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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 2016)
MAN COMES DOWN FROM TREE LOCAL EASTER EVENTS 52/38 REGION/3A Bucks beat Sandy SPORTS/1B SEATTLE/5A THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016 140th Year, No. 114 MISSION Still no charges in Jimenez homicide By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus said he has “no evidence” to bring a murder charge in the recent shooting death of Tony Jimenez of Pendleton. Jimenez, 27, was attending a party March 17 at the home of Beau Welch, 31, on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, according to an FBI a ff i d a v i t . Saturday morning they had a confronta- tion with party-goer V i c t o r Jimenez Contreras, 23, of California. Contreras opened ¿ re, and Welch was shot in his lower left leg. Jimenez was also shot in the head at roughly the same time and he died later that day. But Primus said there is nothing to link Contreras to Jimenez’s death. Tribal police and the FBI arrested Contreras for shooting Welch, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Federal pros- ecutors in Portland charged Contreras with several felo- nies, including the attempted murder of Welch. Chuck Sams, commu- nications director for the tribes, said federal courts have jurisdiction in murder or attempted murder cases when the crimes occur on Indian lands and involve Indian victims. State courts have jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indian victims on tribal lands, though the Umatilla Tribal Court also can prose- cute non-Indians. Primus said he would ¿ le charges for Jimenez’s death if he could, but right now he cannot. No state charges are pending. “Has there been an arrest for murder?” Primus asked. “I don’t have anyone to charge.” That could change. Primus said investigators continue to look for evidence, including the .40-caliber Glock pistol Contreras claimed he used to shoot Welch’s home Saturday morning. The FBI af¿ davit One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Umatilla County Health to tobacco advertisers: By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian TEAR DOWN T THIS WALL Staff photo by E.J. Harris The tobacco industry spends $112 million a year in Oregon just on in-store advertising and promotions. It’s called a “power wall,” and it is located behind the counter in most convenience stores. 12,700 23% 3,000 148 Umatilla County residents that smoke Umatilla County adults that smoke 19% Statewide average of adults that smoke Oregonians with serious illness caused by tobacco Oregonians that die of tobacco-related death each year Jones Information from statewide survey by the Oregon Health Authority “We don’t have tobacco billboards or tobacco ads on TV, but in Oregon, the tobacco industry spends $112 million every year on ads and promotions.” — Janet Jones, community health educator for Umatilla County Public Health obacco companies can no longer advertise through billboards, radio or television, but they can still pour millions of dollars into “power walls.” The walls are hard to miss, located behind the cashier at many convenience stores ² an expanse of hundreds of tobacco products, logos and colorful posters. The vibrant barrage of tobacco advertising worries many who work to keep kids from smoking. “We don’t have tobacco billboards or tobacco ads on TV, but in Oregon, the tobacco industry spends $112 million every year on ads and promotions,” said Janet Jones, community health educator for Umatilla County Public Health. “The tobacco industry spends an inordinate amount of money at the point of sale.” Umatilla County recently won a $133,000 grant to fund a tobacco prevention coordinator. The mission? To make tobacco less appealing to youth. According to Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion research, power walls and other displays seduce young, would-be smokers. The opposite is also true for adolescents: If smoking is out of sight, it’s out of mind. However, more than 90 percent of middle school and high school students reported seeing tobacco ads inside convenience stores, on store fronts or online. Research has established a causal relation- ship between advertising and teens starting to smoke. “We know kids who regu- larly see tobacco advertising are more likely to experiment with tobacco,” Jones said. Grant funding will allow the county to explore the issue. Coordinator selection is in process. Jones expects the 18-month effort to spark “an open and honest conver- sation about how tobacco is sold in our local communi- ties,” starting in Pendleton, Hermiston, Milton-Freewater See TOBACCO/8A Voters have until April 26 to pick party for primary See HOMICIDE/8A By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau Contributed Photo The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are working on a stream bank and fl oodplain restoration project at the former Southern Cross Ranch on Catherine Creek. The project is part of a larger, four-phase restoration effort involving six properties along the creek. Unchanneling Catherine Creek CTUIR purchased former working ranch By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian A century of ranching has taken its toll on Catherine Creek in the Grande Ronde Valley. The creek is home to three different species of threatened or endangered ¿ sh ² including chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout ² while at the same time providing irrigation for hay ¿ elds and cattle pastures. Over the years, portions of middle Catherine Creek were pinched off from its natural À oodplain to make room for farms, resulting in a loss of habitat and increased erosion along the stream bank. It’s a familiar refrain in Eastern Oregon, where the needs of agriculture tend to overlap with the needs of ¿ sh and wildlife. Faced with chronic À ooding caused by erosion, several private land- owners on Catherine Creek See CREEK/3A SA/EM ² Oregon’s 40,000 non-af¿ l- iated voters have begun to receive mailers from the Secretary of State’s Of¿ ce, laying out their options to participate in the May 17 primary. The ranks of Oregon’s non-af¿ liated voters have grown at a fast pace since the state’s new automatic voter registration law took effect in January, because the new system registers people as non-af¿ liated by default. Eighty-six percent of voters registered through the new system were non-af¿ liated as of February, according to the Secretary of State’s Of¿ ce. These voters cannot cast ballots for Democratic or Republican candidates, because those parties will have closed primaries this year. Non-af¿ liated voters can vote in the Independent Party of Oregon’s primary, but only if they request that ballot. Oregon’s automatic voter registration law is the ¿ rst of its kind in the nation and See PRIMARY/8A