Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2017)
TRUMP MOVES TO BUILD THE WALL 6A 36/25 BUCKS DOMINATE THE MATS SPORTS/1B THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017 141st Year, No. 73 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Homicide suspect dead after standoff Wanted Washington man killed himself in Pendleton motel By TIM TRAINOR and PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian A suspect in a western Washington double homicide is dead after an hours- long standoff Wednesday at a Pendleton motel. According to the Mason County Sheriff’s Offi ce, Jared Abernathy was suspected in a double homicide in Shelton, Washington. The sheriff’s offi ce reported Abernathy shot and killed himself inside his hotel room. The standoff at the Motel 6, 325 S.E. Nye Ave., started about 1 p.m. and ended about 8:40 p.m. Dozens of police were involved, including several from Oregon State Police and the Pendleton Police Department. A Pendleton offi cer just before 1 p.m. noticed a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox asso- ciated with Abernathy parked behind the Motel 6 just off Interstate 84, according to a written statement from Pendleton police chief Stuart Roberts. U.S. Marshals soon arrived to help with the investigation and apprehension. Police set up a perimeter around the hotel, and the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce, Oregon State Police and Herm- iston Police sent offi cers, vehicles and equipment. They staged a few blocks away at the Red Lion Motel. “Trained negotiators were able to establish communication with Abernathy at 3:14 p.m.,” according to Pendleton police. “Communications were main- tained for almost fi ve hours as Abernathy spoke to family, friends and negotia- tor(s).” Offi cers at Motel 6 concentrated efforts on a second-fl oor room facing north over Interstate 84. Multiple police were in military-style tactical gear and helmets and armed with assault weapons. Police shut down I-84 between exits 209 and 213 for a period as a safety precau- tion. Two state police also cleared people from the north side of an adjacent hotel, See STANDOFF/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Police gather on the balcony outside of the hotel room at the Motel 6 Wednesday in Pendleton after police stormed the room searching for a man wanted in con- nection with a double homicide in Shelton, Wash. Neglected cattle tagged, immunized as part of ongoing criminal case UMATILLA Former chamber director indicted for theft Second embezzlement case involving Hutchinson-Talaski By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian On Wednesday, offi cers recruited about 15 students from Blue Mountain Community College to help round up the cows The former executive director of the Umatilla Chamber of Commerce has been indicted on charges she stole thou- sands of dollars from the organization. Karen Hutchinson-Talaski, 60, of Hermiston, did not immediately return calls Wednesday. She left the chamber post sometime in 2016. According to public records, this is the second embezzlement case involving Hutchin- son-Talaski. Umatilla County Circuit Court documents show a Hutchinson-Talaski grand jury handed up the indictment Dec. 6, 2016, charging Hutchinson-Talaski with one count of third-degree theft, one count of second-degree theft, both misde- meanors, and four felony charges of fi rst-degree theft. The thefts span from early July 2014 through late November 2015 and include taking $1,000 or more on two occasions from bank cash machine withdrawals as well as making unauthorized purchases on a chamber account. According to Oregon law, third-de- See CATTLE/8A See THEFT/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris BMCC student Melanie Sederburg carries alfalfa over a fence Wednesday to give to cattle that were confi scated by the Umatilla County Sheriff’s department outside of Hermiston. Herd gets helping hand Community, police care for sick cattle; charges expected soon By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Dressed in wool overalls and carrying a pitchfork, Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan looked more like a rancher than a lawman Wednesday morning while pacing the snow-covered pastures at Cedar Creek Cattle Company in Hermiston. Two weeks earlier, Rowan and deputies arrived at this property on Columbia Lane and South Edwards Road to discover more than a dozen dead cattle and another 15 so malnourished they couldn’t be safely moved. Charges of animal neglect will likely be fi led against the herd’s owner, 55-year-old Michael Hockensmith, but in the mean- time daily care of the animals has fallen to the sheriff’s offi ce. More online For video visit eastoregonian.com GOP wants cost cuts in exchange for revenue hikes State short $1.8B to maintain services By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Driving a hard bargain one week away from the legislative session’s commencement, Republican state legislators say they’d be willing to consider revenue reform — but only if there are changes to the other side of the state’s ledger. Without any new revenue, the state has $1.8 billion less than it needs to maintain the current level of state services, according to the co-chairs of the legislative Joint Ways and Means Committee, which writes the state’s budget. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, vice chair of the House Revenue Committee, suggested this week that a “broad-based consumption tax,” coupled with changes to the state’s income tax, could be one way to strike a compromise between business groups and public labor advocates. But he and other Repub- licans are adamant that they won’t agree to making changes to taxes without fi rst addressing the state’s costs, including the state’s pension system. Democrats don’t have the three-fi fths majority they need to pass revenue-raising measures, so in order to avoid the drastic cuts to services they’ve warned of, they need to craft a resolution that will be palatable to lawmakers on the other side of the aisle. Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, says he would also be amenable to an increase in the gas tax to support transportation funding — which is another major issue going into the session that kicks off Feb. 1. Ferrioli said that crafting the state’s tax system is, and “I think there is a relatively simplistic understanding among some folks in the business community that there is only one problem and that cost driver is PERS,” — Tina Kotek, Oregon Speaker of the House will be, a balancing act. “All those things — prop- erty tax, income tax, business taxes, corporate taxes, they’re all connected and all hydraulic,” Ferrioli said. “The conversation that will occur, I believe, is how do you fi nd the sweet spot that sustains job growth in Oregon and provides enough revenue for running our infrastructure, and also provides some tax relief in strategic areas?” Republicans say that before making changes to taxes, they want concessions from union groups on the costs of the state’s public pension system — a high hurdle to leap. The most recent attempt to reduce the costs of the Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS, in 2013, was found largely uncon- See OREGON/8A