PENDLETON BLIZZARD
STOMPS RANKS
THE DALLES FOURTH
BASKETBALL/1B WORST 5A
ZIKA VIRUS
‘SPREADING
EXPLOSIVELY’
WORLD/6A
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016
140th Year, No. 75
Your Weekend
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MEACHAM
Umatilla man charged with murder
Three jailed after shooting death of Thadd Nelson
•
•
•
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Winter Chamber Music at
the Vert Club Room
Rivoli fundraiser brunch at
Sundown Bar and Grill
“The Murder of Handsome
Jack” at Agape House
For times and places
see Coming Events, 5A
Catch a movie
Photo contributed by Marnie Elder
DreamWorks Animation via AP
Thadd Nelson was killed
early Wednesday morning near
Meacham.
Joseph Aaron McIver of Umatilla
was charged Thursday with murder
in the shooting death of Thadd
Nelson of Meacham.
Two other men also are in
Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, in
connection to the violent crime.
Umatilla
County
District
Attorney Dan Primus said he could
not provide details of the crime
while the police investigation
continues. Nelson’s family said they
are reeling from the loss.
Primus arraigned the trio
Thursday afternoon in separate
cases. They appeared in circuit court
in Pendleton via video from the jail.
The state charged McIver, 22,
of 81765 Harbor Lights Lane,
Umatilla, with the lone count of
PXUGHUZLWKD¿UHDUP7KHMXGJHVHW
McIver’s bail at $10 million.
Edward Duarte Ayala, 46, and
Armando Vargas, 39, appeared
before Circuit Judge Lynn Hampton.
They said they live with others at
1065 W. Juanita Ave., Hermiston.
The state charged Ayala with felon
LQSRVVHVVLRQRID¿UHDUPXQDXWKR
rized use of a vehicle and attempt to
ÀHHSROLFH9DUJDVIDFHVFKDUJHVRI
IHORQLQSRVVHVVLRQRID¿UHDUPDQG
unlawful use of a weapon.
Police used a spike strip to stop
Ayala, Primus told the court, and
caught
him
with at least
¿YH JXQV LQ
his possession.
Primus
also
said both men
had substantial
FULPLQDO KLVWR McIver
ries in Fresno,
California, including for domestic
violence and weapons crimes. He
said Vargas moved to Hermiston in
the last week.
Hampton set bail at $30,000 each
and also set preliminary hearings
for Wednesday, when they can enter
pleas.
See MURDER/10A
Jack Black continues his
“legendary adventures of
awesomeness” in
“Kung Fu Panda 3.”
For showtime, Page 5A
Weekend Weather
Fri
Sat
Sun
46/35
45/31
41/28
Utilities
tout coal
transition
plan
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Oregon Public Utility
Commission will hold a
special meeting Friday in
Salem to discuss a major
proposal that would phase
out coal from the state’s two
largest electric utilities.
House Bill 4036, or the
Clean Electricity and Coal
Transition Plan, would also
UHTXLUH 3DFL¿F 3RZHU DQG
Portland General Electric
double their renewable
energy mandate by 2040.
The companies would stop
using coal to serve Oregon
customers by 2030.
The deal was negotiated
ZLWK3DFL¿F3RZHU3*(DQG
a coalition of environmental
JURXSV WKDW SUHYLRXVO\ ¿OHG
ballot measures to cut coal out
of Oregon’s electricity mix.
Both utilities say HB 4036
includes safeguards that will
save ratepayers hundreds of
millions of dollars, compared
See COAL/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton High School Spanish teacher Kathryn Youngman addresses the crowd gathered on Thursday at the Happy Canyon
Arena in Pendleton to help her with her dream to be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. More photos online at eastoregonian.com
Teacher feels the love
Youngman supporters gather at Happy Canyon
or the Happy Canyon Night
Show. There wasn’t a horse or
bull in sight.
They came to support
The
#YoungmanOnEllen
Pendleton High School teacher
campaign rolls on.
$ SLQNFODG FURZG ¿OOHG WKH Kathryn Youngman, who is
Happy Canyon Arena Thursday battling cancer for the third
night. They weren’t there to time. They posed with huge
watch Professional Bull Riding #YoungmanOnEllen banners in
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
the shadow of the Happy Canyon
Saloon.
They will send the photo
to Ellen DeGeneres via social
media, as part of the campaign
to get Youngman on her show.
The Spanish teacher has said she
would love to meet DeGeneres
because of the comedienne’s
positivity and how she ends her
show by exhorting her audience
to be kind.
The
#YoungmanOnEllen
campaign trended this week
on Facebook and Twitter. The
hashtag was retweeted by Gov.
Kate Brown, former University
of Oregon quarterback Vernon
Adams, New York Yankee center
¿HOGHU -DFRE\ 0F&DEH$WODQWD
See YOUNGMAN/10A
HARNEY COUNTY STANDOFF: DAY 26
FBI shows video of Tuesday shooting of Finicum
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
and TERRENCE PETTY
Associated Press
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP
Greg Bretzing, special agent in charge for the FBI in
Portland, presents video of the shooting of Robert
Finicum, shown at center left on the monitor, a
spokesman for the armed occupiers of a wildlife
refuge, during a press conference in Burns, Thursday.
BURNS — The FBI released video
Thursday of the shooting death of a
spokesman for the armed occupiers of a
wildlife refuge that shows the man reaching
into his jacket before he fell into the snow.
The FBI said the man had a loaded gun in
his pocket.
Authorities showed the video at a news
conference to counter claims that the man
killed in the Tuesday confrontation on a
remote Oregon high country road — Robert
)LQLFXP²GLGQRWKLQJWRSURYRNHRI¿FHUV
5HOHDVHRIWKHYLGHRFDPHDVIRXURFFX
piers remaining at the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge refused to leave without
assurances they wouldn’t be arrested. The
occupation began nearly a month ago.
More online
See the full video at
eastoregonian.com.
Viewer discretion is
advised.
During the Tuesday confrontation, the
)%,DQG2UHJRQ6WDWH7URRSHUVDUUHVWHG¿YH
PDLQ ¿JXUHV LQ WKH RFFXSDWLRQ LQFOXGLQJ
Ammon Bundy, their leader.
The video, shot by the FBI from an
airplane, shows Bundy’s vehicle stopped
by police on a road. He and an occupier
riding with him — Brian Cavalier — were
arrested. A white truck driven by Finicum
ZDV VWRSSHG EXW WRRN RII ZLWK RI¿FHUV LQ
pursuit. The video shows Finicum’s vehicle
SORZLQJ LQWR D VQRZEDQN ZKHQ HQFRXQ
See STANDOFF/8A