WEEKEND EDITION
HERMISTON BEATS THE DALLES
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ETHICAL QUESTION SURROUND
BUNDY’S LEGAL TEAM 7A
FEBRUARY 6-7, 2016
140th Year, No. 81
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WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
ON THE STREETS
Law enforcement officers increasingly deal with mental illness
SeaPort
declares
bankruptcy
Will continue current flight
schedule, paying employees
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton Police offi cer Shelly Studebaker checks on the welfare of a man who appeared distressed and was gesturing
wildly at traffi c near the westbound onramp to Interstate 84 off Southgate on Wednesday in Pendleton.
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
SeaPort Airlines announced Friday it
fi led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, although
the company says day-to-day operations
will not be interrupted.
According to a press release, SeaPort
will continue to operate its current fl ight
schedule, including the route between
Pendleton’s Eastern Oregon Regional
Airport and Portland.
The airline also promised to continue
paying its employees as the company
attempts to reorganize in the midst of
a national pilot shortage and a severely
reduced fl ight schedule.
In addition, CEO Rob Kinney has
resigned. Tim Sieber, most recently
executive vice president, was named
president.
Although SeaPort has reassured city
offi cials that business will continue as
usual, the development follows some
downward trends for the Portland-based
airline.
Once operating almost two dozen
routes in 11 states and Mexico, SeaPort
announced that it would dramatically cut
its service area in January, focusing most
of its attention toward airports in Oregon
and Arkansas.
SeaPort was sued in U.S. District
Court by Caravan Air LLC last week,
See SEAPORT/12A
At one time the nation’s
most severely mentally ill were
locked up in mental hospitals,
often against their will. Now
they wander our streets.
That’s how it seems to many
law enforcement offi cers these
days as they spend more and
more of their time dealing with
people in crisis.
“It’s much more common
than people think,” said
Hermiston Police Chief Jason
Edmiston. “My offi cers see
mental illness daily, if not
hourly.”
When someone in crisis
endangers themselves or others,
offi cers must take action.
Sometimes that means getting
the person evaluated by a
MEACHAM
“We put them on a merry-go-round and we spin it.
Pretty soon it’s spinning so hard they can’t get off.”
The interactions have almost
endless variation: A person lying
on a city street, getting aggres-
sive, urinating in a public place,
hallucinating, in the grip of a
suicidal depression or causing
a multitude of other scenarios
that range from simply strange
to severely dangerous.
On a recent day, Pendleton
Police Offi cer Shelly Stude-
baker stopped her patrol car to
chat with a man who stood on a
traffi c island at the confl uence of
Frazer and Emigrant Avenues.
He was gesturing at the traffi c
and fi xated on a truck parked
across the busy street on the
gravel beside the Interstate 84
onramp. With some conversa-
tion, Studebaker learned he was
— Stuart Roberts, Pendleton police chief
See HEALTH/12A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton police offi cer Shelly Studebaker checks in with
the dispatch center while on patrol Wednesday.
professional or hauling him or
her to jail. Other times, they use
words to persuade or soothe and
de-escalate.
Most of the time, the interac-
tions end peacefully, but offi cers
likely will see the person again
— maybe even later that day.
Pendleton joins in Super Bowl’s golden anniversary
Student helps former
Buckaroo receive
NFL recognition
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Pendleton High senior Roman
Martinez was wandering the hall-
ways at Lebanon High School
in early January, waiting for a
Bucks basketball game to start,
when a shiny gold football in the
school’s trophy case caught his
eye.
It was from the NFL,
commemorating former Lebanon
football player Paul McQuistan
who had played in the 2013
Super Bowl with the Seattle
Seahawks. It was part of the
NFL’s Honor Roll initiative to
celebrate the 50th Super Bowl by
sending commemorative trophies
See FOOTBALL/12A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton High School graduate Bob Lilly played in the 1971 and
1972 Super Bowl for the Dallas Cowboys.
More Super Bowl coverage inside
For an in-depth look at how the Broncos and Panthers stack up
see page 4B
Three connected to
murder face federal
weapons charges
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The three men arrested in connection
to the recent murder of Thadd Nelson
of Meacham now face federal weapons
charges.
While the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce has
not charged any of them with Nelson’s
death,
Pendleton
Police Chief Stuart
Roberts said he
suspected
more
charges are in the
pipeline.
Nelson died after
being shot early Jan.
27 on his property
near
Emigrant
Springs State Park on McIver
the Umatilla Indian
Reservation. Police
soon caught Joseph
Aaron McIver, 22,
of Umatilla, and the
Umatilla
County
District Attorney’s
Offi ce charged him
with murder with a
fi rearm.
Vargas
Police also arrested
Edward Duarte Ayala,
46, and Armando
Rueben Vargas, 39,
on weapons charges
and more in connec-
tion to the killing.
They are from Fresno,
Calif. but moved to
Hermiston.
District Attorney Ayala
Dan Primus dismissed
all the cases Wednesday due to a federal
indictment that charges McIver, Ayala
and Vargas with one count each of felon
in possession of a fi rearm.
Primus said the FBI was not involved
at the start of the investigation, but joined
soon after. He said it was common prac-
See WEAPONS/12A