REGION
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
HERMISTON
Police make arrest in bicycle hit-and-run
East Oregonian
A Hermiston driver faces a
felony after police claimed he
crashed into a bicyclist and left
the injured rider at the scene.
Hermiston Police Capt.
Travis Eynon in a written
statement reported oficers
at about 5:58 p.m. responded
to Northeast Fourth Street
and East Gladys Avenue
for a vehicle versus bicycle
collision.
The bicyclist, Jason M.
Simpkins, 29, of 638 N.E.
Dakota Court, Hermiston,
was riding southbound on
Northeast Fourth when a
north-going Chevrolet Impala
turned left onto East Gladys
Avenue, according to Eynon,
and into Simpkins’ path.
Simpkins and his bicycle hit
the right rear quarter panel
of the Impala, which did not
stop.
Eynon stated a witness to
the crash followed the Impala
a short distance and provided
oficers with a license plate
and a description of the driver.
Simpkins suffered minor
Rep. Greg Walden
will meet with veterans
and their advocates in
Eastern Oregon this
week to discuss their
challenges and his work
with Congress to address
veterans’ issues.
His agenda includes
stops in Hermiston,
Pendleton and
Milton-Freewater.
On Thursday, Walden
will attend a Hermiston
Rotary meeting at noon
before meeting with
Hermiston Veterans
of Foreign Wars and
American Legion chapters
at the VFW, 45 W. Cherry
Ave. in Hermiston, at 2:30
p.m. There he plans to hear
from local veterans about
their experiences accessing
care at the VA and discuss
current efforts in the
House of Representatives
to improve VA programs.
Friday morning at 8:30
a.m. Walden will have
coffee with veterans 1at
the Milton-Freewater
American Legion, 424
N.E. Eighth Ave. in
Milton-Freewater, where
he will discuss his efforts
to reform the VA and
improve health care for
veterans.
On Saturday Walden
will visit Pendleton to
meet with the Backcountry
Horsemen of Oregon at 11
a.m. at Shari’s, 319 S.E.
Nye Ave. in Pendleton, and
attend the demobilization
of Pendleton’s National
Guard unit (1st Battalion,
168th Aviation Regiment)
at the Army Aviation
Support Facility Hanger,
2110 N.W. 56th Drive in
Pendleton at 2 p.m.
Former prosecutor
takes on M-F cop
as defendant
MILTON-FREEWATER
— The Milton-Freewater
police oficer facing assault
charges has a new lawyer.
Sean J. Riddell of
Portland took over the
defense of Brian David
Scott, 37, on Oct. 5 from a
local public defense irm,
according to court records.
Page 3A
Police investigate ires
at two Pendleton schools
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Jason M. Simpkins walks to the rear of an ambulance
for treatment with a irst responder from Umatilla
County Fire District 1 after he was struck by a vehicle
while riding his bicycle Monday about 6 p.m. in the
vicinity of Northeast Fourth Street and East Gladys
Avenue in Hermiston.
injuries and received medical
treatment at the scene.
Oficer’s went to 915 N.W.
Stockton St., Hermiston,
where they found the Impala,
which had extensive damage
to the right rear quarter panel.
They also found Federico
Ricardo DeJesus, 44, who
lives at the address, and
arrested him on the felony of
failure to perform the duties
of a driver to injured persons.
Police also arrested DeJesus
for driving while suspended/
revoked, a misdemeanor.
Oficers processed DeJesus
at the police department, then
booked him into the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
BRIEFLY
Walden to visit
Eastern Oregon
veterans this week
East Oregonian
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Ofice
charged Scott with second-
degree assault, unlawful
use of a weapon and irst-
degree oficial misconduct.
Riddell entered not guilty
pleas on all charges on
behalf of Scott.
The state accused Scott
of harming Jeffery Allen
Fields, 46, of Milton-
Freewater, on Sept. 26,
after arresting him for theft.
The weapon charge stems
from using a wall to inlict
harm on Fields.
Scott remains out on
bail and on paid leave.
Court records show he
has a hearing Oct. 20
at the Umatilla County
Courthouse, Pendleton.
In 2011, Riddell
resigned as the Oregon
Department of Justice’s
chief criminal attorney after
mishandling key cases and
deleting emails. He also
represents Ryan McBride,
the oficer Stanield ired in
October 2015.
Jury inds
Pendleton man
guilty of rape
PENDLETON — The
trial of Lee Lutcavich of
Pendleton ended last week
in guilty verdicts on two
counts of second-degree
rape.
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Ofice
accused Lutcavich, 29, of
having sex with the girl,
younger than 14, on four
occasions between Nov. 20,
2014, and Jan. 31, 2015.
The case went to trial Oct.
10 and 11 at the county
courthouse, Pendleton.
The 12-member jury
found Lutcavich guilty
of two counts of second-
degree rape and not guilty
on the third count. Court
records also show the
district attorney dropped
one charge during the trial.
Circuit Judge
Christopher Brauer
presided over the case and
will sentence Lutcavich on
Oct. 27.
Second-degree rape
carries a mandatory
minimum sentence of six
years, three months in
Oregon, with reductions
for time served. Lutcavich
has been in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton,
since his arrest on Nov. 19,
2015.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Mark Your Calendars!
OCTOB
3rd Annual Crab Feed
21
The city ire department
was called to two ire alarms
at two Pendleton schools
Tuesday, the second less
serious than the irst.
Pendleton
Police
Department is investigating
several ires that were
started that morning in a
boys bathroom at Sunridge
Middle School.
Pendleton Assistant Fire
Chief Shawn Penninger
said
the
department
responded to the ire at
10:30 a.m., after school
staff had already used
extinguishers to put out the
lames.
Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo
said Sunridge was safely
evacuated of all students
and staff, who were still out
of the building through the
late morning hours while
the department cleared
smoke from the building.
A Pendleton School
District
press
release
stated the department later
gave staff and students
permission to re-enter the
building.
Superintendent Andy
Kovach said the extent of
the damage is unknown, but
said a toilet paper dispenser
was burned and destroyed
Photo by Antonio Sierra
Pendleton school administrators and staff gather
in front of Washington Elementary School Tuesday
afternoon as the Pendleton Fire Department
responds to a ire alarm.
during the incident.
Penninger said the ire
was started in at least three
separate points in the bath-
room, which was located
near the school cafeteria,
and the investigation has
been turned over to the
Pendleton Police Depart-
ment.
“It’s probably something
criminal in nature,” he said.
While Ciraulo initially
indicated that the ire
department would seek
assistance from the Oregon
State Police Arson Unit,
Penninger said Pendleton
police will be solely respon-
sible for the investigation.
Pendleton ire was also
dispatched at 1:56 p.m. to
Washington
Elementary
School, where a ire alarm
had gone off.
Penninger said a student
had urinated on an elec-
trical outlet in a bathroom,
causing some light smoke
and charring along the wall.
The ire alarm was
pulled and Washington was
evacuated, but Penninger
said no action was required
and students began return
to class around 2:15 p.m.
“It’s not as grandiose as
the last one,” he said.
Conservation funds available for farmers, ranchers
East Oregonian
Funding is available to
assist Oregon farmers and
ranchers with voluntary
conservation
projects,
including more eficient
irrigation
systems,
enhancing wildlife habitat
or thinning fuels to reduce
the risk of catastrophic
ires.
The Natural Resource
Conservation Service is
accepting applications for
the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program, or
EQIP, through Friday Nov.
18. Oregon EQIP funds
are available within target
areas of each county to
address natural resources
concerns.
The program works
similar to a rebate, with the
producer paying up-front
installation costs, and the
NRCS issuing payments
once the work is certiied.
The NRCS awarded $20.4
million to Oregon farms and
ranches in 2016, covering
more than 170,000 acres.
In addition, the NRCS is
also accepting applications
through Nov. 18 for the
Agricultural Conservation
Easements Program, or
ACEP. That program
provides inancial and tech-
nical assistance to secure
easements that will help
protect working agricul-
tural land and wetlands for
future generations.
As a new program in
the 2014 Farm Bill, ACEP
combines
the
former
Farm and Ranch Lands
Protection,
Grassland
Reserve and Wetlands
Reserve programs. NRCS
will rank the applications
based on natural resource
concerns and priority
areas throughout the state.
Easement priority areas
in Oregon include critical
water bird habitat, Coho
and steelhead salmon
habitat, sage grouse habitat,
grasslands and more.
For more information
on EQIP and ACEP,
contact your local NRCS
ofice in Umatilla County
at
541-278-8049,
or
in Morrow County at
541-676-5021.
LIVE
E MUSIC • 8pm--
8p
pm-- 12am
No cover charge! Must be 21+ years old.
ER
The 3rd Annual Yellowhawk Crab Feed
will be held at the
Mission Longhouse
(aka Crab Shack)
October 21st @ 5pm
Tickets are $25 each (All You Can Eat!)
Contact Lisa to Purchase at
541.278.7542
All Profi ts Go Toward
Building of the New
Yellowhawk Tribal
Health Center
YELLOWHAWK
TRIBAL HEALTH
CENTER
Or email lisafusselman@yellowhawk.org
Or via PayPal by visiting
http://yellowhawk.org/crab-feed/
Funaddicts
Raucous
Aaron Crawford
Colleen Heauser
Rock-Bot
Decades Variety
Variety
Country
Country
Live Karaoke-Jamaroke
Sept 30–Oct 1
Oct 7–8
Oct 14–15
Oct 21–22
Oct 28–29
H A L LOW
W E EN P ARTTY
Entertainment: James Dean Kindle
and the Eastern Oregon Playboys
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
Oregon - Valid 35 States
Please no masks
T HUR
RS D AY NIGHT FOOTB
BALL
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Hosted with Power 99.1
PENDLETON
Red Lion - 304 SE N ye Ave.
Thursday Oct. 20 th • 1:00 pm & 6:00 pm
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