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MAY 28-29, 2016
140th Year, No. 161
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WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Mother on a quest to end
epidemic of distracted driving
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Alexxyss Therwhanger was 18 when she got her
fi rst tattoo: “I love you, Mom.”
Her mother, Shannon Moulton, a tattoo enthu-
siast, said she replied in ink as well with “I love you
more.”
Alexxyss the afternoon of Feb. 19 left a friend’s
place in Long Creek, a small town in remote Grant
County, and headed north on Highway 395 in a 1998
Buick Century to return to Hermiston. She lived in
Hermiston most of her life and was staying there
again. South of Pilot Rock she drifted into the other
lane and crashed head-on into a Lincoln Continental.
The two occupants of that car were injured.
Alexxyss died. She was 19.
See DISTRACTED/14A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Shannon Moulton of Richland holds a photo of her daughter, Alexxyss, as traffi c passes by on Highway 395 in
Pendleton. Moulton lost her daughter after she collided with a vehicle while driving on Highway 395 and using
her smartphone last February south of Pendleton.
HERMISTON
City pulls the reins on spending
Water tower paint job,
city bus in budget
MILTON-FREEWATER
Man to face
murder charge
in stabbing
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
After years of plentiful
construction, the city of Herm-
iston will slow down spending
with a 2016-2017 proposed
budget that is $14 million
smaller than the year before.
City Manager Byron Smith
told the budget committee
Wednesday that a large part
of the decrease comes from
the completion of a long list of
capital improvements.
“We fi nished up a lot of
construction projects in the
current fi scal year,” he said.
The
average
citizen,
however, may not notice much
of a difference. Multi-million
dollar projects in recent years,
such as a new recycled water
treatment plant, have been
largely out of the public eye,
while proposed projects, such
as a repaint of the water tower
and construction of the senior
center, will cost much less but
be more visible.
For 2016-2017 the city’s big
spending item will be construc-
tion of the Harkenrider Center,
The Milton-Freewater man accused of fatally
stabbing his wife and injuring his young children
Thursday will return to Umatilla County to face a
charge of murder.
Oscar Villegas Garcia appeared Friday in
Walla Walla County Superior Court, where he
waived extradition, according to the Walla Walla
Union-Bulletin.
Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus
said Friday afternoon he wasn’t aware of the
result of that court appearance but intended to
charge Villegas Garcia with murder.
Police were called to a house at 362 N.E. 13th
Ave., Milton-Freewater, late Thursday morning
and found Garcia, 26, his wife Maria Villegas, 24,
and their children, a 4-year-old girl and 2-year-old
boy, with stab and cut wounds. All four were taken
to Washington hospitals, and Maria Villegas died
of her wounds Thursday at Providence St. Mary
Medical Center. Walla Walla.
The girl was fl own Thursday to Sacred Heart
Medical Center, Spokane, and the boy was treated
at St. Mary. The East Oregonian has been unable
to determine the status of the children.
Villegas Garcia’s wounds were believed to be
self-infl icted, according to a report from Oregon
State Police. At his Friday hearing, his left arm
was bandaged from wrist to elbow, according to
the U-B, and fi ve security offi cers escorted him.
He also mumbled what court personnel referred
to as prayer recitation.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The City of Hermiston is allocating $75,000 for repairs and repainting of the water tower
in its budget for next year.
a new senior center that will
start construction downtown in
the fall. It will be funded with a
$2 million Community Devel-
opment Block Grant and up to
$750,000 of the city’s money.
Smith said strategies such
as providing in-kind labor will
likely reduce the cost, but,
“we’re going to budget for the
full amount and then we can
back off from there.”
Another sizable item is
$100,000 in the street fund
for an overlay on North First
Place between Elm Avenue
and Harper Road. Smith said
the overlay will keep the street
usable for a few more years
while the city continues to try
and get funds (possibly as part
of the transportation package
being put together for the 2017
legislative session) to replace it
completely.
See BUDGET/7A
PENDLETON
A fi ght for survival
Hunter recounts bear
attack in Starkey Unit
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Shane Thomas is happy to be home after surviving a bear attack while hunt-
ing the animal May 22 in the Grande Ronde Valley near La Grande.
Shane
Thomas
doesn’t
remember how long the attack
lasted. He fi gures it was maybe a
minute. It felt a lot longer.
All Thomas remembers is
the adrenaline that kicked in
after he was charged and thrown
to the ground by a black bear
Sunday, May 22 in the Starkey
Unit — the same bear he had
just shot from his hunting spot
on top of the ridge. Thomas went
to retrieve the animal from out of
the timber, certain his .30-06 rifl e
had taken it down.
It hadn’t. The bear was
wounded, but not dead. By the
time Thomas locked eyes with
the animal, they were just a few
feet away from each other.
“That’s when he charged me,”
Thomas said. “I let my instincts
kick in and do their thing.”
Thomas, 32, is a life-long
hunter and utility worker for
Pendleton Parks and Recreation.
The trophy room inside his house
contains an impressive collection
of elk and deer mounts, bear
skins and waterfowl, taking up
nearly every inch of wall space.
See BEAR/14A