Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2016)
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 OFF PAGE ONE SHOOTING: More than 100 people MUSIC: A community creator, regardless endured the rain for a candlelight vigil of socioeconomic status or language Page 8A East Oregonian Continued from 1A explained if this was a Chuck Sams, spokesman homicide on the reserva- for the tribes, and the FBI tion involving non-tribal sent written statements about members, his of¿ce would the shooting and case, and have jurisdiction. But the a letter from Gary Burke, charge was attempted chairman of the murder, and while tribes board of neither Contreras trustees, provided nor Jimenez were the names of the enrolled members victims and other of the Umatilla information about tribes, Welch is a the investigation. member, thus the Umatilla tribal prosecution shifted police responded at to the federal 5:53 a.m. Saturday courts. to a report of This is the shots ¿red near Contreras second fatal the tribal housing shooting on the development on Willow Umatilla Indian Reservation Drive. Of¿cers arrived and in 2016, the ¿rst coming Jan. found the bloodied Welch 27 when Thadd Nelson was and Jimenez. shot and killed at his home An ambulance rushed near Emigrant Springs State Welch to St. Anthony, and Park. Police in both cases an air ambulance Àew arrested men from California Jimenez to Kadlec Regional in connection to the crimes, Medical Center, Richland, and both cases are now in Washington, where doctors federal courts. declared him dead. FBI spokeswoman Beth Tribal police led the Ann Steele said the criminal shooting investigation with investigation into Saturday’s assistance from the FBI and crimes remains active, and it local and state law enforce- was too early to know if this ment, including members of case is related to the murder the area’s major crime team. of Nelson. Police booked Contreras into More than 100 people the jail at 2:15 a.m. Sunday, endured the rain Sunday according to the jail’s night for a candlelight service website. to honor Jimenez. Tribal police also arrested His family and close two men Saturday morning friends huddled under a tent on warrants: Cameron on stage at Roy Raley Park Joseph Shawl, 30, for a in Pendleton to stay out probation violation; and of the downpour. Many in Joseph Benjamin Thompson, the crowd wore rain coats 32, for misdemeanor and or pressed together under felony failure to appear. Jail umbrellas around the grass website information showed amphitheater. Loudspeakers these arrests and Contreras’ on either side of the stage occurred at or near 30 Willow broadcast rap, soul and pop Drive. songs. Umatilla County District The music ended, and Attorney Dan Primus Marisol Jimenez of Spring- ¿eld took the microphone. She was Tony’s younger sister and thanked so many for coming. She said her brother had a giving heart, then tears choked off her words. Rocio Jimenez of Kenne- wick, his older sister, said her brother was loving and loyal and a prankster. He once mooned her and her sister, she said, and they swiped lipstick across his backside for the stunt. The story drew a laugh from the assembly. Rocio Jimenez said she was sad those antics have ended, and she would cherish her memories of Tony. Their mother, Florinda Jimenez, came from Florida for the vigil. She missed her son, she said, but also could not hold forth for more than a few moments. One friend, Eric Rodri- guez, said he grew up with Tony and called him the kind of man who shook his friends’ hands and hugged them whenever he saw them. Tony had some troubles in the past, Rodriguez said, but turned that page and was becoming involved in the lives of his three children. Marisol Jimenez said her brother grew up in Pendleton. His children, Eliana, Xavier and Antonio III, are around 5-8 years old. An older sister, Gloria, died when she was 4 months old. The memorial ended around 9 with a moment of silence. The rain was letting up by then. The hugs and the tears lasted a while longer. A fund to help pay for funeral expenses has been set up at www.gofundme.com/ ayv62f7w. RECORDS: State of¿cials can waive public records fees if releasing the information bene¿ts the public Continued from 1A a barrier imposed by the legislator. It is not a barrier engineered by the public.” Inconsistencies in the way state agencies answer public records requests — including delays and high charges — contribute to the perception that agencies sometimes block release of public information, according to a November audit by the secre- tary of state’s of¿ce. The Capital Bureau’s request illustrated that those disparities can be even greater when the recipients of the requests are legislators. Lawmakers shape public records rules and have exempted themselves from many of the requirements. Disparities in charges and response times, along with fewer options for recourse when a lawmaker denies a records request, raise questions about whether the public can access information about how their representa- tives spend their time and make their decisions. Oregon law allows lawmakers and their staff to refuse to release records during legislative sessions. Hourly charges and the time estimated to release calendars varied dramatically. For example, Courtney’s staff members indicated they would charge nearly $80 an hour to review, make redac- tions and release his calendar. Meanwhile, Sen. Michael Dembrow’s of¿ce gave an estimate of less than $23 an hour. State agencies charge anywhere from $15 to $40 per hour for staff time spent on ful¿lling public records requests, according the secretary of state’s audit. Time estimates to produce the calendars ranged from two hours for Courtney’s to 10 hours for Sen. Arnie Roblan’s. Lawmakers who volun- teered to waive fees asso- ciated with releasing their calendars were Rep. Margaret Doherty, D-Tigard; Rep. Ann Lininger, D-Lake Oswego; Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland; Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day; and Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene. At the bureau’s request, Sen. Dembrow, D-Portland, House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, and Sen. Roblan, D-Coos Bay, later agreed to also waive the fees. Senate President Courtney, House Speaker Kotek and House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, held ¿rm on their charges. Setting a cost barrier In their leadership posi- tions, Courtney and Kotek shape the policy agenda, can block bills from the chamber Àoor and often negotiate backroom deals on legislation. Their power in the state rivals only that of Gov. Kate. Brown. Kotek and Courtney’s estimates for their calendars equaled nearly $300. As a comparison, Brown agreed to release nearly a year of her calendar, with detail ¿elds, for $45. Courtney’s of¿ce indi- cated it would charge for his most expensive employee, Chief of Staff Betsy Imholt, to process the request, at a cost of $80 per hour. Imholt earns $110,838 a year. Courtney’s of¿ce later agreed to reduce the charge to $60 an hour, when the bureau pointed out the hourly charge appeared inconsistent with Imholt’s annual salary. The original $80 charge contained a prorated cost for bene¿ts, said Robin Maxey, Courtney’s spokesman. Legislators are allowed to charge fees for the time it takes to release their calendar, including redacting items that are not legislative business. That can include personal information, personal appointments, such as doctor visits, and campaign-related events, Trujillo said. The charge “recoups the cost to the public body incurred in responding to the request — in this case, the staff time that was diverted from taxpayer-funded duties to ful¿ll your request,” said Lindsey O’Brien, Kotek’s spokeswoman. The Speaker’s Of¿ce didn’t offer any evidence that providing the records caused an additional cost to the state. Not every public record request incurs overtime, so if an employee doesn’t work overtime to ful¿ll the request and an extra employee isn’t hired to do so, it is unclear what bene¿t the fee serves, except to discourage such public records requests, said Orchard of the ONPA. Orchard also questioned whether lawmakers have a right to charge for removing their personal appointments from a public calendar. With today’s technology, any lawmaker can keep separate personal and legislative calendars and sync them, Orchard said. “The decision to merge public and private appoint- ments on a calendar is your decision to make,” he said. “To turn around and charge the public for a decision you made to merge the two seems to me to set up a cost barrier for people getting access to that public record.” Lawmakers “need to know what time is really free and not free,” said legislative counsel Dexter Johnson. “That inherently means kind of a blended calendar of both public and private events.” Continued from 1A Desert View Elementary, some students burned energy in the gym; others clapped, sang and played percussion in Rachel Goller’s music classroom, the walls decorated with colorful musical notes, posters and other reminders of song. Down the hallway, a bulletin board shows how school staff have music in their own lives. Goller teaches 10 music classes a day. Over 40 minutes, students learn how to read sheet music. They practice being piano and mezzo, and they learn how to compose music and play the recorder. While students sing, they read the words on a screen, and as they count beats, they do mathematics. “It’s still academic, but they’re not sitting behind a desk,” Goller said. “They can move, they can sing, they can express them- selves.” For Goller’s students in the classroom setting, music isn’t just about having a talent. “When I teach them how to play an instrument, I expect them to at least try,” she said. “I tell my kids to just give me their best.” While the elementary students practiced beats and danced to the music, high school students were also taking advantage of Hermiston’s focus on education. At the high school, students can choose from concert, marching and jazz bands. They can take music appreciation, join the wind ensemble or the drumline. For vocal perfor- mance, the school offers four separate performance ensembles: concert choir, chamber choir, Con Brio and Majazzty. Both the band and choir hosted a district band and choir festival where Herm- iston ensembles competed against 13 bands and 13 choirs from across Eastern Photo Contributed by Josh Rist The Hermiston High School choir performs in concert at the Oregon State University’s Orange and Black scholarship concert in Corvallis. Oregon for a chance at the state competition. The Hermiston High School bands continue to win awards, and the Chamber Choir recently toured Salem and Corvallis, performing and learning. Josh Rist, HHS choir director, said music should be a core part of curriculum. “I think that music education should be as fundamental a part of a student’s education as learning to read or to engage in sciences or study history,” he said. “It is a study of who we are as people as well as a study of an art form that has been a part of human history as long as there has been human history. “Even if music didn’t have all these other bene- ¿ts, it is worth investing in so generations can tell their story through music and create communities through music.” Rist pointed to music’s history as a community creator, regardless of back- ground, socioeconomic status or language. Music is able to draw people together, and Rist ¿nds value in teaching students how to create and explore music. “When people engage in music, it becomes a more beautiful world,” he said. “It is really a place where diversity is celebrated. Athletes and computer programmers, cheerleaders and chess club members, everyone working together in harmony. We have an ideal society where people celebrate each other’s differences and work together for a common good. That’s what the world needs.” For the educators, music doesn’t stop at the edge of the classroom. Whether it is giving students an outlet for expression or making the world a more beautiful place, the teachers hope to bring music to life in the Hermiston community. “I’d love to see more music performed in Hermiston at the Saturday markets, at the bars and coffee shops, where music becomes an integral part of our culture,” Rist said. “These kids not only become musicians in high school: They become supporters of the arts, and they want to live more beautiful lives because of this experience. We want to make Hermiston a more beautiful place.” ——— Contact Jennifer Colton at jcolton@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4534 INSURANCE For over 35 years local farmers and ranchers have been turning to Bisnett Insurance for peace of mind. No one knows Farm, Ranch, & Crop Insurance like the agents at Bisnett Insurance. Our insurance specialists have combined years of experience of over 98 years! From left to right: Joe Young, Andrea Munkers, Cindy Dougherty, Shelby Moody, Shane Leasy and Erin McLaughlin. Not pictured: Jeanne King. Business ~ Farm/ Crop ~ Auto ~ Home ~ Life ~ Health Contact us for all of your insurance needs! 121 S. Main Street • Pendleton • 541.276.1418 84030 Hwy 11 • Milton-Freewater • 541-938-5576 1798 Campbell Street • Baker City • 541-523-4267 405 West Main Street • John Day • 541-575-0419 Locations also in Lake Oswego, Hood River, Ketchum, ID & Scottsdale, AZ Online at bisnett.com • 800-303-0419