REGION
Friday, July 29, 2016
East Oregonian
Tribes mark 20th anniversary
of Kennewick Man’s discovery
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Members of ive tribes gathered
Thursday along the Columbia
River to mark the 20th anniversary
of the discovery of the Kennewick
Man.
The moment was bittersweet
for the members of the Umatilla,
Nez Perce, Yakama, Colville and
Wanapum tribes, who were there
to honor their ancestor but also to
lament that they have not yet been
able to lay him to rest.
“As we recognize the Ancient
One’s discovery, we also mourn
for him,” said Armand Minthorn,
board of trustees member for
the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation, in a
statement. “He is our ancestor, and
yet he lies in a museum rather than
at rest with his people. It’s been 20
years, and he is still being denied
“We need Congress to pass this legislation be-
cause 20 years of delay have demonstrated that
there is no guarantee that the law will prevail.”
— Aaron Ashley, CTUIR board of trustees and cultural committee member
his right to a proper burial.”
The ancient skeleton was
discovered near Kennewick in
1996, triggering a lengthy legal
battle between scientists wanting
to study the 8,500-year-old remains
and the tribes that wanted to imme-
diately bury them.
In 2015 Eske Willerslev,
Director of the Centre of Excellence
in GeoGenetics at the University
of Copenhagen, released indings
from a team of scientists who used
new DNA techniques to determine
that the Kennewick Man’s DNA
most closely matches the Native
people of the Columbia Plateau.
In April, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which controls the land
where the skeleton was found, also
announced that a different team of
scientists had conirmed the man
was, indeed, an ancestor of modern
American Indian tribes. The deter-
mination gives the tribes claim on
the remains of the man they call
the Ancient One, under the Native
American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act.
As the ive tribes work together
to gain physical custody of the
Kennewick Man, Congress is also
considering a more situation-spe-
ciic bill known as the Bring the
Ancient One Home Act.
“We need Congress to pass
this legislation because 20 years
of delay have demonstrated that
there is no guarantee that the law
will prevail,” Aaron Ashley, board
of trustees and cultural committee
member for the Umatilla Tribes,
said in a statement. “The Ancient
One’s Native American identity has
been proven beyond a doubt. It is
time to expedite the return process
so he can properly be laid to rest.”
Currently the Ancient One’s
remains are located at the Burke
Museum in Seattle, where they are
not on public display but have been
accessed by scientists for research
purposes. The skeleton is one of the
oldest and most complete found in
North America, offering clues to
the origins of the continent’s early
inhabitants.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or
541-564-4536.
HERMISTON
Youth oficer position deemed a success after one year
By ALEXA LOUGEE
East Oregonian
In 2015 the Hermiston Police
Department created a new youth
services oficer position in an effort
to create better community connec-
tions.
“It’s an area the police have
been extremely remiss on,” said
police Chief Jason Edmiston at a
public safety committee meeting
Monday.
He said the closest thing he
could think of was the previously
used D.A.R.E. program, where
police oficers went into ifth and
sixth grade classrooms to address
drug use.
The youth oficer position works
much like a school resource oficer,
only the focus is on grades K-5.
It is a new title for oficer Erica
Sandoval.
“I was not fully 100 percent
sold on the change in my position,”
Sandoval said at the meeting, but
that has changed over the year.
“I love it and getting to meet the
kids.”
The youth services position is
the result of a brainstorm between
Hermiston Superintendent Fred
Maiocco, Edmiston and Captain
Travis Eynon. In conjunction with
EO ile photo
In this December 2015 ile photo, Erica Sandoval of the Hermiston
Police Department visits with students at Highland Hills Elementary
School as part of her duties as youth services oficer.
the Hermiston School District,
Sandoval is working to address
truancy issues at a young age.
Efforts include meeting with
families and working to identify
and assist with barriers that lead to
absence from school.
Sandoval also spends time at
the elementary schools during the
lunch period, gives presentations,
participates in home visits and is a
presence after school. She described
the last year as “eye-opening” and
said she is looking forward to the
new school year.
The school district pays 50
percent of the Youth Services
Oficer wage and beneit package.
Sandoval has been involved in
juvenile crime prevention since
2008 and the city has seen a steady
decline in juvenile crime since
that time, according to Edmiston.
“It made perfect sense to engage
Erica with younger kids that we
normally have limited contact
with,” Edmiston explained. Much
of the contact the department has
with elementary-aged kids comes
as a result of calls for service that
are not always positive, like those
related to domestic incidents.
“I irmly believe the role Erica
is fulilling will be one of the most
signiicant changes our department
has made in the last decade,”
Edmiston said.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the
committee looked at crime rates
which, for the most part, were on a
decline or remained lat. One area
that jumped out to Chief Edmiston
and the committee was aggravated
assaults, which have seen a spike
this year. Edmiston did not have
an explanation for the increase,
but said his department would
be looking at ways to address the
issue.
He noted the department has
really been focused on burglaries
and has seen a steady decline since
2012.
Condon teen dies in
crash on Hwy 206
East Oregonian
A 17-year-old Condon girl died after a two-vehicle
wreck Wednesday afternoon on Highway 206.
The teen was driving eastbound when she collided
with a truck towing a grain trailer east of Condon.
She was extricated from her vehicle and lown by air
ambulance to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The
Dalles, where she died from her injuries. Her name has
not been released.
The truck driver, 35-year-old Benjamin McElligott
of Ione, was not injured.
An investigation into the crash is underway. Oregon
State Police were assisted on scene by authorities from
Gilliam and Sherman counties, as well as the Oregon
Department of Transportation.
Anyone needing counseling to cope with this death
is asked to contact Community Counseling Services at
541-384-2666.
New Holiday Inn Express expected to open Oct. 31
Hermiston’s newest hotel
is expected to open on Oct
31.
The four-story Holiday
Inn Express, currently under
construction on Highway
395, was originally expected
to open this month. But
InnSight Hotel Management
Group President Richard
Boyles said there was about
a three-month delay on
starting construction after
the bank that the company
had used in the past was
acquired by another inancial
institution.
“They were unable to get
that loan closed before the
merger,” he said.
Starting over on the
inancing process cost the
company time, but Boyles
said since then construction
has been going well. The
general contractor is Integ-
rity Structures, with subcon-
tractors hired from various
places, including some local
businesses.
The
90-room
hotel
will be Holiday Inn’s new
Formula Blue model, which
includes amenities such as a
spacious lobby, indoor pool,
itness area, meeting rooms,
continental breakfast, guest
laundry and innovations like
curved headboards designed
to reduce noise between
rooms.
The hotel is expected to
employ an average of 25
people, with some seasonal
luctuation. Boyles said it’s
a little early for InnSight to
start advertising for most
hotel positions, but they have
hired Steven Arrasmith as
general manager.
Boyles said one of
InnSight’s pillars of corpo-
rate culture is community
involvement,
including
volunteer work with educa-
tion programs like SMART
(Start Making a Reader
Today).
“I would expect we will
be very involved in the
community of Hermiston,”
he said.
Boyles said the company
looks forward to helping
revitalize the downtown
area.
“I think the building itself
is a lovely addition to the city
of Hermiston,” Boyles said.
The new hotel is in
Hermiston’s Urban Renewal
District, meaning extra tax
revenue generated through
the boost in property value
Clues lead to
golden medallion
HERMISTON — The
annual National Night Out
Treasure Hunt continues in
Hermiston.
The rules and irst clue
were printed in Wednesday’s
East Oregonian and another
clue in Thursday’s edition. A
bonus clue appeared on the
front page of Wednesday’s
Hermiston Herald. The
person who inds the golden
medallion will win an ice
cream social block party
Tuesday, Aug. 2 as part of the
National Night Out activities.
When you ind the
medallion, you must
immediately turn it in
to the Hermiston Police
Department. If it’s after 6
p.m., call 541-966-3651
or 541-567-5519 and ask
dispatch to notify Erica
Sandoval, Hermiston Police
Department crime prevention/
youth services oficer.
Clue No. 3
Roger Waters says you
don’t need it.
But in 2010, golden
shovels moved some dirt.
All’s fair in inding the
prize.
Don’t go too far, it’s just
a little drive.
Oh hec(k), you should
be close.
Health district
expansion to include
ambulance area
PENDLETON — The
East Umatilla County Health
District is seeking to expand
its boundaries.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
on Wednesday in Pendleton
held the irst of two public
hearings on the matter.
Health district adminis-
trator Mark Moore told the
commissioners the taxing
area covers the Athe-
na-Weston School District,
but the local ambulance
service handles calls all the
way west past Holdman on
Highway 37. The district,
though, receives no taxes
from that area.
Moore explained the
district wants to redraw its
lines to include that area, as
well as east to the county
border that would exclude
a portion of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation. It also
would not infringe on the
Milton-Freewater district.
Tribal Fire Chief Rob
Burnside told the commis-
sioners the tribes agreed with
the health district on the need
to change the boundaries, but
ambulance services would
not change due to the mutual
aid agreement between the
tribes and the health district.
Gina Miller with the
Milton-Freewater Ambulance
District Board also spoke
in favor of the change. She
said it would be beneicial
if the taxing district and the
ambulance service district
covered the same area.
The board set Aug. 16 for
the second public hearing to
make the deadline for putting
this on the November ballot.
FRIDAY, JULY 29
Mark Holt
6:00-9:00 pm
H AMLEY S TEAK H ouse & S aloon
COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON • 541.278.1100
Route work
pays for my
children’s
activities.
will support the district’s
downtown
revitalization
projects, including a planned
festival street in front of city
hall. The hotel received a
$36,400 façade grant from
the Urban Renewal Agency.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Friday Night D inner
July 29th • 5:30 pm • $15.00
Ham Dinner
Music
on the
Lawn
BRIEFLY
Photo contributed by Oregon State Police
A 17-year-old from Condon died Wednesday after a two-vehicle crash on Highway 206.
HERMISTON
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Page 3A
• Pineapple Orange Sauce
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Green Beans with
Bacon & Onions
• Complete Salad Bar
• Dessert
Proceeds to benefit Pendleton Elks’ Charities
Pendleton Elks Lodge #288 14 SE 3rd, Pendleton
509-948-2163 • 541-276-3882
Become an
East Oregonian
Carrier.
211 SE Byers Ave.
Pendleton
or call:
541-276-2211
1-800-522-0255