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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2016)
BMCC BATTLES KNIGHTS Visit Elite Guns & Bows in Pendleton for a free hat JEANNIE JENSEN OF PILOT ROCK HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS 6A SOCCER/3B 55/42 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016 141st Year, No. 8 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Staffer sues Rosenblum, employees for racial profi ling Johnson identified as ‘threat to police’ based on tweets By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Staff photo by E.J. Harris The pool inside of BMCC’s McCrae Activity Center has been fi lled and is nearly ready to reopen at the beginning of November. READY TO DIVE IN BMCC pool set to reopen in a week By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian The Blue Mountain Commu- nity College pool is once again fi lled with water. When the pool was drained last spring, no one knew for sure if anyone ever would swim there again. Board members scrutinized the cost of repairing cracked concrete, an ineffi cient HVAC system, waterlogged sheetrock and anemic pumps and considered shuttering the pool for good, possibly just locking the doors and walking away from the multi- million-dollar headache. Problem was that three swim teams – Pendleton High School, Hermiston High School and the Pendleton Swim Association – practiced and competed at the pool. No pool, no swim season – at least not without signifi cant commuting to Tri-Cities or elsewhere. The pool inside BMCC’s McCrae Activity Center stayed bone-dry as community members fretted about having no venue for the three swim teams. Many attended a tour of the pool and brainstormed ideas for fi nancing an overhaul. It seemed bleak. One community member, former PSA coach and swimmer Darcey Ridgway, suggested dryly that everyone should go out and buy a lottery ticket. Yesterday, however, the 25-meter-long pool had water. Electricians would fi nish installing motors to run the revamped venti- lation system in the next day or so. “We’re on schedule to open on the fi rst of November,” said BMCC Vice-President of Admin- istrative Services Tammie Parker. “The pool is fi lled and the water is being heated.” See POOL/8A The Oregon Department of Justice’s civil rights director is suing Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and other department employees for subjecting him to racial profi ling. In a federal lawsuit fi led Wednesday, Erious Johnson alleges DOJ special agents identifi ed him as a “threat to police” based on a threat assessment performed with a software program that examined social media postings. In addition to Rosenblum, the suit names as defendants Deputy Attorney General Frederick Boss, DOJ Chief Counsel Darin Tweedt, Special Agent in Charge Rosenblum David Kirby, and Special Agent James Williams. The lawsuit claims that in September 2015 Williams used a software program called Digital Stakeout to search terms, including the Twitter hashtag, “#black- livesmatter,” in the Salem area. That search produced an image of Johnson and prompted Williams to download Johnson’s entire Twitter account, according to the lawsuit. A post on Johnson’s account containing lyrics to a rap song by Public Enemy and an image of the group’s logo led Williams to believe Johnson presented a threat to police, the lawsuit states. Williams shared his concerns See ROSENBLUM/8A Juror dismissed, replaced in standoff trial Jury deliberations must start from beginning after former BLM worker declares bias By GILLIAN FLACCUS and STEVEN DUBOIS Associated Press PORTLAND — A judge over- seeing the trial of Ammon Bundy and six others accused in the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge dismissed a juror Wednesday after his impartiality was questioned by a fellow juror. U.S. District Judge Anna Brown replaced the juror with an alternate, and deliberations were placed on hold until Thursday so the woman could travel from central Oregon. Jurors who had been deliberating for days must start over, setting aside any conclusions they may have already drawn. The panel is now comprised of nine women and three men. “It’s a new jury, a new day, a new start,” Brown said. Bundy’s defense attorney fi led a court motion early Wednesday asking the judge to dismiss the juror. Lawyer Marcus Mumford said the court had not adequately investigated concerns about the juror’s impar- tiality that emerged Tuesday in a note sent to the judge by another juror. Juror No. 4 wrote: “Can a juror, a former employee of the Bureau of Land Management, who opens their remarks in deliberations by stating ‘I am very biased ...’ be considered an impartial judge in this case?” The juror in question, Juror No. 11, worked 20 years ago as a fi re- fi ghter for the BLM. The occupiers are charged with conspiring to prevent BLM employees from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Oregon. The group seized the refuge Jan. 2 and held it for 41 days, protesting federal land policy and the impris- onment of two ranchers who clashed with the BLM. During jury selection, the man said his past employment would not prejudice his views. Brown questioned the man again Tuesday and ruled that he could remain on the jury after she found that his views had not changed on his ability to remain impartial. Brown switched her stance over- night, deciding the juror had to go. She brought the entire jury into the courtroom and broke the news to Juror No. 11, who nodded but had little other reaction. Mumford, who has repeatedly clashed with the judge during the trial, praised the decision outside the courtroom. “I know that a lot people think we have our differences, and I guess we do, but I will tell you she wants to get it right every time,” Mumford said. PENDLETON Critics raise stink over odor ordinance Claim ordinance too vague, marijuana smell subjective By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Although city offi cials have defended its necessity, others smell trouble in Pendleton’s marijuana odor ordinance. Pendleton attorney Will Perkinson hasn’t been involved with any cases relating to the year-old city law, but he has defended clients who have been accused of violating marijuana laws and is a member of the National Orga- nization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws’ legal committee. Perkinson said his main issue with the ordinance is that it’s too vague — the one-page ordinance doesn’t differentiate between medical and recreational marijuana or properly establish the level of odor a marijuana smell would need to reach to be considered harmful. Perkinson said it was unlike other nuisances like excessive noise, which has years of case law and measurable metrics that provide guidance for the creation and enforcement local ordi- nances. The Pendleton City Council enacted the marijuana odor ordinance in June, one month before the drug became legal to grow and use in the state. The ordinance prohibited “unreasonable” See MARIJUANA/8A Staff photo by Kathy Aney The smell of marijuana sparked a confl ict between the owners of Elite Guns & Bows and next door neighbor Citadel Studios. The owner of Elite Guns & Bows fi led a citation saying pot smoke from the adjacent building was migrating into the gun store.
