87/59
PARENTS
UNDER
SCRUTINY
STANFIELD WILL
PLAY FOR
TITLE
FISHING IS
FREE ALL
WEEKEND
GORILLA ATTACK/7A
BASEBALL/1B
REGION/3A
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2016
140th Year, No. 163
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
One dollar
Pergande
Judge’s
mistake
restarts
rape
trial
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Edward Pergande of
Irrigon could have spent
more than 60 years in state
prison for the rape and sexual
abuse of two young girls. But
a judge’s error opened the
door to a new trial this July.
Pergande, though, has
sworn to stay silent at all
hearings as a protest against
his court-appointed attorney.
A Morrow County jury
in 2011 convicted Pergande,
37, of fi rst-degree rape and
unlawful sexual penetration
and two counts each of
fi rst-degree sexual abuse
and coercion. The state
accused Pergande of the
physical and sexual abuse
of his then-girlfriend’s two
daughters in 2008. They did
not tell anyone for months,
though, and an examination
found no physical evidence
of sexual abuse.
The girls testifi ed at trial,
as did the clinical social
worker who treated them for
a year and a half. That worker
also denied the children
showed any indications of
someone coaching them for
their testimony. The Oregon
Court of Appeals in April
2015 ruled Circuit Judge
Eva Temple should not have
allowed that statement.
“We have repeatedly
concluded,” the appeals
court stated, “that it is plain
error for a trial court not to
strike testimony of a witness
that is an explicit comment
on the credibility of another
witness.”
The ruling also noted
the state supreme court has
decided this “same type of
direct vouching evidence”
was “impermissible.”
Allowing the testimony
was a “grave error,” the
appeals court found, because
the case had no physical
See TRIAL/7A
Last hurrah
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Pendleton softball players shed tears after losing to Churchill
in extra innings Tuesday during a state semifi nal game at Steve
Cary Field. The team was playing for its fi fth trip to the state
championship in seven years.
Mac-Hi and Pilot Rock both won semifi nal softball games and
will play for state titles this weekend. For more, see Page 1B.
Offi cials hope
Lobbying, contributions
dual paths to political clout for cool June
as fi re season
draws near
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The day after
Oregon’s primary election,
Gov. Kate Brown stepped up to
the podium at the opening of a
software company’s new offi ce
in northwest Portland.
The company, Vitu, operates
an electronic vehicle titling and
registration system in California
and last year won a state contract
to expand into Oregon. That
was exciting news for Brown,
who joined executives from
Vitu’s parent company Motor
Vehicle Software Corporation
to celebrate the offi ce opening.
“I am so pleased to be here
today to help open Vitu here
in the city of Portland,” Brown
said. “Their very innovative
tools to modernize vehicle
registration, I think, will be an
essential service for Oregonians
throughout the state.”
For the Motor Vehicle Soft-
ware Corporation, the gover-
nor’s attendance at the offi ce
opening followed two years
of investments in lobbying
and political contributions in
Oregon.
The Motor Vehicle Software
Corporation reported spending
$108,000 on lobbying in Oregon
from 2014 through March, and
contributed $107,500 to local
and state politicians’ campaigns
since 2013. This included
$20,000 in contributions to
Brown’s campaign, with the
latest contribution in early May,
according to state campaign
fi nance records.
The combination of spending
on lobbying and campaign
contributions
is
common
practice for many companies
and interest groups in Oregon,
which has no limits on the size
of political contributions and
expenditures. However, it is
Lawmakers propose funding
fi xes after explosive 2015
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Courtesy of David Thalberg
Gov. Kate Brown spoke at the May 18 opening of the
Portland offi ce of the software company Vitu, which
recently won a state contract to provide electronic regis-
tration and titling services at car dealerships in Oregon. Vi-
tu’s parent company spent more than $200,000 on lobbying
and campaign contributions in Oregon starting in late 2013,
including $20,000 in contributions to Brown’s gubernatorial
election campaign.
diffi cult for the public to track
the connection because the state
uses separate systems to record
political campaign and lobbying
spending. The state also does
not require lobbyists to disclose
if they play a role in raising
political donations.
As for the Motor Vehicle
Software
Corporation’s
spending, it is dwarfed by the
millions invested by the state’s
top lobbying and political
spenders.
For example, the Oregon
Nurses Association reported
spending $2.3 million to lobby
lawmakers and other state
offi cials from 2007 through
2015. It was the second largest
amount spent on lobbying by
any private sector group during
that time period, according to
analysis of state records by
the EO Media Group/Pamplin
Media Group Capital Bureau.
Since 2008, the nurses’ political
action committee also contrib-
uted more than $1.5 million to
a long list of state offi cials and
lawmakers, including co-chairs
of the Legislature’s budget
writing Joint Committee on
See CLOUT/8A
Early forecasts suggest this year’s wildfi re
season should be closer to normal across
Eastern Oregon, though another hot, dry month
in June could change that outlook.
Joe Hessel, unit forester for the Oregon
Department
of
Forestry in La Grande,
said there is still More inside
plenty of green grass
in the Blue Moun- Fires across
tains, but heavier fuels Umatilla County
like down trees and have fi re chiefs
branches are drier warning caution
than usual thanks to Page 3A
the effects of drought.
The past couple
years have seen ODF declare fi re season histor-
ically early in northeast Oregon. Hessel said the
district was feeling pretty good about bucking
that trend in 2016 until April came along and
quickly melted the region’s snowpack. Since
then, Hessel said the potential for fi res — espe-
cially at lower elevations — has been rising.
“We’re all waiting to see what happens in
June,” Hessel said. “If June is relatively warm
or dry, or both, that will refl ect through the rest
of the fi re year.”
Fire season began on June 16 in 2015, and
a number of devastating infernos kept fi re-
fi ghters scrambling from one blaze to the next.
The Canyon Creek, Windy Ridge and Grizzly
Bear complexes all started about the same time
in August, and together burned nearly 300,000
acres of rangeland and forests.
Hessel doesn’t know if it will be as bad
this year, but he’s keeping a close eye on the
conditions. If the weather stays warm and dry,
it could start parching some of that grass and
make it more likely fi res are able to spread. The
seasonal trend, Hessel said, is a little ahead of
schedule.
See FIRE:/8A