REGION
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Pair in jail after Snowy winter weather good news
ramming police for increased summer water supply
Umatilla Basin currently at 129 percent snowpack
car, fleeing
“The fall and early
winter precipitation
East Oregonian
A Walla Walla officer fired
at suspects ramming a pickup
into his patrol car on Sunday.
The Walla Walla Police
Department in a written state-
ment reported officer Paul
Green was not injured, nor
did his gunshots hit suspects
Jason
Gene
Nathaniel
Barnes, 32, of Walla Walla,
and Jessica Dawn Grigsby,
35, of Hermiston.
Green at about 9:30
Sunday night saw a Chev-
rolet pickup with no lights
pulling a utility trailer on
West Sumach Street between
Fourth and Fifth avenues
near downtown Walla Walla.
Green drove east on Sumach
from Fifth, according to
the statement, and saw the
vehicle drive toward him
from the intersection of
Fourth Avenue.
The pickup drew closer,
according to the statement,
and the suspect accelerated
and rammed into the front of
the police car, forcing it back
and off to the side of the road.
Green drew his gun, Walla
Walla police reported, and
fired at the pickup while it
was ramming his car.
The driver fled south in
the vehicle on Fifth and other
city streets before leaving
the city southbound on Third
Avenue. The chase continued
into Oregon. Members of
the Washington State Patrol,
the sheriff’s offices of Walla
Walla and Umatilla counties
and Milton-Freewater police
joined the pursuit, which
ended at 9:41 p.m. when the
pickup crashed into a ditch
after leaving railroad tracks
in the area of Elliot and Birch
Creek roads, a couple miles
east of Milton-Freewater.
Barnes was the driver,
according to Walla Walla
police. Officers caught him
as he tried to run. Grigsby
was the passenger and did not
try to escape.
The pair complained of
minor injuries from the crash,
according to the statement,
and the pickup they were in
was reported stolen. They
also had multiple warrants
for their arrests and had been
arrested near Milton-Free-
water in October for posses-
sion of methamphetamine.
Both are in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
Walla Walla police also
stated criminal charges
are pending as detectives
continue their investigation.
BRIEFLY
Weather cancels
several meetings
Several area
organizations are canceling
or rescheduling upcoming
meetings due to inclement
weather. Among the
cancellations are:
•Round Up Republican
Women. The group will
meet Thursday, Feb. 9 at
11:45 a.m. at the Pendleton
Red Lion. Mayor John
Turner will provide his
outlook and vision for the
city of Pendleton and new
business development. For
more information, contact
rounduprepublicanwomen
@hushmail.com or
541-276-1206.
•The SAIF Corporation
has postponed a pair of
agriculture safety seminars
scheduled for Jan. 10-11
in Hermiston. The free
seminars are rescheduled
for March 6 (in English)
and March 7 (in Spanish) at
the Hermiston Conference
Center. Anyone working in
the agricultural industry or
interested in ag safety and
health is welcome to attend.
For more information or
to register, call 800-285-
8525 or visit www.SAIF.
com/agseminar.
•The Hermiston School
board canceled its Monday
meeting. They will
recognize educators of the
year during a work session
Monday, Jan. 23 at 5:30
p.m. at the district office,
305 S.W. 11th St. For more
information, contact Maria
Duron at 541-667-6036 or
maria.duron@hermiston.
k12.or.us.
•The Jan 11 meeting
of Safe Communities
meeting is rescheduled for
Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The group focuses on
many areas, including
domestic violence, child
abuse, teen violence,
bullying, homelessness
and safety regarding guns,
fire, cyber use, traffic
and water. It meets the
second Wednesday of each
month at noon at Good
Shepherd Medical Center in
Hermiston.
For more information,
contact Juli Gregory at
541-667-3506 or jgregory@
gshealth.org.
Fire chief to speak
to retired educators
PENDLETON —
Pendleton Fire chief Mike
Ciraulo will share about
current issues regarding
firefighting and the
Pendleton Fire Department
during the January meeting
of the Retired Educators of
Umatilla County.
The no-host gathering
is Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
at Abby’s Pizza, 828
Southgate, Pendleton.
Membership in OREA-Unit
9 is not limited to retired
educators. Anyone interested
in education is invited to
attend.
For more information,
call Bill Mayclin at 541-276-
4540.
Heppner gets set
for St. Patrick’s
celebration
HEPPNER — Even with
all the white stuff on the
ground, those organizing
the Wee Bit O’ Ireland
celebration are seeing green.
The first planning meeting
is Thursday at 6 p.m. at
Heppner City Hall, 111 N.
Main St. Pizza and beverages
will be provided. The festival
is March 16-19 in Heppner.
For more information,
contact Bates at 541-676-
5536 or heppnerchamber@
centurytel.net.
———
Submit information to:
community@eastoregonian.
com. Call 541-564-4539 or
541-966-0818 with questions.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Water supplies for farms and fish
could be well above average across
the Umatilla, Walla Walla and Willow
Creek basins this summer if winter
continues its cold and snowy ways.
The Natural Resource Conserva-
tion Service published its Oregon
Basin Outlook Report for Jan. 1, and
signs point to a strong water year
ahead — assuming Mother Nature
cooperates.
The NRCS publishes six monthly
Oregon Water Supply Outlook
Reports between Jan. 1 and June 1
every year. The program measures
snow and provides streamflow fore-
casts and snowpack data for commu-
nities and water managers across the
West. In Oregon, snow measurements
are collected from 81 different sites.
Local snowpack is currently 129
percent of normal, and overall precipi-
tation is 124 percent of normal, thanks
in part to an especially wet October
that registered twice the usual amount
of rainfall.
Streamflow forecasts for April
through September range from 112 to
131 percent of average, but that will
ultimately depend on what happens
over the next three months.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in
these first forecasts of the year,”
according to the NRCS report. “If the
rest of winter continues the wet, cold
and snowy trend and spring snowmelt
rate and timing are normal, then water
supplies during the critical spring
and summer months will likely be
adequate.”
Scott Oviatt, NRCS snow survey
supervisory hydrologist, said snow-
pack is off to a strong start statewide,
averaging of 124 percent of normal.
“The fall and early winter precip-
itation have provided relief to many
areas that were moisture-depleted
following a hot, dry August,” Oviatt
said. “If the cool and wet pattern
continues through the winter and
spring months, then snowpack accu-
mulation will continue to be normal
or above normal, and spring snowmelt
will occur slowly over an extended
period.”
That’s not what happened a year
ago. Last January also saw above-av-
erage snowpack, only to be followed
by record-breaking high temperatures
in April that doubled the rate of
snowmelt in some locations. Once the
snow disappeared, streams dried up
early and left some irrigators without
their full allotment of water.
The National Weather Service
Climate Prediction Center is calling
for above-average precipitation over
the next three months in Oregon, and
an equal chance of cold, warm or
average temperatures. It remains to
be seen whether snowpack will hold
up, providing that natural reservoir of
water for streams and rivers.
Umatilla County reservoirs remain
well below normal after years of
drought and below-average stream-
flow. As of Jan. 1, McKay Reservoir
was 59 percent full and 49 percent
full at Cold Springs Reservoir outside
Hermiston.
Most of Eastern Oregon remains
abnormally dry or in moderate
drought, according to the U.S.
Drought Monitor, though the Climate
Prediction Center says it is likely the
have provided relief to
many areas that were
moisture-depleted
following a hot,
dry August.”
— Scott Oviatt, NRCS snow
survey supervisory hydrologist
designation will be removed for much
of the area by March 31.
Forecasts are also calling for
near-average streamflows in the
Grande Ronde, Powder, Burnt and
Imnaha basins, where snowpack
is roughly 108 percent of normal.
Reservoir levels are widely varied,
from just 14 percent of normal at
Phillips Lake near Baker City to 162
percent of normal at Wallowa Lake.
“As always, there’s quite a bit of
spatial variability in mountain snow-
pack, which can be explained by the
variability within storm patterns,”
the NRCS states. “A few locations,
mostly in southern Oregon and in the
Wallowa Mountains, are currently
storing below normal amounts of
snow.”
Snowpack is 127 percent of
normal in the John Day Basin, and
streamflow forecasts ranging from
109 to 114 percent of normal. Like
neighboring basins, water supplies
stand to be near or above average,
assuming conditions hold.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0825.
PENDLETON
Plass sues hospital for wrongful death of husband
East Oregonian
Susan Plass of Pendleton
is suing St. Anthony Hospital
for almost $1.6 million over
the death of her husband
Jack Sanders in early 2016.
Attorney Marc Hull of
Portland filed the lawsuit for
Plass on Jan. 3 in Umatilla
County Circuit Court, Pend-
leton.
Sanders fell and broke
his right hip the night of
Nov. 11, 2015, according to
the complaint. Replacement
surgery the next day at St.
Anthony Hospital, Pend-
leton, was a success, but
afterward Sanders became
confused, agitated and tried
to get out of bed.
The confused state
continued Nov. 13 when
he fell and broke his left
hip and suffered a subdural
hematoma, a serious head
injury. The complaint states
an air ambulance flew
Sanders to Kadlec Regional
Medical Center, Richland,
Washington, and Nov. 15 he
underwent surgery to replace
the left hip. Sanders’ health
initially improved, then
declined. He died Jan. 21 at
a skilled nursing facility in
northern Idaho.
“The underlying cause
of death,” the complaint
states, “was noted on his
death certificate as the
accumulated complications
stemming from the subdural
hematoma he suffered at St.
Anthony.”
Plass serves on the
board of education for Blue
Mountain
Community
College, Pendleton and
is a retired University of
Oregon administrator, where
Sanders was a professor.
She seeks $1,598,230 from
St. Anthony, including
$635,000 for medical treat-
ment and $250,000 each for
Sanders’ pain and suffering
and her own.
Plass
declined
to
comment for this report.
St. Anthony spokesperson
Larry Blanc said the hospital
had no comment.
PENDLETON
Vert Auditorium marketing project put on hold
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
2016 was another quiet
year for Pendleton’s Vert
Auditorium, but that wasn’t
the outlook at the beginning
of the year.
City staff wanted to pay
a consultant $12,000 to
bring six new shows to the
Vert, even convincing the
Pendleton City Council to
appropriate $6,000 from the
art fund to help promote the
city’s historic theater.
The money was supposed
to go toward the services of
Michelle Liberty, a consul-
tant with marketing the
Gesa Powerhouse Theater
in Walla Walla, but Liberty
said she never heard back
from the city after staff
showed initial interest.
Liberty said money never
changed hands and assumed
the budget never came
together for the project.
City manager Robb
Corbett said the reason the
plan never went forward had
less to do with budgetary
constraints and more to do
with some key turnover.
One of the main staff
members behind the project
was former Pendleton
Convention Center director
Pat Kennedy, who left the
position midway through
2016.
Corbett replaced Kennedy
with Steve Chrisman, the
city’s economic develop-
ment director and airport
manager.
Because of Chrisman’s
expanded responsibilities
and the newness of the
position — Chrisman now
oversees three departments
— Corbett said he decided
against
continuing
to
immediately pursue the Vert
project.
Although the plan is
currently on hiatus, Corbett
said the Vert is an underuti-
lized asset that deserves
additional marketing.
Besides Oregon East
Symphony concerts, Pend-
leton School District perfor-
mances and the occasional
private event, the auditorium
sits empty most days.
Corbett said bringing
more events to the Vert
would take a concerted effort
from multiple city depart-
ments, including facilities,
parks and recreation and the
convention center.
With the Vert having
built a $1.6 million backlog
in maintenance needs and
only garnering a minimal
maintenance
budget,
Corbett said he didn’t know
whether the auditorium
would need further invest-
ment to handle a larger slate
of performances.
For her part, Liberty said
the Vert remains a good
venue and contains poten-
tial.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
TAI CHI - MOVING FOR
BETTER BALANCE
FREE class to work on balance, strengthen muscles,
improve posture and core strength. Great for all ages!
Monday & Wednesday Starting January 16th
Basic/Beginners class: 9-10am
Advanced Class: 10-11am
GSMC Wellness Center (behind the hospital)
Call 541-567-2185 or 541-667-3509 to register
BODY & BALANCE
FREE class using the Bal-A-Vis-X approach to
safely improve balance, movement, and strengthen
body control. Great for all ages and fitness levels!
Monday & Wednesday Starting Jan. 4th
11:00 - 12:00pm
Call 541-567-2185 or 541-667-3509 to register
BEGINNER & INTERMEDIATE
BANDS CLASSES:
Flowers • Candles
Jewelry • Plants
Balloons & More!
Come Play With Us!
Join the club today
541-567-4305
Mon-Sat 8am-6pm • Sun 12pm-5am
www.cottagefl owersonline.com
Tuesday & Thursdays Starting January 3rd
Beginners class: 8:15-8:45am
Intermediate Class: 9-9:30am
GSMC Wellness Center (behind the hospital)
Call Kathy Thomas, 541-667-3400 x3050
Put a smile on the heart with
the power of flowers.
HWY 395, HERMISTON
Strengthen & improve flexibility and overall health
& balance.
grantcountysnowballers.com
TIM HOLLY 541-620-0408
JOHN BASTIAN 541-620-1411
Information or to register
call (541) 667-3509
or email
healthinfo@gshealth.org
www.gshealth.org