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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2016)
TRCI INMATES PENDLETON HOLD FIRST REBUILDING POW WOW OFFENSIVE REGION/3A LINE SPORTS/1B Visit the Pendleton Round-Up Gift Shop for a free keychain LARRY ENBYSK OF ADAMS 82/51 TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 140th Year, No. 222 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON Vigil planned for shooting victims Details emerge in murder- suicide investigation East Oregonian A candlelight vigil for the victims of last week’s shooting in Hermiston is planned for Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at McKenzie Park. The community has been mourning James “JJ” Hurtado, 14, and Kenneth E. Valdez, 45, who were killed last Thursday in what police have characterized as a murder-suicide by James E. Huston, 45, who died of an apparent self-infl icted gunshot. Hurtado’s mother Andria E. Bye, 35, was also shot but survived. Ky-Leigh Nelson, who helped organize the vigil along with Bonnie Griffi th, Kari George and Angie Hocker, said instead of making the vigil for a specifi c person, orga- nizers decided to invite anyone who wanted to show support for those affected by the See VIGIL/8A By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Contributed photo A candlelight vigil will be held for James “JJ” Hurtado and Ken Valdez, Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at McKenzie Park. Jason Huston fi red three rounds from a 9 mm Glock pistol Thursday into his lifelong friend Ken Valdez at his Hermiston home, killing him. Huston also shot Andria Bye once and, in the end, shot and killed himself. Bye was taken to the hospital after telling police what had transpired, though she didn’t know the whereabouts of her son, 14-year-old James “JJ” Hurtado. HERMISTON Perhaps no more than an hour before, Huston is believed to have shot and killed Hurtado, to whom he was something of a father fi gure, with the same pistol. Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston and Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan revealed more on Monday about one of the most violent crimes in Hermiston’s history. Huston and Valdez, both 45, had known each other as far back See INVESTIGATION/8A Citizens panel backs corporate sales tax By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Staff photo by E.J. Harris Umatilla County Fire District 1 is leasing the Bob Shannon Safety Center at 320 S. First St. from the city of Hermiston. Fire hall deal done Fire district will pay $200,000 over next four years By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Hermiston city council approved leases with the fi re district and school district on Monday night. The newly-formed Umatilla County Fire District 1 will lease the current fi re department building at 320 S First St. from the city for $75,000 during the fi rst year, $50,000 the second and third years, $25,000 the fourth year and $1 per year after that. Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services had leased part of the Bob Shannon Safety Center from the city for $1 per year since the fi re department became its own taxing district separate from the city. But since voters approved a new combined fi re district with Stanfi eld in May, the district must sign a new lease. Assistant city manager Mark Morgan told the city council on Monday that due to compression laws that cap property taxes in Oregon, the new fi re district’s higher share of the tax revenue will mean the city gets about $130,000 per year less in prop- erty tax revenue for its own general fund. The higher rents for the fi rst four years of the new See COUNCIL/8A A citizens’ panel that reviews Oregon ballot initiatives for the voters’ pamphlet has endorsed a controversial corporate sales tax measure on the November ballot. Measure 97 would levy a 2.5 percent tax on certain corporations’ Oregon sales exceeding $25 million. The Citizens Initiative Review Commis- sion heard from both sides of the measure before voting 11-to-9 on Sunday to endorse the measure. Its key fi ndings will be published in the state voters’ guide. The tax would raise an estimated $6 billion every two years in additional revenue at a time when the state faces an estimated $1.4 billion shortfall in to maintain existing services. Supporters cited the shortfall and a study by Ernst & Young ranking Oregon 50th in the lowest rate of corporate taxation as reasons for the endorsement. “We are currently in a crisis of under- funded public education, healthcare and senior services,” the supporters wrote in a statement. “The passage of Measure 97 would quickly fi x this.” Commissioners who voted against the endorsement cited a study by the Legislative Revenue Offi ce that show the tax would hike up the prices of daily items such as food and fuel for the typical family by $600 a year. That study also showed job growth would slow signifi cantly in the private sector while boosting public sector jobs. “A regressive tax takes a larger percentage of income from low income earners creating an unnecessary burden on many Oregon families,” commissioners wrote in a state- ment of opposition. The endorsement marks another victory See MEASURE/8A No plan for speed cameras in rural Oregon State’s first ticket- giving traffic cams installed in Portland By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Drivers in Portland will have a hard time getting away with speeding now that the city has put up the state’s fi rst fi xed speed enforce- ment cameras. The cameras, which were installed on the Beaverton-Hillsboro Highway earlier this month by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, send photographs of every speeding car to the police, who can then mail tickets to the offenders without ever pulling them over. Eastern Oregon residents who don’t like the idea of Big Brother checking their speed can breathe easy for now, however. Tom Strand- berg, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Region 5, said he hasn’t heard any discussion on ODOT’s part about bringing the technology to this side of the state. “I don’t know of any plans we have to use those, at least in Eastern Oregon,” he said. The department isn’t using cameras to ticket people who run red lights in Eastern Oregon either, despite rampant speculation after ODOT installed cameras at intersections on Highway 395 in See SPEED/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Traffi c passes a speed sign on Highway 395 north of Hermiston.
