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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2016)
GROGAN DRAFTED BY TWINS 66/40 HARNEY COUNTY BRACES FOR RECALL ELECTION BASEBALL/1B NORTHWEST/2A The scope of the Orlando carnage OPINION/4A TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2016 140th Year, No. 172 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING Victim vignettes: A look at those killed By NOMAAN MERCHANT and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press A gunman wielding an assault-type rifl e and a handgun opened fi re inside a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday, leaving at least 49 people dead in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Here are stories of some of the victims. ——— Last Monday, Akyra Murray, who turned 18 in January, graduated third in her class of 42 students at West Catholic Preparatory High School in Philadelphia, where she had also been a 1,000-point scorer on the basketball team. She had recently signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Mercy- hurst University in Erie. “She was very loving, caring, out to help anybody,” her mother, Natalie Murray, recalled. To celebrate her graduation, Akyra, her parents and her 4-year-old sister traveled to Orlando for a family vacation. On Saturday, Murray told her parents she wanted to party in down- town Orlando. They dropped her off at Pulse at 11:30 Saturday night. At about 2 a.m., Akyra Murray sent a text message to her mother, saying that she and her cousins wanted to be picked up. She said there had been a shooting. Moments later, the phone rang. “She was saying she was shot and she was screaming, saying she was losing a lot of blood,” Natalie Murray said. Murray said her daughter was hiding in a bathroom stall, cowering from the shooter, her arm bleeding for hours with no medical treatment. Akyra Murray told her mother to call police and send help. They never spoke again. “It was devastating,” Natalie Murray said. ——— Leroy Valentin Fernandez recently had found a job as a leasing agent for an Orlando apartment complex, said his friend, Jennifer Rodriguez. “He had fi nally found something he liked. He was taking care of his mom,” she said. He was her hair stylist and became one of her best friends, she said. “He was like a brother,” she said. “He was See ORLANDO/8A AP Photo/David Goldman Crowd members hold up candles during a vigil downtown for the victims of a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub Monday in Orlando, Fla. PENDLETON MILTON-FREEWATER No arrest, charges in infant’s death By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian EO fi le photo The investigation continues into Wednesday’s death of a 5-month-old Milton-Freewater boy. Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus said on Monday he is not aware of any arrests in the case and he has not charged anyone with a crime in relation to the death. Walla Walla County Coroner Richard Greenwood reported the child died at 6:23 p.m. Wednesday at Providence St. Mary Medical Center, Walla Walla. Primus said that led to the activation of the Umatil- la-Morrow County Major Crime Team, which consists of detectives and offi cers from local agencies. Primus also said he has the results of an See DEATH/8A A SeaPort fl ight prepares for departure in February at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton. SeaPort subsidy denied Pendleton, airline dispute federal order By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian The U.S. Department of Transportation has tentatively decided to eliminate the Essential Air Service subsidy to Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, which could deal a huge blow to commercial fl ights from Pendleton to Port- land. The city and SeaPort Airlines, Pendleton’s commer- cial provider, fi led an objection to the department’s May 20 order, which lists 30 small airports across the country that it now deems ineligible for the subsidy. While eight airports received waivers because of signifi cant interruptions in service, Pendleton and 21 other cities are still on the chopping block because they exceeded the $200 per passenger subsidy cap. Tracking the Pendleton airport from Oct. 1, 2014 to Sept. 1, 2015, the department determined the passenger rate by dividing Pendleton’s yearly subsidy — $1,797,333 — by its number of boardings — 8,422. The resulting $213 per passenger rate is just over the See SEAPORT/8A JOHN DAY — A deputy protected his relatives from blame in a random shooting by arresting the 9-1-1 caller who reported it, resulting in a foul-up that raises fresh questions about embattled Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer. The district attorney didn’t pursue a case, instead rebuking Palmer and his deputy. The county quietly paid the caller $12,000 from its insurer to fend off a lawsuit. “This incident is the most egre- gious abuse of power I have ever seen,” said attorney Edie Rogoway, who represented the arrested man. The botched arrest comes to light as Palmer faces a state criminal investigation for allegedly tampering with offi cial records. He also faces a state Palmer administrative inves- tigation into whether he’s fi t to retain his police certifi cation. Palmer gained national notice earlier this year for his sympathy for militants who took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He considers himself a Council OKs smaller hike on electric rates Also approves $49.2M budget By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian “constitutional sheriff” and vows to protect citizens from abusive government. In the shooting case, Palmer approved the arrest and later promoted the deputy to undersheriff, his second- in-command. This is the latest in a series of questionable actions by Palmer to come to public atten- tion in recent months. He faces 10 complaints that he violated standards for police offi cers. The complaints, including two from The Hermiston city council approved an electric rate increase of 2.59 percent Monday. The change was smaller than the 4.4 percent increase Hermiston Energy Services superintendent Nate Rivera origi- nally recommended during a May 23 work session. “We were able to tighten our belts and fi nd some cost savings,” he said. The rate adjustments vary by account type. The charge per kilowatt hour will remain the same for residential customers but their base charge will increase from $10.50 per month to $14. Small commer- cial customers will see a .71 percent increase, large commercial customers a .4 percent increase, industrial no increase and irrigation customers a 6.43 percent increase. The changes will take effect on bills calculated after Sept. 1. The rate increase follows an 11 percent increase adopted a year ago, but prior to that Hermiston Energy Services had not raised rates for 12 years. The utility had instead built up a sizable reserve fund when the cost of wholesale power from Bonneville See SETTLEMENT/6A See COUNCIL/6A Grant County pays $12,000 settlement after botched arrest By LES ZAITZ The Oregonian HERMISTON
