REGION
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
MILTON-FREEWATER
Murder defendant now
in Umatilla County Jail
police Thursday morning
responded to the couple’s
home at 362 N.E. 13th Ave.,
A
Milton-Freewater Milton-Freewater, and found
man is now in the Umatilla Garcia, Maria Villegas, and
their children, a
County Jail, Pend-
4-year-old girl and
leton, charged with
2-year-old
boy,
murder.
with stab and cut
Oscar
Pastor
wounds.
Maria
Villegas Garcia, 26,
Villegas
died
appeared Tuesday
Thursday at a Walla
morning in circuit
Walla hospital.
court in Pendleton
Villegas Garcia
via video from the
also
received
jail to face charges
related to injuring Villegas Garcia medical help and
was in the county
his two young chil-
dren and the stabbing death jail in Walla Walla until
of their mother and his wife, Friday morning, when he
waived his right to extradi-
24-year-old Maria Villegas.
M i l t o n - F r e e w a t e r tion. He was in the Pendleton
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
jail by 5 p.m. that day.
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Ofice
charged Villegas Garcia with
one count of murder and
two of attempted aggravated
murder, according to court
records. Circuit Judge Lynn
Hampton set bail at $5
million. She also prohibited
Villegas Garcia from having
any contact with his children
or their custodians.
Villegas Garcia did not
enter any plea. His next
hearing is Friday afternoon,
which indicates the district
attorney plans to present
the case to a grand jury for
an indictment before that
proceeding.
BRIEFLY
Free ishing
this weekend in
Oregon waters
PENDLETON — Free
Fishing Weekend will be
celebrated June 4-5 in
Oregon.
During those two days,
anglers won’t be required
to have a license, tags
or endorsements to ish
Oregon’s waters. The
Oregon Department of
Fish & Wildlife will host a
number of free events across
the state, releasing more than
185,000 trout at 80 different
locations.
The following events will
be held Saturday in northeast
Oregon:
• Twin Ponds, Ukiah, 7
a.m. to noon
• Cutsforth Pond,
Heppner, 8:30-11 a.m.
• 203 Pond, Baker City, 9
a.m. to noon
• McHaley Pond, Prairie
City, 9 a.m. to noon
• Marr Pond, Wallowa, 10
a.m. to 2 p.m.
At Twin Ponds, ODFW
and the Umatilla National
Forest will offer competitive
events to kids 16 years and
younger, including a casting
contest and biggest ish
contest. There will be some
equipment on hand for those
who need it, though children
should be accompanied by an
adult and bring their own gear
if they can. Hot dogs, chips
and soda will be provided to
everyone who attends.
Saturday, June 4 is also
Oregon State Parks Day,
with free camping and
admission to encourage
families to explore the
outdoors. Campsite
reservations may be made
by calling 1-800-452-5687
before 5 p.m. Friday, or
reserve online at www.
oregonstateparks.org.
While the campsite rental is
free, an $8 non-refundable
reservation fee still applies,
and not all parks may accept
reservations.
Heavy trucks may
get ban from two
county roads
PENDLETON — The
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners will not
hold its regular meeting
Wednesday.
The board rescheduled
the meeting for 9 a.m. on
June 6.
The board at that time
plans to hold a public
meeting on allowing
all-terrain vehicles on certain
county roads. The board
also will consider banning
heavy trucks from Canal and
Baxter roads.
County public works
director Tom Fellows
determined the roads were
not built to handle lots of
heavy truck trafic, according
to county documents. The
ban would not apply to local
farm trucks.
The county would place
“No Through Trucks” signs
at the south end of Canal
Road (County Road No.
1179) at its intersection
with Highway 395 and
at the north end of Canal
Road (County Road No.
1203) at its intersection with
Highway 207. The county
also would install the signs
at the west end of Baxter
Road (County Road No.
1246) at its intersection with
Highway 207 and at the east
end at the intersection with
South Edwards Road.
The board also plants to
discus jail medical services
and more.
More 48-star lags
located, retired
at cemetery
HERMISTON — A total
of ive 48-star lags were
retired Monday night from
the Avenue of Flags that
lines Hermiston Cemetery
every Memorial Day.
When Hermiston resident
Ken May found a 48-star
lag before this year’s
Memorial Day ceremony,
he was told by members of
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 4750 that it was thought
to be the last 48-star lag left
in the approximately 600
lags used each year. The
VFW manages the Avenue
of Flags, and member Duane
Storms said previous 48-star
lags were placed into
shadow boxes and put on
display at the VFW hall.
Later in the day a search
of the cemetery before the
lags were taken down by
volunteers resulted in four
more 48-star lags being
located. Storms said all
of them will be placed in
shadow boxes and displayed.
The lags displayed at the
Avenue of Flags are casket
lags donated by veterans’
families. Names of the
deceased the lag honors are
stenciled on the side of the
lag.
Open burning to
close June 15
in Pendleton
PENDLETON — Open
burning will close
Wednesday, June 15 for the
city of Pendleton, along with
the Rieth, McKay Dam,
Lower McKay and Riverside
ire districts.
Residents should plan
accordingly. Special burning
permits are available through
the Pendleton Fire and
Ambulance at no charge.
Open burning includes any
burning done outdoors, such
as burn barrels or debris piles.
Burn barrels are not
allowed at any time during
the year within city limits,
but can be used within the
ire districts on “Green
Days.” To ind out if it is
a “Green Day,” call the
Umatilla County Burn Line
at 541-278-6397.
It is illegal to conduct
any open burning that
creates a nuisance or safety
hazard. For a complete
list of burning regulations,
visit www.pendleton.or.us/
ire-ambulance.
New exhibit opens
Thursday
PENDLETON — A new
exhibit at Pendleton Center
for the Arts explores dualities
through visual palindromes
akin to the infamous
Rorschach psychology test,
with each drawing relecting
the altered shadow of its
other half.
Light Mirror: Mirror
Shadow by Nika Blasser
generates an environment
of quiet contemplation,
revealing moments of poetic
clarity where nature and
artistic agency are luidly
intertwined. The exhibit
opens Thursday with an
artist’s reception from 5:30-7
p.m. at 214 N. Main St.,
Pendleton. It is free and open
to the public.
Blasser received a
bachelor’s degree in
painting, drawing and
printmaking from Portland
State University and a
master’s in ine art from
the University of Alberta,
Edmonton.
She has had several solo
shows and participated in
numerous group exhibits
across the Paciic Northwest.
Working with a broad range
of media, Blasser explores
the possibilities of each
material and how they may
be best exploited to generate
quiet, pensive examinations
of our surroundings.
The arts center is open
Tuesday through Fridays
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and
Saturdays from noon to 4
p.m. The exhibit remains on
view through Saturday, July
2. Admission is free.
h a m l e y
S TEAK H OUSE & S ALOON
Photo contributed by Pendleton Fire & Ambulance
Pendleton ireighters knock down blaze
Fireighters pounced on a two-acre grass ire along Highway 11 between
Adams Road and Lindell Lane in Pendleton. Pendleton Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo
said the blaze appears to have been started by a mufler from farm equipment
that had been working on the property. The ire threatened a nearby home and
barn, but Ciraulo said they were able to get it under control within 20 minutes.
Fire chiefs warn of early
start to brush ire season
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
A ire near Two Rivers
Correctional Institution on
Monday ended up burning
about 1,800 acres, according
to Umatilla Fire Department
Chief Steve Potts.
He said the cause is still
under investigation, but will
likely end up being declared
undetermined.
“We have no ideas, actu-
ally,” he said. “It’s out in the
middle of nowhere.”
Reports of a ire along the
Columbia River between the
prison and Hat Rock State
Park started coming in at
12:50 p.m. on Monday. The
ire burned the area around
the prison property, causing
a lockdown, but Potts said
there was no need to evac-
uate the compound, which is
“pretty self-suficient.”
TRCI did provide a hand
crew of inmates to assist
ireighters from Herm-
iston, Pendleton, Umatilla,
Stanield, Echo, Boardman,
Irrigon and the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Oregon State
Police, Oregon Department
of Transportation, Umatilla
Police Department and
TRCI correctional oficers
assisted with trafic control
while Highway 730 and
nearby roads were shut
down for a few hours in the
afternoon.
Mop-up continued into
the evening, and ireighters
returned in the morning to
put out a lare-up.
“I had a crew there until
10:30 last night to keep an
eye on it,” Potts said.
He said there were some
access issues when ire
crews irst arrived to ight the
ire. A locked gate blocked
vehicles from driving on
the trail between McNary
Beach and Hat Rock, where
the lower portion of the ire
burned, and on the upper
portion, “there’s no road to
speak of.”
Potts noted it was the
second major ire for the area
in a week (the irst was at the
Umatilla Chemical Depot on
May 20) and asked people
to please be as careful as
possible about not sparking
ires that can spread quickly
in current conditions.
“It doesn’t look good out
there,” he said.
Hermiston Fire & Emer-
gency Services Chief Scott
Stanton echoed that plea,
noting that a warm, dry
spring meant fuels like sage-
brush have dried out sooner
than usual. That combined
with windy weather has
been a “recipe for ire.”
Hermiston,
Stanield
and Umatilla had already
provided mutual aid for
another brush ire on Lind
Road on Memorial Day,
and Stanton said there were
six other minor ire calls
throughout the day.
The open burning period
ended Tuesday for the
Hermiston Fire & Emer-
gency Service District.
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S a v a Lake’s Historic Treasure!
Wallow
Come Celebrate!
Join your friends & neighbors
at the Wallowa Lake Lodge
for an afternoon of fun & festivities.
Saturday, June 4th
3 pm to Dusk
Food & refreshments, no host bar,
live music, meet owners & donors,
CJD Rodeo Court, video presentation and
E
A N N I V R S A RY
FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS
PA R T Y STA R T S @ 4 P
•
D I N N E R S E R V I C E @ 5 P
LIVE MUSIC
M U R R AY D U N L A P 5-7:30 P
T Y L O R & T H E T R A I N R O B B E R S 8-11 P
F R I D AY
“on the lawn”
CORNER OF S.E. COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON
Tours of the lodge & grounds!
Champagne
& Cider Toast
4pm