hospital in Bend. Hoeft’s passenger, 34-year-old Cody J. Cole, of Monument, walked away from the crash and was taken to a local hospital for observation. The men had been hired by people who were coyote hunting on adjoining prop- erties in the area. Palmer says the heli- copter sustained major damage and is a total loss.
