BRENT BAKER
OF UMATILLA
Visit Garner’s Sporting Goods
in Pendleton for one hat
WEEKEND EDITION
NEW
MOMS
STAND
TOGETHER
LIFESTYLES/1C
RIO OLYMPICS BEGIN 1B
WOMEN FINDING SUCCESS
AS BUSINESS OWNERS 8A
AUGUST 6-7, 2016
140th Year, No. 211
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
$1.50
First
in the
family
Hermiston grad to
attend OSU in fall
By ALEXA LOUGEE
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Rebeca Ainsworth and Chance Bissinger stand near the spot on Rieth Road where they were involved in a head-on
collision with Jacob Faber on July 25, 2015. Debris from her 2014 Ford Escape still lies on the side of the roadway.
Couple claims sheriff’s office
failed to properly investigate crash
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Photo courtesy Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce
This July 2015 head-on crash outside Rieth involved the
husband of a sheriff’s deputy. The other driver was never
interviewed by investigators.
The surgery scars testify to
Rebeca Ainsworth’s suffering.
A pink, welted contour runs
almost the full length of her left
arm. That surgery repaired bones
that broke above and below her
elbow. The vivid stripe running
the outside of her left leg was to
fi x a femur that twisted, shattered
and tore through her thigh.
Her life delineates between
two eras: before and after a
pickup crossed the center line on
Rieth Road near Pendleton the
morning of July 25, 2015, and
plowed head-on into her car.
Ainsworth, 27, was driving
the 2014 Ford Escape she had
purchased just months prior. Her
See SCARS/12A
The wonders of working in the woods
Oregon Youth Conservation Corps
provides career skills for at-risk youth
BY KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Among the trees, four young
forest workers are fi nding their best
selves.
The foursome — Raeana Mikel,
17, Trevor Magers, 16, Nathan Van
Dusen, 18, and Angela Heay, 20
— started summer work with the
Oregon Youth Conservation Corps
as total strangers. After the fi rst few
days of awkwardness, they bonded.
On Thursday, the four spilled out
of the Chevy Astro Aerostar van,
dubbed the “Green Goblin” in the
dust of the back window, ready to
work. Crew leader Kirk Case had
driven the 47 miles from Pendleton
to Summit Cabin, a rustic Forest
Service bunkhouse in need of
scraping, sanding and painting.
This was part job, part school
of life. The statewide program
offers those lucky enough to snag
positions the exposure to the great
outdoors while equipping them
with a work ethic and career skills.
Susie Stuvland, workforce manager
for umbrella agency CAPECO at
WorkSource Oregon, said all 10
applicants were invited to attend a
work readiness class.
“We did mock interviews. We
talked about cover letters and
resumes and about how to keep a
job,” Stuvland said. “Out of that
day, we chose the youth for the
crew.”
The crew was assembled with
diversity in mind and at-risk youth
got preference. OYCC crews,
which work from six to eight
weeks, are found in most Oregon
See OYCC/11A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Raeana Mikel, Angela Heay, Trevor Magers and Nathan Van
Dusen scrape the sides of the Summit Cabin on Thursday
as one of their projects for the Oregon Youth Conservation
Corp. The rustic Forest Service guard station, located in the
Blue Mountains, was built in 1938 and used as a cookhouse
for fi re crew tent camps in the 1970s.
Laura Zepeda’s parents have long
known that she will be the fi rst in her
family to attend college. They reminded
her often.
“And now
that’s here,”
Zepeda said.
“I’m going to
be the fi rst one
to go.”
Zepeda
is the oldest
of fi ve chil-
dren, a 2016
Hermiston
High School
graduate, and
enrolled
at
Oregon State
University for
the fall term.
The allure
of opportunity Zepeda
brought both of
her parents to
“I saw in their
the U.S. from
Mexico. They eyes (that) they
met in Nevada
saw potential
and
were
married there in me. So I just
before moving wanted to com-
to
Oregon.
Her
father, plete that goal
Salvador, has
for them and
been working
for myself.”
for
Desert
Sands Manu- — Laura Zepeda,
factured Home fi rst generation college
Contractors for student speaking about
18 years. Her
her parents
mother, Olivia,
cared for the
children and worked in agriculture
fi elds when she could.
Now that all the kids are in school,
her mom works for Head Start in Herm-
iston.
“They taught me to work hard now
so I don’t have to work so hard later,”
Laura said of her parents.
Zepeda’s plan is to work hard
through college and become a pharma-
cist. Taking advanced courses in high
school helped her choose the pharmacy
path, once she realized advanced chem-
istry piqued her interest the most.
According to a 2014 National
Journal poll, 66 percent of Hispanic
high school graduates cited the need
to help support their family as a reason
for not enrolling in college and opting
to get a job or enter the military instead,
compared with 39 percent of whites.
Though Zepeda has enrolled in
college, she’ll face obstacles as the
fi rst in her family to go to a four-year
university. Three out of fi ve fi rst-gener-
ation college students do not complete
a degree or credential six years after
initial enrollment, compared to less
than half of non-fi rst-generation degree
seekers. And in Oregon, only 16 percent
of Latino adults earn an associate degree
or higher compared to 37 percent of all
adults. Affordability, family and work
obligations, and lack of information
regarding fi nancial aid and college life
are just some of the hurdles this demo-
graphic faces, according to information
presented to the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
Laura’s mom, Olivia, is confi dent
her daughter will succeed at the colle-
giate level.
See ZEPEDA/12A